I'm going to stick to the original question.
OP, we have a very good friend who lives away from his children. He and his wife were divorced (amicably). She has primary custody of the children due to his job (travels a lot). He has a very liberal visitation schedule and they both lived in the same area for several years after the divorce and he was very involved with his children (as much as possible due to the work travel schedule). Fast-forward a few years and wife, who is only child, had to move to be near her ailing parents. He tried to fight it, but due to his travel schedule and mom having primary custody, the court allowed the move. It's a 24-26 hour drive away by car.
They do the best they can for him to maintain a relationship, but its very difficult, even with texting and Skype. He can see them anytime he's in the area where they live, and can fly them to his place whenever they don't have school and he's not traveling. He and ex-wife share the travel expenses. Since he does so much travel he has lots of frequent flyer miles so that's not an issue, but school vacations and a few times a year when he's in their hometown isn't much to maintain the type of relationship with his children that he wants. He spends as much time as he can in their area, but they have school, friends, extracurricular activities, etc. that keep them busy. There's been some acting out since the move, and both kids are in counseling.
The situation stinks for everyone. His kids, him and his ex-wife, who not only has to juggle the kids by herself, but her aging/ailing parents. He feels like he's not part of the kids daily lives, even though they're in contact every day, and when he goes there, who wants to hang out in a hotel room for several days. He looked into moving there, but his company doesn't maintain an office where they're living and he can't telecommute. He has over 30 years in at his company, with a good salary, benefits and retirement package. He's tried to find other work, closer to them, but hasn't been able to find anything yet.
Having seen his situation, I would urge you to not voluntarily move away from your children.
I was a teacher for a few years, so trust me, I can still see this first hand whenever I look at my contributions to Social Security. Teachers don't pay into Social Security in Louisiana or Texas; I'm sure they don't pay into it in other states as well. However, they may well pay into it in your state.
