At Last! Retiring for GOOD!

Now, another possible twist that affects my decision. The mother of my youngest grandson may be returning full-time to finish her bachelor's degree, and MAY need some child care. Oh, darn! How inconvenient! I may just have to think about that! NOT! I'd LOVE to spend extended time with him, and, also, with his older sister (whom I don't know that well, but would like to - she seems to be both intelligent and lovable). I should find out what the updated situation in Cleveland is by sometime next, leaving me with a last-minute decision to make. Den is leaving it up to me.

...we're on the road, again. We are traveling to Cleveland, to take care of some residual business with the house we sold. The contractor (or his people) took stuff out of the house while it was being renovated, then gave us a bum check, as did his mother-in-law. We're making sure that their home has a lien on it, and can't be sold without paying that money they owe us. Other than that, we'll be seeing people, and celebrating our youngest grandson's 1st birthday. Truly a great bunch of reasons to travel. It looks - says she CAUTIOUSLY - as though I WILL be able to retire at the end of the year - now, whether that means the school or the calendar year is still up for grabs. We'll be meeting with a financial planner in May to discuss just how this will be done.

I'm SO on the fence about retirement. On one hand, if it were totally up to me, I'd already have my papers in. DH is more focused on having our income replaced before leaving. If not, at least having a much bigger pile of cash in our TSA (Teachers' Savings Account - a special type of investment available only for Teachers and a few other nonprofit employees). So, the Back and Forth. Today, I'm planning to work on taxes. By the middle of the week, I hope to have them done, and have updated a list of what we owe. On the trip to Cleveland, then, we can talk about how to manage the transition to debt-free (if we agree on the basic premise), and have a clear understanding of how much of each of our paychecks to dedicate to that process. I COULD do another year, but I'm more inclined to commit myself only to until the end of the calendar year (2017) - at that point, if I decide I've had it, replacing me at a semester change would be less of a problem. A lot de

I have to admit, this was sorely needed.

Years ago, when I was attending an Amway seminar, I was struck by something that was said: Retirement is not a matter of how old you are, it's whether you have the money to walk away from paid employment. It is true. One of my fellow teachers, who had been just hanging in there for several years, recently let the administration know she was leaving at the end of the school year. (both being tired of teaching, and physically exhausted because of medical problems - I don't know, but I suspect that it was a self-reinforcing loop - she was not well, so didn't enjoy the teaching, and she didn't enjoy her working hours, so tended to make her sicker). She didn't have the age to get Social Security yet, so hesitated to retire, because of the need for medical. This year, she realized that her retirement savings could make up that shortfall until she qualified for SS. And, she will be gone - hopefully, to enjoy the rest of her life. Most people are hugely in debt (we

Den and I were at church today, and heard a visiting priest talk about a charity effort that supplied low-cost, solar-powered computers to poorer countries. Den was so motivated, that he approached the priest after the mass to see if he could volunteer. He was not sure, but suggested that we contact the sponsoring organization. It made us think. One of the possible choices we have is to start our retirement, not with a luxurious cruise, but with an extended volunteer experience (probably NOT Haiti, at least in late summer/early fall - the hurricane season will be in full gear by then). It would be great to have an opportunity to pass on our science/computer/ham radio experiences to another generation. What about YOU? Are there life opportunities that you might, in retirement, be able to pursue for the first time? In the comments, tell me about them.