At Last! Retiring for GOOD!

Short Answer: No. Long Answer: Hell, No. I'm 67. I retired last year, after realizing that the old age I'd been waiting for had arrived. In addition to finally getting off the merry-go-round of too little time, and not enough spent with people who matter to me, or activities that I truly enjoyed, I said: enough. Was my first year what I'd expected? Not even close. To begin with, I was humbled to realize that, planner though I was, completely unstructured time is not something I handled well. Before the year was up, I'd started taking local teaching sub jobs, 2-3 times a week. I actually made better progress with writing after I had less time in which to accomplish it. The district I sub in has generally nice kids, the work allows me to plan and make notes on my writing, and I am still able to reject jobs and have fun instead. Due to an unexpected illness on my husband's part, I did not get as much travel as I would have liked. However, he is better now, ...

This isn't about money (although, not having to worry about money is also a GOOD thing). This isn't about health, medical care, or how to pay for it all. This is about building habits that will make this the Best Part of Your Life. I had been aimlessly browsing, ahem - I mean strictly reading what was absolutely necessary, when I happened upon a reference that intrigued me. It led me to this site.  What Ann Voskamp wrote about struck a chord in me. She wrote about habits and how they can transform your life. Not just by the immediate outcomes, but how they can bring God's Grace to your life. Now, I'm not the most knowledgable about religious matters, but what she said struck me as true. One of the things she said seemed unbelievable. “ Forty-five percent of what we do every day is habitual ,” say the researchers, “ performed almost without thinking in the same location or at the same time each day, usually because of subtle cues . ” Other sources have c...

I did National Novel Writing Month again this year. I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Life smacked me in the face a few times, and I gracefully bowed to the inevitable. I had thought it would be easier this year, without a job. Turns out, the reality is more complex than I expected. Read about it here.

I previously posted on the UN-helpfulness of the AARP brand , which purports to work for seniors, but seems more inclined to exploit them. Today's Forbes has an article that explains more about this. One facet of their conflict of interest with seniors: The AARP is also one of the largest private health insurers in America. In 2011, the AARP generated $458 million in royalty fees from so-called “Medigap” plans, nearly twice the $266 million the lobby receives in membership dues. There's more, and it's worse: AARP Medigap plans are exempted from most of Obamacare’s best-known insurance mandates. AARP Medigap plans are exempted from the ban that requires insurers to take all comers, regardless of pre-existing conditions.    

I'm a little more hopeful about figuring out a way to retire than I was the last time I posted. Several reasons for this: I managed to put in a proposal for a summer workshop at my school district. I have no idea (and, frankly, little reason to hope) that it will be accepted, but it was an important first step. I'm still working on getting my life in order. My toe is healing nicely, and it looks as though I will continue to improve mobility. That would make it easier to move around, and continue functioning as a teacher. I've re-booted my novel revision, and will be continuing to slap that puppy into shape. Once I do, I plan to approach publication from 2 directions: Send it out to potential publishers If I don't at least get a nibble within a reasonable amount of time, self-publish and self-promote I'll be continuing my writing - I keep dipping into the Chem ebook, and may realistically anticipate it being on the market by late summer - just in time for n...

Just got bad news - Social Security confirmed that I will NOT be eligible for money based on being a 'wife of'. So, that $400/month I was counting on is Gone With the Wind, so to speak. It appears that the trouble is that I get a pension from OH teachers. That government pension (2/3 of it) is deducted from my SS money. Alas, it is actually higher than the money SS WOULD have provided. So, no money. Until I'm 70, and can collect in my own name. I could collect earlier, but I pay a penalty for doing so. In addition to the penalty I will pay in either case, to the tune of around $350 less in my SS check than other folks. The girl (can't call her a woman, not with that tiny voice) at SS had to deliver the bad news. She did say something incredibly dumb: she cheerfully pointed out that once I had 30 years of SS-eligible work, I wouldn't lose any money. She continued with her perky positive attitude even when I pointed out that I would be 79 at that point. I do...

Den and I were kicking around this very topic last night: What do you wan t your retirement to look like? Ways to get things done I'm changing life-long habits My husband indicated that he wants to see changes in how we do things at home. He wants me to schedule weekly chores, and become more organized (OK, he's right that I could definitely benefit from this). I set up an erasable calendar, with just a few things scheduled. Later, once I get those things a part of a routine, I can add more stuff. I have two calendars: Monthly - it's erasable, and has been a great help in getting my commitments in front of my husband (I've try using online calendars, but he doesn't look at them). It's also helped me in daily/weekly planning. A workweek-only one under the monthly one, with room for daily tasks/reminders. So far, this system has been working for me. Catholicism My husband picked up a couple of the Matthew Kelly books at church. The organiza...

Hoo-Boy! This issue has been called the Third Rail of American Politics, and it surely has that potential to kill political careers. A large part of the problem is the scare tactics being used by activists . They are playing on the natural desire not to lose a benefit, or to treat any change in a benefit as a personal attack on the individuals who are receiving it. In the article linked above, the seniors are furious at the idea that the program won't be available, just exactly as it has been in the past. They consider the benefits theirs, by right, and any change as taking away something that is THEIRS. They don't seem to have heard that old country saying, "Don't count your chickens until they're hatched." The US Representative holding the meeting, Rosa DeLauro, fed into their fears. DeLauro, who has a 97-year-old mother, said she's sensitive to cuts that affect seniors. Though she knows that the country needs to cut programs and bring down the...

Now, I know that some seniors are adamant: NO CHANGES TO MEDICARE, EVER! While it might be nice to stand, line in the dirt, opposed to ANY changes in Medicare, I'm afraid that is NOT a realistic scenario. Medical care - particularly for seniors - is expensive. Insisting that doctors and other medical providers just suck it up, and take less money for services, has led to difficulty getting doctors to agree to see you. NO medical care is worse than pricey medical care. It's the remedy of choice for politicians - there are fewer doctors than seniors, and seniors are the most reliable voting segment. Better to starve a doctor, than to tell a senior that he has to accept more expensive visits. I've been investigating this for a few weeks. Like it or not, almost every senior will be affected by this issue.  I've read some of the available proposals, and have summarized a few below. I'll be posting more on this in the coming weeks; it's likely to be tackled ...