Christmas Songs from Past
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Who Should I Trust?
Over the past year, I have watched my investments plummet then make a feeble attempt at recovery, only to nosedive again this past week. The economic news mirrors my concern. We might be in an economic bubble or we might be on the road to recovery. Who knows? Apparently no one can say for sure, despite their educational background or their position of power. I question whether my IRA will ever be healthy enough for me to retire on. Then, I tell myself not to worry, retirement is highly over-rated and what would I do with all that time on my hands anyway, especially if I can’t afford the lifestyle I want to become accustomed to. See? Even my sense of humor is suffering from this financial burden.
I am not sure who is to be trusted anymore. I was struck dumb, when I heard that the bank executives who put us in this economic tsunami must be given their million-dollar bonuses or they will go some place else to work. I say, “Let them go!” These people have proven to the world that they are the epitome of incompetency. I don’t understand why they kept their jobs in the first place, and I really don’t understand, knowing their history, who would hire them now. We have finally reached that point where the world has turned upside down, common sense has been abandoned and logic is non-existent. Hey folks, Nero is back, and Rome is burning.
I’m not one for idly standing by and yet, where my finaces are concerned, I must confess, I have taken the passive road. I have trusted strangers to turn my hard earned money into a comfortable nest egg. I hypnotized myself into believing that since the investmenet firm had an old, established name, it was a safe place to invest. Silly me. Over the years I have learned that the only one who can take care of me the way I want to be taken care of, is me. And if I want to see a safe, secure financial future, than it is up to me to take the necessary action to make it happen. I have made a commitment to handle my own financial future. I have enrolled in investment classes and when I am done, I will have the knowledge I need to chart my own path.
Wish me luck and follow my progress here.
Romancing the Road
This is a great story about the relationship of a woman and her car. The two have been together for decades and have logged over 540,000 miles traveling across this county. Rachel is a testiment to those of us who hear the call of the open road and grab it..
What Makes a Baby Boomer Invincible
Here is a witty look back on what it was like to grow up as a baby boomer. It might explain why we are a generation that will not go silently into retirement but instead choose to be an active life-participant until the day they close the lids on our coffins. It also helps to explain the reasoning behind how our children were raised. Read more »
Thank the Boomers, Don’t Berate Them
With the changing of the guard in DC, many speculate that January 20th will symbolize the passing of an entire generation: the baby boomer years. However, it’s more than a generational change with Obama being a relatively young president, it is more like a sense that a cultural era is ending. This was a very unique era dominated by the boomers, many of whom came of age in the ’60s and experienced the bitter divisions caused by the Vietnam War and the protests against it, the civil rights struggle, social change, sexual freedoms, and more. The peace sign was our symbol and our slogan was Us Against the Man. It is theorized by many that those experiences, led boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, to become deeply motivated by the need to address all of the social injustices that our country had long ignored. Read more »
Mama Mia!
During the winter months, every other Saturnday night, I get together with three other friends, we rent a movie or two, make popcorn and fudge brownies and spend the night in. It’s an inexpensive way to entertain ourselves and a great way to bond with dear old friends. The local video store has a plethora of movies to choose from and we have a chance to enjoy the warmth of each other’s homes thus avoiding the one dank and dreary movie theater our little town has to offer. I have found that the warmth of our friendship staves off the bitter winter cold and makes living in this clime much more bearable. I always look forward to these evenings, but this Saturday night was even more special. Read more »
Seniors Save the Environment
As we played cards today, my friends and I began a discussion about a movie several of us had watched last night on CNN. It was An Inconvenient Truth; a documentary produced and presented by former Vice President Al Gore. This movie took a compelling look at the state of global warming and the adverse impact humans are making on the world. Needless to say, it made quite an impression on us and had us all concerned about the kind of world we were handing down to our grandchildren. What good would the college trust fund be to them if the polar ice cap melts and floods 1/3 of the now populated world. To reverse the impact we have made seems like such an overwhelming challenge that needs to be seriously addressed and soon, but what can we, as individuals, do? Read more »
Two Ways to Age
In my goal to be totally organized before the year’s end, I spent this morning sorting through old photographs; reminiscing over some and baffled by others. What caught my eye for the first time however, are the pictures of my grandmother. When I was a child, I never thought of her as being old and yet, every picture I have of her is of a shriveled up little white-haired woman. I remember her as a hard-working, farmer’s wife; one who always had time to tell me stories or let me help her gather eggs from the chicken coop. My memories are not of how she looked, but of the way she treated me and the time she spent with me. They are good memories with the “world’s best grandma” and I treasure them. I think of her in comparison with some of the elderly women I know now. This made me realize that there are two types of elderly people: old ones who live their age, and gently-aging citizens who really enjoy life. Read more »
Give Time a Purpose
The season of giving, getting and exchanging are finally behind us. Now we look toward the new year and the thought of making resolutions. Angeline Jolie want to adopt the Vienna Boys Choir And President Bush wants to take the Karaoke machine back to Texas.But what about you, what do you resolve to do? Will it be a new diet? An attempt to live healthier? Perhaps the goal to live inside a budget. I know that I have tried all of these and more and these are all great resolutions, but what about making a resolution this year dealing with your time. I don’t mean managing time more effectively. I mean spending the time we are given in a more joyous way. Think about it, are you happy with how you spend your time? Do you make commitments that you don’t want to honor? Do you waste time procrastinating or dreaming about what if? Do you waste time waiting for the right time to happen? Everyday we are gifted with just 24 hours. It is up to us to decide how to use that time. Of course, we need to eat regularly. And we do require an appropriate number of hours of sleep, and then there are always the things that have to be done. But is there something more purposeful you would like to include in your daily or weekend routine that you don’t feel you have the time for? Maybe this year is the year to rethink how you are spending your time? Read more »
I Will Be Able to Retire
I love what I do, I make decent money, my kids are grown up and independent and I am strong and healthy. Call me oblivious, but I was at a point in my life where I had few worries and every day held a new promise. It’s strange, but when the economy was stable and my investments were growing, I hardly gave much thought to retirement. I knew that I was going to wait until I reached 66 but I didn’t think much past that. However, that seems to have changed considerably since this past October. Lately every thought in my head, every plan that I make seems to be overshadowed by the damage done to my retirement fund. I can’t stop thinking about my future; will I have enough money or will I have to work longer? With the contributions I have been making over the years, I always assumed that I would have more than enough to settle into my golden years without worry but, I can’t loose this nagging feeling that it isn’t going to be enough. I have talked to friends who feel the same way too. It’s such a rude wake up call that none of us were expecting and it is coloring every move we make.
An article in US News & World Report reminded me to let go of these negative thoughts because there are still many reasons to be optimistic about my retirement prospects. One of the best reasons is that Social Security guarantees cost-of-living increases. I had forgotten this simple fact and even though most years that increase isn’t much, it does help. The government is going to have to find a better way to manage Social Security, but they are never going to do away with it for those of us who have already paid into it. You know it’s funny, but as I read this article, I also realized that I don’t need to start drawing down my 401K immediately after I retire. I can wait until I am 70 1/2, so that still gives me 10-1/2 years to recoup my losses (not 6) if I need it. Compound that with the fact that I am still investing regularly and getting bargain prices, means that my losses should evaporate much more quickly when the economy begins its upswing. There are still some concerns I have about medicare and health insurance in general, but I need to see what this new administration proposes before I decide what I need to do about that. Right now, while I am working, I have good insurance so I don’t need to worry about that for a while.
I know we are in for a bumpy ride and a lot can happen in the next six years but I think that things are going to be financially okay for me and I will be able to stick with my retirement goals. If not, I will work another year or two. After all, it’s not the worst thing that could happen.