Plan For Long Retirement

Have you read the Social Security online Retirement Planner? Just in case you don’t, I have tried to summarize their latest issue here. I think everyone dreams of a secure, comfortable retirement and now we’re living longer, healthier lives. But, if we don’t plan carefully, we may outlive our money. We can expect to spend more time in retirement than our parents did.
The Social Security Retirement Planner can help you now to prepare for that longer retirement. Quoting that site:
This planner provides detailed information about your Social Security retirement benefits under current law and points out things you may want to consider as you prepare for the future. If you are looking for information, you can:

1. Find Your Retirement Age,
2. Use our Retirement Estimator and our other benefit calculators to test different retirement ages or future earnings amounts,
3. Learn about Social Security programs,
4. Find out what happens if you work after you retire, and
5. Learn how certain types of earnings and pensions can affect your earnings.

If you are already near retirement age, you can:

• Discover your retirement options,
• Get information about how members of your family may qualify for benefits,
• Find instructions on how to apply for benefits and what supporting documents you’ll need to furnish, and
• Apply for retirement benefits.
  

Reminder: You need to sign up for Medicare close to your 65th birthday, even if you will not be retired by that time. (If you are getting Social Security benefits when you turn 65, your Medicare Hospital Benefits start automatically.)
If you would like to research this more, refer to the SSA website: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/.

Credit www.idoretirement.com.

Seniors Visiting Mexico

On February 17th I wrote an article "Driving Your Vehicle into Mexico". I expounded upon buying Mexican insurance and what you could or couldn’t take into or bring out of Mexico—all essentially true. However, I wasn’t prepared for some of the sights we saw. First, there was no check at all on what we took into Mexico and not much on the way out, except for the passport. I am not advocating trying to sneak things into or out of Mexico, just stating our experience.
Second, the constant presence of the militia was a bit disconcerting. Hummer after hummer passed us by filled with, what looked like teen-agers, brandishing automatic weapons. The sound of sirens was almost constant around our luxurious resort. Our desk clerk told us that a year ago, it was a bit dangerous around the area, but this year not so bad.
Next, I was a bit shocked at the poverty and squalor we witnessed around Tijuana. It sort of made me feel guilty that we were spending unnecessarily and all these people were living in such obvious poverty. Many are living on the street or, by our standards, in unlivable conditions. Many of the homes are unfinished. The explanation I received was that they don’t pay taxes on unfinished properties, so they never finish.
However, in spite of these unfavorable things, we had a wonderful time; the local population was extremely friendly and helpful. We have decided that we would like to return to the area. After all, we celebrated my wife’s birthday at a local restaurant and our server made us "promise" to come back for her next birthday. Perhaps we will.

Auto Restoration Continued

Soon after moving to California, our youngest child started school and my wife began to be restless with no kids in the house. She soon found a job and a second car became a necessity. I found a small car that would fill that requirement, plus it met my criteria for restoration. It was a 1959 Nash Metropolitan hardtop coupe. The body appeared to be solid, although there were signs of body putty, and the interior was in poor condition. The little Nash had an American style body over an English Austin engine and running gear.
My restoration project never got off the ground but it provided me with good economical transportation. I commuted from Camarillo to Oxnard, CA until I decided to retire from the electronics field. The little Metro made several trips between Camarillo and Burns, OR, where we had decided to return to our roots. The Metro was used for second car In Burns until the engine finally died. Again my restoration project faded into obscurity.

Several years later my career led me back to Maryland. Again, the old tow bar came out and the Metro was towed to Maryland where it sat in our driveway for several years The Metro was finally sold several years later to a 16-year old boy in Maryland who promised me he would let me see the restored car. Although I never saw it again, I hope he was more successful than I was. Perhaps it has joined the large contingent of restored Nash Metropolitans in the US.

Auto Restoration

Did you ever attempt restoration of an old car? What seems like a romantic project can often turn into a nightmare or at least a non-project. Twice I have been smitten with this malady and twice I tested my wife’s patience.
My first restoration project was a 1940 Chevrolet, four-door sedan—probably not the most desirable project. The old Chevy seemed to be in pretty good shape-good solid body. It didn’t appear to have ever been wrecked. The interior was original and in fair shape. But, the engine needed some work. It had a bad connecting rod. I tore the engine down to see what it needed and went to the nearest Chevrolet parts department. Surprisingly, they still carried the needed parts. I put the engine together and started it up. It purred like a kitten.
My employer then transferred me to California. So I purchased a tow bar and headed for California. The experts say you cannot tow that model without disconnecting the drive line. In my wisdom, I decided to attempt it because the driveline was the old enclosed type and rather involved to disconnect. All went well from Maryland to Needles, California. There, my son said "Dad, it sounds like the Chevy is running." I stopped and found that the transmission had seized up and indeed the engine was "running". At least it was turning over as we rolled. I then got to crawl under and disconnect the driveline. If you have ever been to Needles in midsummer, you know how hot it can be. I lay under the car on several layers of blanket to keep from burning my back on the hot pavement. After I disconnected the driveline, we continued on to California. The Chevy sat in our garage and gathered dust for the four years we lived in California. It was finally sold to some other dreamer and I purchased another dream car. I'll tell you about that one at another time.

Driving Your Vehicle Into Mexico

If you plan to drive your vehicle into Mexico, be sure to plan ahead. There are several things that need to be done well in advance of your trip. A relatively new, but most important requirement is a passport. Every individual traveling into Mexico must have a valid passport. Another important requirement is your vehicle insurance. Your US/Canadian insurance policy does not fill the bill. It is best to go through your existing insurance company to steer you to an affiliated Mexican insurance company. Mexican insurance can be obtained over the Internet, but one wrong click and you are ‘off to the races’. It is also recommended that you register with the American consulate.
If you are traveling further into Mexico than a few miles, you may be required to get more involved with permits and other legal requirements. The Internet is a great source of information for your trip. I recommend spending several hours researching for your trip. At all costs, plan ahead so you can enjoy your trip.

Prepare for Emergencies

Be prepared! Remember the Boy Scout motto. Everyone should be prepared for emergency situations and especially those who live in remote areas. This message was driven home to me during our recent December, 2008 snowstorm. We live in the Coastal Range Mountains of Oregon. Since we are at a low altitude of 400 or 500 feet and are only 12 miles from the beach, we don’t expect much in the way of snow. The December storm dropped nearly three feet of heavy snow on us in a matter of a couple of days. Then, the trees started falling and limbs started falling and we had one of the biggest messes I had ever seen.We have an all-electric home so when the power went out, we lost power, phones, water and heat. We have a long driveway, about an eighth of a mile, and it is very steep. We couldn’t even get down the driveway and if we could have our road was closed with fallen trees and limbs. We did have food but we also have an electric range. We have an RV with a propane stove, but no propane. In other words, we were almost completely unprepared.We do have a small generator and we had about 15 gallons of fuel. About two and a half days later, we ran out of fuel. I began to feel a bit desperate. My wife is frail and can barely walk and I am recuperating from a knee replacement. I got on my old Kubota tractor and started down the driveway with my empty gas cans. I drove over, under and around fallen trees to get down my driveway and headed to town. The state road department had one lane passable by that time. Four hours later, I got back to our driveway with 10 gallons of gas for the generator. I started up the driveway but soon spun out so I left the tractor and began to climb the hill, carrying the two gas cans. I soon gave that up and continued with one can. Because of the deep snow and my bad knee, it was move the can and take a step, move the can and take a step. I finally got up to the house, gassed up the generator and we had limited power. By that time, the house was down to 49 degrees, so my wife welcomed the heat. One-half hour later, the power came on. I was both frustrated and relieved.I spent three days clearing the trees and limbs from the driveway, all the time afraid I would fall, knowing I could not get up. I was near the end of the drive when UPS showed up. I asked the driver to get help for us. A couple hours later, our Good Samaritan neighbor showed up with a big 4-wheel drive tractor. He cleared our driveway sufficiently for us to get in and out.I, for one, will be prepared for the next storm. I will have a supply of water, plenty of fuel for the generator, propane for the RV, first aid kit and anything else I can think of. I would advise one and all to be prepared, regardless of your circumstances. Research for advice on how to be prepared. Snow is not our only danger.

Start Early Preparation for Retirement

It's never too early to start saving for retirement. The moment you begin earning an income, it's time to put money away for retirement.

If you're in your 20s, you're probably still saddled with school loans and carrying your share of debt. While it's tempting to put off worrying about retirement for a decade or two, now is really the time when the foundation for a successful retirement needs to be set. Begin by learning the facts. Study the intricacies of 401(k) plans and read up on tax laws. Information is power.

Once you've learned the lay of the land, create a written retirement plan. Establish goals and figure out what it will take to achieve them. Your goals will likely change over time, but having a blueprint in place will help you along your way.

The next step is to start saving. Set aside 10% from your gross pay each month. To make things easier, it's wise to schedule automatic payments to your 401(k) plan. It will save a lot of hassle and remove the temptation of spending the money.

Now that you're saving money, don't undermine your financial situation by running up huge credit card debts. Spend within your means. Being responsible now will strengthen your retirement down the road.

Finally, don't rely on the government to bail you out. People are living longer these days, meaning they're retired longer too. Social Security won't always be there to save the day. Your retirement is in your own hands.

Retirement: How Did I Get Here?

Mine was a long career of stumbling from job to job. Upon graduation from high school, I had no idea what I would do. In my senior year, I decided to join the Oregon National Guard, partially because it gave me some direction in life and partially to avoid the draft into the Korean Conflict. While this may not sound very patriotic, I assure you that I am a gung-ho, dyed in the wool patriot. I guess an over-protective mother who did not want her sons in the war influenced me. I had an older brother in Korea and things did not seem to go well with him. He later died in Viet Nam. As we now know, joining the National Guard is not necessarily an effective way of avoiding the draft.

The National Guard offered me the opportunity to attend “Fire Control School” in Fort Bliss, Texas. I did not want to learn about fighting fires, but I was soon informed that fire control school was about a weapon control system. I agreed to go to Texas and get educated. This led a 28-year career in electronics.

The second stumble was a 9-year stint as a corporate comptroller and the third, 7-year as a security administrator in Washington, DC.

In 2000, I retired to a 5-acre plot of woodland in Oregon, upon which we placed a triple-wide manufactured home. For four years I was content to putter around our 5-acre resort in the woods, but then began to get a wanderlust. We purchased a 26-year-old motorhome and began to refurbish it. I soon discovered I had bit off more than I could chew. After a short stint working as a supermarket courtesy clerk, I took a most enjoyable job as a school-bus driver. After three years with the school kids, my wife and I began developing minor health problems so I re-retired.

I now putter with a computer writing articles like this one for a little extra income and “sumpthin to do” as my young son used to say. My point is—you need sumpthin to do in retirement, whether it be puttering around, traveling or working part time. Retirement to the "old rockin' chair” will getcha. Most of us have a tendency to put on weight and just get lazy. This is not good for your health and a long retirement.

So, find sumpthin to do and enjoy retirement. It just might get you out of your spouse’s hair and make her retirement better, too.

Senior Traveling

Traveling seems to be a favorite pastime for senior citizens. However, as we grow older and more frail, it gets more and more difficult. We find that driving is so tiresome; but if we limit ourselves to driving only for a comfortable time, we can manage. I would suggest driving a shorter distance each day; perhaps a limit of 300 miles per day. We can't handle those 24-hour marathons like we did when we were 25. It's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves and others.

It is also a good idea to stop and rest frequently; perhaps 5 to 10 minutes every hour. If you get sleepy, pull over. It's not worth the risk of driving while fighting to stay awake. All those tips about running the wipers, turning the radio up, etc. just don't work for more than a few seconds. When you are tired, you may not even realize you are getting sleepy until you wake up, if you are lucky. It's better to be careful and arrive safely than to push it and risk an accident.

If driving is out of the question, there is always the bus, train, or plane. Each has its good and bad points. Flying gets you there quickly, if you can tolerate getting through security. The train allows more freedom of movement while traveling. The bus is less expensive, but is very confining.