More Retirement Income Without Time Constraints

Here's the story…

I wanted to retire so I would have more time to travel while being free to serve family and others.  A few years ago I decided to learn the skills needed to build my own e-commerce business without relying on others to do the thinking for me. 

I wanted control of my time, creativity, commitment, and cash flow.  I was 57 years old and winding down my career as an educational administrator.  This summer I will turn 60 years young and “retire” after 33 years with the same educational institution. 

So, what to do???
I watched friends go through this dramatic transition into retirement, and listened to their dreams, worries, and complaints.  It’s tough to know exactly what your income will be, no matter how much you consult with accountants, tax advisors, and investment professionals. 

Most people I know simply decide to stay with their current career rather than “risk” losing benefits and late career income.  We wonder what is going to happen to Social Security, Medicare, and health care costs. It takes real courage to make the jump and retire before reaching federal mandated full retirement age, 66 years old.

So I invested in a good computer, and started learning the ins-and-outs of the cyber world.  I enrolled in several online e-commerce training courses.  There are hundreds of these courses available online.  I was fortunate to have my oldest son as my consultant to help me choose the most useful training programs.  He owns one of the most successful online business training companies, and has a six figure income, all from his home office. 

All together I have invested about $5000 in my post retirement business career, including the cost of my fancy high capacity computer.  I started two blogs, a website, and began writing about my retirement preparation experiences.  One blog was about health issues for retirees, and the other about all other retirement needs.  I enjoyed the creative process as well as sharing my regular ups and downs while progressing. 

My online presence began to grow.  My son warned me about this.  At first it was a bit scary to open myself up to such a diverse audience.  My Facebook friends grew to over 2700.  My blogs currently have over 11,000 “page views”.  My fear grew into fun as I learned how to be careful with my opinions and concentrate on sharing what I was learning. 


I am doing the best I can to just be myself but you can’t control perceptions when some of your online community knows you only as a cyber personality.  As time passes, more and more of your group have not even met you in person.  They learn to trust you because your information has proven to be honest, useful, and concise.   It’s important to never break that trust. 

So the trick is figuring out how to make money from an online personality or “brand”.  Here is the beginning of sharing how I am supplementing my retirement income by developing my very own online company.  Here are some of the computer programs I use to manage my online brand: Blogger, Aweber, Libsyn, Wordpress, and Gmail.  There are other programs out there that do the same things, but these have proven to be the easiest and most usable.

I will have upcoming podcasts focused on the way I use and synthesize these programs to make money. I thought it would be too complex for my aging brain, but I discovered it actually helps my mental agility.

I copyright my podcasts to protect my “intellectual”/creative material.  In order to gain access I invite those interested to become part of my secure email group by signing up in the box to the left of my blog posts.  Yep, there it is to the left of this article. 

I hope you will join my group.  By doing so you will get direct access to my podcasts when they are available, currently about twice a month.  I guarantee this will be one of the coolest things you ever do.  You have a lifetime of experience to share.  You have unique talents that will benefit many.  Come explore how to find your cyber-niche.

My Sweetheart Jeannie is Making Great Progress

Two weeks ago my wife Jeannie’s blood pressure dropped below 90/60 and her heart rate went up to 120.  We have a home blood pressure monitor so I was able to check her blood pressure and pulse regularly.  After caring for her for a full day at home without improvement we went to the emergency room on Monday morning May 7^th.  She was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia and admitted to the hospital for what became an 8 day ordeal.  For a while they thought she had a staph infection but it turns out to have been strep, which was the first tender mercy since it is “easier” to cure. 

Her right lung capacity had been at 1/3 its normal when she was admitted and improved to close to 90% due to miraculous treatment to drain the infectious gunk through a chest tube.  It was no fun for Jeannie with lots of pain but as usual she was a real trooper and patiently waded through.  As I recollect she only broke down once and cried in frustration and due to pain.  I am so proud of her resolve to fight this.        

After long difficult days in the hospital, on Monday evening May 14^th she was released from the hospital and has been home on continued antibiotic treatment to clear up the rest of the infection in her right lung.  Coming home was tender mercy #2.  We were so glad to avoid the long-term care recovery center the doctors thought they would send her to. I have been able to be her home nurse most of the time.   

I am grateful to be able to do this for her since last time she was in a serious health situation in 2007 I got sick and spent 10 days in the hospital with a ruptured appendix, and was not able to care for her during chemotherapy for stage 4 oral cancer.     

Today Jeannie goes to her infectious disease doctor for an evaluation to see if she is progressing well.  She has been improving steadily and yesterday went for a short walk outside holding onto my arm. 

Life is slowly getting back to normal around our home which is tender mercy #3.  It will be a long process to get Jeannie back to “full” health but we have made it through the most difficult weeks. 

She appreciates all the thoughts and prayers offered for her.  With being this sick it “takes a village” to get better and all the positive input has been motivational for her to rally again.  Thank you for your kindness and love.   

Great Help for Your Weight Loss Quest

My good friend Mike responded to my recent post about how to reboot your weight loss program with a lengthy well thought out narrative. It was so kind of him to take time to give some wise counsel. I want to share his response with all of you. But first you should know that Mike is a championship level body builder. He really knows his stuff and he walks the walk. He took exception with one of my 6 bullet points as you will see below. He is definitely right, weighing daily can become a real psychological downer...be careful not to do it for long or at all if you are deterred by it.  Here is ta link to the original post, http://weightlosspowerusers.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-stay-on-track-with-your-diet.html

So here is the excellent response:  

All good advise with the exception of #6. Weighing yourself daily can be a setup for failure. Changing your body is primarily a mental process. In order to achieve success, whatever your goal you need to be 100% mentally committed. Protecting this mental focus and commitment is paramount. As a 210lb man @ 7% body fat, my body weight can fluctuate 5lbs from morning to night and a few lbs either way from day to day. If I were to weigh myself every day and use this as my gauge of progress I would be a basket case. I need to protect my goal mentally. Don't misunderstand, weighing yourself is an important tool, but know that the number on the scale isn't the whole story. What the real goal is here is to lose body fat right? Who really cares how much you weigh? Unless you’re a prize fighter trying to hit a weight class, no one gives a rats what the scale says, right? Most people just want to feel better, look better, fit in their clothes, and not carry around the huge spare tire or loose caboose. However some people get so focused on that number, the number becomes the goal. If you really want to know if you’re making progress toward your goal, you need to use a skin fold caliper reading along with scale weight to determine what's really going on. Am i really loosing body fat or what? www.linearsoftware.com sells the caliper for about $20 and you can enter your readings and get results online free. I would only recommend weighing & gauging your progression towards your fat loss goals on a weekly basis. This allows you to focus on making the changes mentally that will produce results physically. As you know, and have demonstrated, fitness doesn't happen in 24 hours, it is a progression that takes months and years. If done correctly, consistency and with 100% commitment, the things you learn will serve you for a lifetime. Congratulations on your progress thus far. Keep spreading the good word!

A Great Source of Money if you know How to Do It

How to buy your next home.  There is major interest in this retirement strategy.  Interest rates at are historic lows right now.  We have been fortunate over the years to be able to make money on all the homes we have purchased or perhaps I should say "invested" in. It's easy to do, if you know a few basics.

There is no substantive reason why you have to stop using your home as an investment as you go into retirement. In my most recent private letter to my secure email group I shared how we have set ourselves up in our first retirement home in Idaho with an immediate equity gain due to it being a short sale property one year previously.

We were happy to do it this way since the seller had already been through the intense process of negotiating with the bank. We got the house for less than what they had paid once we considered the $21,000 professional landscaping project they completed. We watched the Boise homes market closely for 18 months to find the right home. Internet know-how makes this easy now a days.

As much as I appreciate all our real estate brokers over the years, keep in mind that they always have a "conflict of interest" as they negotiate on your behalf. Listen to their counsel but take charge and make your own decisions when it comes to negotiations.

If you go after a foreclosure or short sale, be prepared to walk away when the business process gets pushy. You will almost always hear that another potential buyer's offer is about to be on the table as they try to get you to settle on a price. Don't let your emotions govern your decisions.

If you know what to do you can make 10's of thousands of dollars as you buy your next home. We picked up $60,000 equity the day we signed our new home papers in Boise last week. If invested wisely, at 5% draw that can be an inflation proofed addition of $3000 in retirement income per year for perpetuity. Not a bad bonus.

To get more detail about this and other investment strategies you can join my secure email group by signing up in the box to the left of this post: http://saferetirementfreedom.blogspot.com/

Retire Early---Real Life Stories of Success

My newest 8 minute podcast is available for listening. It’s the follow-up to “Building a Nest Egg in 5 Years or Less”.  You'll hear real stories of people who retired early because of aggressive savings, without risky investments.  No matter your age, it can be done. 

The audio file is available only to my secure email group, which helps protect my copyrighted material.  If you'd like the link, sign-in to the left of this Blog then go to your email address to confirm.

If others would like to have access send them to: http://saferetirementfreedom.blogspot.com/
to sign up.

The Podcast is avaiable now to my secure email group only.  
I will always protect your email privacy.

More Pics of the New Homestead outside Boise Idaho

Living Room

Living Room toward Dining and Kitchen

Master

Family Room downstairs

Home and View

Buying Our New Home Outside Boise in the Country

We are closing on our new home in the country outside of Boise Idaho this week. We are excited to have room for family gatherings and 3 acres for the grandkids to run around and have fun. Jeannie and I can live on the main level, master, office and all needs met. No stairs to negotiate when we get older. There is plenty of property for a large garden and small orchard.

 Views to die for; farms and orchards in the Payette River Valley. Blue sky, sunshine, and little snow. The appraisal came back hirer than what we are paying, with $21,000 of new landscaping out front.

We learned huge lessons that may help others who are contemplating retirement. If you buy your retirement home early enough you can qualify at current salary. Most retirement income is not substantiated for a year or two after leaving employment. Your options are limited if a mortgage is involved until you can prove your retirement income. That's why many retiring couples buy smaller condos for which they qualify or they must pay cash.

If you would like to know more, join my secure email group by signing in to the left of this post. 

  

21 Great Ideas for Controlling Debt

     1)     Don’t eat out could save you thousands per year

2)     Cut up credit cards

3)     Build an emergency fund for unexpected expenses

4)     Entertain yourself at home or by hiking etc. rather than using expensive forms of entertainment

5)     Spend less than you earn

6)     Use cash for your purchases

7)     When debt is paid off increase your savings

8)     Don’t use the government tax system as a bonus plan, if they have your money they earn the interest and you do not, your money should be working for you not the government

9)     Use a realistic budgeting system that works for you and live by it

10)  If married, work on the budget together and discuss any deviations from the budget plan

11)  Read Dave Ramsey’s “Your Money or Your Life”

12)  Be patient, it takes time to get rid of debt, but it’s worth it

13)  Stop borrowing money no matter what

14)  Track all of your expenses...I like to use mint.com, but there are other useful tools

15)  Maximize a retirement savings plan

16)  Have a long range vision for your future

17)  Examine your expenses and decrease where possible, you will be surprised how well this works, negotiate with cable, phone, and other providers

18)  Don’t impulse purchase anything, educate yourself on the alternatives before making a decision

19)  Put a note in your wallet that says, “Do I really need to buy this”

20)  Think about debt as slavery and savings as wealth-for-your-future

21)  Improve your health to lower your health costs with dentists and doctors

For more detailed information about this topic and others related to preparing for your future sign-up for my secure email group postings to the left of this blog. 

Prepare a Safety Net Now as you Prepare for the Future

My first teaching contract paid me just over $11,000 in 1978.  By the time we settled in Wyoming to start teaching, our second son was born. For the life of me I could not figure out how I was going to save enough money to buy a house for our family of four.

Fortunately I was able to borrow $500 from my father and we bought our first home for $49,000 in 1979 due to a first-time home owners program in the state of Wyoming. Our house payment at $400 per month was about double the rent we had been paying.  I was transferred out of Wyoming the following year and we sold our home and made $9000 profit.  We learned valuable lessons about building equity and tax breaks. 

In those early years we made extra money by working second jobs.  It helped get us by and we weren’t worried at all about retirement at that point in our lives, we just wanted to survive.  We did our best to save a few dollars for emergencies, but not much. Then I was blessed to attend a special convention put on by my employer about retirement preparation that changed things. 

I learned that I had a three-pronged retirement program available to me: 1) company pension, 2) 401K styled savings program with matching fund's from my employer, and 3) Social Security.  Since I enjoyed my profession, which would never make me rich, I determined to maximize my retirement options. 

I started by figuring out how long I needed to stay with my employer to top out on a pension. Next we started savings to our 401K that brought us the maximum matching funds from my employer with a goal of getting to at least 10%.  We did this on 'faith and a prayer' hoping we could pay our bills and be aggressive with our savings. Finally, we hoped Social Security would provide an additional financial cushion. 

I made a flow chart of major expenses we could anticipate.  Missions and College for children, purchasing cars, some travel, and perhaps graduate degrees for Jeannie and me. The result was panic at first and then more careful planning for our future without behaving like penniless paupers.By being frugal we managed to get by and satisfy all of our obligations to others and ourselves. 

Now, lest you think we did not have much fun along the way, we bought a ski boat and took trips to Lake Powell and other ski “meccas” to enjoy some family recreation. But we camped out rather than renting villas or motel rooms.  After some years we were able to sell the Bayliner and recoup all but $1000, so we considered it worth the investment to spend quality family time.

The ultimate result of this is that we can retire at age 60 and manage our financial needs if we are cautious and wise.  Our home will be paid for and our expenses will be minimized with our 5 children successfully launched into their independent lives and careers.

With careful inflation-proofing of our nest-egg, we should be fine for the rest of our lives. We plan on living in retirement for 20-30 years.  But something is still concerning me about our future. 

We are worried about health care expenses.  We worry about Social Security.  What about hyper-inflation, could it really happen?  What if weather and other natural disasters disrupt and then permanently change our food distribution systems?  What if the economy worsens? 

Now please don’t get me wrong, I am not pessimistic. I doubt that any of these calamities will happen beyond repair. As a people we continue to be more resilient than we suppose.  But just in case, I have determined to add a few more elements to our retirement plan. 

In addition to our pension, 401K savings, and Social Security, we have added our own fun, simple, & lucrative Internet based business,  and a production lifestyle so we produce some of our own food. This brings us peace of mind and a compassionate approach to retirement.  Being my own boss will allow freedom to serve family and community. 

My Blog and Website deal with these new parts of our lives.  By way of review, they are: operating our own Online Business, and enhancing our production-lifestyle to provide some of the food we consume.  Preparations are becoming interesting and fun.  We love the creative process.

I encourage you to become part of my secure email list since I will be adding new material several times a week to update what we are learning.  Thus far it has been most rewarding and provides an opportunity to help others.  I have made mistakes and by learning from them have found some of the best mentors for guiding us while improving our health, fulfillment in retirement, and financial security.  Sign-in to the left of this post to join our group. 

Newest Podcast about building a Retirement Nest-Egg in 5 Years or Less

I have completed my newest Podcast.  It's 8 minutes long, on the secrets to building a retirement nest egg quick, in 5 years or less. For those who haven't started to preare, this is how it's done without risky investing.  These steps work extremely well.

The audio file is available only to my secure email group. If you'd like the link , sign-in to the left of this Blog post then go to your email address to confirm. I will send the link via email.  I will always protect your email privacy.