Memorial Day Memories

My father fought in WWII after graduating from the Naval Academy.  He was an executive officer on Battle Ships.  He didn’t talk much about his experiences after retiring with almost 25 years of service.  Then he went to work for Good Year Tire and Rubber company in North Chicago as a design engineer.  It is likely that the proto-type for the hose through which you pump your automobile gas was designed by my father. 

Just before being fully vested for a second retirement Good Year decided to do some “down-sizing” and forced my father out of his job.  My parents moved west and bought a smaller home.  My mom went to work as a secretary to help make ends meet.  The Greatest Generation helped us enjoy peace and prosperity for several decades and then were down-sized. 

My father eventually died of a blood born cancer that was caused by nuclear fall out while his ship was at a testing site a few years after WWII.  His grave is over 2000 miles from where we live now.  I don’t get to put a flag by his gave stone this Memorial Day weekend, but I still pause to ponder his sacrifice for the comfort my family and generation enjoy.  I not only thank my father, but all current military and veterans for their service and courage.    

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Topics Covered in my New "Retirement-Freedom" Website --- To be Launched Soon

I have been receiving requests via "comments" & messaging, helping me streamline the topics to be covered in my new website.  I do so appreciate the notes sent by readers.  It helps me tailor the site to the needs of my friends and readers.  It won't be long and the new site will be up and running.  

Here are a few of the sub-categories thus far:

1) 7 Pillars of Retiring Early
2) How to be Your Own Boss
3) Where to Retire
4) Building Wealth While Retired
5) Internet Business Mastery
6) Finding Your Internet Niche
7) Excellent Health While Retired
8) Retirement Bucket List

Podcasts, Web Seminars, and Training to Follow ---

New Retirement-Freedom.com Website Launch is Getting Closer

The Story Behind Our Website Development ---

I have been working with one of the very best web-designers.  He and his partner are artists and perfectionists when it comes to cyber stuff.  You will enjoy the beauty of the site.  I hope the content is helpful to all of my friends and followers.  Here is the first installment of the story of why we have chosen to become part of the cyber-world as we prepare for "retirement".  My younger friends will benefit by developing a brand and Internet Presence and thereby preparing to "retire" at a much younger age, if they so choose.  

OUR STORY ---- Part #1 

I started working at age 10 as a paperboy in Libertyville, Illinois. At age 13 I worked as a caddy at Knollwood Country Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. I was supposed to be 14 but I lied so I could earn better money than my paper route which made $15 per month. If I carried two golf bags twice a day it took 10 hours and made $20, in one day. I thought I was rich. Along the way I got two college degrees and now make much more than $20 per hour.

At age 26, my last year of college, I worked as a night clerk at a hotel. I got home from work at 7:15AM, slept for three hours, and went to school full time taking 18 credit hours per semester. Five years previously, my wife and I were married and within a few years were supporting our small family on student jobs.  

We look back at those years with pure nostalgia.  We were paying $80 per month on groceries and $45 for health insurance.  We chased mice out of our one-bedroom, crumbling Victorian house apartment.   We put cardboard in a window pane as the land-lord took months getting around to fixing things.   I got blown across the room when I was re-lighting the antique heater for the umpteenth time.  I had no eye-browse or lashes for weeks.             

One of my mentors said the love of work is success. I have enjoyed my working life but am ready for significant change. In a year I will be at 50 years of employment: 34 years with the same corporation as an educator and administrator.  As I approach retirement, changes in our country concern me about health care and social security. The “feds” have already changed my prescribed “full” retirement time to age 66. But if I wait until I am 70 before starting to draw Social Security, I will get so much more on a monthly basis.  

Now don’t get me wrong---we have prepared for retirement as though Social Security would be bankrupt. If we get any of the money we “invested” in S.S. back, it will be extra funds rather than absolutely essential. We are not wealthy but we have been careful and prudent over the years with investments and savings.

When I read about the worries of my fellow Baby-Boomers, I empathize deeply. Right now I tell people that I will retire at age 60, and start my 2nd career. But at the same time, we want to be free to travel and spend time with children and grandchildren. We dream of serving our community and church. Corporate employment just won’t work for us any longer.  Being our own boss is absolutely essential.

We know what works for us and have boiled it down to a set of principles that can help anyone in any circumstance do likewise. We intend to share the principles via a new website we will launch soon.  Many hours of research and testing are going into our preparations. This is all done outside of my 40+ hour per week current employment commitments. We are enjoying building our dream for the future. We look forward to sharing our experience.

Check the Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgages

Check the Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgages---Click on the title for a good link to trustworthy information. They have even compiled a list of trustworthy banks to consider if you are about to do a Reverse Mortgage. 

The Single Best Retirement Strategy for Everyone regardless of Age

CLICK on the title to learn more----I have been thinking about my younger readers recently.  I had a conversation with my youngest daughter who is 23 years old and just graduated from College.  She now has her first professional job as a mental health specialist at a local hospital. We talked about her benefits package and I could tell she was still thinking like a "broke" college student rather than a professional preparing for her future and eventual retirement someday...so this post is specifically intended to help all 2300 friends in my Facebook Group, particularly the younger ones who could start saving now for their future.  I have a friend who did this in his mid-20's and he says he will have $1,000,000+ in his 401K when he retires. 

The Best Strategy is to save what kicks in the maximum matching funds from your employer.  In our case it is earning us 66% interest, or in other words my employer matches my 6% savings with 4% from them.  And since we are saving in a pretty aggressive mutual fund of our choosing, it earns an additional 6% - 15% most years. It almost sounds too good to be true, but it is definatley true.    Click on the title to this post for more information.

Four-legged Retirement Plan, Becomes Five

A response to my Four-legged Retirement Plan, a genuine concern from a friend named Greg on Facebook. 

"All four of these legs seem to sit squarely on the presumed security of the dollar, or some form of currency. Are you sure this is wise? If the dollar fails, and with it likely all other nation-based currencies, there goes your pension, your SS, your savings, and your internet biz."

So now my response to the comment---

Social Security could disappear, but I doubt it, especially for those already 55 years and older.  Youngsters will probably end up with an adjusted benefit as we struggle to reduce deficits and balance the national budget.  In order to protect our “dollar” investments or the other three legs of the retirement formula, we plan to own our retirement home without a mortgage.  We also plan to have an aggressive food-storage and production life-style.  Thus, we are looking for a property with at least an acre or two, perhaps more. 

Another “security” we will have is a self-directed Internet Business that would continue to produce dividends/income whether the dollar survives or not.  If all else fails, the barter system will always bring a flow of goods and services.  I should call my formula a five-legged plan, adding what I refer to as Provident Living or Production Life-style.      

4-legged Retirement Plan---START NOW---the sooner the better! 1) Pension, 2) Self Directed Internet Business, 3) Savings, 4) Social Security

We are a bit more than a year away from the first possible retirement date from my career as an educator.  I turn 60 in July 2012 and could retire with a pension due to having over 33 years with the same employer.  About the only advantage to staying past age 60 would be to continue to build our 401K savings plan to supplement our pension and social security.  So we are pretty serious about retiring, but I have been surprised by my worry about having nothing to do. 

Lest you start commenting that we could go on missions and serve in all kinds of other pursuits, such as quality time with grandkids, not to mention golf, we do plan on doing all of those…but I also want to start another “career” to last from age 60-75 that will supplement our income and increase our net worth.  I don’t do the couch-potato thing very well.  I need projects and creative outlets, so career #2 here we come.  It must be a business that gives us freedom to work when we wish and do otherwise when we wish. 

Now back to our trip to Boise----we had a dual purpose: time with children and grandchildren as well as looking for a retirement home.  We spent time playing games, watching Liam’s first T-Ball game (so cute), geo-caching, and looking at possible homes buy.  The housing market in Boise has been decimated which gives us a retirement boost since we can buy more home for the $$$$$.  Short sales and foreclosures abound.  You must have nerves of steel to navigate the banks and former-owner labyrinth but amazing buys are abundant.  Million dollar homes for sale for almost 50% off…wow!  Way too much home for empty-nesters but fun to contemplate and perhaps a good investment lurks.   

We want acreage to garden and maybe have some animals.  I figure we should have the where-with-all to produce what we need if something ever does happen to the distribution system in our country.  Boise is beautiful this time of year and gardening season is starting.  The mountains are close for recreation.  The Snake River is just to the south.  Most of our children and my mother would be within an easy days drive.  Tax-wise, Idaho is good for retirees. 

The price of food and necessary household items is fantastic compared to Alaska.  I would miss catching 40 lb. salmon but there are some pretty good fish in the Snake River.  And hunting in them-there-hills north of Boise is not bad either.

Our developing Internet Business can be run from anywhere we can get a fast cyber-connection.  So Boise has moved to the top spot on our retirement list.  August 1, 2012 is starting to look pretty good as the beginning of the next great adventure in our lives.                  

Making a Family Budget Work for You

Living wisely includes the need to manage financial resources, without obsessing, lest we get our heart set in the wrong place.  You’ve heard it a thousand times but it is still one of the wisest morsels of biblical wisdom, the love of money is the root of all evil.  Avoiding that kind of obsession seems more than essential if we are to successfully navigate our lives with lofty goals in mind. 

But, you say, money management is so complicated!  It takes too much time! It makes us way too stressed! We fight every time we work on our budget together! 

Unfortunately if those worries cause grid-lock and budgeting goes on the back burner, soon credit cards control the money flow without restraint.  So is there a solution?

After many years of using a multiplicity of systems, some of our own concoction, we have found an online program that does most of the entry portion of budgeting for us.  We now use Mint.com which made me nervous at first but has proven to bless our lives ultimately.  The concern was that you give them access to your financial accounts and the entries are made automatically to your tracking system online. 

There are other similar online resources.  Investigate carefully before pressing forward. But we are satisfied it works and that our identity and privacy are protected.  I don’t work for them and I don’t get a commission from them for making this suggestion.  But it has simplified our much friendlier weekly meeting of the minds on financial decisions. 

Our goal as we go into retirement will be to continue to increase our net-worth by at least 5% per year in order to inflation-proof our nest-egg. This will allow us to serve others and to spend time traveling to see family and friends.  Mint.com is quickly becoming a very good friend.                       

Small-Business Discovers Internet Business Success

Small-Business Discovers Internet Business Success
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