Retirement Money

Several people at work have been debating how much it takes to retire. One said a million dollars, others had different numbers in mind, but to me it is more about "cash flow".

When ones passive income (after taxes) becomes as large or larger than ones working income (after taxes) and assuming your passive income will increase at least as much as inflation, then I believe your retirement should be secure without trying to figure out a set dollar amount stashed away.

If you are living ok and saving money on your current salary, then why shouldn't you live and save money in retirement if you income is the same or higher.

There really is no one size fits all then it comes to retirement. Money can't buy happiness but even worse is the fact the money can't buy time when it is that time.

I hope to have a few good years left but as the old saying goes, "If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself".

So stay tuned as I prepare for what should be "one hell of an adventure".

An Exciting Year Ahead

My company is challenging everyone to loose weight and they are putting their money behind the challenge. The contest weight-in was January 4 ( I weighed 238lbs) but you can start anytime of the year you decide to participate. Next weigh-in will be June 1.
10% =$100
15% =$150
20% =$200 and ect.
Final weigh-in will be December 1 and you will receive a like amount from your original weight. An incentive to continue dropping weight and keeping it off.
This came at an opportune time as I had decided to weigh no more than 200lbs before I retire.
YES, I SAID RETIRE. I turn 62 in May and my anniversary date at work is the last of July (no need to forfeit 3 weeks vacation pay for not working the two extra months). My exact retirement date is still debatable as several factors are still in play, but it will be sometime between August 1 and the end of the year.
After retirement we will be hooking to our home (travel trailer) and hitting the road. So much to see and I can't wait to get started.
"Home will be where we park it". No, that does not mean we will travel every day but travel to a new locale and stay until we feel we have seen and done what we want and move again and let the process start over. We might stay a day or two, a week, a month, or for a season.
I might even be in your area and contact you for a little one on one meeting, just a heads-up for my friends both personal and internet types.

Slowly being dragged into the present

I am rather slow to come around to "change", as a matter of fact, I am against most of it. However, SKYPE the free internet based phone and video service is my newest addition into the present world.

Actually seeing Zac when we talk is a great comfort for this old dad. If you do not presently have it, you might want to check it out. I will bet your kids already use it.

Zac and ABD

No my son Zac does not have an awful disease. As long time visitors know, Zac has been at Penn State studying for his PhD in French. Well he is now ABD (All But Dissertation) meaning he is through with all class work and exams. All this is great.......................

But!

He flew out of New York City today heading back to France to teach for a year (again) and do research for his dissertation. When I asked about his dissertation subject, it took two minutes for the explanation. I didn't understand a thing he said. The boy is just to damn smart for his old man. Before he gets the big head he needs to know that I have a ball pien hammer that is also smarter than me but not as hard headed.

A Busy Month

My wife had a "total knee replacement" (her second) four weeks ago today and she is starting to show real improvement in the last two or three days.
When she had her left knee replaced about five years ago, they keep her in the hospital about 4 days and then transferred her to the rehab wing of the hospital for another 10 days. In the rehab wing she was cared for by nurses and physical therapists.
This time the knee was replaced on Wednesday and they sent her home on Saturday. I got to play nurse and a physical therapist came by twice a week. Luckily her daughter came over to stay with her while I was at work but it has been a stressful few weeks with very little sleep.
Guess you could say I received a taste of a working mom's life. Work all day, come home and fix the meals and up every few hours to add ice to her ice pack or help her to the bathroom
(ALWAYS, five minutes after I had gotten the ice pack on her knee and her settled back down).
Thankfully she is starting to move around and do for herself and every day is an improvement. I'm amazed at just how quickly the turn around has been. She went from crying half the night and counting the hours until she could have another pain pill to taking a single pain pill for the night in just a span of 3 or 4 days. After two weeks of misery it was a fast turnaround.
The operation didn't kill her and I resisted the same.

Mother Jones

Mary Harris Jones "Mother Jones" is not a name that many of you have ever heard , but she was one of the most famous women of the first half of 20th century. I originally heard about her when I did a little research on the publication named after her, Mother Jones magazine.











Her burial place and memorial is just off the "mother road" (old route66) in Mt. Olive, Il.

She was called "The most dangerous women in America". Not because she was a gangster mama, but because she was a union organizer.













Every coal miner, union worker, and American owe a great deal to this small (about 5ft.) fireball lady. After losing her hustand and children to Yellow Fever
and then everything she owned in the great Chicago fire, she sent on a crusade to make America a better place for all workers.

Brooks Catsup

We took some time off and did a little roaming around last week and took a picture of the worlds largest catsup bottle. It was built as a water tower for the company that produced Brooks Catsup.

You can check out the official web sight here.
http://www.catsupbottle.com/

We were heading to Litchfield, Illinois for a family visit but took the indirect route there and back. An 800 mile round trip turned into 1500 miles with our sightseeing.

A few more posts about our trip will follow when I have time and energy.