Financial Planning - Beginning my 5th Year of Retirement

I have ended my 4th year of retirement in a good way.  The decision to begin Social Security at age 62 was made and it will work very well for me.  An added bonus is that is will also work very well for my husband.

From my last blog about Financial Planning, I was undecided about starting Social Security and thought I should try living on my base retirement and profits from my investments until I'm age 66 which is the full benefit age.  I had no significant savings as I have been making large purchases instead.  Here are the reasons that this appears to be the best decision at this time:

1.  The Temporary Payment portion of my state pension ends when I reach age 62 with the assumption that Social Security will take it's place.  This payment was about 1/3 of my total pension.  Social Security is a couple hundred dollars more per month than that Temporary Payment.

2.  The marital strategy of "file and suspend" would not benefit me but would be much less in dollars and runs the risk of less payment should I become a widow before my husband reaches age 70.  This "file and suspend" strategy will be discontinued by March 2016 as it was found to be a legal loophole by politicians that was recently negotiated to close.  I think it worked best for those couples that had one spouse with very little work history that paid into the system.  I have 40 years paying good wages into the system and now it is payback time!  Remember the TV horse show from the 1960's, "My Friend Flicka?"   Well, now it's My Friend FICA!  Thanks to all you wage-earners out there!

3.  Instead of "file and suspend" we were told by a Social Security Representative that it would be to our benefit for me to file at my earliest time (my 62nd birthday) and then have my husband file on me while he continues to work until age 70, the maximum payment age.  This does not affect my amount in any way but gives my husband half of what he would be making at age 66.  We had thought it would be half of my age 62 amount but it turned out to be half of HIS amount at age 66.  The law had changed in recent years that allows a person to make a larger amount of wage and still collect Social Security.  Of course, there will be taxes paid on this higher income for my husband.  Best of all, his Social Security continues to grow to maximum and I can collect off his increased benefits should I become a widow.  Win-win situation!

4.  The money my husband unexpectedly will now be making off my age 62  Social Security filing has been earmarked for home improvement which will take any pressure off his wages (he's still saving for his retirement) and I likely will increase my savings for added security.

5.  My investment base amount has dropped in 2015.  I had expected a minimum of 6% growth each year and got in the first two years.  The past two years have been less than 6% and 2016 will be the first year I will not take any distribution.  The distribution was used to largely fund my Health Savings Account (HSA) each year.  That amount is the maximum out-of-pocket dollar amount I have to pay for my medical issues.  I will try to pay that amount in 2016 from my savings; if not, I will have to reduce the base amount of my investments.  I don't want to do that as I've stopped adding to it when I retired.

For the most part, I have been living within my means and enjoying my retirement with little restrictions.  My needs and expectations are less than when I was working and I'm traveling about as much as I want.  I still have a dream to go to Europe and may be getting closer to a real time as now I have decided I do not want to travel alone and may wait for my husband to retire since there appears to be no one else available in my life that wants to or is able to travel with me.  Maybe a few years of savings will make it all real and my husband and I will have the trip of our lifetime!

It still takes some planned effort to make sure I'm secure enough and manage any financial stress potentials.  I have recently been relieved from a 2% income tax loan that I finally paid off from 2011 as I had a very large backdrop payment when I retired from the state.  Half of that paid off bills and bought a new car for cash and the other half is my investment base.  I still kept a balance on a 9% credit card that did not get paid down every month these past two years.  I have recently put that amount in a 0% Credit Union credit account that I will pay off in 18 months.  Again, that increase savings potential from the new Social Security situation along with continuing with the normal payment I am use to paying for that 2011 income tax loan will take care of that as long as I keep the discipline and not add any more credit debt.

Because of the uncertainty of when my last Temporary Payment will be made and when the Social Security payment begins, I have been living lean so as to not spend money I don't have until I get it.  Christmas was leaner than usual.  I did spend more than expected on homemade gifts which for the most part was the final genealogy product I've been working on extensively this past year.  I made nine copies for family members and that cost.  It is also the final product.

So I'm starting out the new year with some uncertainty waiting to see my new reality.  Expected increases from Social Security and commitment to save more money so I can do more is the main plan.  My husband will take care of the household repairs and remodeling and my financial help will not be expected now.  My health expenses are big and won't change until I'm 65 when Medicare takes some of the load.  Best I can do is to manage my health issues as to keep my good quality of life and make sure the money is in the HSA when I need it.  Financing my activities is manageable as I have found a level of activity that is comfortable and do not want to increase.  As you can see by my other articles in this blog, I'm active enough!  I do plan to travel to see family out of state a couple times a year and 2016 will include a trip to the west coast for the first time.  There is much to look forward too and I can reasonably expect success.

The Beginning of My 5th Year of Retirement is optimistic!  My health issues have progressed but there are new medicines recently prescribed that are working good!  My prosperity is good as long as I keep within boundaries I have set with a realistic budget.  I am getting much better at it since I have retired than when I was working!  My happiness comes from being at peace with myself and improved relationships with my family and friends.

I have real expectations now that I own my own time and don't allow anyone to stress me out or waste my precious retirement time.  I am in a position to let everyone know how much they mean to me and that I value their time.  I am able to love unconditionally.  I let people know I can be there for them and am flexible to their time if they're still working.  But I can find many interests on my own when they are too busy to include me in their lives.  True happiness comes from within and not dependent on other people.  I am still challenged to find a balance between caring about people that may not care about me and being true to myself.  I do have more "true" friends now than when I was working.  Life's experiences have taught me that many relationships are conditional and self-serving.  Retirement has shown me that there are many people that truly value me and like having me around just because I am me.  Intuition has given me the power to see the difference!

Time for Family, Friends, and Genealogy

I made 9 copies of 3 branches of our family tree which included 7-8 generations beginning in the 1830's with help from Family Tree Maker, Ancestry.com, and living relatives.

It has been a wonderful year filled with family and friends!  It also was the end of a year-long genealogy project I wanted to share with immediate family members for Christmas.  I feel so blessed to connect with the past and present and look forward to many more years of family growth and discovery.

I was so pleased to learn from my daughter that she helped to organize a family get together with relatives in Iowa and Nebraska for Thanksgiving week.  It would be a great time for family members to meet her new husband as well as reconnect after many years!  It took several days to fit every one's schedules but we got it done and memories were made.  My son and daughter-in-law traveled all the way from Virginia!  It was too bad that my husband could not be there due to work commitments.

It began with Grandma's Day.  There was a pizza and wings party and my children and their spouses spent quality time with my husband's mother and two sisters.



After our visit with Grandma and the Aunts went back to work, my children and their spouses went with me to see my friends at the courthouse nearby.  I've been blessed to have had these beautiful ladies as my friends since the early 1970's.  One was my Maid-of-Honor and the other my senior classmate and neighbor.  We have kept in touch all these years.



The next day was spent with 14 family members at a restaurant in Omaha.    Good food and lots and lots of conversation.  My brother and I were so happy to see our combined families together in one place!  Missed very much were my husband, and two of my brother's grandchildren and their families; otherwise, that would make 8 more members for a total of 22 between us two siblings!  Now if our other brother from Virginia were here with his family that would add 14.5 more for a total of 36.5 family members between two brothers and a sister!



The next day was spent at my brother's house and I made plans to spend the afternoon with my dear friend who lives nearby.  She was the first friend I made when I first moved to Iowa in 1971.  We were also senior classmates.  It was her first day of retirement and I helped her celebrate!


Then came Thanksgiving Day!  My daughter and her husband had to travel back to Missouri for work commitments the day before.  My son and daughter-in-law spent the day with her cousin and their family in Omaha.  So I was fortunate to have a big family dinner at my niece's home in Omaha.  So much good food prepared by great cooks and everybody helped out.

While we were eating inside...the rain was freezing outside!

The next morning there was a thick coating of ice on everything so I waited until my car thawed out in my brother's heated garage before attempting the icy 6-hour drive back to Missouri!

I got home safely from Iowa that evening although the drive by myself was very stressful.  A couple hours later, we were fortunate to have my son and daughter-in-law stop by our home in Missouri for dinner on their drive back to Virginia.  My husband was especially appreciative since he missed this family trip with me. 

With the Thanksgiving festivities over, it soon moved toward the birthday and Christmas season.  My son had his birthday and was given his gifts from me before he went home.  A few days later, my good friend and I celebrated our close birthdays together with a trip to Branson.  We saw a show, the Christmas lights trail, and had a nice dinner at Olive Garden.

My husband surprised me with a dozen red roses, my favorite chocolates, and a lovely card for my birthday!  

We had friends, a husband and wife who live nearby, over to our house for my traditional kolache and coffee.  

Then I was invited to a friend's house for our regular Girl's Night Out and Christmas gift exchange where we also celebrated my birthday with a cake and good company!

The weather had been so unseasonably mild for this time of year here in SW Missouri that my husband and I got one more time to kayak on our local lake.  The sunset was exceptionally beautiful as the lake looked like it was on fire!

It was quite a challenge to put together my Christmas gifts of genealogy binders this year for nine immediate family members.  My computer crashed and was in the shop for a month and I ran out of ink a couple times!  One of the three branches had 17 pages to trim and paste together...for nine copies!  Still I enjoyed every minute and it was all in the mail the Monday before Christmas with hopes that most of them will get there on time.  Family time may not always be easy but it is always worth the effort!  And not to be left out is my Bobi Kitty...my loyal friend and family member wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wilderness - Mingo National Wildlife Refuge

Lake of the Ozarks Chapter of Missouri Master Naturalists are "Home" in a Wilderness Area

The practical definition of wilderness is simple: no roads, no structures, no vehicles, no machinery including chainsaws. The list of allowed activities include: hiking, hunting, backpacking, horseback riding, canoeing/kayaking, fishing, and camping. In Missouri we are fortunate to have 8 outstanding wilderness areas. Seven of the areas are part of the Mark Twain National Forest and one area (Mingo) is part of the US Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The Forest Service has maps and trail descriptions on their web site. www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/mtnf/specialplaces.

There are 8 Wilderness Areas in Missouri

Mingo National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1944 under the authority of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as a nesting and wintering area for waterfowl and other migratory birds supported and recognized by the Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area.  The refuge supports bird species and habitats that are of conservation priority.  It is also for the preservation of bottomland hardwood forest and contains 21,592 acres and lies in a basin formed in an ancient abandoned channel of the Mississippi River.  

Mingo Swamp reminds us of how southeast Missouri was covered by cypress-tupelo swamps 200+ years ago.  It is located in Stoddard County north of Puxico on Highway 51.  Our group stayed at Lake Wappapella State Park for the weekend which is about a 45 minute drive to Mingo.  

First stop - Visitor's Center.

On this weekend, Mingo was hosting family friendly activities at the Visitor's Center from 9 AM to 2 PM that included an Original Duckumentary movie, Guided Boardwalk Hikes with a refuge volunteer, Owl Program to learn about the Owls of Mingo and even dissect an owl pellet, The Monarch: A Butterfly Beyond Borders movie, and finally Watkins Wildlife Rehab Program learning about wildlife rehabilitation and meet a resident animal from Watkins Wildlife Rehab.  

Our group of 28 Naturalists scattered into smaller groups.  I went on the Boardwalk Hike and saw most of the Rehab Program.  Because of this special event, canoe rental was free!  Many in our group brought their own kayaks but I left mine at home this trip because I didn't know what I was getting into and the canoe opportunity was a way for me to keep up my skills which are a lot more work than a kayak, I believe, because you have two people instead of one to coordinate the efforts.  I also had the opportunity to be the "driving force" for a member of our group that had little to no experience.

My canoe partner for this trip, Kay, and frequent kayak companion for many trips, Kathy, check out the map for the Boardwalk Hike.  

Boardwalk Trail

I think the Boardwalk Trail was a couple miles including the spurs off the main trail.  It was fun to go in different groups as we would meet up and  hear about what they saw and then backtrack so as to not miss anything interesting.  Some areas were solid ground and some were not…best to stay on the walkway especially with all the fallen leaves covering up what may be underneath!

One of the spur areas off the main trail has a bridge over an old drainage ditch.

Jodi and Bill's campsite at Wappapella State Park for a good breakfast before we left and late supper at the end of a long day.

After the hike and/or programs, everyone eventually ended up at the covered pavilion near the Visitor's Center for lunch.  Jodi and Bill were the ones that organized this trip and had done a great job keeping everyone included and informed and fed.  We all split the costs for the meals we had together and several people brought food to share.  Some of the food included biscuits & gravy, sandwiches, elk sausage & cheese, Sloppy-Joe's, and large quantities of cookies, chips, dump cakes, and I'm sure I missed some because one can only eat so much!  Breakfast was over a campfire at Bill and Jodi's campsite before we left for Mingo and again for a late supper when we got back.  They even had a pot of soup ready as everyone came into the camp group Friday night!  I'm guessing they've done this a few times.  I hinted after the weekend was over that now we have one down and 7 more wilderness areas to go...I think it may be in the works!

Here I sit getting some delicious soup and cornbread that was ready on the campfire after a 4+ hour drive halfway across the state to get here Friday night - photo from Amelia

We had time after lunch to check out most of the Rehab Program before we had to meet up with Peter, our US Fish and Wildlife guide in the swamp.  We all stayed relatively close together and Peter would gather us when he had something interesting to tell us.  Since there was no current, paddling was constant unless you wanted to be still…which is probably not the best idea in a swamp for very long!

Below are some of the highlights of photos I took while paddling the canoe with Kay.  Many more photos didn't come out as it was drizzly and too dark in areas.  A few are from my friend, Amelia, who shared some photos she took of me.  At the end of this article, I have a musical album you can click on to see more photos.

The Naturalists on on their way through the swamp - photo from Amelia

I'm the one in the denim hat up front - photo from Amelia

Misty Swamp - notice the cypress trees many of which have turned a rusty red color along with the regular evergreen.

Most of the water is covered with vegetation so one cannot see where you are going and it closes up right behind you.  The swamps at Mingo are sometimes referred to as "black water."

One of the wider areas of the swamp but still cannot see into the water but a few inches.

A couple of times, some creature rose up from the water enough to make our canoe move.  I'm thinking it was an alligator gar or another large fish…the water being so murky that identification even at a few inches was difficult.  This was the first time I had ever seen Bryozoans, better known as Moss Animals.  I saw many of these interesting creatures.  Some were as big as a basketball!  They hung around near the surface under fallen trees.  One time, some in our group spotted a poisonous water moccasin that was looking quite frisky.  A couple of brave individuals keep their kayaks between everyone else and this snake until we all passed safely.  

Cypress Trees

Portage

One area was so full of fallen trees from either side and debris that portage was necessary.  We all lined up to take turns having our empty watercraft maneuvered through a tight spot after we got out and stayed on shore.  A couple of people stayed on shore the whole time and helped others until they could could get back into their watercraft all cleared from the debris.  It was one of those times that patience competed with the feeling that staying still in one place too long was not the best idea! 

Close-up of my hand in the vegetation on top of the water while I'm in the canoe.  The whole experience was very organic!

About 3 hours later we have reached the place where we had put in.  I'm exhausted and ready to go back to camp!  

Our guide, Peter, empties his boots after helping everyone safely on shore.

What happens at the Swamp stays at the Swamp!  Everything but the lovely organic aroma that comes from anything wet that we take back with us.  

Cabin, sweet, cabin…no roughing it for me and Kay and several other "campers."

There are 8 cabins at Wappapella State Park that have all the comforts that are so very much appreciated!  My primitive camping days ended at the turn of the new century after 30 years of appreciating nature from that perspective!  There were also a few "camper cabins" that several used that just have electricity and few furnishings.  They have to get water and restrooms/showers like the tent campers.  Before we all got settled for the night, we spent the evening again at Jodi and Bill's campsite for a campfire cookout.  A couple of people didn't go on the paddle trip and had everything ready when we got back.  That was very much appreciated!  Lots of desserts, beverages, and even some "glow sticks" were passed around for fun and everyone had a great time as long as they could stay awake on our last night together.

The next day everyone was on their own for breakfast and however long they wanted to stay in the area.  Check out was 11 AM and that was long enough to get it together after sleeping late.  We did hike along the water and in the woods close by to get the full experience of the changing colors and falling leaves.  Our cabins were on a peninsula so the water was on three sides with a spectacular view all around!  

But then there was the 4+ hour drive back home which is through Mark Twain National Forest along Highway 60.  We stopped at the Current River in Van Buren for a nice lunch at the Float Stream Restaurant.  It was on Main Street and a short walk to the river front….

Van Buren view of the Current River just off Main Street

Just one more thing I want to share and that's something from one of my favorite actors (Jack Nicholson) in one of the best classic movies of my generation.  The lead characters are sitting around a campfire reflecting on how fears drive some people to react negatively to others.  The music in the album above is from that movie "Ballad of Easy Rider" by The Byrds.  Here are the words that stayed with me and a clip from the movie, Easy Rider...

LiveLeak.com - Easy Rider-Jack Nicholson Opines on Freedom
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=197_1372893793#A7txfLTs0QuZ08cs.03

▪   "Oh no.  What you represent to them is freedom."

▪   "I mean it's really hard to be free when you're bought and sold in the marketplace."

▪   "Of course, don't ever tell anybody they're not free.  Cuz they're gonna get real busy killing and maiming to prove that they are."

▪   "Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom.  But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."

"Swamp."


I believe this to mean that like the swamp and all that it represents, we would be better stewards of the land God has given us if we respect all life and whatever it needs to exist.  Just because it is different than what we see as familiar and acceptable to us and marketable doesn't mean it has any less rights to exist.  If we can't accept something different…just leave it alone and don't do anything to keep it from existing.  This is real freedom.  This is respect.  This is "Swamp."