So I am free from the constraints of a daily schedule other than an occasional trip to the doctor, the golf course and my workout. Almost everything I need to do can work around my schedule and not the other way. Now it is the Holiday period and let us say I am at my son’s house using my laptop to write this article while he and his family prepare lunch. Right now everything is fine because it is the Sunday following Christmas and just prior to the New Year celebration.
We have arranged ahead of time that my wife and I will be staying here through the end of the next week which is convenient to my son and daughter-in-law as the children are out of school and both parents have full time jobs. This leaves us with the convenience of watching the children for the few days of school being out. What I must be careful of is putting any extra stress on my son and his wife by not leaving room for them to egress back to their normal activities.
The best way to avoid conflicts is to have an open discussion with your relatives or friends with whom you will be spending holidays. We all know what it is like when a friend or relative over-stays their welcome and we usually do not want to be that over burdensome person. So ask, plan and modify the plan as it best suits the people with whom you are guesting. Do not be afraid to cut your stay short and do not be offended when you feel you must. In other words go, have fun, be useful but not in the way, then go home or wherever else you planned to go. You are the one with the flexible schedule.
Taking a job, even if it is part time, could affect your retirement income. Before I write any farther let me advice you to contact a qualified representative of your pension management team. Every pension is different and every income plan has varying rules. Either way you need to be aware of earnings limits before you accept even a part time job.
Many times a retired person may even have the opportunity to return to work for their previous employer and sometimes even in the same job they held previously. One family member kept the exact same position and same pay after retirement but he knew going into it that it would not, in any way, delay or decrease his retirement income.
Regardless of where you will work, how many hours you will work or the level of your compensation you need to check with your pension administrator prior to accepting even the best of retirement positions.
You have worked hard and made many contributions to your Independent Retirement Account by the time you near your retirement age. If you retire “early” there are a few rules you need to know about your IRA and when you can begin withdrawing funds without penalty.
Under the current rules you can officially begin drawing down your IRA at age 59 and 1/2 without any penalty. Of course, as always, there are exceptions to the rules. For example if you become disabled prior to age 59 and 1/2 you may be entitled to withdraw funds from your IRA to help sustain your income. Before making any decisions you should contact your IRA custodian or account manager and remember that different types of IRA’s are subject to different rules.
In the event of an early death, when the IRA owner dies before age 59 and 1/2, the beneficiary is entitled to IRA funds without penalty. Additionally if you need supplementary income you may also be able to take a series of equal payments without penalty. Again you will need to consult with your adviser.
It sounds like an oxymoron yet it is more reality than grammar. Today’s retired people, though equal in age to our predecessors, are often younger in body and mind. We really have no desire to fill our days with checkers, television and knitting. We want activity and to learn new things!
Retire Today is very happy to introduce RetireeWorkforce.com -a website dedicated to the young at heart retiree who has much to offer to the industrial world. From their website:
RetireeWorkforce.com is dedicated to providing exciting employment opportunities for experienced and motivated retirees. Our job database contains unique part-time, flexible, seasonal and even full-time positions specifically for more experienced candidates.
Most retirees have years of experience and are not ready to lay down the gavel just yet. Finding a way to earn an income, make new contacts and help businesses become more successful is the perfect way for the enterprising retiree to enter that next phase of life. Remember, not all “retirees” are old in years. Many people retire the first time in their forties or early fifties and have many years of productive work ability to sell to the right company.
Be sure to use Google to search for retirement jobs if you are looking. In fact, next we will talk about using the Internet to help retirement be more productive. See you next time on Retire.Today.Com
Every day of your working life you had some task awaiting you. Regardless of whether you were self-employed, the president of a national corporation or the janitor at the local elementary school you had a set of defined duties and responsibilities. Even the self-employed and top executive had bosses usually denoted as “clients” or “customers”.
Now you have reached retirement and no more boss, right? Wrong. Now you work for time, spouse, neighbor, children, friends, and others. You will have an entirely new set of guidelines to follow and goals to achieve. I know this intimately from watching my brother-in-law’s retirement for the last fifteen years.
To help you cope with your new responsibilities and duties make sure you define the parameters for your new “clients”. You are perfectly well permitted to block of “you” time so long as that time maintains the momentum you have developed and ads constructive activities to your schedule. Blocking out sleeping time or “drunk” time is not so cool nor is it good for you or your “clients”.
Ben Northcutt, the same brother-in-law to which I earlier referred, offers this advice, “Keep a schedule. While every minute need not be pre-determined it is important to know that lunch time is noon and dinner time is six. I get a little flexible on breakfast time.”
Ben spent decades as a police chief and was always “on call”. His duties would often stir him from a sound sleep and send him into the dark and unknown. He certainly enjoys the comfort of home and his computer but he also understands sometimes there are interruptions and he does not let those throw him off. His church and family schedule are pretty much all he goes by these days.
Here are some other tips for those of you about to enter or just now entering retirement:
1. Save that “you” time and make sure everyone knows that is your time but do not block out all day every day. An afternoon for golf, a morning for fishing, an evening in the game room playing pool with friends. Whatever you like, fill in the blanks.
2. Keep up your momentum. If you are accustomed to arising at six in the morning keep roughly the same schedule.
3. Never stop learning. Pick some mind and body challenging activities to keep you sharp mentally and physically.
4. Master a new skill. This has been the hope and dream of retirees for many generations. Today’s world offers many new areas of exploration. My cousin Bill, after retiring from IBM, went for his commercial driver’s license and did some long haul trucking. In fact, he is in his middle seventies and still takes day runs.
5. Be careful about others who did not just retire. Your children and friends probably still have daytime routines requiring them to be elsewhere. When you are bored or lonely that probably means you did not anticipate that time alone and did not properly plan or prepare. Remember that and prevent it in the future.
6. If you expect retirement to be a big pyjama fest you must have yourself confused with Hugh Hefner or Liz Taylor. If you are one of them then I apologize. Get up, get out and get busy!
We all want to hear from you as well so please feel free to comment and share. Just do not share with this man who evidently puts all of his chickens into one basket:
