Insurance Companies versus the Rich Doctor

Having insurance in this day and age is a very good thing. I can't complain because there are a lot of people that are less fortunate that I am and don't have any insurance. I have Anthem insurance through my company and they typically take the majority of the sting out of any medical bills that come about. Its when Doctor's decide the push the envelope and choose not to participate with insurance companies that things go array. They are trying to make the most that they can. Of course the insurance company is trying to pay as little as they can. Guess who wins in this little battle? They both do. Guess who loses? You know the answer. I am sure all of you that are reading this have been there. It just doesn't seem fair. There should be some way to make this a win win win, but I don't see that happening. There is no leverage on either the insurance company or the doctor. The hold all of the cards. We hold the bag.

Danica "GoDaddy" Patrick - Obscure Facts!

1. She was ranked 69th on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 of 2007 list.
   
2. She debuted as a swimsuit model in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
   
3. On May 21, 2007, she rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
   
4. She was listed 42nd on FHM (US) Magazine's "100 Sexiest Women for 2006".
   
5. Miss Danica received the Favorite Female Athlete prize at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
   

Ten things your neighbor doesn't know!

1. The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour is 61,000
   
2. A pig can never look at the sky
   
3. The shelf life of a Twinkie is 26 years
   
4. Dale Alexander won the American League batting title in 1933
   
5. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled
   
6. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were both left handed
   
7. Maine is the only state that borders only one other US State
   
8. No word in the English language rhymes with month
   
9. Fleas can accelerate fifty times faster than the Space Shuttle during liftoff
   
10. There are two golf balls on the moon
    

The Gas God says: Stick 'em up!

Gas pushed up to $3.99 a gallon for the holiday weekend. Imagine that! Just in time to take advantage of our propensity to travel on holidays. It is down 15 cents today, one day after the holiday weekend is over. Something is rotten with how this played out. No rhyme or reason other than the holiday creates an opportunity for the Gas Gods to stick it to us one more time! Over $50 to fill up your tank.

There are 46 gallons of gas that get processed out of a barrel of crude oil. Crude is going for over $128 a barrel. Divide that by the 46 gallons of fuel and you have approximately $2.78 a gallon. What makes up the rest? Federal taxes, state taxes, the cost of additives, and distribution costs to mention some of the contributing culprits. Everybody is getting a cut. Somebody is getting rich. Any guesses as to who that may be. Stick 'em up!

Where is superman when you need him?

Do you know how much the rising cost of gas is taking out of your pocket? Think of it this way. Every penny the price of gas goes up, it takes $6 out of your pocket for each vehicle that is used regularly in your family. That assumes you drive an average of 15,000 miles per year. If you have 2 vehicles, a 10 cent increase in the price of gas will cost your family $120 per year. From May of 2007 until May of 2008, the average cost of gas has risen from $3.14 to $3.81 per gallon. That cost each of us an average of $402 per vehicle.

But wait! It doesn't stop there. You have to consider the impact on the trucking industry. Virtually everything we buy as consumers has transportation costs factored into their price. The American Trucking Association claims that every penny that diesel fuel goes up costs the industry $391 million per year. The price of diesel has risen 49 cents per gallon over the past year. That amounts to $19,159,000,000. I am guessing that the trucking industry has not absorbed that absurd amount of incremental cost.

Any thoughts on where that cost is being paid for? You guessed it. You and I are paying more for almost everything we buy. It may be only a penny here and a nickel there, but I can assure you there are few products that have escaped the clutches of the fuel choke hold. We the people, certainly have not escaped that choke hold. Where is superman when you need him?

Gas cans and empty wallets...

At least in my family, I think gas prices have finally hit the proverbial nerve. Over the weekend I was lectured twice, first by my wife, and then by my 26 year old son, about how my driving habits were needlessly consuming gas. It seems that I tend to go from a dead stop at traffic lights and stop signs up to the speed limit in sling shot fashion. Also, my exercising of the 7 mile an hour safe zone over the speed limit is also creating some controversy in my family. Speed wastes gas. Quick starts waste gas. I know that, but it took a couple of subtle barbs from family members to snap me out of the bad habits that are sucking the dollars out of my wallet.

You too may be suffering from this slow draining of your financial well being. Drive slower. Accelerate slower. Coast when you can. Slow down when approaching a red light. You may be able to time the light so you don't have to come to a complete stop. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. These are small things, but they add up. Do your part! Take a look at your driving habits. Are they fueling the war?

We are at War! Make the right choice! Choose to Fight!

Today I paid the most I have ever paid for a gallon of gas, a whopping $3.75 per gallon. I am amazed that we, the people of the United States, are standing still for this slow and deliberate attack on our economy. We have been gradually pushed to our threshold of pain. Just when we are just about to go over the top, things stabilize just long enough for us to build up some more tolerance. What fools we are! Wake up America! We have got to break out of our hubris thinking and go on the offensive before it is too late. Individually and collectively, we need to cut our usage of the evil gas pill. Be it from car pooling, being better organized and eliminating wasteful extra trips to the store, letting our kids walk to school, if your job allows, working out of your home once a week, etc., etc. We have to get creative. Nothing is sacred! This is war my friends. War! Drive the speed limit for God's sake! Park your car one day a week. We can do it. Hit 'em where it counts. They are hitting us in the wallet. Hit 'em back. You have been challenged! You can choose to let it continue to happen, or you can make a difference. What are you waiting on????

Top 10 reasons to give your Mom flowers for Mother's Day...

1. Flowers come in all shapes and sizes
   
2. They smell wonderful
   
3. You can have them delivered almost anywhere
   
4. They can usually be delivered the day your order them
   
5. They come in all price ranges
   
6. Anyone can buy them
   
7. They will make your Mom smile
   
8. They don't need batteries
   
9. Flowers don't need to be walked 3 times a day
   
10. Every Mom loves flowers

Get the party started! Happy Cinco de Mayo...

I live in a great neighborhood with a great bunch of fun loving neighbors. After a long, cold, snowy winter, next weekend is our first opportunity to come out of hibernation and shake off the cobwebs. We are using Cinco de Mayo as our excuse to break out the Margarita machine, fire up the grill, and dust off the lawn chairs. Hail to our kingdom, known by those who live here as "Mortgage Hill". This is the second year for our Cinco de Mayo party. I guess technically it is Cinco de Mayo dos! Last year our break out was met with a cold rainy day, but thanks to our neighbor that has everything, three 10 x 10 party tents magically arrived in the front yard along with a portable fire pit. Plenty of food and libation was had by all. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend with great anticipation. This year will be bigger and better than last year. We have ordered perfect weather for this years party, but even if we have a foot of snow, our celebration will be unequaled! Spread the joy. Get the party started in your neighborhood. Happy Cinco de Mayo dos from the folks on the hill.

Feed the Green Monster...

Every year I pay my good friends at True Green to weed and feed my yard and what do I get? Of course I get a weed free yard. I get a nice green yard. I get a fast growing yard. And... I get to mow twice a week to keep the grass from taking over the neighborhood. Not exactly how I like to spend my leisure time. With the price of gas spiraling out of control, now I'm scraping up all of my spare change, er, I mean, spare dollars, to keep the mower running. That gallon of gas I used to go buy for my Dad when I was a kid that cost a quarter, now is costing me an arm and a leg. Wow! How does that make any sense. And the sad thing is that its not just me. I am sitting here as I blog watching two of my neighbors mow their green monsters. Hey! I have an idea. Maybe we should go together and buy a hybrid mower! Do they make such a thing? That would be the "green" thing to do. Look out Al Gore. Sam Speak is in the yard...

Billy Joel rocks Columbus!

Billy Joel rocked Columbus last night with a high energy performance that went far beyond this concert goer's expectations. No need for any opening act to set the mood as Billy hit the stage ready to get the party started. He performed all of his classics with the exception of Uptown Girl, which who could blame him for skipping over that? When his band broke into to Hang on Sloopy, the Buckeye faithful almost brought the house down! O H I O ! The concert brought out the best in this piano playing legend and one couldn't help but laugh at the playful comedic comments he laced the show with. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the show. I sensed that even Joel was surprised by the crowd's electrifying plea for an encore. He responded with multiple songs including Piano Man! He left it all on the stage... Bravo Mr. Joel! Bravo!

Make Money... SHUT UP!

Do you remember when you were a kid and your Mom told you that it wasn't nice to tell someone to "shut up"? Well, she may have cost you a lot of money during your lifetime if you heeded her advice. The next time you pull out your wallet to pay someone for something you are going to buy, ask them if you are getting the best price they can offer. Then, tell yourself to "SHUT UP". Not out loud mind you, but subconsciously to yourself. Then just sit there and wait for and answer. When you get the answer, tell yourself to "SHUT UP" again. Don't say a word. Just wait and wait and wait and wait. The person on the other end will feel obligated to say something. There initial response may be favorable, but if not, waiting will ensure the other person will eventually feel obligated to say something more. Its human nature. If you wait long enough, and believe me, it will be hard for you to stay "SHUT UP", they will say something more. They will continue to add to what they said and there is a VERY good chance that you are going to get a better deal. Don't break out of your silence too soon. The longer you keep your mouth shut, the better deal you are likely to get. Try it. You will be amazed. Ask, Shut up, and wait... Cha Ching! $$$

Boobs and tubes! Life comes at you fast...

How do you fill your evenings. Are you a creature of habit? Does the boob tube rule your world. Do you have a favorite show that you watch on certain nights? My wife and I seem to slip into the Monday night "Dancing With The Stars", Tuesday and Wednesday night "American Idol",and the rest of the week we live on some version of "CSI". Sad isn't it? Occasionally we get a taste of "TV Wine", some special sporting event. Tonight happens to be the NIT quarter finals. Being a die hard Buckeye fan, that is a very good thing. Especially if my beloved Buckeyes win. That will give us something good and different to watch on Thursday night as well. What would we do if there was no TV? Hmmmmmmmm.

Five things to do if you didn't have TV to watch...

1. Read
   
2. Spend quality time with your significant other
   
3. Play games
   
4. Sleep more
   
5. blog :)
   

Why is it so hard to list 5 items? What would you do readers? Your comments would be appreciated.

Don't sweat the small stuff, but choose the small stuff wisely...

In my last post I wrote about making choices. I have been thinking about the power of making choices and have noticed just how many choices that I make in a day. It starts before I ever get out of bed. Do I sleep for another 5 minutes, or do I get up a and get a jump on my day? Will I exercise today, or will I take the day off? Once I get up choices continues to rule my life. Simple, but powerful choices that have a major impact on what I accomplish during the day and how I ultimately live my life. Many of the choices seem relatively small and unimportant, but they ultimately dictate my life. Do I eat cereal, or do I have a pop tart? Do I read email first, or do I plan my day first? Do I work on the task that I like to work on, or do I work on that pesky project that has a looming deadline? Do I blog today, or do I skip? Do I call my mom to say hi, or do I put that off until later? So many choices. I make them without thinking, but making wrong choices or taking the path of least resistance can eat up the most important resource I have. ME! Make smart choices. To learn more on the power of choice make sure you read Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary by David Cottrell.

The power of choice...

I learned a long time ago that life is about choices. We can choose to act or we can choose to be the victim. Such a simple concept with extremely powerful results. If we do nothing, then we choose to do nothing and we have nobody to blame for the results of our inaction. If we don't like our job, we can choose to do nothing, or we can choose to look for a new one. If we are over weight, we can choose to eat less, or choose to exercise, or choose to get help from a doctor, or ... Choice is what makes the world go round, or not! If you find yourself feeling sorry for yourself, then look around. There are choices that you can make to change that situation. Or maybe you have already made a choice. Maybe you want to feel sorry for yourself.

I have recently been on a reading binge and stumbled upon another gem of a book, Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary by David Cottrell. This is another easy read that discusses the power of choice and how choices can change your life. I highly recommend this book. It might be a good choice for you to read it!

How to be a Mega Rock Star...

Saturday my wife and I took a trip to Cleveland to see the Blue Man Group. I had never really seen anything they had done other than a couple of commercials so I didn't really know what to expect. My wife was pretty excited, as she has wanted to see them for quite sometime. We had a great time! It was a high energy performance from start to finish. They kept the crowd engaged the entire show. The theme of "How to be a Mega Rock Star" gave them plenty of material to work with. A great blend of what I would call "mild" comedy, great music, and creative use of percussion instruments. Some of the instrument were quite unlikely, but very effective. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend the show! Now I am a "Mega Rock Star"! Well, at least in my dreams!

Do you want to be rich?

I just finished a book that I received from my financial planner. My eyes are wide open now. If you want to get to the promised land without question, then you must get this book and follow the plan. It is an easy read that is simple and to the point. Here is just one piece of advice from the author that is both powerful and relevant to the current financial environment. "Don't panic: The secret to wealth in equities is not getting scared out of them". Want to find out why? Get this book, Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth: How You and Your Financial Advisor Can Grow Your Fortune in Stock Mutual Funds by Nick Murray. You will be glad you did.


Click here for a step by step guide to financial empowerment!

The sky is falling...

It looks like the sky is falling in the financial world with the news on Bear Stearns we have all been reading the last couple of days. The Fed is trying to ride their horse to the rescue. Who knows how that story will end. Now is the time when your financial adviser should be earning his money. His job is to keep you from doing something stupid. Bailing now is probably the absolute worst thing one could do if their portfolio is properly diversified. Now is the time when most folks who are going it alone get scared and start selling. Your adviser should be holding your hand and helping you stay the course. It is counter intuitive for most of us to feel like there is a huge sale going on. If you are adding to you portfolio routinely, you are getting a lot more for your money in this faltering market. Stick to your plan. This too shall pass!

Click here for a step by step guide to financial empowerment!

Man's Best Friend...

 

Whoever said that dogs were man's best friend was right on the money. My dog's name is EveeAussie, but we call her Aussie for short. You don't want to know where EveeAussie came from, but understand that when you have kids that can't agree, compromise is a powerful thing. Aussie is a Jack Russell. Everything you have ever heard about how Jack Russells are extremely smart is right on the money. This dog is scary smart. I think sometimes she knows what I am thinking before I think it. She is also a ferocious hunter. There is no chipmonk on earth safe when she catches their scent. She actually took on a ground hog last year and although it was quite a battle, the ground hog lost the bloody war.

When I am working at home, Aussie spends her time in the rocker next to my desk. She listens to every conference call, and occasionally offers her two cents worth. If she could talk, I am sure that she would ad plenty of value to the calls. If she could write, she probably would have her own blog. I think she has asperations of retirement too, but she has no intentions of turning over the management of her portfolio to a financial planner. She makes no "bones" about that!

Click here for a step by step guide to financial empowerment!

To be a Rock and not to Roll...

Today I was truly humbled. My son who is home for spring break fired up his XBox 360 and plugged in Guitar Hero. I am watching him play and listening to the music. Alice Cooper, Heart, Kiss, Blue Oyster Cult... Hey, I know that music! "Wanna try Dad?" my son asked with a smirk on his face. How hard could it be I thought. Like a sucker, I took the bait. I can't play a plastic guitar like a rock star. I can't even play like a fifth grader. All I got out of 10 minutes trying to show up my son was a good start on carpal tunnel! He on the other hand got a good laugh. I think I will remain a spectator from now on. I know my place. Long live the king and he ain't me! Check out this 9 year old on youtube. I can't even thumb my nose that fast.

Click here for a step by step guide to financial empowerment!

Laughter is the best medicine!

Why is it that people that retire and finally get connected to the Internet turn into electronic "Jedi's"? If we disallowed email as a means of communication to people over 65, then cyberspace would stand a good chance of imploding! It is amazing the number of emails that can be generated in a 24 hour period by the seniors of our nation. Where do they find all of the jokes that they circulate? We know where they find the time. I feel particularly honored that I am on the receiving end of the "smile a day" link that email has created. That someone thinks enough of me to put me on their list is pretty special. I received some particularly funny content from my favorite Uncle today that is worth sharing. You gotta love these bumper stickers. Enjoy and be sure to visit the site that provided this very funny content, P&M Home Care Services, Inc.

Hertz has a better idea?

This week was the travel week from hell. The weather in the Midwest has been horrible. More snow than I have seen in years. Trying to fly from the east coast to Ohio was impossible. My flight was cancelled twice on Friday due to the closing of my destination airport, CMH. Although Southwest re-booked me on a flight for Saturday, there was no guarantee that it would fly either.

I decided to rent a car and drive rather than risk being stuck away from home all weekend and leaving my wife at home to shovel snow by herself. I normally rent from Enterprise, but even though they have been promising the addition of one way rentals to their portfolio of services for quite some time, they still don't offer that option. I checked out National, and they had a car, but their price for a one way rent... $1000 for one day! I am guessing that would have outfitted me with a gold plated tank. I nearly fell on the floor. Talk about holding a traveler hostage! I find it hard to understand how Southwest can charge only $55 to fly me from BWI to CMH with some of the most friendly people I have ever been around, but National wanted 18 times that much and I was going to be all by myself.

My next stop was Hertz. After all, I did have a "Gold" card. The only thing gold was the rate. Their price was $228 for a one day, one way rental. Still very spicy, and again, I felt like I was being taken advantage of due to the weather situation, but I did not want to spend the weekend in Baltimore. I took the bait, rented the car, and embarked on the eight hour drive home. Fortunately, I beat the heaviest of the snow and rolled into my driveway at 2 o'clock in the morning.

When I woke up this morning, mother nature had obviously been busy the rest of the night and she had spread well over a foot of snow across the Ohio valley. She also had the wind whipping it into drifts across the area roads causing most of the counties in Ohio to issue either level two or level three snow emergencies. My rental car was pretty well entrenched in my driveway from all of the blowing snow. The airport where it needed to be returned was 25 miles away. Evaluating the situation, I felt it was best to contact Hertz to see what allowances they would make for returning the car late due to the severe weather conditions.

In calling the service number on the back of my "Gold" Hertz card, I was told that I would need to talk to their "extensions" department. They transferred me to that department, and they told me that I would need to talk to the folks in Columbus where I was returning the car. They provided me with the number, and I called the Hertz rental desk at the Columbus airport. The rental desk in Columbus informed me that since I rented the car BWI in Baltimore, that they could not access my information. They told me that the contract was with Baltimore and that I would need to contact them. I proceeded to call Baltimore and they didn't have much empathy for my plight since they didn't have any snow in Baltimore and really didn't have a clue about what was going on in Ohio. After much bantering with the fine folks at Hertz in Baltimore, they were able to offer me a gracious rate of $110 per day for each additional day that I held the car. That was a discount of 50% off of the wonderful $220 they charged me for the one day one way rental! I finally relented as I was wearing down after an hour on the phone being passed around. I sure am glad I have that "Gold" card. I am sure that it saved me loads of time. After getting off of the phone and calming down to a mild rage, I decided that come hell or high water, I was going to risk life and limb to get the car back to the Columbus airport.

I loaded up my snow shovel (my personal car was sitting in long term parking at the airport and was probably snowed in), and began the driving the 2o treacherous miles across town to the airport. Upon arriving at Port Columbus still in one piece, I was feeling pretty good that I wasn't going to have to pay for an extra day of rental at the "generously discounted rate" and I was pretty sure my ordeal was over. The guy checking me in even gave me a chance to vent about how I felt about Hertz which allowed me to bite my lip until it bled. Gosh I felt good! Then he gave me my receipt. Game over! The final damage... Approximately $330!

What! They had charged me for the original day AND the extra day that I didn't use. Of course the nice young man was unable to help me, but informed me that the manager was inside and I could talk to her. Lucky me. I will give credit where credit is due and say that this lady genuinely tried to help me. The problem was she had to call Baltimore to fix the problem. Remember? My contract was with them? After several minutes on the phone, she was told that they would have to generate the receipt in Baltimore and that they would fax it over to her when they finished getting the paperwork processed. The young lady in Columbus, realizing that I was very near "melt down" offered me a bottle of water to cool me off while I waited. I calmly declined and waited... and waited... and waited... Anybody ever read "Waiting for Godot"? Finally, I reached my limit and gave up. I told my new found friend behind the counter that I was done and would just wait for my credit card statement to show up. She assured me that I could go to Hertz.com in a "few days" to see my bill. She also informed me that my bill would be approximately $125... TOTAL!

The moral of the story: Give your customers a "Gold" card; treat them like crap and call it service; gouge them for every nickel you can when they are in a bind; make their request seem unreasonable; add insult to injury when the customer's experience is in the final mile; and finally, give them in the end what you should have given them at the start! Yes! Hertz has a better idea!

Plan for tomorrow, but live for today...

Planning for retirement is a journey, not a task. It is a dynamic process. It isn't over till the "fat lady sings". There are many things to plan for and many things to think about. When you think you have it all figured out, you think of something else. Is there a perfect plan? Nope! Do the best that you can. Educate yourself. Information is abundant. We have lots of resources to educate ourselves. The internet, books, our parents, relatives, friends, financial planners, and on, and on. You are not going to be perfect, but you can get on the sunny side of the moon if you don't keep your head buried in the sand. Open your eyes. Ask questions. Read. Learn. Act on what you know. The fact that you are thinking about it and talking about it and asking questions about it and most importantly, doing something about it, is what will make it the best that it can be. This process is not about perfection. It is about taking advantage of the resources that are available all around us and making the best decisions that we can with the information that we have. Live for today because there might not be a tomorrow. Plan for tomorrow because there might be one!

Blog - Make Money - Retire... Really?

Over the past several weeks I have become increasingly obsessed with blogging and the notion that one could actually earn a living from sharing their thoughts. I have read over and over the claims of other bloggers that they are making money hand over foot from blogging. I have perused the blogs relating experiences of bloggers quitting their day jobs because they are making so much money from blogging. I have not experienced any monetary success to date and it certainly is not due to lack of effort. I have tried AdSense, Project Wonderful, ClickBank, EntreCard, etc., etc. I have seen an increase in site visits over the past couple of weeks. That is probably due to the incessant dropping I have been doing on the EntreCard site and reciprocal drops I am receiving from other users. I know that people have to visit your site in order to generate any revenue. It is pretty bad when the last thing you do at night and the first thing you do each morning is to check to see if any of the tools being used have generated a revenue stream. It is an extremely addictive cycle and also very demoralizing when you see nothing but goose eggs in the total columns. I need to be careful that my blog's original purpose isn't compromised by the lure of the almighty dollar. I guess trying to earn a buck from blogging is okay as long as what you are blogging adds value to those that read it. I just wish I could find the secret combination that generates the best of both worlds. Making money by blogging would certainly be something that I could see myself doing to fill some of my free time when I retire. Is that a realistic goal? Are the claims I read about true? I am still trying to paint the vision in my minds eye. Any suggestions out there fellow bloggers / readers? I am all ears.

Touch all of the bases when calculating cost basis...

For those of you thinking about moving your finances to a financial planner be prepared to provide him or her with the cost basis for any stocks that you have. The cost basis of your stock is its purchase price adjusted for stock splits, dividends and return of capital distributions. This value is used to determine the capital gain, which is equal to the difference between your stocks cost basis and the current market value. Also known as "tax basis". Now one would think that even a haphazard record keeper would be able to come up with something as simple as the purchase price, but let me through you a curve. I have some stock that I have owned for over 15 years. I know what I paid for the original stock, but what threw a wrench into my calculations is the 15 years of reinvesting the dividends every quarter. That combined with the fact that the brokerage that held the stock for me changed hands 3 times, really muddied the water. If figured that finding the cost basis would be as simple as going to the old broker, pulling up my account and finding a button that I could click that says "cost basis". Nope! Not my friends at E-trade. I had to look through 15 years of archived statements to figure out what was what. I dug through their stuff and also through every box, file, nook, and crannie that I had at home stashed away in my attic. Talk about bats in the belfry! Mind you, I have moved 6 times since I bought the stock, so that in itself was quite painful. After several hours of hard work, I was able to get pretty close. I believe I have covered all of my bases. Don't let yourself get into the same predicament that I did.

Does paying off your mortgage early make good cents?

The question of the day is should you pay off your mortgage early? In speaking with my financial adviser, he advised against paying off my mortgage early. I have been making extra payments against the principle each month in hopes of paying off my house before I retire. It just felt like the right thing to do if I could pull it off. My adviser said that I should consider that the rate on my mortgage, 6.25%, is fairly cheap money. He felt that the extra being paid should be invested. There is a good chance that it can earn as much or more than the interest I am paying on the mortgage. I could agree with that, but was not convinced that I wanted to change my strategy. Where he sold me was when he reminded me that I only have a couple of years left to use my kids as a tax deduction. Once they are out of the nest, the mortgage deduction will be about the only big deduction I will have left. I might as well take advantage of that as long as I can. Uncle Sam gets enough of my money. I don't need to give him more. As long as my wife and I maintain the discipline of saving the money that we were paying down the mortgage with, I can live with my planners suggestion. It makes good cents and sense to me...

Dog food is bad for your health...

Over the past several months I have worked hard to drop a few pounds and get into better shape. I wasn't what I would call obese, but I was packing 220 pounds around on my 6 foot frame. I wasn't in very good shape for someone that wants to retire in a few years and enjoy it when he does. I was having a hallway discussion with a coworker that had lost some weight and he said he figured he had been walking around with the equivalent of a 30 pound bag of dog food draped over his shoulders. It was that visual that got me off my dormant duff and gave me the incentive to start investing some time into my health. With me, it was and is all about making a commitment to exercise and then having the integrity to keep that commitment. I hear people say they have integrity, but then they don't act with integrity when it comes to commitments they make to themselves. I had a treadmill sitting in my basement collecting dust and just waiting for me to make a date with it. I started out walking a mile 3 days a week. Walking, not running. Running beats my knees up too much. I gradually increased to 5 days per week and am now up to 3 miles per workout. Every now and then I go for 5. I walk at between 4 and 4.5 miles per hour and raise the incline from 3 to 4 degrees as I walk. For me the key is to sweat. If I sweat I feel good when I'm done. I have also tried to be more aware of what I eat. I try to stay away from junk food. I can't say that I have been on a diet, but I try to watch my portions. I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and have found myself looking at the labels on the food that I buy at the grocery. I don't deprive myself of anything, but I just don't go overboard. If I want chocolate, I eat chocolate. I just don't over do it. You are what you eat. I am currently fluctuating between 190 and 195 pounds. I want to get down to 185, but I seem to have reached a plateau. I feel good. No, I feel great. I actually had to go out an buy new pants with a smaller waist size. Wow! That felt really good and it only cost 1 bag of dog food! I want to retire, but I want to retire healthy. Investing for retirement is not just about the money. Investing in you health now will give you a better chance to enjoy that money when you get to the finish line. Start walking now for a better tomorrow.

Let's meet at the hacienda...

Well the time has come for me to unveil my wife's top 10 things she wants to do when she retires. I did not tell her what my top 10 things were until she had plenty of time to answer the question on her own. She does not read my blog, so her answers were not influenced by my answers. She did not make this experiment easy. She listed 5 things very quickly, but it took a lot of time to get her list up to 7. Trying to get her to list more than 7 items was like pulling teeth and for fear of me risking the loss of life and limb, I finally let her off the hook. Without further ado, here are her "7" top things to do when she retires in no particular order:

1. Travel to Europe
2. Vacation in St Thomas
   
3. Golfing
4. Leisure reading
5. Volunteer work
   
6. Part time job
7. Exercise

Okay! So what did we learn from this little experiment? Are we in trouble? Do we have work to do? I don't think we are in horrible shape, but yes we have work to do. There are some things where my wife and I are in alignment. Travel and golf are on both of our lists. She was quite surprised that I wanted to visit Ireland, and excited I might add. We have both always liked to play golf together, so golf on both lists is no surprise. The fact that she has a part time job and volunteer work on her list is indicative of her high level of energy and probably her knowing that she will be miserable if she has too much idle time on her hands when she retires. There is nothing wrong with that. If our lists were exactly alike, then I would say that we were definitely in trouble. I don't think being joined at the hip is necessarily healthy. Having identical lists would not have been the ideal result of this experiment. Communication between my wife and I about the really important things in our lives is an ideal result. No trick plays in the fourth quarter. We may modify our game plan before the end of the game, but we will be playing as a team. Bring on the competition!

What ingredients are in your recipe?

I previously made mention that it is important that during the planning of your retirement that you include your spouse. What a concept! You would think this would be automatic, but I will bet you that there are a lot of folks out there that have a mental model of what retirement will be that is nowhere close to the mental model their spouse has. That is a recipe for disaster. I guess there are lots of reasons that this might be the case. I think I know what my wife wants to do in retirement, but it is a topic we never quite get to and it always seems to get pushed off to another day. I guess because there is some finality in this type of discussion and because we think we have a long time before we actually retire, we see no hurry in getting this task completed. The reality is that retirement will be here before we know it. I am going to do a little experiment to see just how aligned my mental model of retirement is with my wife’s. Today I am going to list the top ten things that I want to do when I retire (at least I am going to try). I will then ask my wife to list her top ten things. I will not show her my list until she has completed hers. I will post her list later this week so you can all see how we stack up. I guess it will be obvious at that point if we have a wing and a prayer. Keep your fingers crossed...

My top 10 things to do in retirement – not in any particular order:

1. See a baseball game in every major league baseball statdium
2. Visit Ireland
3. Golf
4. Visit the grand kids often (I hope)
5. Vacation on the beach a couple of times a year
6. Have a get away in the mountains or off the beat and path where I can just gin around
7. Take a cruise in Alaska
8. Go back to Aruba
9. Buy a pontoon boat and fish
10. Live in a mild climate (no snow)

Stay tuned… Mrs. Sam is about to enter the building.

Consider time management for your Super Bowl...

Where did the weekend go? Back to work tomorrow. Judging from the new counter I installed on this blog, I have a few more days to go before everyday is a weekend. It never ceases to amaze me how fast weekends go by. They seem to be over in the blink of an eye. Why is that? I plan every minute of my work week. I use time management techniques to ensure that I am as efficient as possible. My weekends on the other hand, are for the most part experienced in free fall. So does that say I should plan my weekend and let the chips fall as they may during the week? Interesting concept. Planning buys me time during the week. Maybe it can help me extend my weekends. At least create the perception that I have more time. I think it boils down to planning creates the illusion of time. We all know that time is a fixed resource. We need to find ways to utilize the time we have available to its fullest extent. You know where I am going with this don't you? Yes, back to the retirement discussion. I think that time management will be a critical component to a fulfilling retirement. Free falling through retirement will be sure to diminish any feeling of self worth and accomplishment. Time management can help ensure that each day is lived with a sense of purpose. It may be more critical to manage ones leisure time than it is the time that is controlled by the structure of your job. Retirement is like the Super Bowl of life. You can bet that Tom Brady and Eli Manning both had a plan to manage every second they had the ball when they started last weeks big game. We should be prepared to control retirement with the same commitment. Sam says: Be ready!

Sams Says: Blogging is therapeutic

Just a few short weeks ago I was having quit a bit of angst over retirement planning. For what ever reason, I decided to blog to get all of the weight off of my shoulders. I never realized how heavy retirement could be, but believe me, I was feeling the weight. I am not sure why I thought blogging would be helpful. It was an epidemy. It just happened. I just started without any direction, no vision, no goal, no target, no nothing, nadda! And now, here I am. Blogging away! Therapeutic for me. Hopefully, helpful for someone else. Maybe just knowing that someone else is having the same thoughts and worries about making the wrong decisions. Maybe some of the decisions I have made aren't the best, but maybe they are. I am giving it my best shot. At the end of the day I will be better off for making some decisions instead of just not doing anything. It ain't over till the fat lady sings...

Top ten things to worry about before I retire...

Maybe if I list the things that are bothering me about retirement I will quit worrying about them. David Letterman, eat your heart out! Here are my top ten things to worry about before I retire. They are not in any particular order and I am more than willing to let you worry about them with me...

1. How much is enough money?
2. Will I live long enough to actually do it?
3. Will I be happy?
4. Will I be bored?
5. How much will health insurance cost?
6. Will I be healthy enough to get insurance?
   
7. Do I need to pay off my house first?
8. Will my 401K be worth anything?
   
9. Is social security really going to go bankrupt?
10. Do I need to move to a warmer climate?

I shouldn't have limited myself to ten. Does anybody out there worry about the same stuff that I do? Is this typical? Am I normal? Sam says: Don't worry. Be happy!

The Rule of 72 - What's in your wallet?

Have you ever heard of the "Rule of 72"? I had, but it was a very long time ago. Probably back in my college days. I probably wasn't paying close attention that day. When you are thinking about how much money you need to save in order to retire, it is helpful to know how fast your money can grow. The "Rule of 72" will let you quickly calculate an estimate of how long it would take any amount of money to double in value. All you need to do is take the number 72 and divide it by the interest rate you expect to get for your money. The result is a fairly close approximation of the number of years required to double your money. For example, if you have $25,000 in your savings account, and you expect to earn 8% interest on your money, then it should take approximately 9 years for the $25,000 to grow to $50,000. At 4% it would take 18 years to reach $50,000. This is a quick and dirty way to see the power of saving. It pays to invest your extra cash so that you take advantage of this growth opportunity . Let compounding interest pave your way to retirement. Sam says: "Whats in your wallet?"

Happy Ground Hog Day - Older and Wiser?

Today is Ground Hog day and it just happens to be my Dad's 80th birthday. Do you know what that means? No, it doesn't mean that we have to watch and make sure that he doesn't see his shadow (he didn't by the way). We will leave that up to Punxatony Phil and Buckeye Chuck. What it means is that he is getting older and it is making me realize that I am getting older too. Closer to retirement mind you, but older. I remember when 80 used to seem ancient. Now it doesn't really seem that far away. As we see our parents aging, we begin to feel our own mortality. This whole retirement thing is really shaking up my psyche. I know that I have a few years to go until I do retire, but less than 10 years I hope. With retirement comes a lot of good things, but also the unknown. Will I have my health? Will I even be alive. How dark is that thought? I guess that gives merit to what one of my friends used to say. "Life is short! Eat dessert first!" With that in mind, one can't forget about the rest of the meal. You need a good recipe for the main entre. A good chef will tell you that you must use all of the ingredients. Missing ingredients can ruin the whole meal. Don't get so wrapped up in planning for retirement that you forget some of the key ingredients. I know! One more thing to worry about.

Happy birthday Dad... Live long and prosper!

So you’re going to retire… Then what?

I think one of the harder questions to answer when you start thinking about retirement is what will you do with your new found freedom. I guess there are lots of choices out there, but is there really anything that is a good fit for me and my wife. We both like to golf. That’s good, but you can’t play golf 24/7. Even if the two of us were golf addicts, I am not sure the old body could survive much more than a couple of rounds per week. I wasn’t referring to my wife when I wrote “old body”. I need to be clear on that. I do want to live long enough to actually retire. What other things could we do together? I guess traveling would be something that would be appealing. Maybe volunteer work. This is not as easy as I thought.

It is easy to say that you want to retire, but there will be a lot of time to fill when you finally reach that “sweet spot” in life. Now is the time to start answering the question of what you really can fill all that time with. You may have a plan in your head, but if you are married, then you better make sure your better half is in sync with the plan. If they have there own plan and it is not in alignment with yours, there is going to be a big problem at the end of the rainbow. I have mentioned many times about how communication is critical to the relationship with your financial planner. Well surprise! It applies here too. We all become very comfortable over time and think we know how our spouses think, but this is not an area that we can leave to chance. This is not a discussion that will be a 15 minutes sit-down and you’re done. This is going to be harder than picking a financial planner was.

I hear a lot of people say that they start retirement out with a bang, but then they get bored. Most people can figure out what the “big rocks” are in their retirement plan, but there is an awful lot of sand needed to fill in the rest of the space. Make sure you spend a lot of time planning “what” you are going to do with your time during retirement. This is the planning that most people preparing for retirement skim over. You are planning for the rest of your life. Most people think they will just do more of what they like to do. More is not always better. It is not always feasible. Be realistic. Can you really do something two or three times as much when you have more time on your hands or does that take away from the fun of doing it? I think that is why people get bored. They over do the things they enjoy and turn them into a routine not an event.

The other thing you want to be careful of is saying you will do something when you retire that you don’t do now. Why don’t you do it now? Lack of time? I doubt it. There should be some scaled down version of just about anything you can think of that is doable now. If you say time is what is stopping you, then you are fooling yourself. Don’t wait until you retire to try something you think would be good for retirement. If you wait until it is time to fill the time, you may find that what you thought you wanted to do is not a good fit. Then what will you do?

It is surprising how many people retire and then within a year want to go back to work. I would venture to say most of them have way to much time on their hands. Most people like to be productive. Too much time breeds discontent. Really think through what you want to do when you retire. Put together a daily plan for the first year and look at where your time will be spent. You may be surprised. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?

Choices and Values...

I was all ready to flip the switch on my financial planner (FP) auto pilot, but WHOA! STOP THE PRESSES! My new partner in financial bliss had the audacity to ask ME some questions. What? I have to think? I thought I was done with choices when I chose him to lead me to the financial promised land. WRONG! Choosing to use an FP does not mean that there are not some responsibilities that remain. There will still be choices that need to be made. Do you want to guarantee a minimum return on that annuity? Do you want your dog to be set up as the secondary beneficiary, or the children? How much cash do you want to keep free for you to feel comfortable?

Choices, choices, choices... Your FP can make recommendations, but the final decision still rests in your hands. If you attempt to avoid making choices, then you are opting to play the victim card if something goes wrong. A good FP will not let you separate yourself from responsibility. Entering into a relationship with an FP is all about trust and communication. They have to trust you and communicate the options and recommendations and you have to trust them and communicate your goals and expectations. Good communication will make this partnership succeed. Poor communication will doom it from the start.

While some decisions are relatively easy (kids - yes, dog - no), others can be made easier if you have a clear set of values. Understand what the truly important things are in your life. Have a good chat with your spouse or best friend. Spend some quiet time by yourself and reflect. What is really important to you? If today was the last day you had to live, how would you spend it? Who would you spend it with? Are honesty and integrity important to you? Do your actions reflect honesty and integrity? How do you want others to treat you? What traits cause you to like other people? Enough questions already! My point is that if you understand what your values are, then most questions are already answered for you. Just apply your values to the questions and voila!

If you applied your values when choosing your FP, then he should be pretty well aligned with your thinking. It is critical that communication remains fluid throughout the relationship. It is not unlike a marriage. There may be good communication in the beginning, but if the communication ceases to be two way, then someone is going to lose. If there is something that is causing you distress about the plan, tell them. If you have made the right choice, they should be willing to spend the energy to help you resolve any issues that you are struggling with.

Hang in there my friends! Oh and by the way, what's for dinner?

Use a Financial Shrink For Your Fiscal Sanity

Watching your portfolio too closely in a market that is struggling like it has been lately will drive you absolutely crazy. If you are managing your own portfolio, then I hope you have done your homework. If you have, then don't do anything drastic if the only thing that has changed is the market itself. If there has been a fundamental change in one of your holdings, then you should address it. Otherwise, let it ride. Now is not the time to get out. I have always been one that feels that if you believe in something, and the technicals and fundamentals are sound, then hold it for the long run. It will have its ups and downs, but over time, historically, it should be okay. There is really no need to watch it daily. Maybe a weekly or even a monthly peek would be a much better for your psyche.

I guess there is always the fear in the back of your mind that you really don't know what your doing. I have that fear. That is why I am turning the headache over to a financial adviser. They can be your financial shrink so to speak. I spent a lot of time finding someone that I trust with my financial future. Starting tomorrow, I will let him do his job and I can get back to mine. If you don't have a financial adviser, now would be the time to think about finding one. Its not easy, and it will take some time, but it will certainly be worth it in the long run.

Thank God It's Friday!

What a work week. I have been stuck in a hotel since Monday. Yes, I think I'm becoming the ultimate road warrior. I have been doing this for a few years now, and let me tell you, it never gets easier. I am so glad this week is over and I am finally home. Standing in the airport today I found myself thinking that there are a lot of weird people in this world. Friday travel does something to people. They all had a sort of crazed look on their faces. Maybe it was more of a sad, lost look. Many of them had been away from home all week too. I had the love of my life waiting on me. I am sure many of the people that I was watching roam past the gates of hell, didn't have anyone waiting on them at home. Lonely road warriors! So sad...

Why do we do it. I guess we are all chasing the dream. At least I think its a dream. Is the dream retirement. Is that really what we are all working for? To retire when we grow old? Will we have our health, or will we have nothing left but a tired old body that we abused on the road. Are we fooling ourselves? I hope not. I need a plan, a dream, a vision! Stay tuned!

Bless Me Father For I Have Sinned...

Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been 3 days since my last blog! I started reading "The 4-Hour Workweek" and am in the midst of a major values melt down. I have always been addicted to time management, and this book has basically told me to throw time management out the window. Ouch! I think I will hold off until I have finished the book and digest the content for a while. I do like the concepts that are being presented. A combination of the Pareto principle and Parkinson's law. If you aren't familiar with the Pareto principle, it basically says that you can apply the rule of 80/20 to almost anything. What does that mean? It means that 20% of the work that you do creates 80% of the value, or 80% of the money in the world is in the pockets of 20% of the people, or 80% of the smog is caused by 20% of the businesses. You can apply it to almost anything. Parkinson's law says that if you must work 8 hours per day, you will find activities to fill the 8 hours. Even if the activities are not essential, you will do them to fill up the time. The point made in the book is that if you set aggressive time limits for tasks that you must complete, you will finish them quicker without filling up the time with non value added activities.

Combining the Pareto principle and Parkinson's law, will allow you to focus on the 20% of the work that you are getting 80% of the value out of and get that work done without a lot of wasted time. It sound simple enough. If I apply this recommendation to the work I need to complete before I can retire, I should be ready next week. Oh wait, the author, Timothy Ferriss, says that retirement as I know it is a bad idea. I guess I am going to have to finish the book before I can make any rash decisions.

The 4-Hour Workweek

This weekend I started reading the book called "The 4-Hour Workweek". I haven't gotten too far, but the author, Timothy Ferriss, has already set the hook and ensured that I will continue reading. His writing style makes for a good read. He basically is saying that working your whole life to retire is a bad idea. He instead recommends a life laced with many temporary retirements. Interesting concept! I will read on with great hopes that he spills the beans on his recipe for pulling this off. I just hope I am not too late to get on the right bus.

Win Win - Now I can sleep...

I can sleep now. My new adviser offered me a compromise that I can live with. We keep my companies stock for now and in 9 months, we slowly begin to implement the plan he originally suggested. The issue is not so much that the stock is not a good stock, but that my portfolio is out of balance. My problem was that now is not the time to sell. My original logic was to ride out the storm, so bailing out when we are at the bottom was not something that I could live with. We agreed to wait. In 9 months, we will reevaluate and move forward with the diversification he recommends. The monkey is off my back and the banana was quite tasty.

The Monkey and the Banana

Does it really do you any good to pay someone for financial advice if you are not going to follow the recommendations 100%? After our second meeting, my wife and I have decided to sign on the dotted line with our financial partner. The problem is that while the recommendations that were given to us are quite sound, they involve getting rid of the vast majority of the stock that I own in the company I work for. Having been employed by the same company for 20 plus years, you can imagine the conflict that has created for me. I believe in the company, the leadership, the business, and the people I work with. The industry is highly impacted by housing, so the stock price has been significantly pounded over the last several months. While I don't have a crystal ball, I feel strongly that the stock will come back when housing rebounds and I am confident that it will rebound. Home ownership is still a big part of the American dream. My adviser's recommendations are sound, but my emotional attachment is not letting me go with the sound advice he is offering. He certainly hasn't given me an ultimatum, but he did tell me a story that I would like to share. He asked me point blank if I knew how to catch a monkey without a tranquilizer gun. Not having a good answer, I took the bait (no pun intended). He pointed out that it was quite simple to do. All that is required is to drill a hole in a box and put a banana in it. When the little guy reaches through the hole and grabs the banana, he won't let go. Kind of like I have grabbed onto my companies stock and won't let go. Not that it is a bad stock. I am sure the banana isn't bad either. My adviser pointed out that his recommendation is promoting what he feels will be a safer and more profitable portfolio. Gee, isn't that why I wanted a financial adviser in the first place?

I wonder if there is a way to eat some of the banana and then let go? I am not sure that I can let go of the banana entirely. Every day I see my stock price dip lower with the rest of the market, but know that we are positioned well for the rebound. We are cash rich and still making money, just not as much as the analysts would like. I have always felt that if the basic fundamentals were intact and if you believed in the stock, that you should ride through the tough times. Do I cut the cord, or do I bite the bullet and continue to ride the horse. I don't think I am going to get a partner in this one. The adviser doesn't have the emotional attachment to my company so he is making his recommendations with an open mind. I agree with everything else he has recommended, and even this makes logical sense. It just doesn't feel right. How do I get past this. I hate monkeys!

Picking a Financial Planner

How do you pick a financial planner? Can you say Google? Type in financial planner and your city, and you will be served up an abundance of planners to choose from, or not. Unfortunately, just because someone is listed, doesn't mean that you should entrust your future to them. You must determine if they are legitimate and that they are not just someone just waiting to get their hand in you pocket. Read, read, read, read! Educate yourself on what to look for. You can find all kinds of information by doing basic searches. You will learn that there are many ways that financial planners get paid. Some receive a fee based on a percentage of your portfolio while others receive commissions on transactions they make like buying and selling stocks for you. Still others are paid a salary and receive bonuses from financial services firms they are employed by. They can be experts on stocks, insurance, annuities, bonds, or maybe nothing at all. There are planners that are certified and regulated by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. You can go to the Financial Planning Association's web site and do a search for a certified planner. You can also find a planner by asking friends and family if they are using a financial planner or know someone that they can refer you to.

Which ever method you use to find a financial planner, your work does not end there. You must then meet with the planner and interview him or her thoroughly. Ask lots of questions. If you don't feel comfortable with the person, then move on. The first individual that I met with I did not particularly like. My wife liked him and felt ready to sign on, but I wasn't comfortable. He tried to get us to sign a contract with him with the promise of a full refund if we decided that we weren't happy at any time during the first year. He seemed to be more of a salesman than a potential partner. We refrained from signing and told him that we wanted a few days to make a decision. I am glad we took the time. My wife's boss heard that we were talking with a financial advisor and he provided her with a name of an individual he had done business with in the past. This referral turned out to be a great fit for us. We were better prepared when we met with the second financial advisor and found him to be well educated, experienced, grounded, and someone that we both were instantly comfortable with.

Our first meeting went very well and we decided to go back for a second time to see what type of plan our potential advisor would lay out for us. We provided him with all of our financial information so that he could review it and make some recommendations. That in itself was hard for me to feel comfortable about. Handing over information that one would normally keep confidential was not easy for me. Trust is critical for there to be any chance of forming a strong partnership with a financial advisor. Prior to accepting the recommendations there would be cause for many more questions and a lot of soul searching. With more questions to ponder I am sure that I will suffer through a few more sleepless nights.

Where do I start?

I am lucky enough to have a friend and coworker that is about 10 years older than me and just recently retired. Over the past couple of years, he and I were required by work to be in the same hotel for a couple of nights a month. That afforded me the opportunity to spend some quality time over dinners and beers picking his brain about the journey he was just wrapping up and that I was preparing to embark on. He has become somewhat of a mentor to me and although we aren't traveling together anymore, he is still available by phone to answer some of my questions.

Probably one of the most important nuggets that I gleaned from our conversations is that it is probably not a smart thing to prepare for retirement alone. There are professionals in this world that help people plan for retirement and have far more knowledge about what to do and how to do it than you or I will every have. They also have more time to focus on the day to day execution of the "plan" that is agreed upon.

So if all I have to do is find someone to help me create the plan and execute it, why am I loosing so much sleep at night? Quite simply, choosing an experienced, competent, trustworthy, affordable financial planner is not an easy task. There are many individuals in this world that will tell you that they can make you rich and guide you to a comfortable and prosperous retirement, but "buyer beware". Choosing the right financial planner can literally make you or break you. It is hard enough to admit that maybe you are not the best person to manage your own money, but knowing that you are choosing a person that you will entrust with your future is even harder. The pain incurred from a wrong choice is one that could haunt you for the rest of your life. The choice doesn't relieve you of the ultimate responsibility for your financial future. This eminent decision has created even more questions to bounce around in my head! If I could just find all of the right answers!

Introduction to Sam Speak

This is my first attempt at blogging. I am sure that no one else in the history of blogging has used that statement as their first blog sentence... Well, maybe one or two others. I have made a choice to add my two cents worth to this intriguing world. Everyone else does, so why not me, Sam I Am... I am hoping that this allows me to clear my mind of the things that tend to continually bounce around inside of it. This journey is for my benefit. If you choose to follow along, then I hope you find some value here.

The things that are stuck in my head are not unusual for people my age, 51. I am constantly thinking about when I can retire and how much money do I need to retire? Where do I want to retire, and what do I want to do when I retire? Will I be happy in retirement or will I miss working? So many questions and so little time. How long will I get to enjoy retirement? Will I have my health? Will I be happy? What should I be doing to prepare for retirement?

These are some of the questions that I hope to answer through blogging. Stay tuned!