writing

(Less Than) Random Thoughts on Retirement – The Dot Project June 2024

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Steve Jobs

Save as Much as You Can Because Whatever You Manage to Save Will Never Be Enough – Random Thoughts on Retirement was the post that started the entire series of periodic Random Thoughts on Retirement. In More Random Thoughts on Retirement – Memorial Day 2024 I wrote about staying healthy as my primary goal in retirement.

Another Big Dot

Sometimes things in life work out as planned. Sometimes they don’t. This time the plan is going as planned. At my annual wellness check up everything turned out fine except for my blood pressure. The two readings taken showed an elevated systolic and per Doctor’s orders I had to buy a BP machine which set me back $36 plus tax. I was instructed to keep a log for two weeks. For grins, I checked my online account to see what Dr. Lewis wrote for the office visit notes. No mention whatsoever regarding my BP readings. Probably because both of us felt this wasn’t a huge problem. The Boss started showing some concern and I had to report my pressures to her every day. Again I felt this wasn’t a worrisome medical issue. Besides if the diagnosis was hypertension I was looking at daily Lisinopril 10 mg, no big deal.

After two weeks I sent Dr. Lewis my log. She replied later that day.

Thank you for diligently keeping track of your blood pressure readings. I see that your readings have been fairly consistent. Yes you can stop watching it. If you feel fatigued or headaches please recheck it.

Sincerely,
KL

I survived another annual wellness check. The Road to 70 is still pretty smooth. But the ride is not as smooth for others.

A CivicScience survey of nearly 3,000 respondents conducted between March and May 2024 reported 61% of those aged 55 and over say they won’t be able to retire by 65, and 53% will need to keep working even when they do retire. Boomers and Beyond: 5 Ways To Make Extra Money if You Retire in Your 70s – https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/boomers-ways-make-extra-money-retire-70s/.

I admit to falling for the clickbait. Of course I wanted to know about 5 ways to make extra money if I retire in my 70’s. And I’m a Boomer. So I read the article. Here are the 5 ways to make extra money:

  1. Add Money to a High-Yield Savings Account
  2. Buy Dividend Stocks
  3. Rent Out Unused Space in Your Home
  4. Become a Dog Walker
  5. Become a Ride-Share Driver

What is the average monthly benefit for a retired worker? The estimated average monthly Social Security retirement benefit for January 2024 is $1,907. https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01903

Hmm…

I wrote back in May that my focus was simple. All I had to do was stay healthy and stay connected with an employer willing to keep an Old Guy with a particular set of skills on the payroll. More Random Thoughts on Retirement – The Dot Project May 2024. At this point I hope to become a dog walker only if I want to, not if I have to. Prioritize your health. Save as much as you can. Plan on living AND working longer. Defer collecting Social Security retirement until you turn 70 (if you can). Read my other blog https://garyskitchen.net/. Tell your friends and family you found this blog written by an Old Guy on what it takes to become an Old Guy. They’ll love you for this.

More Random Thoughts on Retirement – The Dot Project May 2024

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Steve Jobs

Let’s be honest: If you keeled over at 68, it would be a family tragedy—but it wouldn’t be a financial one. At that juncture, all your financial problems would be over, and your family would likely be better off financially because they’d inherit your retirement nest egg, which would probably still be largely intact. Instead, the real financial risk is living to a ripe old age. That raises the question: As you make your retirement plans, shouldn’t you care more about the live version of your future self, rather than the dead one?

Long Odds – https://humbledollar.com/2024/05/long-odds/

When I wrote Save as Much as You Can Because Whatever You Manage to Save Will Never Be Enough – Random Thoughts on Retirement I started thinking more about the financial side of living too long. Well, it looks like a ton of media outlets are thinking the same thoughts.

Today’s life expectancies hover just below eighty, and if you reach the milestone of seventy they jump to the mid eighties. Due to advances in medicine and healthier lifestyles, reaching your nineties or even 100 is more realistic than ever. How do you ensure that you don’t run out of money? The answer is to start saving more now and plan to work longer. You’re Going to Live Past 90. Congrats! Here’s How to Pay For It. — https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a60647995/how-to-afford-living-to-100/

A Big Dot

A little over four and a half years ago at the tender age of 65 my boss asked me if I was planning on retiring or if I wanted to continue working. I said I wanted to continue working. My FRA (full retirement age) for social security retirement benefits was still nearly a year away and I really didn’t want to collect a reduced benefit. As I connect the dots this decision turned out to be a Big Dot. Covid happened. Then inflation soared and continues to soar making everything cost more. I’m glad I didn’t retire back then and lock in a lower monthly lifetime benefit before the cost of everything went up.

Sometimes things in life work out as planned. Sometimes they don’t. When I decided to stay in the workforce the strategy was to wait until age 70 to collect social security benefits. The math was compelling.

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/delayret.html

My focus was simple. All I had to do was stay healthy and stay connected with an employer willing to keep an Old Guy with a particular set of skills on the payroll.

My particular set of skills is understanding what kills people.

The Road to 70 is now just a short trip. Just 10% of people in one survey planned to wait until age 70 to claim Social Security – https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/survey-just-10percent-plan-to-wait-until-age-70-to-claim-social-security.html. Time for another Big Dot related to this Big Dot. I think I’ll keep working for another 3-5 years, contingent upon the same variables of sustained good health and a willing employer. I have about another 30 years to go, so why not do a few more years of work?

More Random Thoughts on Retirement – September 2023

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Steve Jobs

The older I get the more I think about retirement. But some things in this life should take a while to make decisions about and retirement is definitely one of those things. I made my decision on retirement 4 years ago when I decided not to retire. Recently, I made my second decision about retirement when I again decided not to retire. But it’s never too early to start thinking about various aspects of retirement as in what you want to retire to. I want to retire to a quiet life of blogging and writing my Future Best Seller tentatively titled The Man Who Had No Hobbies.

The time had come to upgrade my workstation.

Here’s the workstation for my Day Job.

And here’s my new personal workstation setup (yeah, looks the same).

My old Windows 7 machine was nearing the end. At the bottom left of the picture you can see it still sitting on the floor. I’ve upgraded to a Windows 11 laptop, docking station, and two extra monitors. I should be good until Windows 20 now.

For other random retirement thoughts go to https://garyskitchen.net/. At one point I may combine the two into a single blog.

Maybe when I’m retired.

Random Thoughts on Retirement – aka The Dot Project

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Steve Jobs

While writing random retirement thoughts the other day I noticed the similarities between A Plan is Not a Strategy – Update 08.03.22 and my Dot Project. Harvard Prof Robert Martin discusses how planning and strategy are different and that “integrative choices” collectively become strategy. These integrative choices are significant decisions you have made or choose to make that have life altering consequences. I come from a humble background and tend to shy away from BIG FANCY WORDS used by intellectuals and others who want to appear smarter than they truly are. So for me these choices or life decisions are Dots.

Dots. Big Dots. Little Dots. Even Do Nothing Dots where you decide not to do something are Dots. The decision not to do something can be as important to life outcomes as a decision to do something. The problem as Jobs tells it is true. You can only connect your Dots when looking backwards.

I started my Dot Project writing six years ago and got as far as jotting down Dots in my journal as writing prompts. So far I’ve documented about a dozen Dots but never got around to actually writing anything about them. Until today. I’ve reached the point in life where I am able to look backwards and Connect My Dots. My hope is the reader will find these insights to be useful in your own journey. My second hope is that my children and their children find my Dot Project and learn a tad bit more about where they came from.

The Dot Project and Random Thoughts on Retirement are one and the same. Next up – Save as Much as You Can Because Whatever You Manage to Save Will Never Be Enough – Random Thoughts on Retirement.

Authors Guild Survey Shows Drastic 42 Percent Decline in Authors Earnings in Last Decade

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

The Authors Guild’s 2018 Author Income Survey, the largest survey of writing-related earnings by American authors ever conducted finds incomes falling to historic lows to a median of $6,080 in 2017, down 42 percent from 2009.

The Authors Guild surveyed its membership and the members of 14 other writers organizations in 2018, receiving detailed responses from 5,067 authors. This included traditionally, hybrid and self-published authors who have commercially published one or more books. When discussing median incomes, the survey looked at both full-time and part-time authors.

The respondents reported a median author income of $6,080, continuing a sharp decline over the last decade: $8,000 in 2014 and $10,500 in 2009 (per the Authors Guild’s 2015 Survey), down again from $12,850 in 2007, as reported in a joint Authors Guild/PEN survey.

Earnings from book income alone fell even more, declining 21 percent to $3,100 in 2017 from $3,900 in 2013 and just over 50 percent from 2009’s median book earnings of $6,250.

The survey showed a shift in book earnings to other writing-related activities, such as speaking engagements, book reviewing or teaching. Including those sources, respondents who identified themselves as full-time book authors still only earned a median income of $20,300, well below the federal poverty line for a family of three or more.

Add writer to the list of occupations to steer your grandchildren away from.

I am a non-professional non-paid writer.  And professional writers don’t make much more than I do writing.

Read the entire article here.

I’ll Be A Real Writer When

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Thank you Janine for putting into words what a lot of us are feeling.

Guest Blogger's avatarThe Brevity Blog

By Janine Canty

I could give a five hour talk on how I’m not a Real Writer.

When I was 18 and headed to college for journalism I believed the Real Writers all lived in New York and had their shit together. They smoked long cigarettes, and had voices like gravel mixed with honey.

I did not make it to college. Because I didn’t have my shit together. I got knocked up to a Meatloaf song instead.

I almost forgot the writing dream in the ensuing years.

Newborn babies that kept coming. Two AM feedings. Colic. Stretch marks. Mastitis and ice in my bra.

Then I took the writing dream and I hid it deep. Because the boy I married was made out of mean. He wanted to own every part of me. And the things he couldn’t own, he destroyed. So I buried my writing dream.

Then I got…

View original post 673 more words

I Decided Not to be a Writer – I’m OK With That

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them.

Source: Many Middle-Class Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck – The Atlantic

Neal Gabler is a visiting professor in the MFA Creative Writing and Literature Program at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of Edward Kennedy and five other books.

Ever since my undergraduate days I’ve dreamed of being a writer.  Not only do I love to write but I have to write.  I write almost every day.  I just don’t get paid to write.  Having just read Neal Gabler’s article I feel the decision to pursue a different line of work and become a non-writer was a good decision.  I just never thought that 40 years later I would be doing what I did for a living as a 22 year old kid fresh out of college.

No regrets.

Happy Mother’s Day 2014

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Happy Mother’s Day to all.

Two months ago I wrote about shifting my emphasis on this blog away from medical news and information for life underwriting professionals to more of a writer’s blog.  The shift was to highlight my transition to professional writing services for hire.  Since I posted that change in direction, I’ve found my posts completely unchanged in character and broad content.  I’m still linking to great pieces of medical news.  I’ve not written anything.

Change we must.  I just need to figure out my time commitments and find some of that elusive time to write more.