For those on the cusp of retirement, this is not an out of bounds question. Choosing when to retire is fraught with all kinds of implications. Being sure you can maximize your income from all sources, while keeping a nest egg that will continue to protect your position, is a strategy requiring careful, prudent and wise planning.

Retiring early, in the current financial scene, is likely not a good idea. However, there may be circumstances which encourage that possibility. Investigating them carefully will reveal how well an early retirement choice would work for you.

Continuing to work, even part time, may be a choice of necessity. However, that too must involve considerations which

I read recently where this location is a great one for seniors who wish to retire abroad. I found a couple of others that will follow in a later blog but first let’s investigate Lunigiana. Google found that Tuscany is everybody’s favorite travel destination, and Lunigiana is the part of Tuscany that’s undiscovered. How’s that [...]

If you are one of the diminishing number of the middle class who has been comfortable and secure, maybe its time to evaluate what that means in today’s ever dynamic world.

While passing through the productive earning years it was not always a matter of daily thought that we were preparing for a comfortable and secure retirement. Once in a while, when outside forces seemed to nudge us, we would evaluate where we were and quickly return to the agendas at hand.

Having been retired for more than a dozen years, we have been able to be quite comfortable and secure. This has come about from careful and prudent planning, generosity of family, hard work on our own part, family who have been able, for the most part, to take care of themselves, and some good luck

Retirement is not and cannot be a sudden, impulsive decision. Baby Boomers need to be ready for one of the most important changes in their lives, and aware of a multiplicity of extenuating factors which will assist a comfortable retirement.

There should be no hidden surprises or unanticipated pitfalls awaiting you in retirement. Try to be in as much control as you can over your choice. Be sure you have all the information you need to make the right decision at the right time. It takes time and research to reach this level of readiness.

The first consideration is, are you paid up on all your social security quarters. If you lack credit

A few years back a fellow graduate student at Ohio State retired.  He had made a fortune writing textbooks, drove a new Mercedes-Benz and traveled the world on his bicycle.  He paid a visit to our home in Iowa and told us that he could have retired anywhere in the world.  He really wanted to [...]

If you have ever been in a department store in which clerks are reluctant to attend to your needs, then you have known the frustration of wondering why not. It is the same if you reside in a care facility or have a loved one who does. It isn’t inexpensive to live in such quarters these days. Almost any add on, beyond room and board, and one cannot always say much for board, often adds additional costs and fees.

Some employees are sensitive and alert, but others are not. Some take the time to inquire as to the condition of a resident, while others pass blithely by. Insensitivity may be the virus that spreads most through such environments. Or, it may be just lacking in knowing how and what to do. Poor training, lack of direction, example setting by the administrative staff and creating a conscientious regard for everyone, no matter their condition, are all matters deserving

Mondays weren’t always like this. When employed, I normally chose to take Mondays as my day off. It was a wise choice, because the weekend, for a pastor, is normally a time of demand, emotional, intellectual and physical. If you aren’t up for the weekend, it is like missing the best shopping day of the season if you are a merchant.

So, now in retirement, Mondays bring with it unusually satisfying hours. It is a time when sleeping in is allowed, although that is seldom done. It is a time when whatever I want to do I give myself permission to do so. Right now, apparoaching noon, I am writing this column. It allows me the chance to be myself, with my thoughts, just to see what comes out of these wonderful keyboard letters.

Inevitably for most of us, there are unexpected, certainly unwanted, interruptions in our retirement years. We had an email just this morning which bore the news that one of our young nephews is in ICU with a rare condition. Such news brings with the sudden reality of our frailties, that of ourselves and others.
- The continuing climb in prices, certainly the impact on budgets of gasoline escalations, influences all our budgets, no matter that it comes to those necessities which help us enjoy our daily lives. We may not have accounted for such dramatic hits on our budgets. But, here is the reality, like it or not, gas and everything influenced by gas prices is rising in cost.
- Family disruptions, a divorce, a death, any sudden change brnigs with it its own consequences in our own life patterns. They are never planned, seldom anticipated, except in those who undergo long term terminal illness, and they abruptly shake our lives, much like the tsunami and earthquake of Japan.

Fortunate enough to live in an environment where the sun shines 300 days of the year, there are still those not in touch with the “joys of retirement.” Persons choose to move to the southwest out of a desire to escape the hazards of severe winter weather in the east and midwest. But, sunshine is not the only contributor to the “good life.”

Many persons find their reward, satisfaction and use of time invested in golf and other activities. It seems to work. But, the fact is there are others who find retirement unsatisfying, unrewarding and down right boring. A steady routine of doing one thing over and over is not a recipe for retirement. It may contribute to depression. If your previous life did not have the ingredients for day to day satisfaction, it is highly possible that retirement will not offer what you thought you were getting.

When I was a child, an only

Aging brings with it a profusion of new challenges and experiences which requires our readiness to be ready to engage them. By the time of retirement, most couples are retired. They have made their plans accordingly. They either remain in their traditional home or move away, usually to a place that offers more opportunities for focusing on themselves. By this time the investments in children have paid off and they are off and on their own, thankfully.

While that is not always the case, and in these times, households are often stretched to continue caring for and assisting children without work or a place to live. This is but one of those challenges to emerge as we age. There are more. Depending upon when one chooses to retire, there is usually a respite period which allows for full focus on the things you always wanted to do: travel, fix up your home, move to another location, explore new and exciting things to do, make more friends, either nurture your roots where they are or transplant