When Retirement Doesn’t Work

Hi Folks,

Are you enjoying your retirement? Do you look forward to waking up almost every morning with the great feeling that you are going to do what you want to do today and enjoy every minute of it?

Or do you have lots of days when you wake up and miss having a job to go to and the responsibilities that come with it?  

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Working in Retirement

Hi Folks,

Many folks that have already retired or are just getting ready to retire are discovering that they are going to have to supplement their retirement income with a “retirement job”. Working in retirement is not something most of us had planned on but it has n0w become a cold hard fact.

Well, maybe a job in retirement isn’t such a bad thing! In fact some working in retirement can be good - – if you have the right job.

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Make Retirement a Positive Experience

Hi Folks,

I hope you are having a good day. 

Janie and I are getting ready to go out for a late lunch with friends.  There are a couple great buffets that we rotate every week or so. The afternoon senior crowd gets a huge discount and free drink up until 3:00. Now you can’t beat that. And both of these restaurants (Ryan’s and Golden corral) have wonderful salad bars. So Janie and I have a late lunch/early dinner and therefore don’t have to fix an evening meal and we have great fellowship with our friends.  

Luncheons with friend, movies with friends, walks downtown with friends and all sorts of outings (with friends of course ) are part of our making our retirement a positive experience.

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IS SALT BAD FOR YOU? MAYBE NOT!

Hi Folks,

I once had a son-in-law that was a nut when it came to salt. I think he considered it a poison. When he and family came over for dinner my daughter tasted all his food to be sure her mother hadn’t put too much salt in it. Bet you think that didn’t cause some friction.

Over the years I have had friends that limited their intake of salt because of high blood pressure problems.  It may have helped, it may not have – but their doctors advised them to lay off salt so they did. Now, over the past few months I have read some interesting articles suggesting that limiting salt may do a person more harm than good.  Hmm

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How to keep your car running for years

Hi Folks,

Are you one of those looking for ways to keep your car for as long as possible? . . . Me too.

If you’re like me, back when you were working, you traded your cars every few years so you didn’t give much thought to trying to keep them running for 200,000 – 300,00o miles. Well, that’s all changed. Now it’s a necessity. 

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Retirement Living, Staying Connected With Family And Friends

Hi Folks,

I published the following article by Dee Cascio in “Woody’s Retirement Blog“ a couple years ago. But as it is such an important article and as Retirenment On A Budget get’s so many more visitors than Woody’s Retirement Blog, I thought I should re-publish her article here so that more retired folks could learn from the wisdom of this little piece.

Mr and Ms Retiree, have you noticed how quickly you lose contact with your old workmates and friends still in the work force after you retire? All of a sudden you no longer have the same thing in common – work.

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Senior Health: 11 Resolutions For A Healthier 2012

  Hi Folks,

A new year is upon us so it’s time to make our list of New Year’s Resolutions.

What! Do I hear you saying you no longer make New Year Resolutions?  That’s terrible! Why not? In my opinion New Year’s Resolutions are more important for seniors than they are for younger folks, or at least as important.

As seniors we have less time left to do some mighty important and exciting things. Sort of like a giant bucket list

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Ideas For Great Gifts For Retirees

Hi Folks,

I’m alway hearing people say that it is so difficult to buy gifts for retirees. Well, it shouldn’t be. Actually retirees are the easiest people to buy for.

This website has a few articles about gifts for retirees – see a list of some of them below – but I thought it would be good if I added a few more suggestions from some excellent sources - retirees.  So here goes.

• Gifts for retirees do not have to be expensive. These folks have been around for quite awhile (and can see right through you) and would much rather have a thoughtful, useful gift than something that costs a lot but is of no value to them. Most retirees are not impressed by expensive gifts unless it’s something they really want.
• Books. Not just any book or best seller. Find out what books they really like (ask them and listen close). When my dad retired I discovered that he still enjoyed westerns although he hadn’t read one in years. So trips with him to the library and rummaging through flea markets and book sales looking for westerns was as great a gift as I could give him.
• For the golfer.  How about a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife that has a divot repair tool, shoe cleaner and ball marker. Or a golf course GPS.
• Check out your retiree friend’s camera. Most of my retiree friends have rinky-dink little items that just barely qualify as a camera. Buy them a nice, easy to use camera… and include a bag. 
• Hobbies. Don’t get me wound up on this one. Many retirees have had deep seated interests in a hobby for years but haven’t had the time to pursue it. Back to my dad. . . here was a rugged, rough construction guy but when he went with my wife and I to a craft show he fell in love with macrame (that was back a few years ago).  He spent the rest of his days happy as a lark making all sorts of macrame items. Heck he even started selling them with lots of success. And we never had another problem buying gifts for him. So look around and ask around to discover what your retiree friend enjoys doing or would enjoy learning to do. Wow, what a great opportunity to help someone discover a latent talent.   
• Gardening. As we grow older some of the things we enjoy doing or would enjoy doing becomes more difficult. Gardening is one of those. So introduce your retiree to container, square foot and raised bed gardening. (this is not gardening for seniors. Countless thousands of folks practice raised bed and square foot gardening from children on up) Buy them a copy of Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening and if they have a computer sign them up for the Container Gardening and Square Foot Gardening websites. The links are in the right sidebar of this blog. Then you will have years of gifts to buy: tools, supplies, more books.
• This next area is a little tricky but I’ll mention it briefly. I have a major article coming out on this soon. Games! Games are not only fun but are good for keeping retiree’s brains sharp and healthy. Some seniors love all sorts of games, some like some games and many more hate games. So it’s your job to find out what sort of games they like or may like. But, if it is a new game don’t  just wrap the thing and give it to them – help them learn it and participate in it with them. I’m not going to go there but you would be surprised at how many seniors love computer games. I’ll tell you about some of my retired friends that play computer games in my upcoming article. But books of crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, books of suduko are good starters.
• For the lady retiree, a spa package.
• An E-reader and a gift certificate for a couple of books.
• Computer lessons at a local college. Not only will they learn more, but have an opportunity to meet new people.
• Certificates for car washes at their favorite car wash place. Or how about a gift certificate for a car detailing.
• Retirees love gift certificates and gift cards. Give them one and watch them beam.  Here are a few to consider:
• Tickets to an upcoming sporting event, concert or play.
• Gift certificate for a movie theatre, concert hall, arena so they can choose their own events.
• Gift card to their favorite restaurant.
• Gift card to their hair dresser. (men and women).
• Gift card to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million.

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Senior’s Guide to Computers

 Hi Folks,

A few weeks ago I wrote about a website that I had located, designed specifically to help non-tech-savvy seniors, http://www.retirement-on-a-budget.com/a-web-site-for-non-tech-savvy-seniors/.

I have had lots of visitors to that page since I first published it which would seem to indicate that there are lots of seniors out there who would like to know more about computers and the internet.

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Social Security Benefits Will increase in 2012 but

Hi Folks,

Your Social Security Benefits will increase by 3.6% in 2012 but you will not see all of it.

The Social Security Administration has announced that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 60 million Americans will increase 3.6 percent in 2012. However many retirees will not see all of the increase because Medicare Part B premiums will rise by $3.50 a month  for most seniors. Monthly Medicare Part B payments will now be $99.90.

Your Medicare Part B payment is deducted from your Social Security check.

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