Most columnists have some kind of recurring foray aptly entitled "random thoughts,"
where they babble away and list their well, er, uh, er, random thoughts.
So yours truly decided to have a whirl at it so here goes, my random thoughts: [ presumably the world holds its collective breath ]
1) I still have no job but sent out 14 inquiries today. These employers don't know what they are missing out on, eh?
2) On a somber note, I resent what the food biz has done to my life. This is no new revelation, but the family and recreational time lost and can't be retrieved was never worth it.
3) Because I am home more often [ not working 60-70 hour work weeks ) I must admit to tiring of watching "Matlock" and the same movies that are repeated weekly. Even tho' it was almost 50 years ago, "The Andy Griffith Show," particularly with Don Knotts, never loses its appeal. "Citizen's arrest!"
4) Kitty bought me some Archway cookies tonight. The ones with a tiny dab of fruit on top. What a sweet gesture. And those cookies are older than the hills.
5) My niece, Katherine who hails from San Fran, was given the link to Golden Pond. Her mom's computer crashed and burned. Probably while downloading some propaganda from John Kerry, Shrillary Clinton, Jane Fonda, et al. Apologies to anyone who is offended.
6) My son, Jesse, moved out of the house yesterday. He is excited about moving out on his own. He has always been a good son and very responsible. It was especially a sad day for Kitty, who cried and cried but was happy for him, too.
7) I am having a problem penning my new column, "random thoughts." Evidently, I don't have many.
8) I have even watched "American Idol" for the first time ever.
9) Not sure who will win the Super Bowl. But it looks like Indy will bring home the bacon. "That's why they play the game" is a cliche that's valid here. Ask Mike Tyson after sparring with Buster Douglas.
10) In ten years I'll be able to draw a pension from Piccadilly. If I take it now, it will be cut in half. What to do? Eh? Hoots?
11) "Random thoughts" is now kaput, fini' for tonight. Au revoir, v.c.
1 comment:
If I remember right, full retirement is age 65 and one can begin receiving a reduced amount at age 55. Each month is equal to 1/120 of the difference, so the arithmetic is easy.
I began with about fifty-seven percent of full benefits and have had the security of that amount coming in from PBGC every month since. Without it we could not make ends meet, but when Social Security kicks in it will be enough to meet expenses in retirement. A couple of things to look forward to are Medicare (which significantly reduces insurance costs -- "medigap" policies are much less than non-medicare plans), no mortgage payments with the house paid off, and an exemption in the county where we live from school taxes for "elderly" residents (which amounts to over two thousand dollars a year in our case).
In the meantime money is coming in. Had I waited another six or seven years to get a bigger income, that would have been great, but I would have to live that many years beyond the "full retirement" target just to break even with what is coming in right now. In my mind today's income is more valuable than the same dollars ten or fifteen years in the future, which is another argument in favor of starting early at a reduced amount.
But all that is moot since I had to take the reduced amount just to meet living expenses. Not having the pressure of high earnings has been a liberating experience.
If I had it to do over, I would have done one thing different. When I began receiving the pension, my wife and I had to decide between two options: a larger amount which will cease altogether when I die, or a smaller amount which will continue to her benefit as long as she lives in the event she outlives me. We elected for the larger amount, but I now wish we had taken the other option. Unfortunately, once the decision has been made it is not negotiable.
I say take the bacon and run. You still have time to work on a second retirement income. This time next year I will be vested in another retirement plan (five years on my current job) which will add to my retirement income. It will be a much smaller amount, but everything will help when the time comes.
The reason I would recommend electing survivor benefits for your wife is simple. I now see first-hand that the odds are against men outliving their wives. I'm not sure of the exact statistics, but it looks like in a population with an average age in the mid-eighties, women outnumber men about six to one.
Hope this helps.
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