The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+ (Book Notes)

Being in my mid-50s and having read some of Suze Orman's columns and books, I came across The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+. 

There are a lot of good tips which I wish I would have known at a much younger age. She has excellent advice that I can learn from now and that I can share with Sophia and Olivia, even though they are only 18 and 20 years old. 

Below are some of the things I found interesting:

- Fear, shame, and anger are the main obstacles to wealth. They cause youto do the wrong things and miss out on the smart choices that can move us toward our financial goals.

- The only way to conquer fear is through action.

- What I don't think is healthy - emotionally or financially - is when an adult child living in your home doesn't contribute to household costs. This has nothing to do with tough love. This has everything to do with continuing to be the strong, supportive parent who helps guide your children to become their best selves.

- Parents should be directing their money into their retirement savings accounts.

- The money that parents spend on their adult children is money they really should be socking away for their future, yet they can't stop themselves from being the provider. This is an unhealthy financial dynamic.

- Differentiate between financial assistance that helps with kids' needs versus money that funds their wants. 

- Resist co-signing for loans for your adult children. 

- A big problem is the "it's only" syndrome. It's only $100 or $200 a month to help with the rent. It's only an extra $20 a month to keep paying for their cell plan. Add up all the ways, big and small, you continue to provide support to an adult child. See how much "it's only" is costing you every year. 

- A hard no to: helping with a loan for a new car for an adult child, carrying an adult child on your health insurance and cell phone plan, and kicking in money for their vacations.

- If a child needs a car, they should be shopping for a used car that they can pay for with the shortest-term loan possible. 

- If your child is working, they should cover their share of the health premium.

- Consider how reducing your support for others will enable you to achieve your ultimate retirement goals: security and not needing your family to support you later on.

- Make sure you are helping your adult child become financially independent.

- If you reduce your monthly spending by $500 or $1,000 a month today, that's $500 or $1,000 a month you won't need to generate in retirement. 

- Moves to make during your working years:

---Prioritize paying off all debt before you retire.

---Embrace living below your means.

---Save more for retirement...in the right accounts.

---Have a plan to work longer.

---Consider long-term insurance.

- Ditch the landline and use cell phone only.

- Keep FICO score very high keeps auto premiums lower.

- Retirements savings must take precedence over paying for college.

- Spend the least amount you can for a reliable car. If you need to take out a loan, commit to a term that is no longer than 36 months. 

- There are three ways to save money today that you can then use without owing any tax in retirement: a Roth 401(k), a Roth IRA, and Health Savings Account (HSA)

- Plan to work until you are 70.

- Use the Social Security benefit calculator to get an estimate of what you may qualify for: www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html 

- Visit kerryhannon.com about career transitions and great jobs for those who are 50+ years old.

- Long-term health premiums are lower for those in their 50s and 60s because as you age, a pre-existing health condition could be grounds to deny you coverage. And the longer you wait, the higher your premium will be.

- See suzeorman.com/retirement to learn more about key features to shop for in an LTC insurance policy.

- If you are intent on not moving, make paying off your mortgage before retirement a priority. Tackle remodeling work today that will accommodate the needs of an older version of you.

- If you plan to stay put:

---Pay off the mortgage before you retire. Ideally, pay it off by age 65.

---Be able to pay your essential living costs (e.g., housing, groceries, utilities) guaranteed income (e.g., Social Security, pension payout, an income annuity you purchase at retirement).

---Don't rely on a reverse mortgage to pay the bulk of your expenses.

---Consider whether your home will be socially isolating to an 80+ you.

---Think through whether your home will be physically challenging for an older you (and your friends).

- The steps up to your front door.

- That you must climb stairs to your bedroom

- How you step into the tub to take a shower

- A narrow hall or doorway that doesn't allow a walker or wheelchair through.

- A bedroom on the main floor or a room that can be easily transformed into a bedroom and a bathroom on the main floor with a walk-in shower that has a bench are what allows you to stay in your home longer.

- Look around your home and see how plausible and comfortable it will be to stay in your home if you become ill, arthritic, or injured.

- Changes to make today: better lighting, more light switches, replace throw rugs with wall-to-wall carpet, and professionally-installed grab bars in the bathroom.

- Go to the National Association of Home Builders for their "NAHB aging-in-place remodeling checklist."

- Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) contractors are who you want to do remodeling.

- If you need to borrow money for remodeling, doing it while you are working will be easier to get than when you are retired. Before doing this, you have to look at how much that will eat into your retirement. Moving may just be the best thing you can do to ensure that you have the money you need for your 80s and 90s,

- Contact mortgage lender to ask for an “amortization schedule” that will have your loan paid off by the time you are 65.

- Find more monthly cash flow to put towards your mortgage payment.

- An emergency fund should be large enough to cover your basic living expenses for eight months.

- Aim to spend just 3% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement and then adjust that amount for inflation in subsequent years. 

- Your home is aging too which means more wear and tear on top of the regular maintenance costs. How old are your roof and HVAC system? If your intention is to stay in your home for 20 or more years, the reality is that you will likely have major maintenance expenses.

- Consider what tasks you do today that you might not want to - or be able to - keep doing long into retirement. Snowblowing, gardening, regular housekeeping, and general upkeep.

- A reverse mortgage can create extra income in retirement by using some of your home's equity. The income you receive is tax-free. 

- A reverse mortgage is a bad idea if you need it to cover the majority of your fixed living costs in your 60s and early 70s. Don't use it keep up with rising property tax, insurance, and maintenace; or if you will move in less than 5-10 years. Don't use it for wants (vacations, RVs) or pay off credit card debt. 

- You don't have to repay any of the money on a reverse mortgage while you remain in the house. It is only when you move or die that the borrowed money must be repaid. 

- Think about how your home will work for you when you are 80 or 85. If you can no longer drive or want to drive, is there convenient public transportation, taxis, Uber/Lyft so that you can get around easily? How far do you live from town or friends? 

- In your 60s, keep investing for a long retirement, delay starting Social Security until age 70, and enroll in Medicare and supplemental coverage.

- When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to just one Social Security benefit. If you have the high earner delay until age 70, you lock in the highest possible benefit for the surviving spouse.

- Medicare doesn’t cover long-term costs.

- If you don’t have a reliable income stream that can support you for a long life, then you are probably going to make your life and your kids’ lives more difficult.

- Retirement sources that offer guaranteed income: social security, pension, and income annuity that you purchase.

- Focus on a lifetime payout for a guaranteed income. Consider an annuity that will continue at the same level for the surviving spouse.

- Look at deferred income annuities. Buy the annuity today, but don’t start the payouts until a set period of time, such as 5 years or 10 years.

- An income annuity with a cash benefit will pay you a lifetime benefit, but if you die before your total payouts equal the up-front premium you paid, your beneficial will continue to get payments until total payments equal what you paid for the income annuity.

- Do not invest with any company that has any form of a grade with even the letter B.

- Have a separate bear-market emergency fund in retirement that has at least two years of living expenses in it. If you expect that you will not cover all your living expenses from guaranteed income, then keep three years of expenses in super-safe accounts that you can tap whenever you need to and know the money will be there for you.

- Invest equal amounts in five different CDs: 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, 4 year, and 5 year. When the 1 year CD matures, invest it in a new 5 year. You will have a CD maturing each year. That will pay you more interest than if you kept all of your money in a 1-year CD.

- You would need $1 million in order to withdraw $40,000 or 3% in your first year.

- Subtract your current age from 110. That is how much you may want to consider keeping in stocks. Mutual funds accomplish this since they have a variety of stocks in one fund.

- Treasury bonds are the best option for a retirement portfolio. They are the safest type of bonds.

- Must-have documents: a living revocable trust with an incapacity clause; will; advance directive and durable power of attorney for health care; and a financial power of attorney.

- Check all beneficiaries to make sure they are up to date.

- Ask your kids today what they want and spell that out in a will.

- If more than one child wants something, have an open discussion while you are still alive.

- Name an executyor of your will.

- Keep docuemnts in a waterproof and fireproof box that is easy to grab and go at a moment’s notice.

- If the documents are in a bank safe deposit box, make sure the name of trust’s successor trustee (and maybe even one more family member or someone you trust) is also listed on the account.

- Spell out your final wishes. If you don’t want your family to overspend, put that in writing. It will make it so much easier on them.

- Patience and perseverance must prevail in the years to come. When it comes to your money, you have to accept – and expect – that your money will have its ups and downs.

My Favorite Photos - July 2019

Below are some of my favorite photos from July 2019. Trust me when I say that this is a small fraction of what I took. Compared to last year at this time, when we were in the midst of recovering from the fire at our farm that happened in May 2018, I didn't have a lot of flower and outdoor photos.

This one - taken on July 2nd - is the backyard. A month earlier the backyard had not been sodded - it was still mud and covered with straw - a result of heavy equipment and trucks in the backyard for repairs. The barn also had not been painted yet. So, this one represents a lot of hard work on our part (we did all the sod) and a feeling of completion with the barn finally painted.

This is another view of the backyard looking to the west. The tan/cream building is the new garage to replace the hobby shed that burned. Our home is behind the apple and pine trees to the right of the photo. 

Flowers were abundant in our back middle garden including roses and strawflowers:

 

This is a purple cleome. They grow quite tall and have these beautiful and unusual flowers. 

These purple flowers are by the back door (which is actually our front door since we live in an old farm home).

On a trip with the girls many years ago, I saw these flowers - lantana - in another state. In Minnesota, they are annuals and I get them every year now. I love the variety of colors in each flower.

Our peonies bloomed this year - just in time for Sophia's graduation party last month (June 29th). They aren't receiving as much sunlight, so their flowers haven't been as abundant as in previous years.

This is the front yard - the hostas at the beginning on the month were quite large. Now, at the end of the month, they have purple flowers that stand a couple of feet above the plants themselves. Hummingbirds love them - though the numbers are down this year because apparently during the Spring migration in April in Iowa, many were killed in the blizzard there.

On July 6th, I finished the squares for a quilt I'm working on. It's part of the Minnesota Quilters' annual mystery quilt project. It's a fundraiser and fun project to do throughout the year. Each month, you get clues to do, but you have no idea what the final quilt will look like. We're getting closer, though, because the blocks now are being assembled. These are Blocks 1 and 3.

Each in July, the girls and I went to Willow River State Park in Wisconsin. We had not been there before so it was a pleasant surprise.

 

There is a very steep walk to get down to the fall (which makes for an ambitious climb back up this hill!). It was a hot day, so the spray from the waterfall felt really good.

During July, Sophia played the harp for quite a few dogs at the humane society. This one enjoyed listening to the music - check out his ears as he listened.

There was a pair of dogs that were from a senior owner who no longer could keep them. This one reminded us of one of our dogs, Danny, who loves to be scratched by his neck and has the same funny facial expression.

A big change for us that we have been enjoying in July was painting four rooms in June before Sophia's graduation party. The dining room has been white since we moved in (I painted over a blue/brown country look paneling board within the first month of moving here). It is now a soft green.

The living room also has the same soft green. Depending on the light and time of the day, it can look like a very light green or a bit darker.

The kitchen walls we painted a light gray (they also have been white since 1995) and did a brighter shade of white for the cabinetry, trim, and doors. The gray walls now match with the flooring which we had installed many years ago when we had water damage from the second floor that went into the first floor and basement.

The main floor half-bath we painted a mint green. Again, the walls had been white since 1995 so it's nice to see some subtle color in the bathroom. The wallpaper was from the previous owner. We kept that. I added the brown towels to tie into the pinecones on the wallpaper.

By mid-July, there were even more flowers blooming in the garden.

They were such pretty, vibrant colors.

We had a lot of purple flowers this year because Sophia's graduation party colors were purple and silver.

The daisies were in full bloom.

The lilies by the driveway also looked beautiful after a rain.

The hydrangeas, by the end of the month, were big snowballs. They about the size of a dinner plate.

I've loved seeing the bumblebees and native bees all over the flowers. There's a constant hum whenever I pass by the flower garden.

We've been seeing more butterflies this year with all the flowers - the ones we've had and the ones we've added.

Earlier in the month, I was filling the bird feeders - including the one on the mudroom roof that is next to the bedroom window. I love seeing the birds up close and watching their expressions. I think they can hear us sometimes - like this bird.

I stopped filling the feeder on the mudroom roof because of multiple visits from the squirrels - gray and red. They drive Cooper crazy and he barks at them to scare them away. Problem is: now they know that even if he barks he poses no threat because he doesn't come after them.

The wrens have been singing daily. They go in and out of their house which leads me to believe they have a family in there. 

In mid-July, the girls competed in the county fair with their 4-H projects. Olivia did very well this year - earning all blues and one red. She entered a lot of projects - with the majority in photography, crafts, and fine arts.

Sophia earned all blues. Her main areas of interest were crafts, fine arts, and self-determined.

On the day that we volunteered at the fair in the 4-H food cafeteria, there was a major storm that was projected for the area. No one knew quite what to expect. It ended up being a serious storm with tornado-like winds, hail, lightening, and downpours that were blinding (both when walking and driving). It was like nothing we had ever experienced. These are the storm clouds moving in.

The people at the county fair had to take shelter at the churches across the street. Power went out, and buildings on the fairgrounds were damaged. No one - people or animals - were hurt. However, the fair closed for that night because of the amount of flooding and no power.

We made it through the rain stopped to get dinner at the Chinese buffet to bring home to celebrate Olivia's 16 1/2 year old birthday. We still do half-birthdays. Somehow I don't think we'll stop - it has become a tradition to celebrate the girls birthdays and half-birthdays since they were young.

July was filled not only with serious storms, but very high temperatures and humidity. We invested in two new fans for the barn. One (shown in the background below) is up higher and gets the air circulating at head-level for Bailey (the black horse).

We got another fan that we put on the floor and aimed it up for Hoss to enjoy. The minute I plugged it in, it was clear that this was where he was going to spend his day. He loved the wind on his forelock and mane.

We went back to the county fair on the 21st to see how the girls did on their projects; and what top ribbons they received. Olivia received a grand champion on her wildlife biology project that focused on killer whales. She will be competing at the State Fair next month with it.

Sophia chose to bring her health project on Sole Hope to the State Fair. She's working on doing a tri-fold display to go along with her booklet to display at the State Fair. Olivia will be doing a booklet to go along with her display. 

The girls received multiple grand champion, reserve champion, and top blue awards for many of their projects. Needless to say, they were happy with the results.

Once the county fair that the girls compete in with their 4-H projects was done, we began focusing our efforts on the county fair that we enter our projects in the open class category. This county fair is the county that we live in, so we've been entering projects into it since Sophia was about 5 years old - 13 years now!

One of the projects Olivia did was a quilted pillow. The pillow itself fits into a pillow holder. This is a major accomplishment because she has never quilted anything so complex before. She was so happy with how it turned out.

What I love about this time of the year is that we do a lot of hands-on projects and sewing that we've wanted to do during the year, but haven't had the time. Our dining room and living room turn into a big crafting area, and we're all working on a variety of projects.

We went to the county fair to see how we did and to see the projects that other people did on July 31st. We were all happy that we got ribbons for our hard work. One of the projects Olivia did very well on was her poetry collection. She got a blue ribbon.

As I look at the display case below, there are five items I made in pottery class during the past year. I was happy to see that my tree platter got first place. It's on the lowest level, left hand side.

Sophia received a blue ribbon for the blue Russian lace necklace she made. She wanted me to wear it for her high school graduation ceremony which I did.

At the county fair, there's a garden area that is maintained by the Master Gardeners. It's a beautiful garden, and the butterflies were loving the flowers.

There were unusual-colored sunflowers which seemed to glow with the sunlight behind them.

On our way out, we saw the cows peeking out behind the fence while they were getting baths.

During July, Olivia continued with her weekly trap shooting lessons on Thursdays. She also started doing 22 and BB gun on Tuesdays. This is a sport she's really enjoying. It's the second year of doing the 4-H Shooting Sports program.

Closing out the month, I saw two sandhill cranes in a nearby field. Almost every day, I hear the cranes. Periodically I see them which is always neat. They are such big birds.

We also saw a Sphinx Month on one of the flowers in the backyard. It is also called a Hummingbird Moth because it is about the same size, hovers, and has the same loud "humming" sound. It stayed around long enough for the girls to be able to see it.

On the last day of July, I found some more monarch caterpillars. We have five now in the butterfly cage. It seems like each time I got out to get some more milkweed leaves, I find another one! This is the most caterpillars we've ever had which is so exciting! 

I can't wait to see them emerge from their chrysalises as monarch butterflies! This is always a highlight of our summer since the girls have been young (around 8 and 6 years old).