crylam

Having a  Satisfying Retirement  without a budget is pretty much like jumping off a cliff without a parachute. You may survive but I wouldn't recommend it. I believe quite strongly that a budget is absolutely essential to a financially secure retirement lifestyle. Whether you are already fully retired, working part time, or still a few years away from leaving your job, it is never too early to build a retirement budget. You may hate the idea of keeping track of what you spend. You may think you know what you income and outgo are. But until you put in on paper (or in a software program) you are playing with fire. So, what goes into a budget? How different is a  retirement budget ? Are there categories that were important when you worked full time that can be dropped when you are retired?  How do you plan for retirement ? To give you some idea what might belong in your post-work budget, I will use mine as a sample. Since your situation is likely...

Last year, our travel schedule was pretty aggressive: a 2 month-long RV trip as far east as North Carolina, almost a week at the Palm Springs Film Festival, an Alaskan Cruise, a week at a beach house in San Diego, a trip to Disneyland with the grandkids, and a few short RV jaunts to nearby state parks...a total of 12 weeks away from home and double our planned budget (oops!). We don't regret a minute of all that travel nor the experiences and memories generated. 2017 is shaping up to be quite a bit different. We have absolutely nothing on the travel calendar, save for a 4 day trip to Patagonia, a small town southeast of Tuscon that we enjoy for its peace and quiet. We will load up the RV and head to the state park just south of town in a few weeks. I am confident that there will be some more on the schedule. A few RV trips to the Arizona mountains later in the year are easy ways to escape the heat for awhile. We like Show Low and Flagstaff. The grandkids are returning to ...

2016 has been a year when we decimated parts of our budget. As someone who has lived with a strict budget since my first years in college (was that really 49 years ago?), I am a firm believer in knowing what I spend and staying within the lines.  Last year was when my share of my parents' estate started to find its way to into my accounts. By early this year I was feeling quite flush. With even more money to come over the next 4 years before the estate is closed down for good, additional cash flow was on the horizon. Betty and I have always lived well beneath our means. One of the reasons we were able to retire 15 years ago was the habit of carrying no debt beyond a mortgage, and saving 20-25% of our income each year. We have played it close to the vest; there have been plenty of splurges for vacations with the kids, but we never ignored the income/outgo realities.  Well, this year not so much. Call it pent up demand, a realization that if not now, then whe...

Average means ordinary or usual. Average is what many people aspire to be. Don’t rock the boat, don’t stand out, don’t make waves. I’m guessing you want more. You want each day to be special, to mean something. You’d like your life to follow a path that you create. Here’s the answer : ignore common wisdom. Just forget it. Common is average. Your life can be more by being different. Here are 4 ways to break from the pack and create a satisfying retirement lifestyle that is under your control. 1) Short cuts usually get you lost . Too many people figure they know how to get something for nothing. Hard work is for suckers. The path to glory and greatness lies through other's efforts or money. Don’t bother perfecting your skills. Don’t waste time learning what you need to know. Look for the easy way. Look for the shortcut. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself in the forest with no way out. There are no shortcuts on the road to a non-average life. You have to want it enough to w...