esrosedotblog

EARLY OUT

Astonishing. But then, I did it. So did all my friends.

Practically Everyone Retires Early These Days

Part of this is the financial reward for doing so.

There is a difference of course if you go out early, less money, but the difference does not in the aggregate mean that much as life expectancy increases.

I even had the SSA person I went to convince me to take it early. She did the math and, yup, it worked out to be more in the aggregate in just those four years than if I waited for the bigger payment.

If they want people to work longer, and I am not sure why they would actually as it would increase unemployment, the need to amend the payment structure and to stop the SSN employees from selling the early out option.

Besides, many many people have a separate retirement package which covers the difference anyhow if you loo at it the right way. Blur your vision. And, at least here, you can work for pay on top of the social security check and do it under the table. I do not, of course, but it is very common to do so.

Labels: retirement

GEEZER PLANTS

I have always regarded people who kept their poinsettias after the holidays as seriously out of whack with the system.

I am not sure what system that would be but it was definitely in the same category of keeping wreaths on your door and lights in your trees too long.

Now, for two successive years, I am keeping the poinsettia plants alive through, well, almost the easter season.

It may be a geezer thing. Puttering.

Today I went out and cut down the repotted poinsettia we got from the kids back east as I should have done last year.

They say that it will now produce new stems and not be "leggy".

Well, the problem with last year's plant, other than its being leggy, was that it didn't survive the heat.

Now we know that poinsettias grow wild out here. They use them to curb highway bank erosion.

But that doesn't account for desert heat and exposure to the ultra-violet.

So this year I will cover the plant for a couple of months during the summer. We have "suncloth" that cuts down the exposure more than 50%.

The plant that I have inside is doing fine. I will keep it going as long as it goes. This is the one from the supermarket.

Last year's supermarket plant did fine and grew a lot of new green growth but never turned red because I didn't put it in the dark.

I can't put the outdoors plant in the dark. Maybe 100% dark cover for awhile.

These are the kind of life problems that would only be pondered by the unemployed and under engaged. I am certainly not employed but I thought I was engaged. Maybe a little more dog walking. The gym. Cook longer gourmet dinners.

In the meantime I will putter with the poinsettias.

Labels: holidays, horticulture, life, retirement

VACANCY

I noticed a void today. A space in my consciousness.

I realized that this is the first weekend in awhile that I don't have an interview with an MIT applicant. Since August, actually.

I had 16 this year and each one is a bit of a project. The interview is literally half of it. The other half or more is writing up the experience.

About four hours per kid.

It is certainly worth every minute for me. I enjoy the process and, most of the time, the kids. This year was an especially good crop I thought.

But now it is over, the results are in and we all wait until March to see who did and who did not make it. Mostly not. The odds are 15:1

I am not all hell bent to fill the void, to find another thing to do.

I will be happy to see one or two more movies a week. Maybe read more than I have been reading.

Something will crop up. It usually does.

Retirement has been that way for me. I have always had something.

I gardened until I couldn't garden any more. There comes a time when everything is in. It is done. The rest is maintenance and not much of that.

I was on a great hiking binge. That got done when my knees gave out on the down side. Up was fine. That would take four or five hours out of the week plus getting there and all.

None of these are big holes. They just come along. Something to do shows up and, before I know it, I am in the middle of something.

I have never really sought anything out. Just good fortune. They came looking for me to do the interviews. The guy who had been doing it here aged out. 82. Something to aspire to. I have a ways to go. A ten year career.

Labels: life, retirement

RECOVERY!!!

So there was a bounce up on the Dow and S&P today. Not surprising. We had an excess of angst yesterday and there has to be at least a smidgeon of optimism on that grizzly bear trading floor.

Not that there was any good news. Consumer confidence, including mine, is very low. A bigger drop than expected. Housing starts tanked even more. Bernanke testified. That is usually a cause for a drop. He even said that this would go on into 2010. Jeez, can we be done with the first decade in this century already?

So, the markets rose in the face of bad news. I am not convinced the rise is going to be a keeper as the week goes on.

But Obama will speak tonight. People want more clarity. Maybe. Probably. That could be good for tomorrow. But it is a day at a time for us.

I love these trader pix.

Labels: economy, retirement

FULL CIRCLE UPDATED

Well, the Dow and the S&P ended up just about where they were when I began my retirement 11 years ago. Since a good part of my retirement income comes from the market portfolio, I am more than mildly bothered by this state of affairs.

I don't speculate. I have a managed account where I pay a percentage management fee every quarter based on the value of my portfolio.

The fee has been a lot less lately. One positive result of the downturn.

They decide what to do based on general guidelines that I give them. I can do quite a bit in terms of instructions. A lot of latitude is built in.

They have done a good job over the decade. I have always been ahead of the market, even now.

I suppose you could say that I haven't lost anything yet as all the rest of it was on paper.

You could say that and so can I but there isn't any comfort in it.

I called my manager today and let her know that it was another shock to see the new bottom. We talk at least once a week. One subject of discussion is the stress I am feeling.

Not bad so far. I can still take it but I wanted to run through the options if I got to skittish. I really have no intention of doing anything but I like to rehearse, just in case.

I could liquidate. Cash. Small interest. Play with CDs. I have a friend who has gotten as much as 7% by playing on the monthly CD market but there we are with speculation again and he isn't finding any CDs like that today.

Then, I could go to bonds. Like going to cash, this would be selling out. The stocks I own would be sold at their bottom or near bottom. Bonds don't increase in value and most don't pay worth a shit.

I could put more bonds into my mix. Same thing.

I could tweak the portfolio to put in more income and less growth stocks. That wouldn't be too bad. I am presently getting pretty good dividends even in this environment. 3-5% or so.

But when you go to income you lose on the equity. You get very conservatively managed stocks that don't grow a lot even under the best of conditions.

I asked what Buffet is doing. Warren not Jimmy.

He has a newsletter out Saturday.

She thinks that he is buying stock.

So I left it just where it is.

I try to live to the maxim "if in doubt do nothing".

There sure is a lot of doubt.

I have a few friends who are doing the same thing. Standing pat.

You can't say the market isn't trying.

Every day for the last week--well a few days--the Dow and S&P futures are positive and maybe the actual market starts positive. Then they get on their teevees and blackberries and start rumors and pull back and get all fear ridden and by the end of the day we are in the shitter again.

The market is trying to find a new bottom. And not doing very well.

My current strategy is to save money on the expense side. We are doing pretty well and not missing a lot that we have cut. So far. Regulating spending is the biggest lever anyone has right now.

I am looking for the Administration to get some clearer statements out about what they are planning to do. They have to be careful because when they say they are going to work with a company like CItigroup, people panic and sell the stock. Now though it is so low that they don't have much of anywhere to go.

I understand the stimulus will start leaking into people's pockets by the first of April. The mortgage plan will begin on March 4th. So there are some good things coming down the pipe.

Tomorrow night he makes a speech to the joint session. Today he had a meeting with the leadership and a mix of business and other outsiders. He did well.

But nothing satisfies the bull these days. They want specifics that are just not available and they don't like that they are about to see an end of the era. Everyone hates them. They know it too. They are irritable and discontent and throwing tantrums.

Change is a real pain in the ass.

But I remain optimistic!

Although looking at this picture, I can't see much to be confident in.

Labels: economy, retirement

THURSDAY OPEN END

I suppose that being retired and all, people would figure that there are endless unstructured days with nothing really laid out to do.

Serious retirees (as opposed to dabblers) and regular readers of this blog will know this is not the case.

I am all structure. Someone once told me that I live like a monk. Order.

I get up and get to it every day. My plate is nicely full. Not too full but full.

There is biking and blogging every day. There is cooking. There is the afternoon dogwalking.

Most afternoons there is a movie.

There are two days for shopping; Tuesday and Friday. There are three days for Meetings. And so on.

We even structure the weekend. Saturday is just another day and Sunday has the family threesome walk with, of course, the Sunday LATimes to read when we get back from the open road.

Now I know that this does not sound like work but it really is. Really.

The exception is Thursday.

Thursday is not booked for anything regular. It is my open day.

The 'order' even provides this treat.

I use it for the occasional appointment; dentist, doc, vet, the like.

Once a month or so we all three go to PetSmart to get dog necessities on Thursday.

But mostly I leave it wide open to let the air in. Anything might come up and does.

Why Thursday? Well, It is disrupted anyway.

Mari comes to clean the house.

Yes, I know. If I cleaned the house I could be fucking busy all the time and even lose some sleep.

Not me.

She takes over the house so even my regular shit gets rearranged.

Nice.

I am in the front of the house in the AM and then get moved to the rear.

I read. I nap. I look into space.

Thursday where the order is no order.

Today I had a pretty clear time and it just flew as I read my new Ward Just novel, his first.

A Soldier of the Revolution; just back in print.

It is great. Good thing. He was wiped out as a journalist after Viet Nam and this was the life turning step. It was a great success.

He has all the moves that I recognize in his writing; the 13 novels afterward. Many, many essays and short stories.

I will also take a swim.

Something.

Thursday.

Labels: retirement, Ward Just

STEADY AS SHE GOES

Small Stock Investors Sticking it Out

Yup.

"Dive May Not Upset Small Investors".

Labels: doomsday, market, retirement

WIPEOUT

I got a reduction in my nest egg yesterday as did everyone else. They didn't single me out.

Wall St. Tumble Adds to Worries About Economies

Anyone with half attention would have known it was coming.

I remember noticing a negative comment by Alan Greenspan yesterday, in a speech. I thought at the time that things might not be so certain.

I sure have enjoyed the runup, announcing how much we 'earned' this week and all.

I don't think that I will be running to my mate and saying we much we lost.

It comes and goes.

What goes up must come down.

More importantly, what goes down must come up.

This is good advice for many downers, not just the market.

I have been here before.

Each time there is a gyration I get less exercised about it.

It is all paper numbers anyway.

All I know is that I started retirement ten years ago with a certain nest egg and I have been taking out of it ever since and, today, I still have about the same amount in my fund as I did then.

That is the goal after all. Ain't?

The ever-normal granary. More or less, of course.

Labels: doomsday, market, retirement