Physically Prepare

My friend and I ran into our Body Pump instructor on the bike trail Sunday.  Hadn't been to BP or biking  for over six weeks "because I was SOOOOO busy at work."   Sound familiar?  So, friend and I got up at 0530 and made it to a 0600 BP class today and it was HARD.  You won't believe how much you decline in six weeks.  Think about it.  Whoever designs these routines must be a little bit sadistic.  Today's routine had squats and lunges interspersed with jumps.  OMG.  I can feel my legs screaming already.  I can't imagine what they will feel like in 24 hours.  Il Divo never sounded so good (they were the cool down song.).  But I digress.

My next tip after preparing financially is to make sure you are healthy and fit.  I'm not suggesting that you run triathlons like one of our 60+ friends does, but think about what it will be like to get old and lose your mobility.  To enjoy your retirement, you've got to have the energy and strength to do things like biking, but also like getting your own groceries, going to a museum, or playing with your grandchildren (even if they are canine).  So, don't follow my lead of the last six weeks, the work will be there when you get in whether it is at 0700 or 0830.

1. Find two or three activities that you like.  For me, I love body pump (weight lifting), yoga, Zumba and biking.  Some should be cardio and others weight bearing.
2. Figure out the best time of the day for you.  For me it is early morning for BP.  Got to get it in then or I won't go.  Yoga is great in the afternoon.  There are different kinds of yoga and different kinds of teachers.  Try it out until you find what is good for you.  Don't worry if you can't do everything.  You benefit from doing the best that YOU can do. If you like to dance - ZUMBA.  Love it, but once again different instructors are better or worse.  Find one you really like.
3. If you have a friend (luckily I do), go with them.   We've found that many times one of us doesn't want to go, but we go because of the other one.
4. I personally love charting my behavior to see if I am getting any better.  So get out a calendar and mark down every day that you do something.  Get a watch that counts your steps (my best birthday present this year).  Friend and I walk pretty long distances and we are constantly looking at those watches trying to out do our previous walk.

NOTE TO SELF:  Don't wear a muscle shirt to Body Pump.  You don't have muscles, the girls in the rows in front of you are 30 years younger and the damn floor to ceiling mirrors are unforgiving.

Get out there and move.

How do you know it is time?

I had a great idea yesterday morning at the gym (Yes I'm back at the gym!)  for a blog about hand sanitizer and how much I love the smell of  alcohol.  That got squashed because I was teleworking and too busy to write a blog.  Plus this morning my old friend told me I can't keep saying I am going to retire.  Having written only two posts so far, I'm not sure what she meant by that, but it reminded me that I said this blog would be about the drama of retirement.  So, let me get started with the first question - "How do you know it is time?"

Really, it's kind of like that question we all had when we were young, "How do you know when you are in love?"  I'm way past that time, so I'm sure I don't remember truly the angst of it all, but now I think "How do you know it is time?" is just as serious and full of potential angst.  From this point forward in this post, I am going to be serious, so if you truly don't care about when to retire or how to figure it out, you might want to stop right here.  Well, one last thought, figuring out when to retire has LOTS of calculations (at least the way I did it), which is a little bit easier if you think about it than trying to figure out if this is the ONE.  WARNING:  Serious stuff follows.

First  a disclaimer:  Most of this is just common sense.  

Ten years ago, I thought I would retire when I was 59.  That was before the stock dive of 2008.  Plus, I revisited the retirement materials I had received in the retirement course I had taken, and realized 62 was the magic number for me (more about that later).  

1. So first, take the government offered retirement class.  If you can take it really early it will help you see where you might need to make a few tweaks to your plans, your saving, etc...
2. If you have not done so already (I hope you have if you are thinking about retirement) put as much as you can into the Thrift Savings Plan.  I have contributed to TSP from the first day it was available at the maximum amount.  When it is taken out of your check before you see it, you won't even miss it.  Believe me.
3. During the year that you turn 50 (you don't need to have already had the birthday), you can also begin putting in a catch-up amount.  Do that, too.
4. It might be overkill (it wasn't for me-I need this income, too), but contribute to an IRA also.
5. I also tried to save money outside of the above "retirement accounts."  That's me, though.  I was/am really nervous about having enough money when I stop working.
6. If you work for the federal government, stay until you are 62, if you can.  At 62 and 20 years, your annuity will be calculated (FERS - I don't know about CSRS) at.1.1% of your high three.  If you retire before 62, it will be calculated at 1%.  It doesn't sound like much, but that .1% makes a big difference in your monthly check.
7. Don't count on Social Security at 62, unless you KNOW you will not work any longer.  If you are younger than full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be deducted for each $2 in earnings you have above the annual limit (source:  Social Security website).  The annual limit is less than $15,000.
8. My dad is 90 years old so I am counting on a long life.  Another reason not to take Social Security too early is that your annual benefit goes up about 8% a year if you don't take it.  If you don't think you will live very long, take it early.  I'm gambling that I will pass the point where I get more benefits by waiting.  Check out the social security website.  It is pretty good.  SSA/Retirement
9. Don't depend on those websites where you can calculate how much you will need to retire.  Do the work yourself by calculating your basic expenses now.  In my case, I have no outstanding debt other than a mortgage, so I listed mortgage, condo fee, utilities, cable, internet, phones (cell and landline).  I also calculated all of the various insurance:  auto, home, umbrella, long term care, and health.  Into this mix, I also averaged my monthly credit card bills because almost everything else in my life has been paid by Visa (gym membership, gas, groceries, clothing, SHOES, hair, etc.)  I did not itemize everything because I've always paid by card and my monthly credit card bills were fairly equal.  I also added in cash and savings for travel and emergencies.  With this spreadsheet, I calculated what I need to live on to maintain my standard of living.  Oh, one more thing ---don't forget to figure in taxes.  Breathe slowly.  Now you have your annual projected expenses.
10. You can estimate your FERS income by multiplying what you think your high three will be by the number of years you work and by 1.1%.  Estimate how much you can take out of your investments (TSP, IRA and Savings) by multiplying the totals by 4%.  YES, that's what most financial planners recommend as the limit you can take out of your savings if you want it to last "until your retirement is over" (that's what my financial planner says rather than "until you are dead.")  This is why I said in #1-4 above to SAVE SAVE SAVE.  Just think, 4% of $1M is only $40,000 a year.
11. So, now it is easy to answer the question financially.  (I'll write another time about how to answer the question emotionally.)  You compare your estimated income from FERS, TSP, IRA, savings and SocSec with your annual retirement budget.  When they look like they will match, you CAN retire!

Leader of the Pack

This isn't what I planned.  I can't help it.  My idea was to sit down and ORGANIZE this blog.  I was going to develop ideas, lay them out, tweak them.  I can't do it today.  Maybe in later posts.  Today I have to tell you about the morning, the glorious morning.  I got out early this morning for my favorite morning treat, coffee, the paper, a donut and NO DOGS staring at me to share my food.  Who the heck trained these guys anyhow?  How did they evolve into the perfect eating, pooping and staring machines.  Anyhow, I digress.

I got out early before 6:30, it was cool, beautiful and I was driving my almost brand new convertible (4,901 miles on the odometer).  I had the 60s station on the radio and was just so impressed by the quiet and beauty of the morning.  THIS is how it is going to be in retirement, I told myself.  No rush, no stress, doing just what I want to do.  That's when it happened and I had no choice but to write about it.

I am no more than two blocks from my house, driving down the Pike and on comes The Shangrilas singing The Leader of the Pack.  1964.  "I met him at the candy store/He turned around and smiled at me/You get the picture?/That's when I fell for the Leader of the Pack"  All of a sudden I was Betty!  And then, I am not making this up, a large, noisy motorcycle drove up behind me!  I wasn't pissed like I would be normally because of the noise.   I was just happy to be thinking about 1964 when I was 14 years old and the leader of the pack was right behind me!  Just like the leader of the pack though, it was over in a moment..."Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!"

Up ahead in the intersection was the future staring my in the face.  A little old (but gaily dressed) lady was (against the light mind you) shuffling across the street.  Flashback to Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and Arte Johnson's character  the  "dirty old man" who was always bothering Ruth Buzbee the old spinster woman on the park bench.  She shufled so slowly that she probably started the walk WITH the light, but by the time I got to her the light had long ago changed.

As I was dreaming of the 60's, driving in my convertible ----the Silver Tongued Latin Lover (my husband) says lots of "older" people buy convertibles---I slammed on the breaks to avoid a great disaster as my motorcycle fantasy Leader of the Pack drove on.

Is the future really facing me this quickly?  I think not yet, but she is definitely shuffling in.

What AM I doing?

What am I doing?  Starting a blog? Retiring from the Federal government?  Giving up a twice monthly check?  For what?  Well, that is what I hope to reveal in this blog.  I've been considering retirement for a while now.  Checking my Quicken accounts daily to see if I have enough money/if I WILL have enough money.  I've been pestering friends and acquaintances who retired for quite a while now.  What in the world do you do all day?  Can you live on the money you've saved?  ARE YOU BORED!?  So, I thought I'd start a blog to tell myself and you what the experience is like.  I have been the good government employee.  I saved using the Thrift Savings Plan --- the maximum I could contribute every year...and reaped the rewards of a 5% contribution to my savings.  I've taken the retirement preparation course --- three times exactly.  BUT still I wonder what it will be like when the first check (80% of my pension (?)) arrives.  Kind of like when I moved back to the States from overseas and no longer got the housing allowance.  OMG - That's what I make!??  I thought I'd be eating dog food and watching lots of TV, but it didn't work out that way.  Hopefully, retirement will the same way.

I retire in 38 days.  Between now and then I am going to develop my own "bucket list."  This blog will document what goes on in my mind and in my life pre and post-retirement.  As I check off items in my bucket list, I'll give you my reaction.  I started Bridge lessons already and quickly realized this is not for me!  Let's see if kayaking, basic plumbing, car and bike maintenance and art classes are more my speed.

Right now, I am preparing for the retirement ceremony, visiting family members, and celebrating with friends.  The job is stressful right now and I think it is karma telling me it is time to retire.  Let's see if I've made the right decision.