Supplemental Junk Mail

My wife just passed her 65th birthday, an occasion that was marked by a three fold increase in the volume of those ads for supplemental medicare insurance. I'm seeing a similar increase e in the number of offers for both funeral and long-term care insurance. Just for the heck of it I collected the mailers for a two week period. 23 pieces of mail.

Now, it's nice to think these companies have my best interests at heart. Unfortunately, I think it's their bank accounts that they are concerned about. How so you might ask? Well, once I'm gone they won't be able to get any more of my money so they have to try for that last grab.

These companies, while trying to make a buck, do present a picture of what we can look forward to. Our generation (the Boomers) have taken care of our parents as they aged. Advances in medicine gave way to longer lives although the quality of life wasn't always the best. We stepped in and took care of mom and dad. Many of us still provide for our children. Caught in the economy a large number of them moved back in or, in some cases, never flew the nest.

I'm not sure what my future will be when I hit 70; that's 11 years off. I have told my kids that I'll hang around long enough to live off them for a while, sort of returning the favor. My daughter tells me that I'll be in a high chair, wearing diapers, and she'll be feeding me strained peas and carrots. (what a horrible concoction - did we really feed that to our kids?).

That's enough whining for now. Time to bundle those ads up with the newspapers and drop them off at the recycle center.

Where oh where have my retirement plans gone?

It's partly cloudy today. Both the weather outside and my retirements plans. I spent most of Saturday night going over my investments, savings and insurance plans. The way I figure it, I am going to be fine for the first 8 years or so. From then on, well, I just don't know how long I'll be ok.

I'm focusing on what I can do when it comes to reducing what I'm spending on day-to-day purchases. Hopefully the utility bills are going to settle at some point (yeah, sure). And the cable provider is going to realize that I only watch 10 of the 450 channels they provide and will come up with a better pricing plan (note to self: don't hold breath waiting for this to happen). And coupon clipping? I've been an ardent clipper for most of my life; If I can't ave 20% of my bill then I'm having a bad day at the store.

Do you see a trend here? I'm focusing on the little things; items that I can easily manage.

With some forethought I save at least $300 a month by using coupons, getting my hair cut in a "barber shop" instead of a parlor and by walking to the bank instead of driving the 5 blocks. There's other things that go into this. I tend to buy generics once I've tried them and found they either taste or perform as good as the premium brands. I only buy a newspaper on Sundays (have to read the sports pages while enjoying that 2nd cup of coffee that I brew at home).

I'm comfortable with the investments, insurance and other pieces of my long term retirement plan. My biggest concern is that I'll have to give up some of the perks that I've come to enjoy. So, with that in mind, I've been working on a more frugal lifestyle than I'm used to. It's not going to be as shocking to my system when I finally walk away from a full time job and a regular paycheck.

I've learned, after a lot of trial and error, that you can manage the major events in your life. You can prepare for your retirement with careful investment strategies and strong financial planning. But, keep in mind that it's not the big stuff that'll get you; it's the little things.

Tine to go, I'm heading out to the day-old bakery store.