Just thought you would enjoy the threat, this poem is to our children. :-)
When I'm an Old Woman
I will live with my children and bring them great joy.
To repay all I've had from each girl and boy.
I shall draw on the walls and scuff up the floor;
Run in and out without closing the door.
I'll hide frogs in the pantry, socks under my bed.
Whenever they scold me, I'll just hang my head.
I'll run and I'll romp, and always fritter away
The time to be spent doing chores every day.
I'll pester my children when they are on the phone.
As long as they're busy I won't leave them alone.
I'll hide candy in closets, rocks in a drawer,
And never pick up my clothes from the floor.
Dash off to the movies and not wash a dish.
I'll plead for allowance whenever I wish.
I'll stuff up the plumbing and deluge the floor.
As soon as they've mopped it I'll flood it some more.
And when they correct me, I'll lie down and cry,
Kicking and screaming, not a tear in my eye.
I'll take all their pencils and flashlights, and then,
When they buy new ones, I'll take them again.
I'll spill glasses of milk to complete every meal,
Eat my banana and just drop the peel.
Put toys on the table, spill jam on the floor,
I'll break lots of dishes as though I were four.
What Fun I shall have,
what Joy it will be to live with my children....
the way they lived with me!
author unknown
Monday, February 28, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
One day in retirement
One day in retirement
First I should give you a bit of background on what I did as a career, where I live, as they have a large bearing on what my retirement is like.
I spent my working life in the woods industry, the early part was in the woods running heavy equipment, next into the maintenance and fabricating part of the lumber industry.
As the years went by I had the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the manufacturing process of lumber.
This is the old story of starting at the bottom and ending at the top, finishing in a senior management position. My normal workday was about ten and one half hours.
So you can see there is a substantial amount of time to fill, not to mention getting in my wife’s time space, disrupting her routines. More on that later.
I live on a lakefront piece of property, 1.6 acres, with my wife of forty-three years, who is also retired. The children are out on their own, spread all over the country, so they are not around very much.
Over the years we have planted a lot of flower gardens and have a fair amount of grass to mow. We built all the buildings as maintenance free as possible.
As you can see I have a lot of things to stay busy with, In the winter there is very long driveway and the walkways to keep clean, this winter it snow just about every day, which was good, kept me busy.
In this part of northwestern Ontario the winter is long and cold.
Even though I try not to let boredom sneak into my life it still does sometimes.
Spring is just around the corner, and a lot more things to do in the summer.
First I should give you a bit of background on what I did as a career, where I live, as they have a large bearing on what my retirement is like.
I spent my working life in the woods industry, the early part was in the woods running heavy equipment, next into the maintenance and fabricating part of the lumber industry.
As the years went by I had the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the manufacturing process of lumber.
This is the old story of starting at the bottom and ending at the top, finishing in a senior management position. My normal workday was about ten and one half hours.
So you can see there is a substantial amount of time to fill, not to mention getting in my wife’s time space, disrupting her routines. More on that later.
I live on a lakefront piece of property, 1.6 acres, with my wife of forty-three years, who is also retired. The children are out on their own, spread all over the country, so they are not around very much.
Over the years we have planted a lot of flower gardens and have a fair amount of grass to mow. We built all the buildings as maintenance free as possible.
As you can see I have a lot of things to stay busy with, In the winter there is very long driveway and the walkways to keep clean, this winter it snow just about every day, which was good, kept me busy.
In this part of northwestern Ontario the winter is long and cold.
Even though I try not to let boredom sneak into my life it still does sometimes.
Spring is just around the corner, and a lot more things to do in the summer.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
On the way to retirement
Somewhere in all of my preperations for retirement, I saw a question asked about what it is really like once you are retired.
This intriguing thought stayed in the back of my mind and haunted me. I have watched co-workers retire from our plant over the last 20 odd years.
I have stayed in contact with them over the years and as I talked to them, they painted a picture of retirement bliss, busy all of the time ect. but a few brave ones said it, as it is for them.
I also spoke to thier wives and thier story is quiet different, not a surprise! more on that later.
How do we get to all of those hours.
Once you start school, your time is stuctured for you, for the most part of your life. School takes 8 hours a day, Your parents get you ready, get you up, feed you, then your off to school, today you are bussed to and from school, a few of the kids get to go home for lunch.
Then on to high school and 8 hours + for your day. Coledge and university adds more hours in your day.
Your working life, for which you get paid (never seems enough), will last 35 to 50 years, at 8 to 11 hrs a day, counting travel. There are many who are now working in excess 60 hour per week.
Look at the time you have to fill once you do retire, this puts a strain 0n all aspects of your life,
and that of your spouse.
If you have done some volunteering of your time, you will likey add to that time easily, there sure is a need to have more volunteers.
Many people do not like the exposure outside of their normal lifestyle, so volenteer work is not the answer, for everyone.
There are so many things we can do when we retire, the list seems to be endless.
Next, a day in retirement .
This intriguing thought stayed in the back of my mind and haunted me. I have watched co-workers retire from our plant over the last 20 odd years.
I have stayed in contact with them over the years and as I talked to them, they painted a picture of retirement bliss, busy all of the time ect. but a few brave ones said it, as it is for them.
I also spoke to thier wives and thier story is quiet different, not a surprise! more on that later.
How do we get to all of those hours.
Once you start school, your time is stuctured for you, for the most part of your life. School takes 8 hours a day, Your parents get you ready, get you up, feed you, then your off to school, today you are bussed to and from school, a few of the kids get to go home for lunch.
Then on to high school and 8 hours + for your day. Coledge and university adds more hours in your day.
Your working life, for which you get paid (never seems enough), will last 35 to 50 years, at 8 to 11 hrs a day, counting travel. There are many who are now working in excess 60 hour per week.
Look at the time you have to fill once you do retire, this puts a strain 0n all aspects of your life,
and that of your spouse.
If you have done some volunteering of your time, you will likey add to that time easily, there sure is a need to have more volunteers.
Many people do not like the exposure outside of their normal lifestyle, so volenteer work is not the answer, for everyone.
There are so many things we can do when we retire, the list seems to be endless.
Next, a day in retirement .
Thursday, February 17, 2005
investing in your retirement
There is no set time to start to invest, for your retirement. The earlier you start, the sooner you will be able to reach your retirement goals and less chance of having to extend your working career.
Since you have only to the end of February for putting money into a tax deferred
This time of the year the choices of places to invest seem to be endless, with endless adds on tv and pages in the papers. There is still time to research and find a good reputable financial adviser.
There are many out there to give the best rates available but remember that it is still an investment and has risk involved.
I have used three investment companies in the past.
The first one was chosen with haste, to make the investment deadline, (Wrong thing to do) I was young, my only excuse. Haste makes waste.
This investment group front loaded and backloaded everything and after a couple of years and a large loss, mainly due to the charges, I got out of there, with more charges. Lesson well taken, so do some research and be careful who you deal with.
Since you have only to the end of February for putting money into a tax deferred
investment plan, some of the Banks have advisors, to help you, with very little or no cost.
This time of the year the choices of places to invest seem to be endless, with endless adds on tv and pages in the papers. There is still time to research and find a good reputable financial adviser.
There are many out there to give the best rates available but remember that it is still an investment and has risk involved.
I have used three investment companies in the past.
The first one was chosen with haste, to make the investment deadline, (Wrong thing to do) I was young, my only excuse. Haste makes waste.
This investment group front loaded and backloaded everything and after a couple of years and a large loss, mainly due to the charges, I got out of there, with more charges. Lesson well taken, so do some research and be careful who you deal with.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
the early years
these years, from about age twenty, to age thirty, are the years of adjustment.
The realities of exploring the world away from home, learning to cope with different people and workplace pressures, takes a lot energy, time and thought.
In the past these years were a time of marraige, having children, renting a home with the hope, of having you own one day.
The trends today are for, starting families later, traveling more, purchace of big ticket items earlier, thanks to the low interest rates and easy access to loans.
Purchacing a home is a lot easier today, than 10 years ago.
It is a good oppertunity to start preparing for your retirement even if it seems to be a long distance in the future.
The realities of exploring the world away from home, learning to cope with different people and workplace pressures, takes a lot energy, time and thought.
In the past these years were a time of marraige, having children, renting a home with the hope, of having you own one day.
The trends today are for, starting families later, traveling more, purchace of big ticket items earlier, thanks to the low interest rates and easy access to loans.
Purchacing a home is a lot easier today, than 10 years ago.
It is a good oppertunity to start preparing for your retirement even if it seems to be a long distance in the future.
Monday, February 07, 2005
that time of year again "Tax Time" :-)
Tax time is fast approaching and we should look at ways to lower our tax payable, with an eye on building up our retirement nest egg.
If you can combine the two, lowering your income tax by contributing to one of the many types of R.S.Ps and building your retirement fund.
There are some good tax advantages if you do this. With great returns compared to what you can get in the marketplace today.
I does not appear there will be much chance in getting higher returns, from your investments in the short term.
If you increase your risk, maybe, you will get higher returns, or loose a big chunk of your investment.
This is not a good time for the faint of heart.
If you can combine the two, lowering your income tax by contributing to one of the many types of R.S.Ps and building your retirement fund.
There are some good tax advantages if you do this. With great returns compared to what you can get in the marketplace today.
I does not appear there will be much chance in getting higher returns, from your investments in the short term.
If you increase your risk, maybe, you will get higher returns, or loose a big chunk of your investment.
This is not a good time for the faint of heart.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
lets go back and plan for retirement
We looked at a plan for your last five years before retirement, which was based on getting the family ready for retirement. we will come back to this time at a later date to explore it in more detail.
Now lets look back, or ahead, (depends where you are in life) to what we should do, or should have done as we approached our retirement.
I think most people who are entering the workforce, whether it is out of high school, college or university, have a basic plan for retirement.
Most times we just pick an age, like 50, as our goal for that day, when all our time will be ours, to enjoy.
Now that we picked the time, we just go about our lives getting married, buying a house, cars,boats and a whole bunch of other stuff. Along with all of that, here are the children, god bless them, this gives you a different purpose in life, with school, plays, sports and all the other things that come along with children.
Are you thinking of retirement through all of this? Planning for it?
Now the high school years are here ,$$, college, $$$, university,$$$$. Then comes the weddings, more $.
With all of this going on "Father Time" has not stopped the clock and you are near, or at the age "50",which you chose for your retirement.
What happens now?
Do you work on until the mortgage, and all the other things are paid? need a new vehicle so you have a dependable one in you retirement. you will now close to 65, so what happened to that plan made so many years ago?
we will go back and see how we can be better prepared for "retirement". We cannot go back and change what allready is, but we can make a plan, that will give us a better chance to meet our retirement goals.
Now lets look back, or ahead, (depends where you are in life) to what we should do, or should have done as we approached our retirement.
I think most people who are entering the workforce, whether it is out of high school, college or university, have a basic plan for retirement.
Most times we just pick an age, like 50, as our goal for that day, when all our time will be ours, to enjoy.
Now that we picked the time, we just go about our lives getting married, buying a house, cars,boats and a whole bunch of other stuff. Along with all of that, here are the children, god bless them, this gives you a different purpose in life, with school, plays, sports and all the other things that come along with children.
Are you thinking of retirement through all of this? Planning for it?
Now the high school years are here ,$$, college, $$$, university,$$$$. Then comes the weddings, more $.
With all of this going on "Father Time" has not stopped the clock and you are near, or at the age "50",which you chose for your retirement.
What happens now?
Do you work on until the mortgage, and all the other things are paid? need a new vehicle so you have a dependable one in you retirement. you will now close to 65, so what happened to that plan made so many years ago?
we will go back and see how we can be better prepared for "retirement". We cannot go back and change what allready is, but we can make a plan, that will give us a better chance to meet our retirement goals.
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