Still working . . .

It's been quite a while since I posted on here. However, I told Annerbananer that I would post something especially for her. You see, we had lunch and she said she probably needed to read my blog so she could learn how to retire happily (Something like that. It was about three weeks ago and my memory is good for only about three seconds). I just now opened this blog and noticed that she still hasn't joined, so Anner, if you have read it, then please join it because I need you to inspire me.

As for not retiring yet, it's been three days into the new school year and I am noticing that the number 3 seems to figure heavily in my life these days. Three was always my favorite number (until a horoscope informed me that 4 was supposed to be my magic number, though I confess I remained partial to 3), so I'll let you now if 3 continues to show up, and if it is the charm this year.TAnyway, the first three days of work were rather non-descript, and that's a good thing. We'll see if I can keep up the good work.

And Anner, if you are reading this, you were supposed to go back to the beginning and work your way up through time . . . It's the only way my nonsense will make any sense.

Retirement two-step

So, I recently received retirement estimates from both TRS and ERS, and learned some very important things. First, TRS gives me more time credit than ERS does, which increases the monthly annuity a fair amount. Second, I have to work another year for the school district in order to be eligible for health insurance. I didn't realize the years I bought don't count for insurance purposes. It's a good thing I had decided to continue working anyway. Granted, I may retire from ERS instead, but I want the TRS option to be there in case it is better. And there was something else I learned, but now I can't remember what it was! This retirement thing is so complicated!

Just ". . . don't call me late for supper." Robert De Niro

Call me crazy, call me nuts, but you're too late to knock any sense into me. Today I signed a contract to work this summer. It will be OK. Summer School is not bad. It's actually kind of fun. The kids are different, the teachers are different, the school is different. Elvis will be disappointed. But it's only 5 hours a day for four days a week. I can deal with it. It's not like I really would have spent eight hours a day feng shuiing my house anyway. Hey, and I'll be rich--yea, right.

E/T Phone Home

I'm still alive. I'm still thinking thinking thinking about retiring. And I've actually been engaged in gathering (or attempting to gather) more information concerning my retirement. I talked to someone at ERS who was going to get information from the folks at TRS and get back to me in three or four days. That was almost two weeks ago and I still don't have any information! Then I went to a retirement seminar, where I did learn a few things--like there are lots of other school library folks looking into retirement! That is also where I saw Pat, another school librarian who follows this blog and she made me promise to post something again, so here I am. [This post is totally stream-of-unconsciousness, and I'm sure you will soon realize that my unconsciousness can be just as inane as my consciousness. So much so that it is sometimes hard to tell the difference.]

One of the things I was particularly hoping to get out of the seminar was a better understanding of the whole Social Security thing, but I found that presentation to be about as clear as mud. Maybe it was just that it was late in the day, but I really didn't understand what she was saying, and when I asked for a clarification, it didn't become any clearer. But, I did come away with the "feeling" that I could actually go and talk with someone at the Social Security office. So, I may try to do that over Spring break.

One of the things I am kind of sure of is that I won't be working this summer. But then, what does kind of sure mean? Basically it means that if I do decide to work this summer, I expect my friends to intervene and knock some sense into me!

So, there you have it. Now I must go prepare for my Academy Awards party by watching another movie from Netflix.

Can I retire now?

Today I got a notepad in the mail from some friends. It says, "Can I retire now?" Can I?

Where's George Clooney when you need him?

So I go into work today to find an invitation to a retirement planning seminar that the Teacher Retirement System is holding. Maybe the retirement gods are trying to tell me something. I guess I'll go check it out and see what they have to say. It can't hurt. I might learn something, and I can't be anymore up in the air (without George Clooney unfortunately) than I am now!

I took the day off from work today to celebrate my birthday, which was yesterday. I am an expert at filling up a day without getting much accomplished. However, since my main goal for today, besides eating french toast at Central Market, was simply to not go to work, I accomplished what I set out to do, and enjoyed it very much. I put off all of the other little tasks I had planned for today, deciding it really was not a day I was supposed to spend time performing tasks. There weren't any movies I really wanted to see, so I read and ate two pieces of cake instead. Yummmmmm

Out of Retirement

It's been a month since I've written, so you may have given up on me, but I'm out of retirement--for now at least. Actually, I was going to write on New Year's day, especially after reading Ellen Goodman's fairwell column. She wrote about retirement as "the freedome to let go." I recommend you read it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123101743.html As for me, I decided this week that I can't let go yet. Because of the economy, the work situation is too crazy right now, and I can't afford to not work, even if I'm collecting retirement pay. But, I'm OK with it. I have more energy these days, and if I can make real progress on the feng-shuiing this summer, I'll feel even better next year. It doesn't mean I won't be thinking about retirement every day. It just means I'll have more time to get it right.