True Life Retirement Tales

[Kathy Stapf]

Mr. Galt, I take it you're already retired?
I'm so sorry if I offended you some way, please accept my apologies, as that was certainly not my intention. I'm not trying to offend anyone.
I don't know everything, but I think it would depend on individual circumstances. What may be a good salary for one, may not be for another. Because YOU may be able, in your particular circumstances, to manage on less money, it may not be possible for another person to duplicate those same circumstances. For example, I got busy when I was very young and bought a house inexpensively, and paid it off as soon as I could. So when I lost my job, I was able to take a job at a lesser salary, because I didn't have a house payment. Another person may not be that lucky.
It is my observation that people in this salary range are NOT the fortunate ones, especially if they are single. If you are able to do better, you have my greatest admiration.

 

[haha]

I don't know everything, but I think it would depend on individual circumstances.  What may be a good salary for one, may not be for another.  

Kathy, thanks for an informed and empathic post.

Mikey

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

By the way, most hardwood floors would be badly damaged by murphy's oil soap or ammonia, unless the ammonia was very well diluted.

My old mcmansion was well decked out in hardwood, with several finishes, as was my last house on the right coast.

Vinegar diluted with water is the ticket, according to the refinishers I talked to. Wipe up every drop of water, leaving as little as possible when you're done. I used this great big mop head thing that had a stretchy cloth like a face cloth over a thin sponge layer. About 18" by 8" or so. Mix 1 part vinegar with 4-5 parts water in a spray bottle, apply to dirty areas, wait a few minutes, then rub and dry.

Might take some work the first few times you clean, but that big swivel mop and a few squirts of the vinegar water would make short work of them after that.

First one of you ^%$#'s that starts calling me "Martha" is in big trouble.

 

[Martha]

First one of you ^%$#'s that starts calling me "Martha" is in big trouble.

Hey, is that a cut?

But we were talking about Mikey's floors a while ago and vinegar wasn't going to do it. Mikey, did you ever get the floors clean?

Martha

 

[John Galt]

Hello Kathy and MIkey. Kathy, no apology is necessary.

I know how I come across and anyway, you can't hurt
my feelings. The thing is that any form of whining
(Oh, poor me!) gets my back up. I know you were describing someone else's circumstances, but still.......
People
are getting wimpy and want someone else to
solve their problems for them, and/or chime in with
"Oh, poor you!"
I'll give you a current example. We got a little snow last
night, maybe an inch. There were storm advisories
last evening continuously, and today the schools
closed, meetings and sporting events are cancelled
etc. Where I used to live this would be a
"dusting". Now, we have people stocking up on groceries and cowering in thier homes. Wimps!

EOR (end of rant)

JG

 

[naturegal]

If you retire at 55 or 56, fed gov't pensions can be pretty meager. You are penalized 5% for every year you are younger than age 62, so it's not like a 56 year old is receiving full retirement benefits (unless they are law enforcement or military).

My husband will have 28 years of service at age 56 and will receive about $1000/ month and he is a GS-12. FERS is just a base retirement for govt employees. The GS-3 daystar mentioned needs to have a lot stashed in her 401K (TSP) and a Roth IRA as well, or work until she's 62 and get a much better pension.

 

[UpandComer]

LOL, I also dated a woman with a 4BR house (2400 sq ft) for her and her dog. And last week she bought a 62" plasma TV. However she is ER herself via savings, real estate and inheritance. Not a marriage candidate, though, for other reasons.

Re: Boats. Boats are sooooo much fun, but they're soooooo big a pain in the rear and money pits. Think I'll befriend people who own boats instead of owning my own.

I guess I'm missing the point. I'm a single woman with a dog ( and a cat  ) and I just bought a 4BR bilevel.  I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you aren't living beyond your means.   I love my house and picked it because I got a great deal, it will be pretty easy to sell to some nice family if I decide to move and if I get married and decide to stay it's all ready for a family!

 

[John Galt]

I once dated a woman who bought a 4 BR bilevel
for herself and one dog. I thought it was nuts.
A big waste of money. Of course, it was her money and she was entitled to waste it.

When I was single, my best place was a 600 SF
apartment in the country (I did have a garage and a big deck). Now, 2 of us and 4 dogs live in 1100 SF.
Plenty of room. In fact, about 360 SF is unheated
porch which is hardly used in the winter. We could go
smaller and not suffer at all. In fact, with a little creativity we might have fit into my old apartment
(the people, not the dogs)

JG