Getting Past January without Guilt

No, this isn't about failed New Year’s Resolutions.  It’s about deadlines – something that most retirees, me included – strive to avoid.  But it seems that the end-of-January deadlines have bit me ever since I retired.

First deadline – my Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification requires about 25 hours of continuing education every year.  I know – I’m retired.  Why am I maintaining this certification?  Two reasons:  1) to keep my mind active, and 2) to keep my options open.  Until we are completely out of debt I want to be able to keep my job skills relevant.  But back to the deadline. 

Every year I start with the resolve of doing one online webinar a week.  This would get my 25 hours in well before we leave for camp.  Of course, inevitably something comes up and I head for camp missing several hours of training.  No worries, I think.  When I get home from camp I’ll just pick it up and have the training done by the end of October.  Of course, inevitably something comes up; say for example, the holidays.  And once again I find myself scrambling for those last few hours – in January.  This year I finished on January 9 – a new record and well ahead of the deadline.

But wait – there’s another deadline.  My husband and I volunteer for VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance).  This service is sponsored by the Community Action Program and the IRS, and provides free income tax preparation for low-income individuals and families.  This year we’re starting on January 27.  And guess who hasn't passed her annual certification test yet? 

So I am now officially letting go of my self-imposed guilt for not blogging once a week in January (or any other month, for that matter).  I’ll be back after I pass the VITA test.  Talk to you then!

Setting Goals

I had the opportunity to hear a presentation on goal setting last week – not once but twice.  And while the speaker’s audience was young girls who were either pregnant or already had babies, I felt like her comments were addressed directly at me.  Sure, it was the same stuff I had heard throughout my career, by different inspirational speakers projecting different PowerPoint templates.  But this time it meant something.

This time I don’t have a supervisor, a performance review, or a pending deadline driving my need to set and accomplish goals.  It’s just me now.  Just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I don’t have goals.  And since I do have goals, why wouldn’t I use these time honored techniques to work toward achieving them? 

Here are some of my key takeaways on goal setting:

1.  Don’t settle for less than what you want.

2.  Make your goals specific and measurable.  Know the difference between a good idea and a goal.

3.  Break your goals down into “baby steps.”  What will you do in one week toward your goal?  One month?  One year?  Five years?

4.  Write it down.  Keep a journal of your successes toward your goal. 

5.  Reward yourself for steps toward your goal – even if it’s as simple as checking it off the list. 

6.  There will be fear – if you’re not a little bit afraid you’re probably not reaching far enough. 

7.  There will be negative thoughts – control them.

8.  Use affirmations.  An affirmation is a positive statement that describes a goal in its already completed state. 

I wrote my affirmation in my journal:  “I am a published author, signing copies of my book in a bookstore in Minneapolis, in the summer of 2017.”  Here we go!

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

Many retirees – and non-retirees – look for a meaningful way to give of their spare time in service to others.  My husband, who retired eight years before I did, found the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program a few years ago.  VITA is an IRS-sponsored program, funded (at least in Utah) through the Community Action Program.  Its purpose is to provide income tax preparation, free of charge, to low income individuals and couples.  I joined “Team VITA” this past tax season.

“Now let me get this straight,” you may ask. “You do other peoples taxes for free?  And you like it?”

The answers are yes, and surprisingly, yes. 

Our clients are low income families, many headed by single mothers.  Our clients include the disabled.  And our clients include fellow retirees. 

It is humbling to see how these families get by on what appears to me to be so little income.  It is rewarding to see the gratitude on the face of a single mother when I tell her that her refund, including the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit, is far more than the amount withheld from her paychecks.  And it is encouraging to see retirees with pensions – since I’ll never see pension income. 

To volunteer, you need to pass two tests on the tax code and learn the TaxWise software used at VITA sites.  The program offered classes and/or self-study.  Of course, as most of you have already experienced, taking a class or two doesn't make you an expert in anything.  This is especially true of the US Tax Code, which is anything but simple.  I learned far more actually doing the tax preparation – mistakes and all – than I did in the classes. 

Yes, I made mistakes.  Lots of them.  Some, if uncorrected, could have cost the taxpayers hundreds of dollars in unclaimed refunds.  As one of the new kids at our site, I was grateful for the experienced volunteers’ quality review of my work – and for their subsequent explanation to me of what I had done wrong.  At VITA sites, every return is quality reviewed by another preparer – to catch little mistakes like a transposed employer ID or direct deposit account numbers, and to catch bigger mistakes like checking the wrong radio button on the EIC worksheet and costing the taxpayer their Earned Income Credit.

So to those taxpayers on whose returns I made errors, I thank you.  I will be a better preparer for it.

Was VITA worth my time?  Absolutely.  I’ll do it again next tax season.  If you’re interested in volunteering, search the web for VITA in your city or state, as volunteers are coordinated at the local level rather than at the federal level.