Reinventing our Eating Habits

I ate very poorly this past weekend.  My “five a day” on fruits and veggies turned out to be less than five for the weekend – and that’s counting the beans in the chili.  (No, I didn’t count the corn in the cornbread.)  And I felt it this morning.

I actually do a lot better on the weekdays.  Why?  I control what I carry with me to work.  My friends and co-workers always laugh at my “food drawer” but it really does help me make healthier choices.  An apple in the drawer beats walking to the vending machine for a candy bar or a bag of chips any day.  

So as I plan how we will spend our first summer in retirement, I can think of the fifth wheel as a giant food drawer.  If it’s not in there – we won’t eat it.  We’ll shop once a week and eat what we bring with us – there will be no sports bar around the corner to pick up wings and beer.  We will simplify our food choices – no room for the dozens of bottles of sauces I have in my refrigerator.  We have a number of Dutch oven recipes, some tried and true and some brand new.  And just think – fresh trout pretty much whenever we want it – providing our fishing skills are up to par.  

Paul’s been talking about eating our main meal earlier in the day when we retire.  Not possible with me working 9 to 5, but in our retirement we can set our own schedule.  Even on our days off, we can take advantage of early bird specials.  

He’s also proposed we not drink any hard alcohol except on our days off.  That’s easy – we just won’t put it in the food drawer, er, fifth wheel. 

My "Bucket List"

Two years before Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman made “the bucket list” a household term, I participated in an activity called “100 things I want to Do-Be-Have-See-Accomplish-Experience before I die.”  It was a life-skills class taught by a dear friend Mary to a group of teenage mothers attempting to earn their high school diplomas.

The objective, Mary stated, was to expand their possibilities.  She stated that the mere fact of writing them down would drive the girls to accomplish many of the items on their lists.  She asked the girls for 100, warning them that while the first 20 or so would come easily, finishing the list could take a lot of thought.

She was right.  While I set my goal at 50, by the end of the class period I had only written down 33.  I put the folder away.

Fast forward six years.  I found the folder a few days ago while looking for a tax document.  As I read over the list, I found that I’ve already accomplished eight of the items on the list, and after having learned more explicitly decided against doing one of the items.  Checking off 9 out of 33.

What was first on my list?  Write and publish a novel.  “Spend a summer as a camp host” was number 18 on my list.  And just so you all know – skydiving is not on my list.  I still have no intention of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

A New Year's Goal

It’s December 31, which means five months to go!  Paul and I reviewed our 2011 income and expenses this morning over coffee, and everything still looks good.  Santa Claus must have heard we’d be spending next summer as camp hosts, because he brought us a round outdoor table, an iPod, and a rechargeable iPod speaker system.  I find it interesting that as family and friends have heard or read our news, they are far more interested in how we will spend our first summer in retirement than in the fact that we are really and truly retiring.

It’s also New Year’s Eve.  As I put the finishing touches on the table for tonight’s annual New Year’s Eve dinner, I thought about New Year’s resolutions.  I usually don’t make resolutions.  I think they’re like Mary Poppins’ pie crust promises – easily made, easily broken.  So this year I am setting a goal.  In 2012 I will write my first novel.

I should have plenty of time to work on it this summer in the quiet of the mountains.  I have an idea that is rehearsing in the back of my mind, waiting for its chance for center stage.  I’ve even named my main character.  Next steps including outlining the story, researching times and places, and of course, researching publication options.  Lots to do!

Here’s wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year!

Reflecting on Christmas

This morning Paul made aebleskiver for breakfast.  Aebleskiver is a Danish round ball “pancake” that is made in a pan explicitly created for this – and in my understanding serves no other purpose.  It was our traditional Christmas morning breakfast when I was growing up.

I love Christmas.  I’ve always loved Christmas.  I love to decorate for Christmas, to shop for Christmas, to write my annual Christmas letter and to send cards.  I love Christmas music. I love Christmas parties.        I love Christmas lights.  I love baking Christmas goodies and giving them away.  I get teary-eyed at the season’s Hallmark card commercials, and still cry over that old Folgers coffee commercial they bring back every year.

And I truly love Christmas traditions - those I’ve grown up with and continue to keep, and those my own family has created through the years.  The traditions I grew up with came from the Danish – my maternal grandfather’s tradition.  We celebrate on Christmas Eve.  I have the Nissa Men – mischievous Danish elves who are Santa’s eyes and ears – scattered throughout the house.  We make kliner – a Danish Christmas cookie that is rolled, twisted and deep fried to make beautiful and delicious little knots.

On Christmas morning we make and serve Eggs Benedict to family and friends.  Our tradition for over 20 years now, this started when two of our neighbors had just gone through divorce and were alone on Christmas morning.  Since then both have remarried, but they keep coming to our home on Christmas morning.

Here’s the good news – the way that we have traditionally spent Christmas will likely not change as we retire.  We’ve never been extravagant spenders, so we won’t need to transition to a more frugal Christmas.  And the traditions of my childhood – and that of my children – will live on.  Merry Christmas!

The Cash Balance Plan

I don’t have a traditional pension.  No surprise there.  According to a July, 2011 article in US News (http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2011/07/22/21-workplace-benefits-that-are-rapidly-disappearing), only 22% of firms provide access to a retirement plan that guarantees payments for life.

I do have a cash balance Plan.  According to the Department of Labor, a cash balance plan is defined as “a type of defined benefit [pension] plan that defines the benefit in terms that are more characteristic of a defined contribution plan. In other words, a cash balance plan defines the promised benefit in terms of a stated account balance.” (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/FAQs/faq_consumer_cashbalanceplans.html )

So basically, when I retire, what I have in the cash balance plan is what I get.  My cash balance continues to earn interest; however, three years ago my company made the decision to discontinue making contributions to employee accounts.  No surprise there, either.  Many companies now offer only the 401K plan for employee retirement savings. 

Thankfully, my company still offers a generous match to my 401K contributions.  I don’t expect to need to draw on my 401K for many years – and of course, I can’t until I’m 59 ½ anyway.  But I’ll need to make a decision on what to do with the cash balance plan funds.

The Department of Labor site indicates that my options are to take the entire amount in a lump sum, or to annuitize the amount over my lifetime.  My company’s retirement planning guide goes into greater detail, and also indicates that leaving my benefit in the Cash Balance Plan is an option.  It would continue to earn interest until I made the decision to start distribution – until I turn 70 ½ at which time I would be required to begin distribution.

The Christmas Letter

Ah, yes, the annual Christmas letter – the one where I capture the highlights of this year and condense them to a one page “newsletter” with a current photo and send it to family and friends.  I love to receive these, and like many things in life, you have to give if you want to get.

Our retirement plans are definitely on the “highlight” list for this year, so this will be our opportunity to make our announcement to a larger audience.  Here’s what I wrote:

Wow – I just realized that I’ve been writing this Christmas letter for twenty years.  Of course you all know I started this when I was 12.   Seriously – although I don’t feel like a senior citizen, I’m now eligible for senior discounts.  And I’m now eligible to retire.

We’ve been planning early retirement since our twenties, and although there have been a few glitches in the plan, we are ready now. 

I will be interested to see how our friends and extended family respond to our pending retirement.

Telling the Family

My immediate family – my parents, three brothers and their families, and an aunt and uncle – got together a couple of weeks ago.  We had already bought the fifth wheel and had been hired for the camp host job, so we told them about it.  The response was mostly positive, with tones of “why haven’t you told us this before?”  They seemed to understand when I told them that I hadn’t announced this at work yet and was keeping it kind of quiet.

My father, who has been retired for a number of years, seemed to be happy for us.  My mother, who will never retire, is still skeptical.  I don’t blame her – she watched her own father’s health fail shortly after he retired and is convinced that he should have kept working.  In my mind, the difference is that we are not retiring to stop working, but to change when, where and how we work.

My brothers all committed to coming up to the Hoop Lake next summer while we are there.  We all have fond memories of family camping at Hoop Lake, and my niece can’t wait to walk around the lake again.