Work for Love or Work for Money?

It is an age old question that doesn't have a right or wrong answer. Both sides can make a very good case for their point of view. To me, it's all about choosing trade offs between two different options. I have worked for love and worked for money. Here's the main trade off I've experienced:

Working for love. When I work for love, it feels like I am doing paid volunteer work. The key elements are: 1) Work hours accommodate my schedule; 2) People are great colleagues; 3) Work is compatible with my interests and strengths; and 4) Management is grateful that I am an employee. Basically, it's about as fun as work can get.

However, I only earn about 5 to 10% of what I was paid in my "work-for-money" job. Since money is not a main reason for working, I can resign from any job that stops being "fun."

Working for money. The biggest benefit is the compensation, including salary, bonus, insurance, and vacation. This job enabled us to save about 20% of salary, have no debt except for a mortgage, and retire in our forties.

Working for money required a lot of commitment, often involving 60+ hours a week, business travel and being accessible 24/7 when needed. For me, working for money took up most of my time, and seemed to be a significant portion of my life.

As I wrote earlier, there is no right or wrong choice. Since retiring, I get much more enjoyment from working for love, but my work-for-love options pay much less. Therefore, I am glad that I worked for money at a younger age, when I had the capacity and commitment for the effort required in a work-for-money job.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From June 22 to 28, 2010

Here are links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from June 22 to 28, 2010:

Baby Boomers Blog Carnival #45

Carnival of Financial Planning #147

Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival #160

Carnival of Money Stories #60

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial or health advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Short Term Stock Investment Plans

At this time, I am not making any trades in the stock market. I continue to hold the stocks we own and am not making any new purchases. Right now the market seems to be in a trading range, with no clear indication of future direction.

I still believe there is likely to be another near term drop in the market, which will create a future buying opportunity. At that time, I will make some purchases, focusing on dividend and technology stocks.

Stocks I am considering include: Altria (MO), BP (BP), Cisco (CSCO), Intel (INTC) and Verizon (VZ).

Disclosure: At time of publication, we own Altria, Cisco, Intel and Verizon in personal accounts and Cisco in a managed account.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial or investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

How I Would Spend a Major Lottery Jackpot - Part II

On May 29, 2010, I mused about how I would spend a major lottery jackpot of $100 million or more. After posting the article, I thought of a few more ways to that I would spend the money. For reference, the ideas would only apply to my portion of the jackpot, which would be 1/3 of the total winnings. Here's how I would spend some of the money:

Produce a movie about our state championship team. I'd like to put to film the journey of my high school football team from a 2-7-1 team to a 11-1 state championship team in 4 years. I think it would be an inspirational story about how a coach made a bunch of good athletes into an outstanding team.

Creating memorable experiences. In my previous post, I wrote about getting VIP seating at various events such as the Super Bowl, the World Series and Broadway shows. In addition, I like to see the eight wonders of the world, and visit other natural wonders.

Learning from masters. I would enjoy sitting in on lectures, discussion and debates by world class experts in the fields of history, science and health. In addition, I would also enjoy taking sports lessons for world class coaches and trainers.

Run for national political office. After doing everything in my first post and above, I would consider running as an independent one time to share my vision of good government on a national stage. I don't expect I would win. However, if I did win, I would only serve two terms.

Again, I still would not buy more "stuff," such as a new car, a new house, a vacation home, or a new wardrobe. I would want to mainly spend my share of the jackpot on purchases that I feel would significantly improve our quality of life.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Bad News about my Health Care Insurance?

In Losing Employee Sponsored Health Care Insurance?, I concluded that my company would be doing an evaluation of the impacts from health care reform legislation, and that might lead to changes in my retiree health care plan. This week I received a notice from my company that they expect to make changes to the plan and premium rates based on the health care reform legislation. The changes would be provided by November, 2010.

As a reminder of what we were promised, I have included a couple quotes from a CBS News article Will Health Care Bill Lower Premiums . The article reports Mr. Obama as saying, "You'll be able to buy in, or a small business will be able to buy into this pool," Mr. Obama said. "And that will lower rates, it's estimated, by up to 14 to 20 percent over what you're currently getting. That's money out of pocket." In addition, "Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent," said the President, "which means they could give you a raise." Later, a White House spokesman said the President meant $3000.

In my experience, good news is generally shared quickly, while bad news is delayed or provided over a longer period. Thus, I think the notice about our health insurance does not bode well, and I expect be informed about about less coverage and/or increased premiums in November, 2010.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tax Holidays for Back to School Savings

Our daughter will be in kindergarten next year. After attending the parent orientation, I realized we will be in the back-to-school purchasing business for many years. While the cost for kindergarten is relatively modest, I expect the cost of future years will be much higher.

One way to save is to shop during the sales tax holidays offered by various states from late spring to early fall. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have had tax holidays ranging from a weekend to a week in the past. The states include: Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Depending on the state, purchases of clothing, shoes, schools supplies, computers and even sports equipment may be exempt from sales tax when below certain dollar amounts.

For more specifics for each state, see 2010 Tax Free Weekend Events at About.com.

For more on Crossing Generations , check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Choosing a Retirement Plan

Most of my part-time jobs have no benefits, such as vacation, insurance or holidays. However, one of my jobs participates in a public employee retirement system, instead of contributing to social security. There are three retirement plan options from which to choose.

Although I won't be earning much from this job, I thought it would still be worthwhile to review my retirement plan options before making a decision. The three options are: 1) a defined benefit (a pension), 2) a defined contribution with a match (similar to a 401k) and 3) a 50/50 combination of defined benefit and defined contribution. A brief summary the defined benefit and defined contribution plans is shown in the table below. I didn't include the combined plan in the table since it is essentially a 50/50 allocation of funds into both plans.

	Retirement Plan Comparison
Category	Defined Benefit	Defined Contribution
Employee Contribution	10%	10%
Employer Match	0%	10%
Vesting of Contributions	Employee 100%	Employee 100% Employer 0-100%
Investment Responsibility	Employer	Employee
Monetary Payment	Monthly amount for life based on highest 3 years of salary	Final account value
Health Insurance	Yes	No
Health Savings Account	No	Yes at 4%
Maintenance Fee	0	$2-6 per month when inactive

The most attractive element of the defined benefit plan is the lifetime monthly payments based on the 3 highest paying years. Thus, I could work my part time job for 20 years, and then work at a full time position for 3 years to maximize my pension payments. However, this scenario (years of service or salary increase) is unlikely to happen. The most attractive element of the defined contribution plan is the 100% match and the 100% vesting of the match after 5 years. Thus, my contribution would increase by 100% by just investing the funds in a money market fund. In addition, the employer contributes 4% of my salary to a health savings account with a guaranteed return.

Since I have retired early from another company, my approach to evaluating these programs may be different than if I were a younger employee. First, I don't expect to work more than 10 years in a job that contributes to this retirement system. Thus, my yearly pension would be about $500-800 per year after 10 years of employment. Second, I already have health insurance from a company from which I retired, which I plan to keep, unless eliminated by the Health Care legislation.

Based on my situation, I have decided to participate in the defined contribution plan. I like the idea of the 140% employer match and being 100% vested after 5 years. Also, I'd rather get a lump sum of my contributions than receive a pension payment of $500-800 per year. The main downside I see is the maintenance fee which is charged in the months that I am not employed and contributing. Another downside is the volatility of investments, but I feel the 14% match by my employer will mitigate any drop in the stock market.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Farmer's Market Directory

We choose to buy some of our groceries at local farmer's markets, mainly because we like the food, but also to support our local farmers. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find out details, such as dates, times and location for the farmers' markets, since there is often no formal marketing. Recently, I found a Farmer's Market Search site that provides some of the information I need.

The site is compiled by the USDA through voluntary submissions by third party sources. Since it is voluntary, it may not be complete. For us, however, it is a great starting point and saves time versus doing numerous Internet searches to find a farmer's market.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial or shopping advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From June 15 to 21, 2010

Here are links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from June 15 to 21, 2010:

Carnival of Financial Planning #146

The Bobo Carnival of Politics

Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival #159

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, health, policy or political advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

What I Did When Working for Not-So-Great Bosses

Throughout my career, I've worked from some great bosses, some average bosses and some not-so-great (IMHO) bosses. To me, the not-so-great bosses were difficult to work with, didn't understand the project I was working, or were focused only on their own career progression. Here are some strategies I've used for working with the not-so-great ones.

Lived with it. In many large companies, a person will only be your boss for a few years or less. Either the boss or I moved to a new project after that time. During that time, I would learn to work with the person and take the effort to understand how they became my boss.

Influenced the work direction. Sometimes I could manage the situation by proposing changes to the project direction, in the interest of increasing the probability of success. After all, most bosses were just as interested in a successful project as I was. A key factor was to integrate both my boss's and my perspective into the new proposal.

Moved on. In some cases, it was time to move on to a new project, new organization or new company. My company was large enough to allow getting a new project or finding a new organization as an option. Thus, I never had to move to a different company.

For small companies, I expect the strategies would be different since there are fewer people, which would lead to fewer organizations, fewer projects and fewer bosses. Based on my limited experience doing part time work for small companies, I would guess that "moving on" may be a primarily strategy to solve working for a not-so-great boss.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Daddy Improvement Areas

Since taken early retirement in October, 2007, I've been given the opportunity to spend more time with our daughter, who had just turned three. I've enjoyed not missing precious moments from these early years, which I would have done if I had been working.

With Father's day coming tomorrow, I thought I'd take some time to reflect on how I could have done better. Here's my list of Daddy improvement areas:

More patience. I used to get frustrated when our daughter didn't follow instructions or understand basic concepts. I guess I was overly impressed that she figured out how to use the DVD with little help from us. Therefore, I had high expectations for her in other areas :-)

However, after teaching an after-school program for 1st graders this year, I learned the value of being very specific and repeating instruction. I also learned to slow down and not be frustrated with numerous mistakes.

More mentoring. I need to be in a coaching mode more frequently with our daughter. Right now, I am more in a directive mode when trying to help. I would like to enable her more to think through her challenges by sharing my experiences and judgement. Also, I want her to feel comfortable coming to me in the future for help.

Remembering my commitments. When we talk about things we will do together and I don't remember them in a timely fashion. My daughter's memory is much better than mine and I need to do better.

Of course, I have more than three identified improvement areas :-) However, I have learned improving is takes tremendous effort and working on more than three is typically counterproductive for me. So these will be the priority areas of focus for the next year.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday segment.

This is not financial or parenting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Promise Kept

Families With a Missing Piece by Jeffrey Saslow in The Wall Street Journal is about people who lost one or both parents as a child. The story reminded me of a comment by my mother. When I was a child, my mom promised she would raise us until we were old enough to be on our own. My mom and dad did better than that. I was lucky, our mom is still with us into my fifties and my dad lived until my late forties, much longer than needed for us to be on our own. My spouse is also fortunate that her parents are have made it into her forties.

I attribute a part of my achievements and successes to my parents being present through most of my adult life. They were always there to help me through the difficult elements. However, I didn't fully appreciate my mom's comment until we had our daughter. Now one of my goals is to live long enough for our daughter to become an adult. I want to be around long enough to help her get the education, learn the skills and develop the self confidence needed to be self sufficient, happy and successful in life.

Hopefully, as my mom did, it is a promise I will be able to keep.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or parenting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Cavalcade of Risk #107

Welcome to the Cavalcade of Risk #107. As the name indicates, this Carnival is about risk - e.g. insurance, health, financial, and other types. Thank you to all bloggers who submitted a post to this Cavalcade. I enjoyed reading each one. While every post was a great article, I selected only those primarily related to risk.

In this carnival, the posts naturally fell into two categories: Provider Related and Customer Related, where providers are those that create or offer risk management products and customers are those looking to manage specific risks. I have organized the Cavalcade by these categories to enable more efficient browsing by readers.

Provider Related

If you've wondered about how insurance companies manage risk, determine premium costs or make a profit, the following posts offer some insights:

Nina Kallen presents This is insurance posted at Insurance Coverage Law in Massachusetts. Simply, insurance is about "pooling risk." It's the profit part that introduces complexity.

Henry Stern, LUTCF, CBC presents From the P&C Files: Rate Increases Looming posted at InsureBlog, saying, "Oil spills and volcano ills look to push the cost of managing risk even higher"

Jason Shafrin presents California Health Benefits Review Program posted at Healthcare Economist, saying, "How do mandates affect health insurance cost? This is the job of the California Health Benefits Review Program."

Jaan Sidorov presents A Primer on Insurance Exchanges posted at Disease Management Care Blog. In his post, Jaan Sidorov MD visits a linchpin concept of health reform, the “health exchange” by summarizing a New England Journal of Medicine article by Obamacare golden boy John Kingsdale of the Massachusetts Commonwealth Connector, one of two exchanges up and running in the U.S. He also discusses when this means for brokers and finds that the two concepts are not that far apart in either service OR price. In the end, Dr. Sidorov concludes, it looks like you get what you pay for.

Louise Norris presents Owning Fast Food Stock Not Such a Bad Thing posted at Colorado Life Insurance Insider. "An insurer's chief responsibility to us as policyholders is to remain financially solvent and profitable in order to be able to pay claims as they arise. Investing in profitable stocks is a good way to go about that, and the fact that some of those stocks are in fast food companies is irrelevant."

Here's an example on how a business might create it's own risk management program:

Nancy Germond presents Supply Chain Risk Management a Must as Global Sourcing Intensifies posted at AllBusiness.com - Risk Management for the 21st Century, saying, "With catastrophes like earthquakes and political unrest, and the added complications of overseas supply acquisitions and just-in-time inventory, supply chain risk management is more important now than any time in history."

Customer Related

If you're considering purchasing insurance, here are some perspectives on which types to purchase and the levels of adequate protection:

Crystal presents The Necessary Insurance Coverages posted at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff, which describes the types and levels of insurance carried by her family.

FMF presents The Eight Money Ratios, Part 4 posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Here are two ratios to help you determine if you have the right level of life and long term care insurance coverage."

Jeff Rose, CFP presents What is a Term Life Insurance Policy? posted at Jeff Rose, saying, "In order to protect your family’s financial situation, life insurance is necessary."

Consumer Boomer presents How to Compare Life Insurance Policies posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, "Let’s look at closer look at all the options when we compare the different types of life insurance policies and which might be best for your situation."

In addition, here are some perspectives on non-insurance risk.

Everything Finance considers the minimizing risks when hiring a company in The Importance of Bonds to Consumers posted at Everything Finance, noting how consumers are protected when a company is licensed and bonded, i.e. one that has purchased a surety bond.

Finally, Kim Luu discusses the risks of sharing personal information in Is Your Facebook Friend a Spy or IRS Agent posted at Money and Risk, saying, "People rarely think about the risks that social media platforms bring to their personal and business life. It can range from losing your job to losing your life."

That concludes this edition. I hope you enjoyed the posts that were included. The next edition of the Cavalcade of Risk will be hosted at Wisdom from Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

This is not financial, insurance or risk management advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From June 8 to 14, 2010

Here are links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from June 8 to 14, 2010:

Festival of Frugality #233

Baby Boomers Blog Carnival #43

Carnival of Financial Planning #145

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Over Delivered and Over Committed

One element of our plan to extend our retirement savings is to work part-time and earn at least 20% of our retirement income needs. We achieved 27% in 2008 due to deferred compensation payments and 16% in 2009 due to expenses being reduced through paying off our mortgage. In 2010, we've been able earn 21% of our yearly retirement income needs through May 31, 2010. At this pace, we are on track to earn between 47 - 51% of our retirement income needs, which is over delivering versus the goal of 20-40%.

While the results are encouraging, I feel over committed by my part-time jobs. In my analysis, the feeling of over commitment is primarily due to one temporary job which I accepted for a six week term. It requires a minimum of 30 hours per week, but can be spread out over 7 days between 8 AM and midnight. I also have the flexibility to work part of a shift. Currently, I have three other part time jobs that average 1-5 hours a week and a fourth job that averages 10-12 hours per week. Overall, I work about 15-2o hours per week in these other jobs.

My dilemma is the temporary job is steady, pays well and is likely to be extended another 4 weeks, with potential for longer. Since I started in mid May, it has not yet contributed much to our income. Going forward, I expect to earn about 40% of our income each month from the temporary job.

It's the classic trade off of time versus money. The money is good but the time expended is not :-) Here's how I plan to address the issue:

Work for six weeks. I believe in meeting my commitments. I agreed to work for six weeks and will complete the term. I am already into the sixth week.

Keep options open. If offered an extension, I will accept. In addition, I will take time off for at least a week.

Avoid future part time jobs with significant time commitments. The temporary job has been a good learning experience. Constantly working over thirty hours per week in one job is not what I want to do in retirement, even if the pay is good.

For now, I plan to continue my other four seasonal part time jobs. They continue to be very flexible, interesting and have employee perks I can use.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Taxing Thoughts

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." ~ Karl Marx

As governments struggle to maintain tax revenues, a list of creative ideas have emerged from politicians. For example, New York Governor David Patterson had proposed a soft drink tax, of up to 18%. The IRS was considering taxing the personal benefits of a employer provided cell phone. In mid-2009, President Obama became "open" to taxing employer paid health insurance premiums, which he vigorously denounced during his campaign against Sen. John McCain.

With the amounts the government is spending, I'm sure more taxes are due to come. The government likes populist approach of taxing the rich to support others. Personally, I don't like the idea of primarily taxing those that have over those that don't. However, if the government wants to go that route, here are some extreme ways they can implement such a tax.

1. Tax better eyesight. People with 20/40 vision or better will be taxed to pay for glasses and contacts for those with poor vision. After all, everyone should bear the cost equally of having good vision.



2. Tax above average IQs. People with high IQs are able to achieve more and earn more money with less effort than those with low IQs. Thus, the excess earnings should be equally distributed among those with lower IQs.



3. Tax better health. Healthy people spend less on health care that people with health issues. Thus, people with good health should transfer funds to those that need to spend more on health care.



4. Tax better drivers. Good drivers have lower insurance costs due to fewer accidents. Thus, they can afford to pay a tax to subsidize insurance premiums for poor drivers.

To me these are extreme ideas for raising tax revenue. However, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these ideas are being considered by government officials :-)

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial, policy or tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Is $1 Million enough for Retirement?

$1 Million: Too little to retire on? by TheStreet.com questions whether being a just a millionaire is enough. The article reports that many advisors recommend retirement savings of $1.5 to $3 million.

To me, the answer is, "It depends." Whether a million dollars of savings is enough may be related to other factors:

Standard of living. For example, a person living on $20,000 per year would do very well with a million dollars in savings. On the other hand, someone requiring $100,000 would find a million dollars in savings insufficient if it were the only source for retirement funds.

Guaranteed income streams. People with pensions or annuities that cover a significant portion of monthly expenses may require less in retirement savings. For example, a person that has an annual pension of $50,000 and annual living expenses of $60,000 would not need a million dollars in retirement savings.

Good medical and long term care insurance. For us, a big uncertainty in retirement is the cost of medical and long term care. A significant medical event or extended nursing home stay can be very costly. Good insurance plans can significantly reduce out of pocket costs and, therefore, reduce the amount of funds needed in retirement savings.

In 2009, the estimated average retirement savings was below $100,000. So even if it's not enough, a million dollars is probably a good starting place to be :-)

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Our Personal Finance Friends and Foes

Personal finance is about choices. In our experience and from observations, I've seen some choices as helpful and other choices as not so helpful. I've characterized these choices as either "friend" or "foe" for us:.

	Personal Finance Choices
Activity	Friend	Foe
Saving	Early and often	Later and infrequent, or none
Debt	Funding large long term purchases such as a home	Using to live above means or to fund routine living expenses
Higher Education	Positive financial return	Incurring burdensome debt
Investing	Good quality for longer term	Speculative or market timing

Although I have categorized each behavior as friend or foe, the dividing line can be fuzzy. I've also done actions which I have listed as in the foe category. For example, I purchased my first new car with a loan and subsequent vehicles were purchased with cash. Also, for a small part of our investment portfolio, I buy speculative stocks or try to time the market.

However, in general, I find that we are better off when our choices predominantly in the friend category.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From June 1 to 7, 2010

Here are links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from June 1 to 7, 2010:

Carnival of Financial Planning #144

Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival #157

Carnival of Money Stories #57

Tax Carnival #71

Carnival of Personal Finance #260

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Where We Haven't Cut Back

This Great Recession of 2008 -2010 has caused many people to cut back spending and our family is no different. However, even on a tight retirement budget, there are some areas in which we have chosen not to cut back. Here are the areas:

Insurance - We've maintained our all of our insurance policies at the pre-recession limits: health, home, auto, and long term care. The only major policy we no longer have is life, since we are in early retirement. Even though funds are tight, we decided that our current levels of insurance were appropriate and worth maintaining.

Healthy food - We've continue to buy fresh, non-processed, no anti-biotic and no pesticide foods. For us, having good health is a high priority. We believe eating properly is important to good health.

Enrichment activities - We continue to put our five year daughter in various programs to increase her exposure to various experiences. Soccer, tumbling, swimming, language, music and nature are the primary activities. We believe that it is important to expose children to a wide range of experiences in preparation for future learning.

Home maintenance - Having lived previously in a 90 year old house, we realize that deferred maintenance can be compounded into serious problems, that are much more costly. So we are very conscientious on doing maintenance to avoid major problems. Fortunately, we were able to some major cost items, e.g. roof, furnace, air conditioning and exterior painting, near retirement when we still had fund from working.

Paper products - The primary non-essential area of no cut back has been in the area of paper products, such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and tissues. We continue to buy the branded, high quality products in these categories. I know a common argument is "why pay premium prices for single use, throw away products?" I've made the same argument myself when I was younger :-). However, we've become accustomed to the better products, and decided not to keep using them. Our compromise solution was to buy in bulk from warehouse stores and on sale.

Although we've made cut backs in other areas, I estimate we are keeping close to our pre-recessions and pre-retirement levels of spending in these five categories.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Physical Fitness by Age

I've been physically active since my childhood. I routinely played in pick up games, organized sports, and now adult leagues. As I've passed through my 20s, 30s, and 40s, there have been noticeable changes in my physical conditioning. Here are the stages of physical fitness that I experienced as I got older:

Indestructible (0 to 20) - Up until I was twenty, I was virtually indestructible. Sprains and bruises were my major injuries, and I would usually heal within a week or two. Even after having a ruptured appendix in the spring of my junior year, I returned to a starting position on a football team that won a state championship.

I became very fit mainly through practice and didn't do any additional strength training.

Slowing down a step (20s) - While I remained in relative good physical condition in my twenties, I noticed that I was losing a step or two versus the younger players. While I was still fast, the percentage of faster competitors grew each year.

Increasing recovery time (30s) - In my thirties, I noticed an increase in recovery time from strenuous activity. Previously, I only needed a relaxing Sunday to recover from playing rugby on a Saturday. It was now taking until Tuesday or Wednesday to recover. I decided to retire :-)

Prone to injury (40s) - In my forties, I seemed to get minor injuries that linger for a while. For several months, I had foot and ankle pain which became worse with physical activity. In addition, I've had a couple of sprains that have taken a while to heal.

I also realized that I need to do regular exercise and strength training to prevent further decline in my physical fitness.

At this point, it's too early to create a descriptor for my fifties, since I've only experienced two years. Based on other's experiences, the fifties seem to fall into the categories of Maintaining the Forties or Major Injury from Everyday Activities. Hopefully, with exercise and a bit of luck, my fifties title will be Reversing the Forties :-)

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or health advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Are We in the Middle Class?

Are you middle class? by Rick Newman in U.S. News and World Report shares some range and median values for the middle class families. I summarized the medians in the table below and did a comparison to our situation:

	Middle Class Values
Category	Median	Our Status
Income	$81,000	Lower, since we're retired
Home Value	$231,000	Higher
Mortgage	$17,600	mortgage paid off
Home Size	2300 sq ft	Yes
Medical Expense	$5,100	Yes
Car cost per year	$12,400	Lower
College Savings per year	$4,100	Higher
Vacations	$3,000	Yes
Everyday expenses	$14,600	Higher
Number of earners	1.76	0.5 (1 person part-time)
Net Worth	$84,000	Higher
Debt	18% of income	zero debt

Overall, I would assess our family as being middle class. The only number that didn't seem correct to me was the value for living expenses (utilities, clothing, food, entertainment. etc). A cost of $1,200 per month for living expenses seems low for a family of four making $81,000.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Links To Carnivals From May 25 to 31, 2010

Here are links to the Carnivals in which My Wealth Builder participated from May 25 to 31, 2010:

Boomers and Senior: News You Can Use Carnival

Baby Boomers Blog Carnival #41

Carnival of Financial Planning #143

Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival #156

For some interesting articles from the blogosphere, check out these Carnivals and give the hosts some recognition for their hard work.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Disputed Price Increase on Phone Bill and Won

Last month, our phone bill was up 12%, with no changes made on our part. Typically, our phone bill varies by 1-2% due to miscellaneous charges and taxes. However, a 12% change seemed like too much of a difference due to miscellaneous charges. I looked at a previous bill and noticed that the price of one of our services had increased.

I was surprised at the increase, since the phone company had called me in 2009 and asked "Do you want our no price increase guarantee?" "Sure," I replied, " but why do you have to ask. It sounds like a great deal that I wouldn't turn down?" They explained that they were required to ask to make any changes to my account.

I guess that asking doesn't apply when they decide to increase the price :-)

Needless to say, I called the phone company on the next business day. I learned a few interesting things. First, they insisted they were charging me a 20% lower price for a service. However, when they reviewed my actual bill they found I was correct. Second, they claimed that the "no price increase guarantee" was removed when a promotional price ended on one of the services. "Hmm," I said, " There was no mention of that when they offered me the guarantee."

The customer service agreed to honor the guarantee and revised my price. In addition, they are refunding the price increase for the past two months. Today, I'm going to call back and confirm that all the agreed price corrections were made.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC