Happy Birthday Ryder

This post wishes my grandson a happy birthday on his second birthday. He gets to celebrate two birthdays, the first  in Australia where he was born, and one day later we can celebrate with him in Canada. So he gets to celebrate two birthdays, one as a Canadian and one as an Australian.

Ryder,how time fly's,  two years ago you were so small, and so fragile

  

Today you turn two and are a growing up to be a fine young man, with many friends and many adventures for you to have and many experiences to enjoy. Life is good. 

Even though Grandma and I cannot be with you today, we are thinking of you and love you and we will see you in November and look forward to spending Christmas with you.

Be safe, know you are loved and as you continue to grow in body, and mind, I know  your spirit of adventure and love of life is growing as well. 

    

Love Grandpa and Granny

Ponderisms (is this a word?)

Thanks to Douglas  and Christopher for these

• I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
• Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
• The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
• Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
• There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
• Life is sexually transmitted.
• Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
• The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
• Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
• Have you noticed since everyone has a phone camera these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
• Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
• All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
• In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.  Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
• How is it one careless match can start a bush fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
• Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
• Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its bum.
• Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
• If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
• Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
• Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
• Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Planning and thinking about retirement

While I’ve heard that ignorance is bliss, habitual laziness when it comes to learning about best practices on planning for your future is likely to lead to misery down the road

This becomes an even greater truth when you consider that:

The U.S. Census Bureau projects by 2050 there will be 1.1 million centenarians in America alone. Meanwhile, researchers at Boston University predict there will be even more, estimating some 3 million baby boomers will live to be 100 or older.

Technology & Modern Medicine continue to improve at breakneck speeds Cures, effective treatments, and possibly even preventative measures may exist for today’s most common causes of death by the time you are ready to retire. Who knows what your life span may end up being!

If you think about just these two things it may be wise to plan your retirement with the assumption you will live to 100 (at least). If you retire at age 60 then retirement could very well encompass 40% of your entire life.  So, why are you not investing time to .to learn how to SIGNIFICANTLY improve the quality and security of your retirement.

Won’t you  have much less of a problem if your money outlives you rather than the other way around?

You may have less of a worry with that compared to many others if you have a defined benefit plan that promises you pension income for life. However, I suggest that you may want to consider learning about investment and saving strategies for retirement in addition to your pension.

If you do not have a defined benefit plan, then you really do need to consider learning about investing /savings for your retirement. The question is how much responsibility do you have and how much does society have for your pension.

The current government in Canada believes that they have little or no responsibility beyond laying out a framework that allows the individual some tax breaks if they save for retirement. The government of Canada would, in my view, like to gut the Old Age Security program, not because it doesn’t’ work but because it is a social program that takes away responsibility from the individual for planning their own retirement.

I have also notice that pension reformers from around the world, are trying to shift the focus away from the government and corporations and back to the individual.

For example in the US many States have recently altered their pension benefits in some way. In fact, the Chicago Tribune reported that in 2010 and 2011, a whopping 41 States  enacted some form of change to their pension plan. These changes could have been anything from:

• Increasing retirement age for teachers and other state employees
• Requiring a higher percentage of salary to be contributed to the pension by employees
• Reduced future pension benefits and/or retiree healthcare benefits

Several States used a combination of those measures. In some States, these changes may be enough to not have to implement any further changes, but there is some strong concern that that these changes are giving states precedent to make more (as well as more aggressive) pension alterations in the future.

Will auto enrollment in Pension Planning work?

In a word no, if employers and governments follow the British example as shown in this story written by Rajan Chagge published last May .

According to new research, the vast majority of workers in the UK have no idea about auto-enrolment. The shocking findings uncover the fact that many people in Britain are not interested in saving into any form of pension.

One boost to those who are not currently saving is that everyone working in the private sector will be saving for their retirement through their employer, and they will do so automatically. If they do not want to save for a pension, then they will keep the right to opt out at any time they choose.

Government’s solution

The scheme, which will come into force from October this year, is the Government’s solution to the falling number of people who are saving into a company pension and protecting their retirement years.

Pension saving has been on a downward spiral for several years. This is an issue that has had the Government concerned, particularly because people then retire and become fully dependent on the state pension, which is an income that often cannot maintain a worker’s standard of living during retirement.

The state pension is a useful income, and together with another pension income can provide a nice addition and boost to the finances people have in their golden years.

The research was carried out by Aviva, who found that 68% of workers have very little information about auto-enrolment and what it entails for them. The insurer then said that the Government needs to work overtime if they are to encourage these workers to take advantage of the scheme.

In the event that auto-enrolment does fail, it will be a big slap in the face for the Government, who have invested a great of time and resources in developing it.

Warning by insurer

In the Working Lives report by Aviva 2,004 private sector workers and 210 employers were polled, from which a worrying piece of information was found. Using the research as a base, the insurer has warned that the number of employees who could opt out from auto-enrolment schemes could be a major hurdle in the scheme being a success.

Firms have predicted that they are expecting a third of their workforce to opt out, while 37% who are still uncertain have said that it is likely that they may leave the scheme. There are 43% who will give encouragement to the Government, after revealing that once enrolled they will be remaining in the scheme, and a further 8% have said that they would be willing to contribute more.