Cramming for retirement

 Failing to plan is planning to fail.” As cliché as it sounds, it’s a piece of advice that too many people are failing to act on especially when it comes to retirement. I speak from personal experience. I retired before I was ready and even though I had more than five years left before I could retire, I retired early, but because I recognized my mistake, I went back to work for another 8 years before I actually retired full time.

When I was in my 20s even my 30s, and my 40s I thought of retirement as a dream that I would get around to planning for maybe in my early 50’s. When I hit 50 I realized that I had better start planning as I had only had 15 years before I was going to make one of the biggest life changes I would ever make.

As I approached retirement, I started working two jobs and threw the money into my retirement pot, but starting late, is never a good idea for savings, and I did not save the magical number of one million dollars that I was told I needed to fund my retirement. I did however have a pension plan, which I thought would not be there, but it was and still is going strong.

StatsCan has reported that close to 40% of Canadians are still working between the ages of 65 and 69, and some have their parents living with them and some have their kids at home or coming back home.

Many of my friends are helping their children or grandchildren and some have done so, by increasing their mortgage or drawing out from their retirement savings or going into debt, by turning to reverse mortgages or home equity lines of credit.

Many Canadians have to rely on Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan benefits, which gives a person between $1,700 and $1,800 monthly. For married couples who made all the proper contributions, it still represents under $42,000 in gross combined income.

The government never meant for OAS and CPP to serve as people’s sole retirement income source, they expected these two programs would replace about 33% of how much a person would earn before retirement.

People often overestimate how much money they need in retirement, They don’t consider how pension contributions, unemployment insurance, and all these other deductions will become non-issues. The early a person starts to plan and with proper retirement planning, you can get a much more realistic roadmap of what you will need and how you can save for retirement.

Adult children and their parents end of life journey

 My Niece, who was in her early 50’s died almost two years ago, but the pain of her passing is still hard for the family. We were out to dinner with her Mom and Dad and their partners the other day. Because of COVID the Celebration of Life had been postponed and was held about two weeks ago.

The discussion about her end-of-life journey was uplifting and sad and was needed to help move forward. For an adult to lose a child is one of the worst things that could happen and the grieving stays with us until we pass.

What we know is that when we are ready to go, we hope that we will not be a burden on our adult children so they will not have to be there to manage our end of life, physical decline or cognitive decline but hopefully not both:

There is a study done by the Life Actuary Society on how adult children coped with their parent's end-of-life issues. They found that parents experiencing cognitive decline usually required a longer period of care, were more dependent and had less say in decisions. Cognitive decline often happened gradually, and aging parents often hid signs of impairment initially. Children did not always recognize the severity of the decline, and by the time it was dealt with, it was often quite significant.

Parents often had a triggering event that led to sudden physical declines such as a fall, a stroke or heart attack, but sometimes the decline was gradual, caused by factors such as arthritis or macular degeneration. Sometimes there were a series of incidents where parents might decline and then get better for a while. In some cases, children absorbed the need for more help and in other cases, the parent needed to move to a new type of support arrangement.

Health changes happened suddenly and some gradually. Generally, the adult children tended to react to their parents’ changing needs rather than plan for them. This tendency surfaced in some interviews among siblings who did not have strong relationships with each other; this may have exacerbated a lack of planning.

The study found that a variety of events or functional decline led adult children to increasingly take responsibility for their parents’ care including widowhood (especially when the deceased parent managed the finances); loss of the ability to drive or get around on public transportation; loss of the ability to physically maintain a residence, cook or clean; and mobility issues or other issues that required long-term care. One specific triggering event was the inability of the parent to remember to take medications. Irrespective of family dynamics, one of the factors that precluded planning was that, until they experienced it, adult children often didn’t understand the toll caring for a parent would take on them.

Adult children often helped take their parents to doctor’s appointments and consult with the doctor. In this research, it was most common for the adult children to follow the doctor’s advice without question and play an active role in making sure it was followed. However, several did get second opinions or seek geriatricians, and a few questioned the doctor’s decision later.

Mobility Options

  

The following is a guest post by Steven Lee a director of Electric Bike and Moped manufacturer Evolts. In his request for a guest post, he said, "We have been designing and building two-wheel vehicles for over 20 years, Including the GIGABYKE electric moped distributed throughout the USA since 2016." It is important that if you are considering this option to help you do your research. In my area, if I were to get one of these bikes, according to Provincial law, it is a Limited Speed Motorcycle and subject to the same rights and duties of a motor vehicle, such as obeying all traffic lights and control devices. Each jurisdiction is different so check your rules before you buy. 

I am a big believer in serendipity, a friend of mine is having mobility issues and we were talking about different options and a few days later I received this request. I found it interesting, and I hope you do as well

What are the latest changes in mobility options?

Previously if you suffered from deteriorating health or restrictions due to hip or knee problems your mobility options could be limited to wheelchairs or mobility scooters.

When do you need to look at the options?

While options may be restricted when reaching the point where we cannot balance easily or are too frail needing assistance with everyday activities.

Many people in good health are only restricted by previous injuries or limited movement of their lower limbs expanding the choices.

How have to options changed?

Recently extra mobility options have become available due to an increased use of two-wheel mobility products.

The current choices are:

·                        Electric three or four-wheel Mobility Scooters:

·                        Electric Bikes:

·                        Electric moped style Bike:

Traditional three or four-wheel Mobility Scooters.

Traditional electric mobility scooters are basically a chair on wheels to assist people with age- related physical problems or disabilities from knee or Hip problems.

In basic terms it is a combination of a wheelchair and electric scooter. For people with severe difficulties, it can be practical way to get around.

Electric bikes:

With increased availability, electric bikes are now being used as an alternative to electric mobility scooters. With more models available and the prices decreasing over the last few years.

They provide an alternative to riding a bike, since you can equalize the exercise to meet your level of fitness or weather conditions such as wind.

You do need a level of fitness to be able to use the pedal system also many models still the issue with comfort, power and difficulty getting on and off.

These seems to hamper many people looking at this, as an alternative to the electric mobility scooter.

Electric Moped Bikes:

Like electric bikes, but the drive principal is different.

They are two-wheel, the electric bike principal is the motor assists the pedals, whereas the electric moped bike the pedaling assist the motor if necessary.

They are built with easier access, lower, wider seat, usually with full suspension and visibility options included. It is a cross between an Electric bike and Moped, making it easier to ride.

No License or Registration Required.

Earlier Scooter Mopeds were heavier and had license requirements. New smart electric moped bikes do not require license or registration in most states.

Why is a smart electric moped bike different?

Electric smart moped the Evolts O3 Seniors model, has switchable three speed capabilities, allowing walking pace by motor or pedals 5-MPH, jogging pace 10-MPH and 20-MPH.

Easy to control when learning or relearning to ride a two-wheeler.

Comfortable with full suspension and wide comfortable seat. You can touch the ground easily so mounting and dismounting is easy.

The price is less than many mobility scooters and even electric bikes.

Best option for you.

When it comes to finding the best option for you, keep in mind each product’s suitability according to your health needs also, reliability, features, pricing, and overall quality.

At least be aware, there are additional options available.

A tribute to Yogi Berra

Yankees legend Yogi Berra passed away in 2015. An 18-time All-Star, Berra appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees and won 10 of them.

Berra’s contributions to MLB history are incalculable, but his legacy might be even better remembered for what he contributed to the American language. A sportswriters’ favourite, Berra had countless expressions and turns of phrase that were memorable because most of them didn’t make any sense. (At the same time, everyone had some truth to it.)

Berra-isms (colloquial expressions that lack logic) are now countless, and many of them are just attributed to Berra, even if he never actually said them. As he so perfectly put it: “I never said most of the things I said.” Here are 50 of our favourites.

1.          When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

2.          You can observe a lot by just watching.

3.          It ain’t over till it’s over.

4.          It’s like déjà vu all over again.

5.          No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.

6.          Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.

7.          A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

8.          Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.

9.          We made too many wrong mistakes.

10.     Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.

11.     You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.

12.     You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.

13.     I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.

14.     Never answer an anonymous letter.

15.     Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.

16.     How can you think and hit at the same time?

17.     The future ain’t what it used to be.

18.     I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.

19.     It gets late early out here.

20.     If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.

21.     We have deep depth.

22.     Pair up in threes.

23.     You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.

24.     All pitchers are liars or crybabies.

25.     Even Napoleon had his Watergate.

26.     Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.

27.     He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.

28.     It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.

29.     I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.

30.     I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.

31.     I’m a lucky guy and I’m happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary.

32.     I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.

33.     In baseball, you don’t know nothing.

34.     I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?

35.     I never said most of the things I said.

36.     It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.

37.     If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.

38.     I wish everybody had the drive he (Joe DiMaggio) had. He never did anything wrong on the field. I’d never seen him dive for a ball, everything was a chest-high catch, and he never walked off the field.

39.     So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.

40.     Take it with a grin of salt.

41.     (On the 1973 Mets) We were overwhelming underdogs.

42.     The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.

43.     Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.

44.     Mickey Mantle was a very good golfer, but we weren’t allowed to play golf during the season; only at spring training.

45.     You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go.

46.     I’m lucky. Usually you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine.

47.     If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it workin’. I didn’t like to work.

48.     If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.

49. Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.

50.     A lot of guys go, ‘Hey, Yog, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ’em, ‘I don’t know any.’ They want me to make one up. I don’t make ’em up. I don’t even know when I say it. They’re the truth. And it is the truth. I don’t know.