Hi Socks 1234 ... what was that other number, again, please? Many advisors suggest that as people get older, they should carry a smaller percentage of their assets in equities, where the values fluctuate substantially and concentrate more on investing where their principal is more secure, e.g. bonds, GICs. Trouble is - when you invest where your principal is guaranteed, there are two rats that eat your cheese. There's an entity that favours you with a question, each year ... and a statement. Regarding your annual income, ... "How much did you earn, last year?", and "We want part of it", ... ... are the messages that most of us get from the income tax people. And, if you invest your dollars where you want that touted guarantee that the number of invested dollars isn't going to shrink over the interim ... ... there's another guarantee that the folks who want to use your money (read "banks" or "bond issuers") never seem to mention ... ... the number of dollars of "principal" is "guaranteed" not to grow, either. So - since we've had to cope with inflation every year since the Great Depression of the 1930s, you need to take some of those dollars that they earned to put with the principal in order to preserve your purchasing power since the inflation rat nibbles off a corner of each of those "guaranteed" "principal" dollars every year. Know what? The rats eat first! You get what's left. Which in recent years has been very little ... if anything. I favour people, especially seniors, learning more about how money works, with a view to carrying a larger component of equity-based investments, where justified. I took the course that stockbrokers take (much more complex than the mutual fund guys need) and 6 courses leading to Chartered Financial Planner (passed only 5). Course revamped aiming at slightly different designation, Certified Financial Planner, I'd have needed to have started all over - at age 70 or so? I don't think so! I sold mutual funds (for a broker, so could offer a wider choice) for a short while, and for years have worked as a personal financial advisor, selling no products - no conflict of interest. Also, very few mutual fund managers justify their vaunted claim of more skillful money management, for they don't outperform the market averages. But in the U.S. they like to collect about a fifth or sixth of the average growth rate that the market produces, and in Canada about a fifth to a quarter of it. If individuals can develop the skills necessary, and the nerve to avoid getting upset if the market goes down some (i.e. sleep soundly at night at the time of a sliding market), they can usually produce a better result, long term, using a larger component of equities, I think. Maybe you noted a thread that I wrote here a few days ago asking that folks compare stock certificates (of one company) and rabbits for proliferation. I've written a number of threads on "Money Saving Tips", "Household Finance" and "Retirement" which will give you quite a bit of information about my approach to effective management of income and assets. If you have further questions, I'll be pleased to answer them. Good wishes to you and yours. ole joyful

Being retired from a bank, I know how easy it is to sign up for auto repayments and how easy it is to run out of money or not know where it is going. I won't do it. Even when I subscribe to a magazine, I send a check. NO auto renewals either. I have been evaluating the charities I have been giving to and have dropped several. I will not give to United Way, because of a real bad incident that happened many years ago when DH was active in Boy Scouts. Unless it has changed, if they pledge so much, for every dollar the organization receives outside of this, they reduce the pledge. He and I really got into it with the organization. I give much more to very local groups, and certain national organizations.. I do investigate where the money is going. Since DH has passed away, I did contact several to have his name taken off the list and for some reason, some have dropped me. I will make no pledges over the phone either. And I will not contact neighbors with a sent list for me to do so.

Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.

Its 1 :25 am and I'm with the night owls. I was laid off at 66 and was dispirited. Looked for jobs, not much luck. So I accepted that unemployment was actually early retirement. Less than a year later a friend called about an opening in her agency in my field. It is a great fit: about 10-15 hours a week. I only go into the office (which is 20 minutes away) 1 x 2weeks, nearly everything can be communicated and documented by secure email and text. I miss the chatting life of more collegial time in an office, but I treasure setting my own schedule. As long as my patients get seen on time and my documentation and time sheets are on time no one 'bothers' me. I'm still contributing to society and (modestly) to family income. I have lots of time and flexibility for those ever increasing doctors' and physical therapy appointments. Gotta keep the mojo working if I want to work. My house is still a mess because neither dh nor I are neatniks and actually don't care a lot about "everything in its place". I mean, it would be nice, but it takes so much valuable time! Rouge, your days and nights will take on a shape of their own. You can nudge things however you want. Eventually a routine might emerge. My thoughts are: make new friends, keep up with old ones and participate in some sort of group activity: exercise class, bridge, book group, civic organizations. For me, they are a welcome change from being at home. I came across the seeds you sent months ago. Still in their little envelope, waiting for spring, like me.Marie