V is for Vacation – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 26, 2017April 26, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Hmmm?, Retirement6 Comments

I had this funny idea when I first started exploring my thinking about retirement. That once you were retired, vacations were…well…redundant. I mean…every day was now gonna be a Vacation (from work) Day, right?*

Not surprising since I am still fully in harness, so to speak. I use my allotted “Sick Days” when ill and “Vacation Days” for other days I need away from work – whether actually going anywhere or not.

Many has been the Vacation Day taken for finishing an assignment for school, helping out my mom and stepdad, or ~~responding to a renovation or other crisis at~~ doing some other mid-week chores for Chez Badass! In my defence, it is no small wonder that I think this way about vacation. Turns out I have been doing it wrong for most of my working life.

Merriam-Webster defines vacation as “a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation”. It says nothing about having to be employed in order to be able to use the word. Or finishing papers for your Masters degree. Ahem.

Seems to me that most of my life I have been using a good part of my allotted Vacation Days in the pursuit of things that are definitely NOT “vacation”. No “travel” and definitely no “recreation” occurred on these days. But I digress…

I don’t know if I can express to you how looking up this definition has expanded my mind not only about vacation but also about retirement. But I’m gonna try.

Instead of thinking of retirement as merely “not working”, this has caused me to see retirement in a new light…that it is an occupation in its own right, however you choose to define it or spend your time.

Therefore, why wouldn’t you still call a trip away “a vacation” from your retired life?!

Mind. Blown.

Rock on,

The WB

*Please tell me I am not alone in this ~~misguided~~ thinking.

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U is for Understanding – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 25, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Hmmm?, RetirementLeave a comment

Warning: Italics-heavy post ahead. 😉

You know what? When I started this challenge I had figured that by now I would have a much clearer understanding of what my thoughts, feelings and especially direction in retirement would be.

Hah! Far from it.

I’m still not even sure when I’m going to pull the plug on my steady paycheque. It might be as soon as 60 but then again…I might not feel financially comfortable or otherwise ready then.

I do have a sort of “magic” number in my head, that I would like to see to see in my RRSPs (registered retirement savings plan), and another magic number that I would like to see in my TFSA (tax-free savings account) before I stop being employed.

I would also like to see the demand loan on my building (what I call my “mortgage” except it’s not one, really) knocked down as much as possible before my paycheques end. Especially if I am going to be staying on here – at the current Chez Badass – for a while yet, instead of living the lakeside dream. I do not want to be caught tenant-less at some point in the future and be having to pony up the (hefty) commercial property tax bill PLUS the loan money every month with no rent AND paycheque coming in to help cover it.

It would drain me in an awful big hurry. I would feel compelled to find work again. Which is not to say I won’t ever want to work for pay again in my retirement years…I just don’t want to ever feel I have to do so, if I can help it.

What I have gained an understanding of is this: I want maximum possibilities to be able to explore in my retirement.

I understand I don’t want to hear the word “No” for the relatively modest (but extravagant for me) post-work life I have envisioned of yearly winter escapes and other occasional explorations abroad, North American road-trips (with a funky trailer or hippy van), hiking, art, and whatever else takes my interest as I progress through this thing called the rest of my life.

And I understand now that I have an over-arching goal for my money. Whereas for the past three years (and first time in my life!) I have been thoroughly enjoying spending my free (and borrowed) cash on whatever the WB wants*, now I am exploring how little I can live on and how much more I can squirrel away for future freedom.

You know what, maybe I have gained the most important understanding about retirement of all. I do have choices and I can create the type of retirement that I envision with proper planning and a little luck. It just needs me to continue on with the inner and outer information-gathering. (I admit it was a little ambitious of me to think I would have it all sorted out within the 26 days of this challenge…)

Life is a journey and retirement is not the end. It is the continuation and hopefully one of the better parts of the journey.

Rock on,

The WB

*And by whatever the WB wants, I mean things like cleaning up a lifetime of my late husband’s hoarding; replacing knob and tube wiring and a heating/cooling system, plumbing and roofing; installing solar panels to generate income; creating a functioning home including new kitchen, laundry and bath; getting dining room furniture, putting curtains (finally!) on the windows, refinishing beat-up furniture left to me; treating myself to a new mattress/bedding; and many more mundane home-establishing type things, too numerous to mention. Oh yeah, and the occasional cheap holiday. And kick-ass boots. You know, real Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous -type stuff…hehehe!

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T is for Teaching – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 24, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Go Back to School, Hmmm?, RetirementLeave a comment

I have been heard to say (loudly and vehemently) that now that I was done with my MBA, you would never find me in school again. Unless it was for a totally fun class, like say quilting or watercolour painting.

But what if I went back – not as a student – but as a teacher?

I do have a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education degree as well as a Science degree – pursued and achieved because at one point in my career I was put in charge of training at a large (125+ souls) laboratory. That was a lot of responsibility and I felt I needed some “training” myself, so as to do the best job possible. Turns out it was only for a brief time period because part-way through my studies, I took the opportunity to join my current employer. I still completed my schooling and the degree, but never got to use it in the way I had envisioned…

My dad worked part-time as a teacher after he retired. He taught a course prepping aspiring millwrights to take their exam, at his local community college. He loved it.

I could see myself doing something similar, when I retire. Whether for a fun or serious course…I do know how to put a course together and deliver it.

And, I do have a career’s worth of knowledge to share.

And, if I created an online course (an introvert’s dream!), I could do it from anywhere I happened to be at the moment.

Hmmmm….

Rock on,

The WB

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S is for Services – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 22, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Retirement4 Comments

One of the things that crosses my mind as I contemplate the idea of moving north and lakeside in my retirement life is the availability of services and the ease of accessing them.

Let’s face it, I am on the downward slide of things and am well-past middle-age. (Unless I am going to live to be 114 – then I am smack in the middle of life, still. Hehehe!)

Is moving to a much smaller, more rural, less services-intense community wise? Where every hospital visit entails a long road trip to a major centre and appointments with specialists the same?

Where prolonged power outages are more common, the winters are wilder, and the (GASP!) internet/cell service may be dodgy?!?!?!

It’s the last point that really has me questioning if this is the right move for me. I can be prepared to wait out/deal with everything else. I would rather have to chop wood for heat than go without Ye Olde Interwebs (or use of my smartphone!!!) at my fingertips.

Sign o’ the times, right?

But all is not lost. This article gives me hope.

Perhaps my dream lakeside home will be (internet) ready for me by the time I am ready for it.

Rock on,

The WB

R is for Renaissance Women – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 21, 2017December 1, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Hmmm?, Retirement3 Comments

I found out something yesterday. While surfing around the web while stuck at my car dealership (Edward II was in getting his snow tires replaced with summer tires), I came across a website called Puttylike and took a quiz to learn I am a (simultaneous) multipotentialite.

Which is just another way of saying “Renaissance Woman“, something I have jokingly referred to myself as aspiring to be, over the years. Something I can really go crazy with, during retirement! All those extra hours in a day…bwahahahaha!

I always knew I was interested in many different things. I had a professor in university (way back when, while pursuing my first degree) tell me I was a “Dabbler” vs. a “Digger”, but that it was nothing to be worried about.

This was unsolicited advice and I can’t for the life of me remember how I got drawn into this conversation with Dr. Whats-His-Name (Mayfield, maybe?) and several other students in the corridor of the main Science building. No matter…

Diggers get the Nobel Prizes, he opined, but Dabblers have all the fun.

I think we were both inhabitants of the latter camp and his assessment of me didn’t bother me in the least. I always knew I had an insatiable curiousness about just about everything in this world, and that I could never devote my life to going the PhD route of ever-increasing specialization in JUST. ONE. THING .

Just like I can’t settle down to create a “niche” for this blog. Sure, I read all the blogs and admire the successful bloggers out there who have scads of followers and think to myself (sometimes…for a fleeting moment) what it would be like to achieve that. And then I wake up to reality and realize how bored I would be focusing (and becoming a subject matter expert) on JUST. ONE. THING.

Like cooking, fashion, home decor or renovation, travel, making money, being a mom, or…multipotentialites! See the irony there? In creating her website (and with her very popular TED talk – which I still need to find time to listen to), Emilie Wapnick has kinda boxed herself into that corner…or that is how it looks to me anyways. Creating a career around and related to helping multipotentialites is very “niche” and JUST. ONE. THING.

I haz ~~cheezburger~~ to write about ALL. THE. THINGS. that bubble up in my monkey mind.

Even focusing for 26 days on retirement and only retirement is taxing for me. I’ve been ready to move on for days now…even though I am STILL obsessed with the idea of exploring retirement and all its glorious possibilities. Hah!

So now I’m a multipotentialite? I still prefer Dabbler, thank you very much.

Rock on,

The WB

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Q is for Quests – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 20, 2017April 21, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Goals & Dreams, Retirement, Roadtripping2 Comments

A quest is a long search for something that is difficult to find. It is also the basis of many a good story – at least the ones I liked growing up (and still like!).

Stories like The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Talisman etc., etc.

When I put on my knapsack and lace up my hiking boots, I like to imagine this is the start of a grand quest. That I could just keep going and going until I am in some foreign place – far from home but fragrant with adventure and possibility.

I have to laugh to myself when I have these thoughts. Coming from the same woman who, on the day of a long-planned and desired vacation, picks up her suitcase and looks around her cozy home and wonders why she is leaving it; why she thought taking this trip was a good idea. Not that it has ever stopped me. I get on the plane and I have a fabulous time and I never think those thoughts again…until leaving day of the next trip.

Does anyone else have these thoughts, I wonder?

Despite these conflicting thoughts, I am planning some quests for my retirement. Hopefully not overly long or difficult searches, but quests all the same. Like to quest to travel the length of Route 66. Cross Canada by car or train. Explore the Florida Keys. And the low country of South Carolina. Basically visit the places I have been reading about in books for years.

I don’t know what I am searching for, exactly.

But isn’t the idea of a going on a quest exciting enough in itself?

Rock on,

The WB

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P is for Pets – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 19, 2017April 19, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Adventures with dogs, Goals & Dreams, Retirement2 Comments

Ever since my Lucy died, I have been confident that I will get another puppy. But that I will wait until retirement to do so. When I will have the time to devote to raising a small pup in the right way – training it and exposing it to all that it needs to process during those crucial early months…in order to develop into a well-rounded, confident companion.

The Indomitable Lucy – old and sick in this picture, but still the gold standard to be met for the next dog

But lately I am wondering when exactly during my retirement will I get another pet? Perhaps not right away. Perhaps I will wait until I am a bit older, and have tamped down my wanderlust a bit. Perhaps I will wait until I move to a more suitable property to keep a dog than my current one. Perhaps then I will get multiple dogs, like Me Too and Mrs. Me Too. Who knows?

I vacillate between obsessively stalking Mini-Schnauzer breeder websites (and thinking that I can’t wait until I retire), and thinking I should wait until I am in my 70s and (perhaps?) more house-bound.

What I want is another Lucy and there are no guarantees of that. I think that means I am not yet over her, and ready to bring another wonderful dog into my life.

Rock on,

The WB

O is for OAP – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 18, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Retirement3 Comments

Housekeeping: At least one person is still unable to comment so I have deleted my current Subscribe to Comments plugin (a possible culprit). Hope this fixes things and so sorry for any inconvenience. I will continue to search for ways to improve ye olde blogge and for communicating with me. I have set up an email address associated with the blog – please feel free to contact me at theWB@widowbadass.com

According to my Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus (consulted for “O” words yesterday), an OAP is an old-age pensioner. A blanket term referring to those who now eagerly await their monthly government buckeroos so they can hit Seniors’ Day at Shoppers Drug Mart with gusto, followed by a well-deserved coffee klatch at Timmie’s! 😉

Where I live, the Shoppers Drug Mart is directly across the street from the Tim Hortons. Someone is clever like a fox, no?

I can’t believe I am here…at the Letter O already…and I do not know how much $$ I will be receiving from the government when I turn 65.

In Canada, the government benefits for retired people are the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security. CPP is what working Canadians pay into (along with their employers) with every cheque, and OAS is for everyone, and eligibility is based on residency requirements and is adjusted based on annual income.

In the process of perusing the Government of Canada website for information and using their retirement calculator, I found out these things:

the average Canadian receives $644 monthly;
I don’t have a CPP statement of contributions and benefits (very much needed to proceed), and;
to get my CPP statement of benefits information, I have to apply for it, and;
a special access code and/or the statement will be mailed to me. I have forgotten already which I am getting but all I know is that I can’t proceed any further until I get the magic info by mail.

So, I have done all of the above and now I must wait for the snail mail to come in.

Rock ever so slowly on,

The WB

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N is for Never – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 17, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Hmmm?, Retirement3 Comments

Housekeeping: Thanks to guidance from the good folks at Bluehost, I think the commenting problem is fixed. I was walked through steps to optimize my website’s database and also given a lead on what to work on next – a plugin that may not work with the latest version of WordPress is a potential villain here – if the problem persists.

Of course, when Mr. Bluehost and I tried things out so I could illustrate the problem, comments were posted no problemo no matter what browser or type of device (mobile, desktop) was used. Sigh. Anyways, fingers crossed no one has issues with leaving a comment from here on out.

And I have 5 whole comments in my Spam folder as of today so that shit is getting through again. Mr. Bluehost laughed when I complained of not even getting spam anymore – that was a first for him, he said.

Never is such a forever word. People who use it have to eat their words every once in a while.

I try to avoid it because of this, and because it limits you to possibilities.

I try instead to love a new idea or plan for at least 15 minutes. This gives me time to imagine it unfolding and fitting into my world.

Often when I love and live with an idea for 15 minutes, I realize it’s really not for me. So all I’ve lost is 15 minutes of dream-time.

But if I dismissed something without thinking it through – something that might have been an wonderful idea if I had only given it a chance – well, that would be my loss.

So what has this got to do with retirement, you might be asking by now. Nothing that doesn’t also apply to working life also! I use the 15 minute rule even more at work than I do at home, right now.

However I think that these automatic nevers and negative thinking and discounting of new ideas might come easier the older one gets, and even easier when someone is retired. It’s just a hunch I have and something I want to be aware of and avoid if possible.

So I vow to never say never. 😉

Except for how I feel about my life now. Because since I have been on my own:

Never have I been so relaxed
Never have I been so content
Never have I been in so much control of my own life
Never have I felt less lonely
Never have I been so happy.

Never stop rocking on,

The WB

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M is for Money – Preparing for a Badass Retirement #AtoZChallenge

On April 15, 2017April 15, 2017 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Goals & Dreams, RetirementLeave a comment

The biggest worry for me (as for most people) when it comes to retirement is THE MONEY. What is enough? Will I outlive my money? What if something unplanned happens that sucks it all up?

Every financial website has a retirement calculator. I used the one from my bank just today:

https://tools.td.com/retirement-calculator/

I like that it allows you to play around with the numbers to see how that changes the outcome. For example, if I want to live on 45K/year in my “golden years” instead of 60K, I need a whole lot less money squirrelled away. (Even 45K seems somewhat extravagant for my particular lifestyle/circumstances so early retirement is looking more and more promising.)

One thing I have learned from my mother’s retirement is that you don’t need the whack load of money most financial planners say you do. Mom certainly did not have anywhere near the money they advise you to have in her savings and her second husband had even less. Yet, they still were able to do all the things they wanted to do. They lived comfortably yet modestly all their working lives and continued to do so in retirement. They were able to travel and indulge their love of camping and Mom’s (in particular) passion for computers and electronic gadgets. Mom had both a MacBook and an iPad long before I could afford one!

And Mom still left (lots of…too much) money to us kids when she died, at age 79. In fact, she had trouble using up all the bucks she had to withdraw from her RRIF every year and used to hand out cheques to her family every once in a while “because she wanted to see us enjoy the money while she still lived”.

This article echoes a lot of my same thoughts on this subject:

http://www.moneysense.ca/save/retirement/how-much-money-you-need-to-retire/

As I continue to gather data on what I need to live, research how I want to live, and talk to my own financial advisor about retirement (early or not) I am becoming – dare I say it – relaxed about eventually giving up my paycheque. My biggest worry is rapidly being whittled down to a more manageable size.

Rock on,

The WB