Category: Work and Volunteering
This article is courtesy of my brother-in-law Doug. He has some great points to share about his adventures as a voluntee.
November 28, 2024 - I retired from the Marine Corps in 2005, and then fully retired from Defense industry related jobs in 2020, after a 43 year career. I stayed quite busy for a couple years after my retirement, planning and building a house for my kids and grandkids. Even after that I was staying plenty busy with family, hobbies, sports and the like.
I knew that in my late 60’s and 70’s I would have the time, energy and desire to do some volunteer work; the question was what. I want to have a direct, personal impact on people or things that I care about, and I hoped to find opportunities that I was well qualified, or even uniquely qualified to do.
Finding My Volunteer Mission - Paralyzed by So Many Choices
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Published on November 27, 2024
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
May 15, 2024 -- Many people are eager to quit their jobs and enter the ranks of retired. Spending their days golfing, relaxing, fishing, socializing, etc. But for more people than you think, retirement doesn't stick. Florida NPR has a great podcast that explains how and why some Florida retirees ended up re-entering the workplace, for a variety of reasons. It is definitely worth a 20 minute listen, particularly because it has interviews with real people explaining the circumstances why they went back to work, and the types of jobs they found.
Fastest growing group of workers in Florida - folks over 65!
It doesn't seem to make sense that so many workers in their 60's and 70's are going back to work. In fact it is not unusual to find people over 80 who are working. There are many reasons why. For one, the realities of the world can wreck even the best of dreams. Insurance costs have exploded in many areas of Florida, particularly on the coast. Home Owner Association fees are growing faster than the rate of inflation, usually because of insurance, but also because of higher than expected maintenance costs and other community expenses. Rents and ground leases go up steadily. Cars wear out and need repairs. The cost of everything is going up, particularly since Covid's disruptions started 4 years ago. The result is that many retirees are finding their income is not coming up to what it takes stay afloat. So in most cases, their only recourse is finding a job.
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Published on May 14, 2024
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Category: Work and Volunteering
April 6, 2024 -- Flo Williamson has been a wonderful volunteer site moderator here at Topretirements for a very long time, at least since 2016. Yesterday, we finally met in person for at the Funky Rooster Coffee House and Wine Bar on Key West's Caroline St. Just as I expected, she is a warm and interesting person. It was a fun visit.
Flo and her husband Jerry were in town on a short trip with friends. They have been hitting some of Key West's best restaurants, like 7 Fish, Belmar, and Louie's Backyard, along with the other sights. We had a good visit and short walk around town.
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Published on April 6, 2024
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Category: Work and Volunteering
August 24, 2022 -- So many people look forward to their retirement, and then when it happens, blah. Maybe they go on a river cruise, play a lot of golf, or finally get the garage sorted out. But after the initial rush, many retirees find they miss the daily interesting people and challenges they had in their previous careers. So here are some unusual opportunities that you might consider - either for a season or even a few years.
nextavenue.org recently profiled a couple, Jane and Mark Tafel, who have taken advantage of some fantastic opportunities since they retired. Their 3 month stints included working at a contemplative retreat in Washington state doing gardening, communication, and odd jobs - with housing provided. They have also had jobs at a lodge on Lake Superior, Bryce Canyon National Park, and teaching English in India and Tanzania. They loved all of those jobs, while taking them on in 3 month increments allowed them to be home for holidays and family events. The Tafels use the website Coolworks, which has a section called "Older and Bolder." The website is a fantastic resource, which not only has plenty of jobs posted in all kinds of categories, but also has helpful articles on how to organize your search, including how to identify any must haves and possible deal breakers.
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Published on August 23, 2022
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Category: Adventurous retirement
January 19, 2022 -- Bob Wells' story seems like the perfect companion piece to our recent article on non-career jobs filling the vacuum for people in their early 60s. This baby boomer used to work at a Safeway, then fell on hard times. Living in his van, he discovered that he loved the nomad life - its freedom and simplicity appealed to him. So then he started a blog and website to write about his lifestyle. While satisfying, it was not renumerative. That's when he decided to switch to videos, starting the CheapRVliving channel on YouTube, where he promotes the "nomadic tribalism" way of life.
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Published on January 19, 2022
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
January 16, 2022 -- A significant number of workers underestimate their financial needs in retirement, and that includes calculating how much they will receive from Social Security. As a result they often retire too early and start taking their Social Security before they maximize their benefit. The end result is that they face an income shortfall in their retirement years. A new study from the Boston College Center for Retirement Research has concluded that taking a non-traditional job late in one's career can help retirees avoid a serious shortfall in replacement income, and thus have a more comfortable retirement. Replacement income is defined as the ratio of a worker’s retirement income to pre-retirement income.
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Published on January 15, 2022
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Category: Travel
October 6, 2020 -- Tens of thousands of retirement-age Americans will be migrant laborers next year, even if the economy recovers quickly. Laid off from their jobs before they wanted to, bored, or finding that their meager savings plus Social Security aren't providing enough for a comfortable retirement, many are hitting the road, driven by economic necessity and wanderlust.
Workcampers (also workampers and workvampers), as these nomads are often called, represent a growing niche of the retirement world. They have even spawned an industry, van customizers, who can't keep up with the demand for converting delivery vans and the like into rolling homes with every necessity included. In addition to making a living, devotees of the lifestyle enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with living on the road.
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Published on October 5, 2020
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Category: Travel
September 9, 2020 - Bermuda is one of those countries where it is really hard to live for a period longer than a brief vacation stay. But the pandemic has changed that, at least temporarily. Now, if you are still working, you can live there for one year for just a $263 application fee. The move is one to bolster the tourist based economy, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Courtesy of Mike Oropeza in public domain
According to the Work from Bermuda website, the program is for people who are currently employed and working from home or enrolled in tertiary education and studying remotely. Instead of working or studying remotely in your home country, you can work or study remotely from Bermuda.
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Published on September 9, 2020
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Category: Work and Volunteering
June 30, 2020 -- Over a third of baby boomers say they would like to delay retirement, perhaps into their late 60's or even later. The problem is, however, more actually retire much earlier. According to the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy, just over half of the workers who retired between 2014 and 2016 did so involuntarily, for a variety of reasons. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic is exaggerating this phenomenon, forcing even more people off the job before they want to.
Millions of Americans have been laid off or furloughed from their jobs due to the shutdowns and economic chaos caused by the virus. Many of those will eventually find their way back on the job, or perhaps already have. Others might not want to return to work, either for fear of getting infected or because their attitude toward work has changed. Whatever their decision, the problem of getting back on the job for older workers is difficult for a host of reasons.
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Published on June 29, 2020
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Category: Work and Volunteering
October 16, 2019 — The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for 500,000 temporary workers next year to help it complete the 2020 census. It is the perfect job in many ways for retirees – it is temporary, has flexible hours, gets you out meeting people, and pays reasonably well ($13.50…
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Published on October 16, 2019
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