WHY Do Women Keep Taking Early Retirement? Is it really as insane as it seems to financial analysts?

What’s wrong with women?  As usual, nothing at all that kicking sexist cultural norms in the nuts wouldn’t cure.

Today I read yet another online article on why one should not start taking Social Security benefits until full retirement age, and even age 70.  The author, as they generally do, especially decries the female penchant for retirement at age 62.  You’re read all the mathematically-based reasons to wait.  Let me point out some reasons why people are not stupid or ignorant for starting benefits early.

Argument #1:  You get a bigger paycheck in your 80s and 90s if you wait to start collecting in your 70^th year.

Absolutely true.  You can look at your family tree and decide that you come from long-lived stock and you probably will live long and prosper.  However, do be aware that by doing that, you give up $20,000/year of income for 8 years.  In order to recoup that, you have to live to at least 83.  Will you?  Are you sure?  If you’re not sure, then game theory suggests that you are not stupid to go for the bird in the hand.  My sister comes of long-lived stock and she never retired.  She died at age 65 because, her DNA notwithstanding, she hated doctors and didn’t get a problem checked out, which ended up killing her.  She got $0 in benefits for her 40 years of hard labor.  Which brings us to….

Argument #2: Practically everyone will live to their 80s and 90s.

Actually, we won’t.  Half of us who reach 60 will die in our 60s and 70s.  That 60 is the new 40 rubbish conveniently forgets statistics.  Some of us develop serious health problems in our 50s and 60s.  Many women need to retire before full retirement age because of serious health problems.  And at least half of us will succumb to something before we hit 80.  So, no, age isn’t just a number.  Our bodies have a sell-by date.  If you are gifted with strong DNA, be grateful.  Don’t be arrogant.  Be grateful.  Be grateful every day.  If you feel compelled to give someone advice on how they could instantly solve their health problems with Positive Thinking, take a deep breath, and shut up.  Take another deep breath and continue shutting up.  Stay that way for the rest of your life.  Excellent.

Argument #3:  Women will live longer than men, so they should be super-diligent about not retiring until at least full-retirement age.  Why do they keep taking retirement at age 62?  They’re insane!

No, they’re not insane, they are conventional.  Men consistently look for wives who are on average 5-8 years younger than them.  And they expect their women to be moons to their planet, ready to accommodate what they are doing in their lives to what the Mister wants.  So when Himself retires, he will be 66 or 70 and his wife will be – how old now?  That’s right, 62 or younger.  By age 62, she has an impatient spouse who wants to buy an RV, travel, golf and expects his lifetime sidekick to be on his page, not someone who says “Sorry, dear, I have to wait to collect benefits – perhaps continue working – until age 66 to maximize my economic security when you are dead and buried.”  At a practical level, if you want to have some fun with the old geezer, who is likely to kick the bucket at a younger age than you, you’d better grab the gusto now.  And you need to retire now, so you can have two retirement checks to pay for the RV, the travel and the health care.

Which brings us to a REAL problem that these articles usually miss, and that is: whoever gets sick first, ends up using up most/all of the available cash on THEIR needs, leaving the surviving spouse destitute or close to it.  And guess who, statistically-speaking, dies first?  And who ends up in dire poverty?  THAT is a good reason to postpone retirement, ladies.  That comfortable block of retirement savings will go up in smoke when Himself gets sick.  He’ll demand it.  You’ll either lovingly allow it, or be too afraid to say “It’s time to let go, dear” when he wants another round of fruitless or low-probability treatment, and the rest of the family is just as terrified to let go as he is – and who won’t be subsidizing your grocery bill when it’s all over and you’re beyond broke.  

This is the only really compelling argument for living on his Social Security plus pension only, and leaving your spouse or personal-income entitlement untapped until your own full retirement age.  A couple fewer trips for him, equals a better chance of staying out of really dire poverty for you.  Someone who truly loves you won’t put his pleasure ahead of your safety. 

Human behavior, as in the case of women who take early retirement, is usually not irrational at all, when looked at from the frame of reference of the person making the choices. 

Purge your irrational choices with a comprehensive program of blasting away damage from the past and leaving YOU in charge of your choices - from ice cream to Social Security and picking who to marry...   50% more in your program when you choose a 30 Day or more program at www.soaringdragon.biz before July 7. 

Do You Want the FDA and Medicare to Save You From Isolation and Dementia?

A select committee of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has identified a BIG problem for Americans as we age: hearing aids are not a covered medical expense in Medicare, and Congress has a history of resisting changing that.  Costs average at least $5000/pair and research indicates that at least half of us who need this help try to do without, with results that vary from uncomfortable to disastrous.  Sociologists, social workers and medical researchers have long linked hearing loss to increasing social isolation in elders.  If you can’t hear, you can’t keep your social networks strong, which in its turn is closely linked to poorer physical and mental health.  Now Alzheimer’s researchers, including Dr. Frank Lin at Johns Hopkins, part of the committee, say that an aging brain that is over-tasked with trying to discern language from faint, muffled sounds is a brain that is deprived of the power to maintain cognitive tasks.  In other words, if you need a hearing aid and don’t get it, you are making cognitive decline inevitable.  

The obvious answer, for those who can’t afford a $5000 set themselves, nor the Medicare Gap policies that can cover them, is to do without.  As the Boomer generation continues to swell the elder ranks, this is becoming a public health problem.  In addition to the purely humanitarian aspect, adding to the ranks of dementia is not in the best interests of the nation.  Some members of the committee want the FDA to make hearing aids an over-the-counter purchase to help drive down the cost, while other members caution that hearing aids require careful tuning so the comparison with OTC reading glasses doesn’t really fit.  The committee also asked for more consumer information, including forcing vendors to tell buyers if the product can only be tuned by a particular provider (locking you in if you don’t like the service) and forcing vendors to unbundle the product and services, so that people can determine how much fitting and tuning they want (or really “can afford”.)

The committee also had specific suggestions for helping an elder who needs hearing assistance and can’t afford a hearing aid: speak more slowly and distinctly, not more loudly; face the listener; reduce background distraction noises, so meeting in a library is better than a crowded coffee shop; turn off the radio and TV; rephrase, rather than repeating yourself.  The latter is particularly important.  If the person can’t hear certain sounds well, using different words will be more likely to lead to comprehension.  And do your best to get Congress to change its mind…. Which will undoubtedly require a new Congress, one focused on improving the lives of ordinary Americans.   No elder should be forced to slide deeper and deeper into an isolating silence because they lack the financial resource to both hear and eat. 

Don't Stay Stuck!  Blast through the barriers that are preventing you from living the life you want!  You CAN do it!  www.soaringdragon.biz

The Road to Joy: Writing Your Soul (not just for seniors!)

Are you too scheduled?

Some of us are so busy that we “have no time” for self-care (exercise, healthy cooking, meditation, yoga, reiki and similar), for adequate rest (defined according to normal medically-recognized standards) and – perhaps most important of all – for journaling, introspection and other wisdom-building time.  When we are younger, we can forgive ourselves for falling into the trap of running around from place to place, over-scheduled and over-stressed.  We could point to jobs and kids as reasons/excuses.  At this stage of life, we are the custodians of the wisdom of our community.  If we don’t spend any time bringing this wisdom to the surface and then immortalizing it in some way, then I suggest that we are missing out on a great opportunity, not only for our own benefit but more especially for the benefit of our families, for others who love us, and for the benefit of writers everywhere.

You need more time to spend consolidating and spreading your wisdom.

You also need more joy.  Consider taking a The Road to Joy: Writing Your Soul class with me.  You’ll explore and then heal your life, your deep soul and everything in between, through the medium of the written word.  This is NOT A WRITING CLASS.  You won’t be evaluated for anything, much less grammar, punctuation or style.  This is a self-growth class, who purpose is to bring you to joy!  If you are in Ashland, Oregon, you can do part of this class for free through OLLI.  It’s called Writing for Non-Publication.  

Psst: it's not on the website.  This is one of my "stealth" classes that I only put on for my existing clients and newsletter subscribers - and now you.  

Dates: June-August 2016.
Cost:  As an experiment, I'm accepting donations in place of the usual tuition of $250. No excuse not to commit the time to letting your inner Goddess out! 

Enrollment: email me at victoria.leo.reiki@gmail.com.

www.soaringdragon.biz