When The Check Stops...

When you're young or even middle age, the thought of retiring seems like a distant galaxy that you'll really never arrive at.  You think...I'll start saving. I'll start participating in the company's 401(k). I'll start an Emergency Fund. I really need to start saving.  You say, 'Honest I will.'  Next month.

I didn't start to get serious about saving until I was in my 40s.  I had a good job and my employers had a Profit Sharing Plan.  It's like a 401(k) but it's based on how well the company does, hence the name Profit Sharing.  It's a great idea...employees come to realize that the better their bosses do, the better their contribution to the Profit Sharing Plan will be.  When I left my employers to join the FS, (and they were just about the best guys in the world), I left with about $90K in my account that was 100% contributed by them. That was my seed money for today.

In 2007 when I joined the Foreign Service, I immediately began participating in their 401(k)-like program called the Thrift Saving Plan (TSP).  There was matching contributions and I could contribute what I wanted, up to the maximum allowed by law.  I was 59 at the time and knew I would only have 6 years in this, my second career.  I had taken a cut in pay to take the job so I decided to contribute much less than the maximum.  A year later, I bumped it up to the max and also started adding the "Catch Up" amount, which is for those 59 and over.  That's so you can...well, catch up.  My money began to grow.  The TSP did great and I felt good about the dreaded Age 65 Exit from the Foreign Service.

My last 2 years were in Pakistan and because it was Pakistan, those of us who volunteered to serve there were rewarded with Danger Pay and a Differential.  The Danger Pay is self explanatory.  The Differential is an add on to your salary to make up for the level of difficulty of the post and can vary from one country/city to another due to the cost of living, hardships, etc.  Because of this, I was able to save money like a mad woman. When I retired I was able to put a very large down payment on my home in Texas.

Dropping from a 6 figure salary to just Social Security and a small pension from Uncle Sam is a big adjustment.  But when you plan for it, it can be very manageable.  But I'm the kind of person who is always looking for added security.  I'm single with no one to turn to in a financial emergency.  I've found several ways to supplement my income and hopefully to not have to begin taking a monthly draw on my investments until I am forced to at age 70 1/2.  Let me tell you how.

For the year leading up to joining the FS, my friend and I would go to estate sales every week, buy stuff and then list them on Ebay.  I also had 2 part time jobs after leaving my terrific employers.  But it's Ebay that was the most fun.  As soon as I returned to Texas, I started doing it again.  Just about every month I make enough selling on Ebay to cover my house payment.  When my PayPal account reaches a certain set threshold, I transfer some to my bank. It works like a charm.  If any of you frequent Ebay and want to see my auction, just do a search on the site for yayato3boys.  My 3 grandsons call me Yaya, hence the name.  And for my DOS friends serving overseas, I do ship to APO and DPO addresses.

I love photography...always have.  And after traveling all over the world, I have some pretty good photographs.  I have found 2 online sites where I can sell my photographs.  One is fineartamerica.com and the other is on Etsy.com.  Both places do all the credit card transactions so I don't have to worry about that.  To find me on Fine Art America, just do a search for my name and to find me on Etsy, the name of my store is my name...DebiDemetrion.  On FAA, you can have my photographs printed in all different sizes, matted or not, made into cases for your smart phone or even greeting cards.  It's very cool.  On Etsy, I am currently offering my photographs in 3 different common sizes.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well, the obvious reason is that I hope you'll visit one of the sites and order a photograph or bid on one of the many terrific items I have on my Ebay auction.  But there are a couple of other reasons I'm writing this.  One, to stress the importance of planning ahead for a huge financial change in your life when you retire and to stress that you need to start early putting money away for retirement.  The other is to let you know that there are many ways of generating income once you retire.  Find something you love to do and then find an outlet for it.  I've been retired now for 8 months and am still looking for the best way to market my skills.  I may find better ways later, but for now, this seems to be working for me.  And the longer I can leave my money in investments and hope it grows, the better.

Good luck!  And happy shopping!

Retirement...What it is and What it Isn't

It's now been 3 months and 7 days since I left the ranks of the employed. During the final months of my time with the Foreign Service, I had ups and downs when thinking about not working in a short time.  But when the time grew near, I was ready.  The last couple of weeks were stressful in Karachi, Pakistan.  About 13 days before the day I was to depart post, the bad guys attacked the airport.  Lockdown!  Each day I prayed that I would safely get to the airport, safely wait at the airport and safely get off the ground.  As it turned out, I did have a safe take off and after a couple of days in Santorini, Greece and a week of out-processing in Washington, I arrived home July 1 as a retiree.

I'm still not used to waking up and laying there realizing that I didn't have anywhere to go.  Well, that would depend on my To Do list, but I had no job to report to.  Every day is Saturday.  I guess I'll get used to it one day.

Back to that To Do list.  Good grief...I don't know how I ever did things when I had to work.  Every evening I update the list, moving the things that I didn't get done that day to the list for the next day.  I must admit a great bit of the things on my list have to do with selling on eBay (which is wonderful and great fun) and trying to start a bathroom renovation.  Finding a reliable contractor, one who will communicate with you and will do it for a reasonable price is not easy. And all that I've read about people getting fleeced has made me really cautious. I'm sure I'll find someone...I already have the piece of furniture that will be the vanity base, have ordered the granite top, have bought the sink and faucet and I have a gorgeous mirror that I bought in Honduras that will replace the awful wall-to-wall mirror there now.  Pictures to follow when it's all done.

So for any of you out there wondering just what us retirees do with ourselves once we no longer have to report to work...we still work but for ourselves!!

I love it.  I love that every day is now Saturday.  But I do depend on others to tell me which day of the week it is!

Necklace + Lanyard = Necklard

I am aware that many of my readers are in the Foreign Service and wear badges to work.  I make gemstone necklaces and lanyards.  My lanyards are a bit longer so that at the end of the day, if you go out, you can remove your badge, wrap the lanyard around your neck twice and it's a lovely necklace. When I was in Muscat, my friend Cheri came up with the name Necklards and it stuck.

I wanted to let you know that I now sell them on Etsy.  While serving overseas, I couldn't do this because it's against regulations to profit by using the DPO mail.  But now that I'm retired (yippeee!) I have started up making more and selling them on Etsy.  I'm also going to take a sample with me to every doctor's appointment and give it to the Office Manager (and make her promise to wear it!).  If someone has a color scheme for their favorite pro team, office colors or their kid's soccer team, I can take special orders.

Anyway, I am tooting my own horn, waving my own banner or whatever phrase you want to use, but hey...I'm retired now and can get away with much more!

Here's my Etsy link... https://www.etsy.com/shop/NimbleFingersBeads  
and here's a couple of samples.  Christmas is coming and I have about 50 beaded necklaces as well.  More added each day!

Green Malaysian Jade, Adventurine

Red Agate

Magnesite and Silver Plated Beads

Things I Won't Miss About Life in the Foreign Service

It's been 2 months since I retired from the Foreign Service and I've come up with a few things that I will not miss about the wonderful life I had for 6 years.

Eating food that expired more than 12 months ago. Some was not bad, others were gross.

EERs...the State Department's annual employee review. Having to brag on what you did that was part of your job was something we all dreaded every year. Then it went all the way back to Washington for some stranger to decide if we deserved a promotion. 

Bidding for your next assignment...the experience from hell and the major cause of excessive use of hair color for women (to cover the gray hairs it caused).

Looking down at your plate at a restaurant and wondering just what the mystery meat was that you were about to eat.  And making sure you have lots of Pepto and Imodium at home.

Having to drink bottled water not because you liked it better but because the stuff coming out of the tap tasted terrible, was full of bacteria or was gray instead of clear.

Frying your 110 appliances because you plugged them into a 220 socket.  Not all appliances are 110-240, even the new Keurig you bought. Beware Keurig fans!  And lugging around the 20 lb step-down transformer from room to room.

"Hey, does anyone have two 500s for a 1000 bill?"

"They attacked the airport...again??"

Middle of the night drills over the loudspeaker in your residence..."Duck and Cover! Get away from the windows!  Take cover and wait for further instructions!!"  I loved my Marines but have much better ways of being woken up in the middle of the night...

Having multiple zip lock bags with different currencies around the world...and remembering to pack them when I went to that country.

Flying Coach for 14 hours, wedged between 2 overweight passengers who couldn't help but use some of my space.  Or someone kicking my chair for hours because they like to wiggle their leg to keep from getting a blood clot.  

Being ordered out of post because of a threat "for just a week or so" and then never returning.  Strangers then pack up all your worldly possessions for you.

I'm sure my friends in the Foreign Service have lists of their own...feel free to share!  But let me make this clear...I absolutely loved the time I served overseas but now must laugh at the things I won't miss.  The list of things and people I will miss forever is much longer. But that's for another post.  

My Pasttime...

Now that I've retired I can (hopefully) begin selling some of the over 400 necklaces I've made over the past 4 years while living in Oman and Pakistan. I've had a website showing them and you can order something from there. The site is www.designsbyyaya.blogspot.com.  I also have an Etsy shop but it is "on vacation" right now. That site is www.etsy.com/shop/NimbleFingersBeads.   Check there for designs soon.

Payment is very easy with PayPal.

My prices are very reasonable and some of the beads I use in my designs were picked up during my travels abroad.  Thanks!  If you have a favorite gemstone, let me know and I can design an original just for you!

Retirement...I have arrived!

I am in a happy place.  It's called Retirement and even thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

I touched down in Washington DC on June 23, after spending a wonderful 2 days on the island of Santorini.  Two days was just perfect to spend time unwinding from a stressful final 2 weeks in Karachi, where I prayed every night that I would be able to leave on time.  The Taliban attacked the airport there 2 times and I was really afraid that it would happen again.  I worried during the speedy trip to the airport.  I worried while I sat for 2 hours in the airport.  I worried when the plane was taking off.  I quit worrying when I landed in Athens.  I no longer worry.

While in Washington, I had to go through an extensive medical check up.  I want to be added to the list of people interested in being contacted for temporary duty (TDY) assignments, so I had to update my medical clearance.  After being prodded and stuck with needles and my departure date from DC looming, I said I would complete all the appointments when I arrived in Fort Worth.  Tomorrow is my final appointment and I'll get a very thorough 'clean bill of health.'  It's nice to know that at age 65, all systems are go!

I'm gradually getting settled in my new home.  So far, I've received 3 of the 4 shipments, one being my car that was in storage for 2 years.  There was some damage to the outside of the car, probably done when it was shipped out of Muscat, Oman, but my insurance will cover that.  Apparently it wasn't tied down well and there are scratches all across the very front of the roof and a dent the size of my fist which is rusted.  Once repaired, it will be fine.  A word to the wise...while serving overseas, get Clements Insurance and don't drop it until all your things arrive in good shape!

The last shipment should be here this week.  That shipment includes the items I was using in Karachi.  What I have now are things I haven't seen in either 4 years or 2 years.  Lots of clothes have been taken to Goodwill!  Fortunately lots of them still fit me, but I really look forward to getting this shipment.  It includes the Rosewood bedroom furniture I had made in Karachi.  And since I am sleeping on my mattress on the floor in my bedroom, I am anxious to receive this shipment.  My Keurig coffee maker, my Kitchenaid mixer, the rest of my rugs and so much more are in that shipment.  Then I can get all the clothes put away and really get my house in order!

A couple of home improvement projects will keep me busy for a while.  I want to take out a sliding glass door leading to the back yard and put a french door in instead.  I also want to do a bit of remodeling on my bathroom.  Projects are good things.

I still am not used to the fact that I don't have to go to work.  Every day is now Saturday for me.  I still have lots to do on my house but when that's all done, will I be bored?  I don't think so.  I want to start selling on eBay again and have a few friends who want me to sell their stuff.  I want to find a good way to market my jewelry as I have over 400 necklaces ready to sell.  I've had a website where I have photos of them but so far, not tried to really sell them.  That website is www.designsbyyaya.blogspot.com in case you're curious.  I also have over 10,000 photographs from my travels around the world that I would love to somehow earn a few dollars on.  I have another website with some of those and it's www.debidemetrion.blogspot.com.  I'm not sure if I want to market my photos somehow or get in some sort of business of taking pictures.  Lots to think about.

But right now, I need to think about getting dressed and starting the day!

Into the Teens...

I've never been one to 'wish my life away' but lately, I've been counting the days down to wheels up on June 19th, my last day to serve in the Foreign Service.  For the past 6 years, I've served in Honduras, Oman and Pakistan and my days as a Diplomat are rapidly coming to an end.  I am now 19 days to the end of one chapter and into another...the status of Rowdy Retiree.  

My first job was when I was 15 years old.  I got a job at our local department store in Coronado, California where I grew up.  I worked as one of the 2 gift wrappers during the Christmas holidays.  When I got my first paycheck, I went around the store spending the entire check on Christmas gifts for my mother.  The owner, who knew my mother, was so, well, upset, that he called her.  "Fae," he said, "Debi just spent her entire paycheck on Christmas presents for you!"  I guess he thought that maybe I wasn't being very fiscally responsible.  Of course my mother was crushed that I didn't keep any of the money for myself.  I did what I wanted to do and my gift was seeing her happy with what I bought for her.  Since then, I've worked nearly all my life except for 5 years when I had my kids and stayed home with them until they were both in school.  It's time for a change.

I'm really excited about returning home to Fort Worth.  I can't wait to get settled in my new house and knowing I won't have to pack up again in 2 years is a big plus.  I see lots of trips to the nursery in my future, buying plants for my back yard. I want perennials and a vegetable garden and a patio and a cover for it and...so much to do!  

With all my travels, I've bought lots of things...artwork, rugs, furniture.  I hope I have enough room for everything.  I've also framed several of my photographs from my trips.  And as for my rugs...I'll be changing out rugs with the seasons!  

So tomorrow I will say 18 more days.  Then 17, then 16...and before I know it, I'll be zipping up my suitcases the night of June 19th.  Saying goodbye to this job will be hard, but welcoming a completely new lifestyle will be easy.