mark ahlenius

Comments:

• Thank you Dennis, a very good article about something in life more important than riches. As we age and for me as a man, it’s harder and harder to find and make really good friendships. I lost perhaps my best. friend about 20 years ago unexpectedly. He was a friend I could tell anything to, and he would listen. He would give me honest answers. He always held my confidence. He would do just about anything for me and likewise, I for him. Please do keep writing Dennis. I look forward to your articles. A proverb from the Bible sums it up true friendship quite well. ”A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. “ ‘mark

  Post: What Friends Do

  Link to comment from July 3, 2024

• Thanks Joe for a good article. You bring up good stories how events in our lives can cause us to evaluate life and how we now spend it. I appreciate you sharing your experience with renting at Sun City and honestly realizing that for you the family relationships were more important (ie grands). We are retired, still in our original home, yet in the middle of a geographical triangle from our 3 kids. We are toying with the idea or purchasing an “investment property/townhome” near our 3 grands, where we could stay and visit. We really want to be a part of their lives. It’s a hard decision as nothing stays the same any any of our children could get up and move again. thanks again for sharing this story.

  Post: My Five Lessons

  Link to comment from January 15, 2024

• Nice article Sundar, thank you for sharing it - great points! We’ve also found that volunteering or serving others is one of our pillars as you suggested. We often find ways to volunteer at our church. My wife enjoys volunteering at a local repeat boutique free store for immigrants and those who are in need. As a retired engineer, I enjoy building things and go on yearly trips with SP to help build or rebuild homes damaged from various disasters. When you see others in such dire need of help, it really puts perspective on our own small problems and aches and pains. We both find that doing these little things for others helps us count our blessings and be more thankful.

  Post: More Than Money

  Link to comment from January 3, 2024

• I am not sure I like the concept of pensions, I understand their benefit for the trades who often would not always set aside money for retirement when they first start out from apprenticeship. But I come from a state which has had problems where the government and others have dipped into the pension funds and things ended up being underfunded. That happens in the professional world as well. But all that said, IFF the government is going to step in and create any such new plans to try to solve these issues - they HAVE to use it too. What’s good enough for the goose is… I am tired of hearing all the wonderful pensions and health care benefits that our congressmen and women get, all the way up to the presidency. If they create a plan for us, they have to use it too. An old Microsoft adage is “Eat your own dog food”. If our lawmakers and policymakers had that restriction on themselves, it might end up being a better system for all.

  Post: Retirement Do-Over

  Link to comment from October 12, 2023

• Thank you for these warnings. I believe that , just like the IRS that the SSA will never call you on the phone unless it’s a prearranged phone call. From the SSA website: ”If there is a problem with your Social Security number or account, we will mail you a letter. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us, but we will never:

  • Threaten you with arrest of legal action.
  • Suspend your Social Security number (SSN).
  • Demand immediate payment from you.
  • Require payment by cash, gift card, pre-paid debit card, internet currency, or wire transfer.
  • Ask for gift card numbers over the phone or that you wire or mail cash.
  • Ask for personal details or banking information to give you a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).….”
  it is really scary that the number of scams we see each day . I see this especially on email attacks wanting you to click on a link to take you to a site to correct the problem. It’s always best to go to the website for your non-financial institution get the phone number and call them to see if this problem is legit. You can also expand the sender’s email address on an email if it looks suspicious make sure that the email looks legit. it is such a shame in the world we live in the people would pry on senior citizens. Thanks for the post.

  Post: Almost Had Me

  Link to comment from October 5, 2023

• Very sorry for the loss of your wife, Mark. None of us knows how much time we have left. I appreciate you sharing these valuable details during this difficult time. Your article is a good reminder for each of us to get our financial and social app house in order for those who would be left behind. I was the trustee for my mom who passed away on her 90’s and she had everything written out for me so well, that made my efforts so much easier (plus she didn’t own a smartphone so no social media apps to deal with). Your article has made me think that I need to write down all the social account details and auto-renewing subscriptions, etc. that I have so that my wife or any of our kids will have the details on how to close things down. You know, they should make an app for that (probably do). Thank you again Mark, good article.

  Post: Left With the Details

  Link to comment from August 28, 2023

• Great article Jonathan. I can relate to a number of your points having retired just over 1 year ago. I liked my job, the people I worked with, and solving problems for my company. I still don’t miss the stress of schedules, nor times when layoffs were looming. I do still try to see my old gang whenever I go downtown, have lunch and catch up on things. Perhaps my biggest issue was flipping the bit of saving for retirement to spending it down. It just feels weird - you save all your life, try to pay off all your debts, and then one day the switch gets flipped and you are now spending what you saved up for. We are doing fine financially and have no debt. Besides many great articles on this website, a book which really helped me before I retired, was “Half Time” by Bob Buford. One of his points was to make sure you know what you’re retiring into. My wife and I have a number of hobbies, 3 grands, and also enjoy volunteering. I enjoy building things so I’ve been helping out with our church and Samaritans Purse where I get to use some of my building skills for that. thanks again for your article!

  Post: What We Lose

  Link to comment from August 26, 2023