I’m in the process of completing my retirement paperwork. For context, I’m retiring on the same day from two systems—the University of California (where I work now) and CalPERS (which administers the pension fund for the university system I previously worked for). My husband, who worked for a state agency, retired from CalPERS in 2016 and has been drawing his pension as well as using his retiree health benefits for both of us. We elected pensions with full survivor continuance for all three.

In the final month of my mother in law’s life my wife felt like  her care was failing her mother.
First she was concerned that her mother seemed depressed. Her mother started not wanting visitors, she wouldn’t get out of bed one day when my son was visiting. She lived for social interaction, so this behavior was unusual. When she was downstairs sitting on the couch with us she spent more and more time with her eyes closed with a full back heating pad.

Note: This was a late comment to an earlier post that some may have missed. It’s still too early to post other lessons as there are more family gatherings to host.
Here is my take on being grateful: My mother in law is in the hospital now for the last time. When I was riding my stationary bike to relieve some stress the other day (That’s when my mind wanders and I do my best critical thinking/reflecting) I had an epiphany. 

As I have written before in April of last year my wife and I decided to take in my 102 year old mother in law when her second husband, whom she married at 93, was sent to a nursing home. Amazingly that resulted in moving her out of their independent senior housing apartment.
Well she peacefully passed way yesterday morning at the age of just days past 103 1/4. As my wife’s cousin said in call yesterday,

I have come to believe that we retirees can and should help younger generations understand the benefits to get going on their saving, spending, budgeting, planning and other aspects of life’s financial journeys. Yesterday’s article, which touched on this subject, was entitled “Getting Going” which also happens to be in honor of our humble editor’s Wall Street Journal byline.
We retirees have experienced the impacts of compounding, inflation, tax-creep, tax-law changes, up and down stock markets,

As I read through the comments and posts on HD I often see a comment related to a spouse’s employment/retirement. Is a two income family as common as it appears to be?
How does a dual income impact financial and retirement planning? Is it easier or more complicated? Are family finances viewed as one pool or separate?
Are there conflicts when one spouse retires while the other works?
Are financial/Investment decisions made by individual or as one portfolio?

Wanted to share a story. Our son started a new job at the first of the year that paid more than his last one. He got his first paycheck last week and the net amount was less than he expected. We talked about it and what the problem could be. He was not in a higher tax bracket.   I asked about W4 and he did need to adjust it. He also needed to get his taxable income down,

MY SON IS A FRESHMAN in high school, and I’m beginning to be more purposeful about his baseball aspirations. But after dropping $85 on a one-hour pitching lesson, I was wondering, was my money well spent?
My search for an answer began with the Netflix series Receiver. I tuned in to see football player George Kittle, a former University of Iowa Hawkeye and bigtime professional wrestling fan. Kittle was kind enough to send autographed memorabilia for a softball fundraiser we had a few years ago.

In a previous article I wrote about food waste in America even as 7 million Americans are reported as food insecure. 
I occasionally feel food insecure, but not in the real sense. My experience comes from fugal relatives and friends. Have you ever had dinner with family or friends and been afraid to take a reasonable portion of the food? I can’t imagine what some hosts are thinking. 
I was at a holiday dinner and when the turkey being passed around got to me only a wing was left.

I SPENT MANY HOURS reading articles and books about retirement before I actually retired. I knew I’d retire eventually because of how often I found myself out of work. Studying retirement became one more thing I needed to do so I could be successful.
Under the category of retirement, grandparenting was a frequent subject. This is understandable since many retirees are or soon become grandparents.
My situation is different. My special-needs son will not get married or have kids.

As I sit here on what the media is calling “Super Saturday” (?!?), I can’t help but wonder, am I the boring aunt?  My husband and I are childfree by choice but we are blessed with five awesome nieces and nephews, consisting of 21 month old twins through 7 years old.  I love the Christmas season but as a society, we’ve lost something with all the commercialism and commoditization of this great holiday.  Thus, we give the kids money for birthdays and holidays.

Growing up in the 70s and 80s, the conversation around money was stressful in our home. I was the third oldest in a family of ten (seven boys, three girls). Yes, we’re Irish and Catholic. As you can imagine, the regular paycheck from my dad’s job came in and went out even quicker. Typically, all the money was spent even before the next paycheck. Despite my mom working intermittent part-time jobs, they had no savings to access.

PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME say I’m sentimental, and they’re right. I like visiting places like my elementary school, the house where I grew up and my first home away from home. They bring back fond memories.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more nostalgic, and it isn’t just me. I heard that the ashes of my childhood friend Brian were spread over our grade school grounds. He must have had a touch of nostalgia,

An eighteen year old girl married her high school sweetheart who had dropped out of high school to join the army. They lived on an army base. Shortly they had a baby. They were transferred to another post.
Not many months after settling in at the new base he receives orders for the first of three tours in Vietnam. The young lady and child move in with her parents while he is in Vietnam. 
Upon his final tour,

Happy Thanksgiving from Kill Devil Hills, NC.  This is our family’s annual Thanksgiving vacation at the beach. It started on a whim in 1995. We rented a 7 bedroom house. Twenty-nine years later we are 46 strong, and rent a 27-bedroom house.  It’s a testament to my in-laws who founded a strong, loving family, who somehow manage to enjoy each other’s company. The family is also a shining example of the tenets espoused on HD –