Tag Archives: Retirement Planning

Work, Mental Health, Disability, and Retirement Planning

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Time For a Rethink

I recently started ramping down my anti-depression and anxiety medication that I take for my PTS linked issues. I didn’t make this mental health decision lightly. You see, based on my doctor’s recommendation, I tried to ramp down before. I wasn’t successful. My mood swings were too erratic and unpredictable. After the failed attempt, I decided to stay on the medication until I ended my Active Duty military career. I figured the natural stress relief created by retirement would greatly assist efforts to balance my moods more naturally.

However, a few recent experiences persuaded me to reconsider that decision. The first is a continuing deterioration of my physical health. The cascading effects that issue has created, and my attempts to manage the pain, built a desire to end all but the most benign medications. My psychotropic medication is anything but benign. While it definitely evens my temperament and smooths my erratic behavior, the side effects are numerous. This includes interruptions of my sleep cycle, weight gain, and a heightened tendency to sweat and dehydrate. Continue reading →

The Opposite of Gutting It Out

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My Gutting It Out post must have struck a chord with many of my readers. It prompted numerous comments, re-posts, and questions on the Book of Face. It continues to be one of my most read articles, and it even prompted a fellow Financial Independence (FI) blogger to write an article about my article. That’s pretty cool if you ask me, and a fairly large ego stroke too!

However, as popular as that article proved to be, I don’t want anyone to think that “gutting it out” is the only path I advocate. It’s not. Nor could it ever be, since the entire premise which surrounds my self-described Golden Albatross inflection point implies a choice that someone makes to stay or leave a pensionable job. Thus, if some people choose to stay and “gut out” a pensionable job, it means others don’t or won’t. It’s for those contemplating that alternative that I dedicate this post. Continue reading →

Gutting It Out: What’s Worked For Me … So Far

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True Story Time

I was soliciting ideas for blog articles the other day in the Financial Independence (FI) pensioners’ Facebook Group I started called Golden Albatross/Golden Handcuffs. I floated the idea “Coping Strategies For the Last Few Years (i.e. Gutting It Out)” and received the following response from one of my group members:

“I have 6 years. Help me gut it out, and keep my eyes on the prize.”

Six-years eh? That’s probably not an all-to-uncommon time-frame for a person to lose motivation for their job, no matter the reason. I find that pension earners tend to get that “trapped” feeling near the end of their career. That isn’t the same feeling as my self-described Golden Albatross situation. I define the Golden Albatross as the tension a person feels between staying or leaving a pensionable career. In this case, the trapped feeling to which I refer comes after a person decides to stay at a job in order to earn a pension, but before that person can retire with a pension’s full benefits. That’s where I find that “gutting it out” truly comes into play, and it’s the topic I want to concentrate on in today’s post. Continue reading →

Trade War Part Quatre: 3-to-9 Year Investment Mitigation Strategies

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Last Call

This is the last article in my Trump Trade War series. In it, I address investment strategies to mitigate what I perceive as the worst potential effects of the Trump Trade War for investors on a three to nine-year investment horizon. This is by far the hardest time period for which to devise investment strategies due to the uncertainty surrounding the next potential recession and Bear Market. However, I felt I owed it to my readers who’ve stuck with this series thus far, and to those who also find themselves within this investing window. Continue reading →

The Pension Series (Part 16): VA Disability

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Friendship Is Rare

Does anyone have a friend that dates back to first grade? I don’t mean an acquaintance either. I mean someone that’s been there almost your entire life through thick and thin. Someone who is more like a brother or a sister than a friend. I’m happy to report that I got one. I’m also happy to report that he decided to write an article for my blog!

Now, I believe it’s good etiquette that people who host blogs introduce anyone who writes a guest post. In fact, that’s what Darrow Kirkpatrick did for me when I wrote Part 8 of the Pension Series for his blog. However, in this case, my friend interwove his story into the blog post. So instead of a long-winded introduction, I’ll simply say:

Here’s a great post on the tax benefits of VA disability from a best friend of mine that I’ve known since 1982!

Continue reading →

The Trade War Will Not Be Televised …

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… But, It Will Be Tweeted

Tariff by bloody tariff apparently.

Yes folks that’s right, despite all the talk of North Korean nukes, the Singapore summit, and “historic” de-nuclearization agreements reached (which were apparently the same as previous historic agreements); something far more sinister and much less subtle occurred recently — and I’m not talking about U.S. -sponsored human rights abuse committed along the U.S.-Mexico border either. No, I refer to the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump, and his team of economic advisors (and I use that term loosely), saw fit to consummate the trade war they’d been threatening since early 2018 … with the entire world!

Trade War

Why the entire world Mr. President?

In the last weeks of late-May and first weeks of early-June 2018, President Trump canceled all country-based exceptions to the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs he imposed earlier in 2018. This move angered long-time allies and trading partners around the world including our North American Free Trade  (NAFTA) Partners Canada and Mexico; the European Union (EU); and other countries such as Brazil, Japan, and India. In retaliation, the EU  enacted counter-tariffs on U.S. imports; prompting further tariffs threats from President Trump on European cars. The EU also lodged an official complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Harley Davidson announced it is transferring some production to Europe to avoid the tariffs on its motorcycles sold in Europe. Continue reading →

The Pension Series (Part 15): The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC)

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Rushin’ Headlong

PBGC

Wrong type of rushin’

It’s time to take on the somewhat controversial topic of the PBGC. I touched upon it already in several previous posts. In fact, I mentioned it as early as Part 1 of the Pension Series, and as recently as Post 14. Yet, I never tackled it head-on; so it feels like I’m overdue for an article on the PBGC specifically. I was half-hoping someone in my Facebook Group had experience with it because primary sources are always best when researching a topic. However, given the typical conditions attached to the PBGC’s intervention in a pension fund, it’s better that no one has.

Now, for those of you who are thinking, “PBGC? WTF is the PBGC?”, I hear you. I departed from my typical pattern with this post. Normally I warm up my audience with a nice long intro that culminates in an explanation of the topic at hand. However, I dispensed with the niceties this time. With that said, it’s probably best if I at least explain what the PBGC is for anyone who doesn’t know or doesn’t remember. Continue reading →

The Death Binder!

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I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. — Winston Churchill

Death Binder

Death and Binders

I did something different this week for work. I deployed to a foreign country for a military exercise. I’m writing this post from that country as a matter of fact. It’s the first time since my Afghanistan tour in 2013 that I’ve deployed abroad with all my gear. It’s also the first time since my financial awakening that I’ve deployed. Granted, I traveled multiple times on official orders since Afghanistan and was also stationed overseas for multiple years. However, except for our Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move from Europe to Hawaii, I consider my travel comparable to business trips. There’s something different about packing up all your combat gear that sharpens the mind. As a result, while not a tour to a combat zone, I used this military exercise as an excuse to build my “Death Binder”.

Just for the record, Mrs. Grumpus hates the term, Death Binder. In fact, she won’t let me call it the Death Binder in the house. Instead, we call it the “Financial Binder” or “Financial Folder”. However, I call it the Death Binder when she’s not around. I do that partly because of my love of heavy metal. There’s something about the term Death Binder that makes me want to throw the devil sign up in the air and bang my head while shouting “DEATH BINDER” in my loudest metal voice.

Continue reading →

Four Golden Albatross Financial Lessons

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A Message to Future You

financial lessons

Four Golden Albatrosses take flight

If you’re reading my articles in chronological order, either in real time or at some undetermined time in the future, you’ll know that my two preceding articles were counter-points to other people’s financial ideas. As much fun as I had writing articles that used macroeconomics to argue against other people’s theories; doing so courts a certain amount of negativity. Granted, the counter-points needed to be made, and I believe I kept the articles congenial, lighthearted, and fact-based. However, at the end of the day, I still argued against someone’s work as opposed to building my own. As a result, I hit the pause button on the Risk Series this week, in order to focus on a more positive message.

Ironically, despite my online negativity I’ve actually been doing some positive stuff in the real world — which just might be the understatement of a lifetime in regards to the internet. Over the past three weeks, I counseled three different military members and/or their spouses on financial issues. Two of those counseling sessions took place face-to-face; while the third took place via email. All of them proved a great experience … for me at least. I learn a lot about myself and other people every time I counsel someone. Whereas I felt like a reluctant financial voyeur during my first counseling session; I actually enjoy them now. Continue reading →

The Golden Albatross Vs. Risk (Part 2): Emergency Fund Debate Club, Round 1

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Debate Club

Pop quiz. What’s the first rule of Debate Club?

Surprisingly, it’s not “do not TALK about DEBATE CLUB!”.

It turns out the first rule of Debate Club is “read all your preparatory material”. Or at least that’s what I presume it is. I based that presumption on memories of my high-school Debate Club friends who spent their free-study hours furiously highlighting reams of printed journal articles they’d found on microfiche in the school library. Yes, I realize I’m dating myself with the microfiche reference.

I know what you’re thinking, and I agree — the Fight Club reference sounds way cooler. Then again, what do I know? I spent the majority of my time in high school cutting weight for the real fight club (the wrestling team). Which, by the way, no one ever talked about … probably because no one ever attended high school wrestling matches (other than parents). While my choice of extracurricular activities may have prepared me well for the lonely life of a blogger with three devoted readers, it probably didn’t prepare me well for a debate on investing the Emergency Fund (EF) against some of the heavy hitters in the Financial Independence (FI) community. Continue reading →