Tag Archives: retirement

The Pension Couch: 8 More Years

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Believe it or not, I get fan emails from time to time. They come in many different forms. Some of it is precisely what it sounds like, meaning people take the time to drop me a nice note and say how much they liked the blog, the book (or both), or how much something I wrote resonated with them. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that my ego likes those emails. I’d also be lying if I said I have great tracking system for responding to all them. So, if I owe you a response, please accept my apology in advance as I try to work through the backlog. More importantly, please keep sending those types of emails because I find them extremely motivating. They help me write, even on days when I’m not feeling particularly creative.

Advice requests are another form of fan emails I receive. Those motivate me too because I get to help people directly. Most of the time, the advice being sought is pension-related. For instance, sometimes, people want me to analyze their pension as a whole. In contrast, others ask about a specific pension design element. Anyone who’d like to see or listen to me provide an overall analysis of a pension can check out the ChooseFI episode where I counseled a young married couple about the wife’s pension.

Less often, advice requests center on career/life issues associated with pensionable jobs. These issues sometimes include a mental health angle. Since I blog about my mental health issues connected to my previous pensionable job, it’s no surprise that readers reach out with similar problems or questions. That’s the gist of the latest email, which I discuss below. Continue reading →

The Pension Series (Part 24): The Golden Albatross vs. Black Pensions

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Black Pensions Matter

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting a Black sanitation workers strike (Hutchinson, 2019). Most Americans probably know those sad facts because they either lived through them or studied them at school. However, most Americans probably don’t know that the sanitation workers’ demands included a “10% wage increase, fair promotion policies, sick leave, pension programs, health insurance, and payroll deduction of union dues” (Estes, 2000, p. 158). Civil Rights advocates, like Dr. King, saw pensions and the organization of Black labor as one of many ways to improve the lives of Black workers and a method to level the economic playing field (Schmitt, 2008). So, believe it or not, Black pensions matter, and have for a long time.

Jobs and civil rights. The issues haven’t changed (Library of Congress, 28th August 1963).

I don’t wade into the subject of race and pensions lightly. But, up to this point, my work on the Golden Albatross worth vs. worth it decision framework has focused solely on the issues a generic pensionable worker would need to consider. And, since I’m a White-guy, it’s reasonable to assume that my vision of that generic worker was White … and a guy.

My lack of consideration for how the Golden Albatross decision framework might need to adapt based on either sex or race seems myopic. It looks incredibly myopic when considering the global re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, as well as the unequal devastation caused by the COVID-19 along racial and socioeconomic lines. As a result, this article marks my first effort to correct my mistake. Continue reading →

Pre-Retirement and Mental Health

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Everyone Take Note

May is Mental Health Awareness month in the United States. I make no secret on this blog that I struggle with depression and anxiety linked to Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). Just the opposite, I shine a light on those issues and their interplay with my pensionable career whenever practical. Furthermore, I try hard to discuss themes and subjects which I believe are common among anyone in a similar situation. I do that to foster conversation with other pensionable workers who might also struggle from mental health issues linked to their careers.

It’s also no secret that I’m retiring this year, which means I will soon become a veteran. As a result of my pending veteran status, and everything I just listed above, I spent some time researching veteran mental health statistics and issues. A portion of this article covers those findings, which I share in the hope that it prompts robust discussions in your professional and/or personal lives. The other part of this article discusses some of the steps I’ve taken to make sure my mental health issues don’t impede my retirement.

Continue reading →