Retirement

Some Retirement Resources for CAPPA Members

When Should I Retire?

• The expected lifespan of a man age 65 is 84.5 years, for a woman it is 86.7 years. Calculator.
• See the Social Security calculators listed below
• Three reasons to retire (from Stan Hinden): One, the time is right; two, you have more compelling things to do; and three, your job is changing
• Three reasons to not retire: One, your work is your identity; two, you will miss the people you work with; and three, you want to stay in the loop
• Books, including "How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire" and "How to Retire Happy" and "How to Retire the Cheapskate Way"
• Include your Spouse in Your Retirement Planning

What Can I Do to Stay Active, Healthy and Engaged?

• Lalo's Retirement List
• Volunteer (see next section for some ideas)
• Golf
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Travel (air, cruises, road trips)
• Biking, Hiking (Volksmarch, Sierra Club)
• Fun runs, 5K's, 10K's, Half- and Full-Marathons, Triathlons
• Retired Faculty / Staff association (UT-Austin) (Texas State) (U of H)
• Stay active in CAPPA / APPA
• Serve on city commissions
• Retiree organizations like AARP (persons 50+) and TRTA (retired Texas school/college personnel)
• Gardening
• Woodworking
• Gym, Swimming
• Walk your dog every day, you will meet and interact with neighbors walking theirs
• Meetup.com lists dozens of local interest groups that meet for any number of reasons
• Dancing
• Senior Activity Centers sponsor events, dances, classes
• Next Avenue series of articles

Volunteer Opportunities

• Habitat for Humanity--  serve on a Committee, help build a home
• Drive cancer patients to treatment centers
• Your local church-- Facility maintenance, serve on a committee
• City or County-- Serve on a committee or commission  (Planning, Building & Standards, Parks, Zoning, Etc.)
• Church facility maintenance, usher
• Travel off the beaten path in your area.  Ref.: "Off the Beaten Path - Texas,  A guide to unique places"
• Go RVing or Camping to state parks.
• Scoutmaster
• Hospitals (help moving patients, gift shop sales, wheelchair drivers)
• Museums
• Public Library
• Speak at schools
• Food Kitchen / Food Bank / Meals on Wheels
• Travelers Aid volunteer at airport
• Adult literacy tutors, mentors
• Neighborhood watch
• Usher at local theater or events center
• Teach English literacy locally or overseas
• Be an election judge
• Book festivals
• Formula 1 / NASCAR volunteer
• Summer work in National Parks
• Animal shelter
• Volunteer Fire Department

• Entrepreneurship - start a business
• Consulting - share your expertise and hard-won knowledge
• Phased Retirement
• Buy & renovate houses
• Start a skilled-trade business (plumbing, furniture repair, etc.)
• Start an semi-skilled-trade business (office plant care, cake decorator, power washer)
• Dog groomer, dog walker, house sitter
• Become a Uber driver
• Start a blog with advertisers
• Sell on etsy or eBay

Financial Issues

• Pensions, including Teachers Retirement System of Texas and Texas Retired Teachers Association 
• Take pension as a lump sum or monthly payments (single life or joint-and-survivor basis)?
• Annuities
• IRAs (traditional and Roth), 403b plans
• Stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds
• Life insurance
• Long-term care insurance
• Living trusts
• Working while collecting Social Security
• Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Clark Howard, other financial gurus
• One rule-of-thumb is that you can spend 4% of your savings each year of retirement, but some experts disagree.
• A TRS pension is considered by some financial planners to be like a large bond
• Free annual credit reports from the 3 agencies (but not credit score, suggestion: get one report every 4 months)

Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid

• When to start drawing Social Security? ASAP or wait until you are 70? Two advisors with different opinions. Forbes article. Fidelity article. AARP calculator.
• File and Suspend - a method of boosting later social-security earnings, also called Claim and Suspend. AARP article. T.RoewPrice calculator. WSJ article.
• Social Security Estimator and My Social Security tell about how much you will get when you retire
• Long-term care insurance
• Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)
• Health insurance is expensive. You may want to hang onto your job until you qualify for Medicare.
• Medicare A-B-C-D. AARP explanation
• Medicaid

Free & Reduced Prices for Seniors

• Always ask for "senior discount"
• Free soft drinks at What-A-Burger
• "Senior coffee" at McDonalds
• $10 lifetime pass for free admission to National Parks
• Half-price pass to Texas State parks
• CARTS (Capital Area Rural Transportation System) reduced-fare rural buses
• Collect frequent-flyer miles and hotel points by applying for credit cards. Best info for beginners is at WiseBread and MillionMileSecrets
• Inexpensive smartphone providers: StraightTalk at Walmart (~$50/month), RepublicWireless (~$28/month) both give unlimited talk/text/data with no contracts

Living Arrangements

• Living at home ("aging in place")
• Communal living arrangements
• Pismodise ("How the Trailer Park Could Save Us All")
• Retirement villages (the Village Movement) / assisted-living facilities / nursing homes
• International living (Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, etc.)

Recommended Smartphone Apps

• Duolingo - Learn a foreign language (free, available for iOS and Android)
• CodeAcademy - Learn HTML, JavaScript and other computer languages (free, iOS)
• Coursera - 600 courses, from mathematics to music to medicine (free, Android)
• DailyArt - One art masterpiece each day and the story behind it (free, iOS and Android)
• Vocabulary.com - Learn new words and their correct usage ($2.99, iOS and Android)
• Today's Documents - A historical document or photograph each day (free, iOS and Android)

This is for informational purposes only. CAPPA and members of the retirement panel do not endorse, advocate or promote any specific source of financial advice or publication(s). List compiled October 2014.