Retired and Ready to..........

Watch the ABC-TV Cheap Credit Card Tricks video here.

To summarize the video Adam Baker on his Man vs. Debt blog quickly reviews 4 different methods they consider "sneaky."

1. Retroactive Rate Increases - We are all familiar with that fact that credit card companies are raising rates even on cardholders who don't default. This actually recently happened to my mother. But what some people don't know is that some companies are going as for as raising rates on existing balances. Raising the rates of future purchases is one thing, but "retroactively" changing past rates on consumers who carry large balances seems a little fishy.
2. Universal Default - Often times credit card companies will review the credit reports of customers who carry large balances. If they notice that the consumer has defaulted on other obligations they will adjust the rate to a "default" classification, even if the consumer has always paid the specific card on time. After first hearing about this practice, I did some further research. Apparently this provision is actually in a lot of credit card agreements. Of course, very few people ever read the agreement, let alone understand it (more later). If a credit card company did this to me, I would go absolutely ballistic.
3. Lower Interest First - This one is actually pretty common and not at all new to this recession. This is when the credit card companies always apply a payment to the lower interest debt in situations where debt exists at multiple rates. The only time I've personally bumped into this was several years ago, when I did a 0% balance transfer. I transferred several thousand dollars onto a card that had a outstanding balance of around $300. In addition, I used the credit card for ongoing daily purchases. Whenever I made a payment, the money was applied to the balance transfer at 0%, even though I had older charges (the original debt) and newer charges (the daily expenses). Of course, both the latter were at 9% or so.
4. Due Date Trap - I've never heard of this one before. As Yahoo explains, credit cards are shortening the amount of the "grace period" they are giving consumers. The "grace period" is the time in between the end of the cycle and when the payment is due. In addition, they are allegedly moving around the due dates in an attempt to cause consumers to accidentally miss a payment, thus tacking on late fees and higher interest rates. The video goes as far to claim some companies use daily cutoff periods that end in the morning, instead of at the traditional end of business day, to further catch people off guard.

Many Boomers and Retireds are already bloggers; and there are many more who have thought about it, but were hesitant because they weren't sure HOW to start.
Because of the current recession, many of you who are currently blogging are starting to look closer at how you could create your blog to increase current cash flow.

No matter what your primary reason for blogging is, you will want to get some inside tips and advice from professional bloggers who can make your blogging experience a good one for both you and your target audience. So if you have a blog, you will be interested in finding out what Mark Joyner is offering to you for free.

I have followed Mark Joyner for a couple of years. You may ask, "Yeah, but why should I follow him and his advice?" Here's why: Mark Joyner is a #1 best-selling author of over a dozen books translated in almost as many languages. He is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers of e-commerce, responsible for inventing, pioneering, and popularizing many of the technologies we take for granted today (including remotely-hosted ad tracking, electronic books, Integration Marketing, and more ...). What introduced me to Mark Joyner was his course,
Simpleology 101, the simple course of getting what you want.

I'm currently evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

When I was still working for an Area Agency on Aging, the following poem was very popular and was making the rounds in everyone's newsletter. Since that was in the late 1980s, I have decided that there might be today many people, especially women, who have not seen this and might benefit from reading it.

In Jenny Joseph's own words: " 'WARNING' has a middle-aged woman, the sort who carries out her responsibilities, indulging in a fantasy of being a different person".

WARNING - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

By Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people's gardens
and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Boomsday

I had already heard of this book, a novel by Christopher Buckley (Author of the book turned into a movie, Thank You for Smoking!). But, until reading it, I did not know what it was about for sure. I thought with the title it probably had something to do with babyboomers, but.........

The generations gap is captured in a brilliant piece of political satire in Buckley's novel. Shortly after reading the book, I came across this Hub Page.

I noticed today that it is generating quite the debate. Take a look at it and join in with your generational voices.

Retirement is truly an adventure. And just like all adventures we take; it can have its good sidetrips and its bad ones. The financial aspect of the retirement adventure can be one of the serious road bumps; we struggle with it everyday. But no matter how bumpy the road the most important thing that we can have in our travel kit is our attitude.

I am not saying that attitude is an easy thing to pack. I am not saying, "Don't worry, be happy". I have always been a person with rose colored glasses and I will admit that those glasses lose their color every now and then. And as we age we all know that our eyes can fail us and we do what we can to improve failing eyes. We also know that our attitudes can fail us so I am proposing that we do what we can to improve failing attitudes. For me it is doing yoga and practicing breathing techniques. It is being grateful every day for the things that I DO have not focusing on the things that I DO NOT. It is remembering to stay connected to people, places and things---those people, places and things that keep the rose in my glasses and the positive in my attitude.

One of the things that I enjoy during retirement is having time to explore the roadways on the Internet and meet people in blogs, websites and forums to see what kinds of maps they have for their adventure. Just as I pass on videos that I find and like; I pass on some of the websites and blogs that I like. The following site is one of the best to visit on a regular basis. Enjoy and check out your own glasses and attitude.


www.timegoesby.net/weblog/

Nintendo Wii Console with Wii Fit Bundle

Watch the following video and then send an email or snail mail to your kids and grandkids and tell them that this is what your want for your birthday, Grandparents Day (September 13th), Christmas or Just Because!

WE Can Exercise AND Have fun with WII!

August 30, 2007 was the day that my first granddaughter went to college. Since she was my first and therefore I have had the time to get to know her; especially since she was around until she was five before moving away. Therefore I GOT to babysit and also got to hear her voice and footsteps coming down the hall to see me at work.

WOW, 2007 was my 50 year high school reunion and my first granddaughter going off to college in the same summer. My memory files have been flipping open like crazy for the last several months.

Having vowed to stay in touch with my children and my grandchildren (as I am a terrible stayer-in-touch person); I am now emailing my granddaughter and hoping that I do not become a pest. (Oops! By now I am too late with that! But she will respond to texting messages, which is one more learning curve for me!)

I have suddenly developed a renewed interest in doing some scrapbooking, (need to do something with all those boxes of photos) so that I can leave some legacy memories for my kids and grandkids. I encourage you to check out the video below in Your History -- Your Making. It will bring tears to your eyes; but hopefully, it will also bring a resolve to do a better job of making your history REAL.

You are the memory maker; you can bring your past into the future to share with your grandchildren. In this day and age of technology making those memories real has never been easier. With the use of digital cameras, iPods, camcorders and of course the computer with internet capabilities for incorporating all of the photos with on-line scrapbooking; the path is easy. Well, easier than it was in the past.

What happens to our brains when we age? What can we do to keep our brains in good health when we are preserving our physical and mental health? Do we have to lose our brain power?

We humans are learning machines; the brain is the engine that drives that machine. Crammed into the three pounds of convoluted tissue inside our skulls is a dynamic mass of a hundred billion or more nerve cells, each one capable of making thousands of connections with others. These nerve cells are what makes our learning machine run.

From the day we are born-and even before-the brain is primed for learning, ready to capture the experiences of our lives and encode them into its web of nerve connections. Learning organizes and shapes and strengthens the brain's connections. It fine-tunes the brain, preparing us for well we age.

While searching on the internet for more information on the power of the brain and how we can keep it running smoothly with just some minor adjustments and repairs as we age; I found some very interesting information about a book from which you can read excerpts or read the entire book online. The book is called The Learning Revolution .
This book is based on eight main beliefs:
1. The world is hurtling through a fundamental turning point in history.
2. We are living through a revolution that is changing the way we live, communicate, think and prosper.
3. This revolution will determine how, and if, we and our children work, earn a living and enjoy life to the fullest.
4. For the first time in history, almost anything is now possible
5. Probably not more than one person in five knows how to benefit fully from the hurricane of change - even in developed countries.
6. Unless we find answers, an elite 20 percent could end up with 60 percent of each nation's income, the poorest fifth with only 2 percent.1 That is a formula for guaranteed poverty, school failure, crime, drugs, despair, violence and social eruption.
7. We need a parallel revolution in lifelong learning to match the information revolution, and for all to share the fruits of an age of potential plenty.
8. Fortunately, that revolution - a revolution that can help each of us learn anything much faster and better - is also gathering speed.

Read excerpts or entire book at

www.thelearningweb.net/a>

you're the owner of the world's most powerful computer. Read Chapter 3.

One Million People Wanted to Take an Integrity Pledge. Are You Next?
Will You Help Spark an Integrity Revolution?

* We live in an era of unprecedented lack of integrity that prevents solutions to all of our collective problems while also interfering with our ability to attain a deeper sense of personal fulfillment.

* To create the motivation to turn this around our understanding of integrity must now become more deeply personal and more profoundly practical than it has ever been.

* The key to making integrity personal and practical is understanding the three core drives we all have: 1) The drive for personal authenticity; 2) The drive for fulfilling connection with others; and 3) The drive to have a positive impact in our world. Only when we honor all three drives in ourselves can we feel whole and complete.

* Integrity is not a one-dimensional notion; it is not a mix and match proposition. There is self-integrity, relationship integrity, integrity with the collectives of which we are a part, and leadership integrity. Each form of integrity depends on the others. We cannot be whole and complete without them all just as we cannot love well or serve collective highest good without them all.

* I invite you to join me in taking a pledge to live the intersection among your three core drives (authenticity, connection and impact). This is what makes 3D Integrity possible.

Click here and sign the Integrity Pledge

For ourselves,our children and our grandchildren, please check out this organization and see if there is something that you can do. Sign up for their newsletter would be a good first step. Then pass on the Bill of Rights site and Chris Bliss and his juggling video.

"MyBillofRights.org Mission Statement

Did you know there is currently not a single monument of the Bill of Rights anywhere in America? At MyBillofRights.org, our mission is to promote awareness and respect for the Bill of Rights, its freedoms, and its principles, primarily through the design and installation of Bill of Rights monuments on public lands throughout America."

For ourselves,our children and our grandchildren, please check out this organization and see if there is something that you can do. Sign up for their newsletter would be a good first step. Then pass on the Bill of Rights site and Chris Bliss and his juggling video.

"Message From Chris Bliss,
MyBillofRights.org President

Everywhere I go in America these days, people seem to have two things in common: a profound love of our country and the ideals we've always stood for in the world, and a growing sense that somehow we've lost our way. More than anything, good and decent people of all stripes are dismayed over the deep divisions and polarization within the country, and looking for some positive first step they can take to build a bridge back to common ground.

It is this heartfelt longing to rebuild our crumbling national conversation on a foundation of mutual respect, represented so powerfully by the collective genius and spirit of compromise that created the Bill of Rights, that is the inspiration behind MyBillofRights.org. My own politics happen to be, by today's definitions, moderate to liberal, though I've never been a member of any political party, and have always been more interested in solutions than ideologies. That's why, in contrast to the divisive heat of the current culture wars, MyBillofRights.org seeks instead to throw light on the marvelous principles embodied in America's first laws. These freedoms and principles are not only at the heart of our justice system, they are also at the center of our common ground as a people, and at the core of what makes America different in the world.

MyBillofRights.org does not begrudge any individual American's political or religious beliefs. Our sole purpose is to remind all Americans of that brilliant, shining, and truly revolutionary document - the Bill of Rights -

It must be the rising age of the babyboomers but have you noticed the rising interest in nostalgia? I spend a lot of my time on the Internet looking for information, tips, websites and blogs that might be of interest to our readers. There are lots of nostalgia articles, blogs and polls right now. Just check out our friend, The Google and ask him about nostalgia; you will see what I mean.

As always when different topics come up, it gets my husband, the Ponder That guy, to start asking questions. His pondering took us to a discussion about people's favorite cars and our own. Mine has always been the 1955 Thunderbird and his has always been the 1957 Chevy. We saw one of each on the street the other day. Must be because we had been talking about them.

So, we would like to know about your thoughts on your favorite car. We have included a poll to see how many different favorite cars there are out there. Have fun with those memories.

polls - Take Our Poll

One of the things that I really enjoy is taking trips on the Internet highway. Actually, what I really prefer is taking all the side roads when the road looks interesting. You can discover many new adventures, if you are willing to explore. The following quiz was found on a gardening site. The quiz was fun to take and the site is very interesting as well. Have fun; find out what kind of flower you are. I took the quiz again and my kind of flower changed--have I changed myself?

I am a
Daffodil


What Flower
Are You?

When we retire we think things like "I can do whatever I want!" If you are a guy you are wrong. Simply a fact of life. Unless you live alone, and who can or wants to do that? Fortunately, you live with the girl, woman, female of your dreams. Second fact of life, there are no television shows worth watching on Sat night. This is where the movies come in. There are movies that can score you points on the home front guys, even when you are retired. They are called Chick Flix. I am going to provide you with the top five and the secret that makes this such a great guy thing. The secret first: you get mega, mega points for watching these movies more than once. It's true! Side issue: you may love some of these movies.

I say that because I am a sucker for two of the five right up front. "Notting Hill". I have seen this so many times I know all the words to the brownie scene! The other is "Milk Money" with Ed Harris and Melanie Griffith. Can't help myself re the soft hearted environmentalist and his kid and no one has ever called me a tree hugger. Then there's Ms. Griffith!

You might think I would have trouble picking the other three. Not so! Three is "Terms of Endearment" partly because I lived in Lincoln, NE when it was filmed and Robert Kerrey and Debra Winger were seriously cute together, plus he should have been President but that's another story.

Then we have the "chick flick" of nearly, and maybe, all time. "Pretty Woman" is a gal's take no prisoners chick flick that needs no explanation. This brings us to "When Harry Met Sally" where they managed to get the near perfect mix of chick flick and guy flick coupled with a killer diner scene!

So.....now it is time for all of you who think I overlooked a Ghost, a Working Girl, going without sleep in Seattle, a Tootsie roll and a ship sinking. Let's hear what you think are the best of chick flix that could be Pretty in Pink, do Dirty Dancing, work Nine to Five, and Say Anything. Tell me, what are your favorite Chick Flix of all time?

The Retired and Ready To Amazon Store

Check out this store to find some summer time specials for things you have been wanting.
Dote On Your Dad

Try This for Getting Just What You Want! (Perhaps even on SALE!)
Get Them an Amazon Gift Card