January 28, 2010
After writing about retirement planning for the past two years at my 60 & Single blog I've decided to take the leap, to dive off the high board to reinvent myself as some sort of retired person. This week, it's official, I will leave my post as business editor at The columbian on Feb. 26. This will be a big change after 26 years of chasing news, battling deadlines and cranking out a weekly Sunday business column. In recent years, there's also been the production of a Monday-Friday electronic business newsletter and, of course, regular posts to 60 & Single. At 63, I feel the clock ticking on that next big thing. I don't know what that next big thing will look like, but my hope is to combine a bit more travel with a little less work, a bit more time to read, to write and garden with something that keeps my hand in the world of journalism. Planning for retirement is really a full-time job and therefore I've not had time to do it. Do I wish there was more money in my 401(k)? Yep. Do I know exactly what options Social Security might provide me? Huh-uh. I do know that I can't have it all figured out in a day, even a week or a month. So with this blog post, I'll start walking through the process. Next week, I talk with someone at the Social Security Administration about options. Meanwhile, for those interested in figuring their own Social Security benefit, click here.
