John and I are writing this the evening before but because of a time zone thing it will post after Midnight and will show up as being posted on April 1st. What a hoot. We graduated from high school in 1961 and it was repeatedly pointed out to us (a) that 1961 reads the same up-side-down, and (b) as you go forth into the real world you will learn that your H.S. days will be the happiest days of your life. Not true, but we heard that.
We started college the same year and “retire” was something old folks did and then sat in a rocking chair and waited for the USSR to vaporize our country with nukes. Neither the prospect of retirement nor being vaporized was something we worried much about. We never got nuked but, can you believe, we did retire. The golden years are here.
Under John’s vigilant care, Nancy (with a major contribution by the State via CWU) has been stashing money away in mutual funds at 3 major companies. One might think it would be simple to reverse the process by turning in a form saying “I retire” and the money, instead of going, would return. You would be wrong in that thought.
There are boxes to be checked, forms to be filled in, signatures to be signed, witnessed, sealed, and delivered. Do you want to keep funds with company A or transfer them to B, C, D, or . . . Do you want it returned to you all at once or in significant gobs or little dribbles? Shall you have a check sent to you or maybe via the flow of electrons to your bank; and would that be a checking or savings account? And if you are hit by a big truck or fall out of the air from 33,000 feet in a silver sardine can – what then? Truth is your retirement troubles begin before you retire.
Regarding medical/health/recovery issues:
The Good; The Not So Good; & The Bad:
The good news – – Nancy is back working with a physical therapist and had an active 45 minute session Wednesday afternoon. Being the latest person to sign on (and the need indicated by the dearth of time slots) the next session is not until next week. Then two a week.
The not so good news – – was another episode of food moving up when it should be going down. The help-it-go-down medicine is a dangerous thing (both too much and too long have serious possibilities) so the doctor’s recommendation is to switch out a heart-regulator for a different one. Someone (to go unnamed but she knows who she is) suggested ordering a 3-month supply of the meds, which we did. Can one sell Amiodarone on E-Bay? The new med is generic “metoprolol” and is also sold as Toprol-XL®.
The really bad news – – is that these drugs come with concocted names no one can remember, spell, or pronounce and 2 pages or more of small print “patient counseling” instructions.
Retire. Enjoy life. Read. Right!