Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: Part 1
Topic: Retirement
When Kathy went back to college in the late '80's, one reason was that I knew eventually I wouldn't be able to do Laborer's work with any consistency. It was a good plan, her income is kicking in at the right time. My big time construction days are over.
The last couple years I've been trying to figure out what to do, for me to gain some income. There's things like Home Depot, Costco, the pay isn't that great, but the benefits are good. The deal is, I'm not looking for benefits, I get those through Kathy. I can get down to the Hall and pick up some work, but it kind of aggravates me I won't get "my fair share". The benefits are set up for families; not like us with double coverage. When we are double covered on medical, it's amazing; the insurance companies still figure out how to get money out of us.
The computer is fun:
But there's a lot smarter people than me trying to figure out how to money money with it. I thought about my movie program, putting together peoples' camcorder footage. I could do the handyman thing, but I'm slow, and the competition is cut throat. Hang out at Home Depot, look at all the guys with pickups, I don't think they're making their fortune. Homeowners don't want to pay very much for services.
But I want "real" money in my retirement. According to financial advisers I need to have a million dollars in the bank to retire. I'm not seeing that happen. The common perception is the baby boomer's will continue working, I'm not sure companies are going to go for that.
I have good home improvement skills from working on our house, and acquired a lot of tools. I really think it is good to use the resources and abilities you have, I'm not seeing retraining into something new to be cost effective.