1. Craigslist- if you’re in the market to buy used items, always check Craigslist. The website offers local deals on almost anything you can imagine. These are usually private sellers and you can often negotiate with the seller on the price. When meeting someone to arrange a sell, always meet in a public place where you will be in view of other people- we want you to stay safe! Also, try to have someone go with you.
2. eBay- Online auctions are popular as well. Here you can find lots of goodies, but you will most likely have to pay for shipping to get your item to you instead of buying locally like you do from Craigslist. eBay offers “Buy it Now” options, safe and secure payment transactions with PayPal, and even classified ads on their website. Check it out and look around to see if it’s something you want to use. If you need help, ask a friend if they’ve ever used the website before.
3. When buying online besides using Craigslist and eBay, I always try to find an online coupon. Once I’ve found an item I want in the store, I search for that item online to see where I can purchase the item from at the cheapest price. I compare shipping costs, coupons, and store deals to find the best bargain. To find a coupon, you must first find the store you want to purchase the item from. Then, all you have to do is Google “[retail store’s name] coupons.” For example, if I wanted to purchase a new office chair for my desk, I would compare prices for the stores I wanted to buy from such as Staples and Office Depot. Once I found an item at either store, I could Google “Staples coupons” or “Office Depot coupons” to see which store I could find the better deal.

Some online coupon sites do not offer a good variety of coupons. You also must look at the expiration date of the coupon, and the success rate, which is usually shown to the left of the coupon. The success rate shows you the percentage of times the coupon has worked for others using the same coupon. In order to use an online coupon, you usually just have to click on the coupon and it will take you directly to the corresponding stores website and applies the coupon itself. Sometimes you have to manually enter the coupon code at checkout before you enter your payment information. Once you pay for the item, you can no longer use the coupon for that transaction, so be mindful to use the coupon before you pay for an item.

Hopefully this article has shed some light on online shopping and how to get the best deal out there!

You can FaceTime with anyone who is in your contact list. You do not need a username or password and you do not have to log in to anything to use it. Simply go to your contacts and touch the FaceTime button with whomever you choose to FaceTime with. That person will get a notification that you’re looking to FaceTime with them and they are able to accept and FaceTime with you immediately.  If you’re on the phone with someone and want to switch over to video chat with them, you may do so with the touch of a button. With cameras on both sides of the mobile devices, you can also switch camera views to show yourself, or to show what you see without spinning your device around, which then causes the camera to have to refocus. (Say you’re at the top of the Grand Canyon looking at a beautiful sunset while FaceTime-ing with your family back in Wilmington, NC. The touch of a button allows the camera to share that beautiful sunset with the people you’re FaceTime-ing with).

The downfall? FaceTime is only available to those who have Apple products or Macintosh computers. It works over Wi-Fi connections. Google has also followed in Apple’s footsteps to produce a video chat for Android phones which will work over 3G and 4G networks as well as on Wi-Fi connections. Android users call this Google Talk.

Google Talk has all the amenities of FaceTime and allows you to have audio-visual interaction over Android phones, tablets and computers using Gmail. You are also able to pause your video chat while on Google talk to access other menus on your phone. Although the video is paused, you can still hear audio as you’re working through your device’s menu.

Through these two competing companies, can FaceTime users video chat with Google Talk users? Unfortunately, no. After all, that might make peace between competition J.

Does it really matter if you shut off your computer or not? Yes! Your computer has updates that need to be completed. Some updates have to be installed while your computer is shutting down and therefore can result in a longer shutdown time. If your computer says it is installing updates and to not turn it off, do not hold down the power button or unplug your computer to cause it to power off quicker. This can interrupt the installation process and require you to install the updates again.

So what is the importance of software updates? Companies release updates to their software to enable the software to work more efficiently, to fix errors or to patch security issues. I always worry that I’ll miss an update or forget to do it. No need to worry though, because many computers are set up to update pre-loaded software automatically, which is very helpful. When you purchase software and install it on your computer, you will be asked how you wish to receive updates for that particular software, either manually (you have to download them yourself and install) or automatically (the computer downloads the updates when ready and installs them for you, usually at the start up or shut down of the computer). Some programs require you to pay for updates, while others are free. Some programs allow automatic updating, while others require human interaction.

Don’t be scared by the update windows. Allow them to update as they need to, and continue on with your business. Happy updating!

• 2  medium poblano peppers

•  2  cups (8 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend

•  1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

•  1/4  cup chopped fresh cilantro

•  1 teaspoon onion salt

 • 6 8 to 10-inch flour tortillas

•  2 tablespoons Mazola® Corn Oil

Prep Time: 10 to 15 min.

Cook Time: 10 to 15 min.

Yields: 6 servings

Roast peppers under the broiler, over a gas flame or on grill. Heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side or until surface skin on the peppers is blistered and charred. Using tongs, transfer peppers to a paper bag or a covered bowl and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Rinse peppers under running water to remove stem, seeds, pith and all charred material. Pat dry and cut into 1-inch strips.

Heat griddle or large skillet over medium-high heat, or place oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat broiler to 400°F.

Combine roasted pepper strips, cheese, chicken, cilantro and onion salt in a small bowl.

Evenly divide the filling and spread over one half of each tortilla. Fold remaining half over to form a semi-circle.

Lightly brush both sides of quesadillas with corn oil.

Heat quesadillas for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until lightly browned and cheese is melted. (For broiler method, place quesadillas on a baking sheet and broil for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until lightly browned and cheese is melted.)

Cut quesadillas into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Tequila Sunrise

• 1 shot Tequila

•  ½ shot triple sec

•  ¾ cup orange juice

•  ½ shot grenadine syrup

•  Orange slice and cherry for garnish

What to do:

Fill a glass with ice. Pour tequila and triple sec over ice. Fill with orange juice. Slowly drizzle grenadine syrup over orange juice. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. LOL

Coastal Land Trust has been successful in protecting many acres where the plant, and some of its counterparts such as sundew and pitcher plants, are at home. The organization’s 2011 acquisitions include 69 acres near Boiling Springs Lakes. That tract is part of a 275-acre property targeted for conservation because it is bounded on two sides by state-owned property and is a priority of the Plant Conservation Program and the N.C. Heritage Trust Fund. The property consolidates the Boiling Spring Lakes Plant Conservation Preserve.

Venus flytraps grow in nitrogen-poor soil in the wild. They also grow well in nurseries, and that may be the saving grace for them. Growers such as Joe Wood of Flytrap Farm in Civietown, north of Shallotte, propagate and sell hundreds of thousands of the plants. While he buys plants through licensed collectors, he also buys thousands of tiny plants from Florida that have made their way to the U.S. through the Netherlands. “We probably sold 200,000 plants last year. Everything in the U.S.,” he said.

Growing the plants is very labor intensive. He employs four or five people year round, planting the tiny tissue culture plants, growing them out, then shipping to his customers.

 “They (Netherland horticulturists) grow it up to where we buy it. We put it in our soil and grow it out so we can sell it,” he explained.

Wood, 73, also buys from trusted licensed collectors. Collecting flytraps from your own property is not illegal. Neither is destroying the plant if you own the property, and that, in fact, is how a lot of the flytraps have disappeared. Many developments are built smack dab in the middle of once fertile flytrap habitats. The multi-thousand acre Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach was once prime flytrap habitat. Protected habitats include Carolina Beach State Park and the Alderman Nature Preserve behind Alderman Elementary School.

Collectors can buy a permit from the state of N.C. to collect flytraps from privately owned property if they get the permission of the property owner. Collecting from state property or protected property such as the Green Swamp or the Boiling Spring Lakes Plant Conservation Preserve is illegal. LOL

Medicare is the social insurance program that provides health coverage to individuals, without regard to their income or health status.  Medicare does not cover long-term or custodial care.

• Original Medicare is the traditional fee-for-service program and you can choose to be treated by any hospital or doctor.

• Medicare Advantage plans through a private health plan, such as a health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization provide all the benefits covered under traditional Medicare, some with additional benefits. Coverage is typically restricted to treatment from specified network providers, with the option of paying a higher fee for an out-of-network provider.

You automatically get Parts A & B if you are already getting benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board. Some people have to sign up for Parts A and B, for example, if you’re close to age 65 but not yet getting Social Security or RRB because you are still working.  If you’re under age 65 and disabled, two and a half years after you begin receiving your Social Security Disability benefits, you automatically get Parts A & B.

There are different enrollment periods, i.e., initial enrollment, general enrollment and special enrollment, depending on your particular situation.

Part A: Medicare’s equivalent of private health insurance catastrophic coverage and associated medical procedures for hospital and skilled nursing inpatient care; hospice, home healthcare. With critical limitations, Part A covers inpatient hospital care on an “admitted” status only and inpatient skilled nursing care for 20 days, $0 co-pay up to a 100 day limit per “spell of illness” and only if admission to the skilled-nursing facility follows a three-day/three-night inpatient hospital stay within 30 days of that hospital stay. Sign up for enrollment premium free.

Part B: Medicare’s equivalent of private health insurances acute-care coverage. Since 2011, Medicare has offered preventive care benefits under Part B, with new preventive services coverage being added continually.  Enrollment is necessary and must be during the open enrollment period to avoid penalties. You pay a premium ($99.90 in 2012), and individuals with higher incomes pay higher premiums, along with co-payments and deductibles.

Medicare Supplements: Medigap policies purchased separately to subsidize or completely cover these costs. See www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/02110.pdf for Medigap options and average costs of particular policies.

Part C: Medicare Advantage plans are a managed-care alternative offering services and certain benefits not available through traditional Medicare. For these plans, you pay a Part B premium plus an additional premium that varies by provider.

Part D: Prescription Drug Benefit  is open only to current enrollees in Parts A & B. You must enroll during the specified annual enrollment periods. Once your plan is selected, you can switch to a different plan that better fits your prescription drug needs without penalty, but you have to wait until open enrollment the following year to do so.  See www.q1medicare.com/PartD-The-2012-Medicare-Part-D-Outlook.php.

Beware of penalties

If an eligible person fails to enroll in Parts B and D during open enrollment, later enrollment will result in penalties. These penalties attach for life in the form of substantially higher premiums.

Low-income subsidies

Lower income individuals who aren’t eligible for Medicaid can get assistance with premium costs and assistance with their Part D prescription drug costs.

Divorced spouses can receive their ex-spouse’s Social Security and Medicare benefits based on their former spouse’s eligibility, provided they were married for 10 years, they are not currently married and are themselves age-eligible.

Insufficient work history may disqualify you for Social Security benefits, but at the age of 65, you can sign up for Medicare coverage by paying a premium. The premium is high,  but not as expensive as private health insurance.

The perks of membership in the Medicare club come with a requisite recommendation of vigilance.  To optimize your overall Medicare experience, enlist the help of professionals trained in Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Contact your local senior resource center or SHIIP, the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, directly at the North Carolina Department of Insurance.  Medicare-trained professionals will help you at no charge.  Visit SHIIP at www.ncshiip.com or call toll free at (800) 443-9354. LOL

For a complete guide to Medicare, visit www.Medicare.gov.

Lisa Salines-Mondello, J.D., LL.M., and Helayne Levy, J.D. Salines- Mondello, of the Salines-Mondello Law Firm, is also of counsel to the Elder Law Firm of Andrew Olsen, and Helayne Levy is an attorney for the Elder Law Firm of Andrew Olsen. 

                                                  — Sam Ewing

Over the past several months, I have had numerous clients call me with a question that goes something like this: “For several years, I have had $100,000 in savings at the bank.  Just a few years ago, the yield I received was sufficiently high enough to protect my principal from inflation. Today, the situation is much different. My savings are not growing at all, and the yield of less than one quarter of 1 percent is not keeping up with inflation. I want safety with a yield of at least 3 percent, which is what I believe inflation is at this time. What should I to do and will this situation change anytime soon?”

Are interest rates on savings accounts affected by inflation?

Yes. Interest rates represent the cost of money. In a normal market without any interference from the Federal Reserve Bank, interest rates increase as inflation drives up the prices of all consumer goods and services.

Ok, but why are interest rates now below the rate of inflation?

This unusual situation is due to the fact that the Federal Reserve Bank is interfering with the normal mechanics of the market. The Fed has powerful tools at its disposal that allow it to pursue a low-interest rate policy for the purpose of stimulating economic growth. Whether these policies are working or not is debatable, but the Fed has recently said that it will continue along this path for the next couple of years in an effort to reduce our high unemployment rate. The downside of a low-interest rate policy is that it punishes savers, especially seniors on fixed incomes, and may unleash inflation at a later date. Presumably, the Fed has weighed the pros (stimulating growth) and cons (punishing savers) and has decided that the pros outweigh the cons.

To achieve a higher yield, should I invest
in Money Market Mutual Funds?

Today, yields on MM funds are approximately .25 percent and are not backed by FDIC insurance. Money market accounts are different from MM funds in that these accounts provide better returns for savers who carry higher balances (the higher the balance, the higher the yield) and need to access their savings less frequently. Money market accounts are currently yielding slightly less than 1 percent and are backed by FDIC insurance. Although safe, neither of these investments  is attractive after taking into consideration an inflation rate of 3 percent. Under normal economic conditions, yields on MM funds increase as interest rates increase. As mentioned above, however, these are not normal economic times.

What about investing in bonds?

Bonds come in a variety of types, with the two most common being those issued by the U.S. Treasury, which are safe from default risk and those issued by corporations, which are exposed to default risk. Both can be exposed to liquidity risk, depending on the maturity of each. In order to receive a higher yield, you must either assume more default risk, or lose liquidity by extending maturity.

The most liquid investment in the world is a U.S. T-bill maturing in 1 month and currently yielding approximately .07 percent. If you are willing to extend the maturity to 10 years, you can buy a U.S. Treasury bond yielding approximately 2.0 percent — a 1.93 percent premium for extending maturity nine years, 11 months. If you are comfortable with assuming some default risk, a 10-year AAA bond issued by IBM is currently yielding approximately 3 percent — a 1 percent spread over the Treasury bond of the same maturity. A 10-year BBB bond (lower quality, more default risk) is currently yielding approximately 4.3 percent — a 2.3 percent spread over the Treasury bond. In order to at least stay up with inflation, you should consider investing in high-quality (AAA), relatively short-term corporate bonds. If you are comfortable with more risk, you can get a higher yield by considering lower quality (BBB) bonds. As you can see, stretching for yield is not free.

What about investing in high-quality, longer term bonds with higher yields?

It is all about risk. Yes, higher yields are available from longer-term bonds, but only at higher risk. If the Fed were to reverse its strategy due to a strengthening economy, interest rates could quickly increase. If you were invested in longer-term bonds when this happens, your investment would decline in value due to the inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices. The longer the maturity, the more sensitive the price of the bond is to changes in interest rates. In other words, prices of long-term bonds are more sensitive to changes in interest rates than short-term bonds.

The investment lesson here is to avoid bonds during periods of rising interest rates. On the other hand, bonds look attractive during periods of declining interest rates, which has occurred over the past several years. If the economy takes off and grows the way that the Fed is trying to make happen, interest rates and inflation would likely increase. The question is whether the Fed could reverse policies quickly enough to remove money from circulation in order to keep inflation from spiraling out of control. Unfortunately, the Fed has a terrible track record when it comes to correctly timing its policies. A related question is whether you can correctly time when to purchase short-term or long-term bonds. If the Fed, with all those smart people working there cannot do it, I highly recommend that you not try.

What about investing in bond Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or Mutual Funds?

Both bond ETFs and bond mutual funds experience the same inverse relationship between price and interest-rate changes that individual bonds incur because the securities underlying each are bonds. Either may be attractive if you are looking for yields greater than those available from Money Markets or CDs. However, like any investment, the risk/return tradeoff is present in both. While either investment allows you to diversify risk by laddering maturities, ETFs are the more cost efficient, which makes them more suitable if you are a smaller investor.

Depending upon the level of risk that you want to take, you can purchase several different ETFs with maturities staggered across varying maturities. If, for example, you want the safety of U.S. Treasury securities, you could purchase three ETFs, with the first one investing in bonds that mature in 0-1 years, the second one with bonds maturing in 1-3 years and a third one with bonds maturing in 3-5 years. As the maturities lengthen, the yields increase. As of early April, yields on these three ETFs ranged from a low of approximately .15 percent to a high of 1.0 percent. If you are willing to give up some safety to take on default risk, you could invest in a different set of Corporate ETFs with maturities staggered each year over the next five years. At the time of this writing, yields on Investment Grade ETFs (greater than BBB) with maturities from 1 to 5 years ranged from a low of approximately 1 percent to a high of almost 3 percent. Besides these two strategies, you can create any number of alternative strategies, depending on your goals and tolerance for risk.

Investing for safety and yield is not easy. You need to be shrewd and possess a basic understanding of risk. It is all about risk. LOL

If you find yourself ready to explore a new place and you happen to be north of Pittsburgh on I-79, then you may want to consider visiting the beautiful beaches along Lake Erie, in Northern Pennsylvania. Any season of the year, Lake Erie has something raw and wondrous to offer. In the summer, the beach is not much different from our N.C. beaches, except the sand is a finer grain and slightly gray in color, and the water is a tad bit colder. The water moves and ripples with small waves and at first glance will remind you of the ocean. Its vastness in size is definitely breathtaking and ocean-like.

The Beaches of Lake Erie are a calm place to walk along and collect the rocks that are plentiful there, or just stand and gaze at the monstrous ships coming into port.  If fishing is your pleasure, Field & Stream named it as a Top 20 family fishing spot in the nation.

On my first visit, I walked upon a hot fishing spot and was amazed by all the fishermen standing shoulder to shoulder in knee-deep water (all clad in their rubber gear and fly fishing rods) harmoniously in a quiet fellowship of fishing fever. It was a Kodak moment.

Erie, Pa., is an older port city, founded in 1795. In fact, it is that state’s only lake port city. Erie has a lot to offer, including outdoor activities such as bird watching, hiking and more. Erie is home to the oldest land lighthouse on The Great Lakes, which was built in 1818 and is still strong and beautiful today.

The city also offers a historic and well-kept downtown area full of cultural arts events. One worth mentioning is The Warner Theatre, a beautiful building commissioned by Warner Brothers in 1929 which seats more than 2,500 people and somehow maintains a small-theater feel about it. Erie also has several other venues that offer shows from musicals to dramas, The Erie Playhouse and The Roadhouse Theatre. These are great activities to experience in the winter months if you happen to tire of cross country skiing, ice fishing or ice skating. The “Lake Effect” is not only a weather word which packs some power; it is a feeling of respite along a fresh-water community quite proud of its city.

As long as you are there, turn the corner and check out Presque Isle, as it receives 4 million visitors each year. Presque Isle, which is French for “almost an island,  is a seven-mile long island, . It, too, offers beaches, hiking trails  and biking and is a top birding spot, according to Birders World, as 423 species of birds have been spotted in the park. In spite of the many tourists who trek to this quaint island, it has still kept a serene, very natural feel to it.

Any season of the year, Erie, Pa., its magnificent great lake, and the surrounding areas are certainly a place to consider if you are looking for a beach of a different kind. LOL

Since moving to Brunswick County
in early 2011, Noble has trained his camera lens on the environment
around him, making a special study of the coastline. He has documented its changing moods, noting variations in light, tide and
sky, with a little help from Adobe Lightroom software.

“I use Lightroom more than Photoshop,” he explains. “Lightroom allows me to adjust the color saturation — push it a little more.”

Sometimes that means rendering
a photo in black and white, when the mood suggests. Other times, Noble enhances the drama of an image by infusing it with denser color. Sometimes, the natural colors speak for themselves.

“Some of the most intense, interesting lights are at sunrise and sunset,” he says. “Turns out, more people are out at sunset, so if you want a classic landscape — with no people — it’s better to take photos at sunrise.”

Noble does take pictures of people, but those shots are mostly family photos starring his three grandchildren. When he’s doing serious photography, his preferred subject is a simple scene, uncluttered by people or their artifacts. Piers have become among his favorite visual themes.

“The classic composition consists of foreground, middle ground and background,” Noble explains, adding that, along the southeastern Atlantic coast, the only foreground is the water itself, lapping at the sand.

“Sky becomes your background, and you need something in the middle ground. Piers work well for that. And no pier ever said, ‘You made my hips look too big’ or ‘My hair looks wrong.’”

Life along the coast is new to Noble and his wife Christine. Nick grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, earning his undergraduate as well as graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati. On a trip to nearby Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as he was completing his Ph.D. in economics, he was offered a temporary teaching position at the university, which led to a tenure-track position.

More than three decades later, he is retiring from the university as a full professor. Christine built her career at Miami as well, as a professor and an administrator in Miami’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Over the years, the Nobles visited North Carolina and fell in love with the ocean. As they neared retirement, the couple visited different spots around the state, the mountains as well as the coast, looking for just the right place to light.

“When we got to Southport, we thought, ‘This is a really neat place,’” he recalls. The couple ultimately decided to build in St. James Plantation.

“Christine plays tennis. We don’t play golf, but golf courses create lots of green space and habitat for wildlife. There are lots of birds, and you run into the occasional alligator,” he says.

The Nobles rented a house in St. James while their home was under construction. They moved into their own place
last October.

“We’ve been really happy here,” he says. “Everybody here is new, so it’s easy to be new yourself.”

Easing the transition from Ohio to North Carolina has been Noble’s quest to expand his photographic universe, both in subject matter and in technique. When he first developed an interest in photography — while still a student at the University of Cincinnati — he bought his first 35 mm SLR camera. Years later, with a teaching improvement grant at Miami, he purchased an early PDA and a digital camera, technology he used to streamline and document his classwork.

“That was it,” he says of his introduction to digital photography. “I could get instant feedback. I didn’t need to send the film away (to be processed). The technology combined art and photography, camera and computer.”

These days, Noble uses a Canon 50D with a variety of lenses and filters. He takes quick shots with his phone — most often at family gatherings back in Ohio or when his children and grandchildren join the Nobles at St. James. But, creatively, he’s most comfortable when out on a photographic journey with his Canon.

Noble has artfully documented his teaching trips to Europe and his travels to the South Pacific. He has made studies of the Miami campus and has captured on film some of the most deserted spots along the North Carolina coast.

“Landscape photography is an individual thing,” he explains.

“I like the solitude, being off by myself, doing what I want to do.”

Nick Noble’s expanding photographic world can be seen at his website, www.nicknoblephotography.com. LOL

Added to the shrinking monetary picture, healthcare benefits are often discontinued or minimized once the employee retires, so the cost of healthcare becomes an additional out-of-pocket expense. For couples who are fortunate to have paid off their homes and cars, the shock of living off of a fixed income is not as great as for those who still face a large mortgage and/or car payments and credit card debt.

Assuming the couple followed all the rules of preparing for retirement, and they sit with a healthy pension, a solid healthcare program, a mortgage-free home and no debt, the adjustments are not quite so difficult.

For those without a pension, no or small healthcare benefits, minimal Social Security benefits and debt, money becomes a new topic of discussion and sometimes a source of conflict.

A fixed income can be a nightmare or a blessing. Some couples find they need a budget for the first time; others who have already lived on a budget will have less angst when facing this challenge. A budget can be healthy for those who, while working, tended to be frivolous or who lived beyond their means. It forces decisions about household expenses, vacations and discretionary income. The non-negotiables such as  mortgage, insurance, utilities and car payments merit no discussion. The negotiables are those such as discretionary income, money for vacations, education for children or grand-children, monthly living expenses and emergency funds for household repairs or household maintenance costs.It is the discretionary income which can initiate conflict when one person wants to save and the other feels it’s time to spend.

The obvious risks for those living on a fixed income for the first time are the uncontrollables:  health concerns, hikes in taxes or utilities, increased gas prices, increases in homeowners fees or, as so many have experienced recently, a major decrease in the value of their property. For those who are no longer in the work force, the state of the economy has a much more profound affect on spending.

Many without pensions rely on their investment income to live. For those whose investments have suffered, their lifestyles have most likely been altered. The loss of as little as $50 to $100 per month for many on fixed incomes can be devastating.

The wonderful rewards of retirement, such as more unstructured free time, lack of deadlines, flexibility to travel and freedom to plan every day at the last minute, can sometimes prove negative if one does not have the funds to enjoy such luxuries. While a $100 dinner for two at an upscale restaurant used to be the norm for some, it has now becomes a luxury and perhaps even unimportant.

One CPA said, “It is time to enjoy life, travel, kick up your heels. You don’t have to save anymore.”

That 7-year-old  statement is no longer true in today’s fragile economy.Retirees still need to have an emergency fund (a kind of savings) for the unexpected.

Some even have a vacation savings account. Unfortunately, the days of putting money in a bank and gaining interest are gone. CDs went from over 17 percent in the ‘70s to less than 2 percent today. Trying to find a liquid account that pays interest is like looking for a cheap flight to Tibet.

The family philosophy about money plays a crucial role in a couple’s financial harmony. If one person believes that living it up while still healthy and vibrant translates to traveling extensively and buying impulsively, and the other person is conservative and worries about unexpected financial crises looming ahead, there will be issues. Discussing the philosophy ahead of time and coming to terms with a compromise, if necessary, is the best way to avoid allowing a fixed income to interfere with living comfortably and harmoniously into the “golden years.”

Basically, living on a fixed income means giving up some control and some flexibility. This is a huge adjustment for some, and a non-incident for others. Listening to groups of seniors talking, one can hear anything from “We have a nice comfortable nest-egg for our future, and nothing will disturb that” to “Oh, Harry, at your age, you should deprive yourself
of nothing.”

The following are seven tips to succeeding while living on a
fixed income:

Expenses

According to the Ohio State University Extension, seniors living on a fixed income should list fixed expenses and variable expenses and weigh that according to income. Expenses such as car payments, electricity, cable, cell phone, internet, etc., are all common and fixed expenses associated with monthly living expenses. Writing down expenses and comparing them with income allows for a realistic view of what income can be used for non-essential purchases.

Live Below Your Means

As an undergraduate, I pursued a degree in business and economics,  and the topic of living below your means was commonplace. Having 25 percent or more of income not used for necessities gives seniors more options to enjoy vacations, traveling to see family and
impulse purchases.

Impulse Purchases

Everyone at one point purchases an item because it seems like a good idea at the time, or it is being sold at a great deal. However, impulse purchases can leave you with a lower standard of living and unexpected expenses. Impulse expenses should be budgeted the same way that fixed expenses are.

Debt

Mortgage payments, car loans and credit cards or any other purchases that carry interest rates or large monthly bills can be devastating to any senior living on a fixed income. Make sure that debt interest is accounted for under your expense chart,  or else you could be hit with payments you cannot realistically afford.

Life Expectancy

Death is a simple, unpleasant fact, but with life expectancies rising, planning for retirement can be very tricky. According to the World Bank, the average life expectancy is 78.4 years. When budgeting under a fixed income, be sure to keep in mind average life expectancy and the possibility that you could live longer. If you plan on living on $40,000/year and live for 10 years longer than you plan, you will fall $400,000 short of your budget. Always plan and save more than you need.

Downsizing

Downsizing your home and vehicles can give you extra money to invest with. For instance, if you downsize your $500,000 house and $50,000 vehicle to a house for $250,000 and a car for $25,000, you would have $275,000 extra investment income. Downsizing not only gives you extra spending/investing money, but it also lowers your property and luxury taxes. Downsizing is one of the best options to make the most of your money when you plan on retiring.

Be Realistic

Living on a fixed income means you must be realistic with the amount of money you actually have. This means not overspending on luxury items that you cannot afford, or purchasing an expensive home because you “deserve it” after working your whole life. Of course,  your investment and savings will determine what standard of living you can afford upon retirement. LOL