Frances Ellen Speaks!

Archive for the ‘Observations’ Category

Have you noticed it’s getting easier and easier to spend money?

Last week, I received a tiny booklet in the mail from QVC, which contained my very own personal membership number. To tell you the truth I wasn’t surprised, since a few weeks before I had somehow lost my mind while watching their programming. I bought three sterling silver rings, a bracelet, and some lovely food containers–all in one night.

I’ve purchased products from them in the past. The thing is, I hadn’t fired up my ultimate buying power all in one sitting before. Since I momentarily fell off my rocker that night, I guess QVC thought it would be an excellent idea to send me a membership number. Voila! Now I can buy whatever I want by punching in a few numbers on my phone’s keypad. How’s that for convenience?

Furthermore, I’m such a good customer of Amazon.com, they have bestowed upon me their one-click customer status. I click–they send.

It appears I’m not the only one having a hard time keeping money in my wallet. Maggie the Cat is evidently having the same problem.

Ive been spending money on books when i shouldn’t be spending money at all. I got the wonderful book “Elvgren” by Taschen it is so beautiful.

I suppose my way of thinking is similar to Terra’s over at Questionable Rationale.

As much as spending money sometimes stresses me out, I actually become stress free after a nice long (and sometimes expensive) shopping trip. I think it’s just bills that I hate paying.

Obviously, no matter how you do it, shopping feels good, at least in the moment. I have broken the habit of running to the mall, though. That’s a step in the right direction, right? Now, if I could only stay away from the TV and the laptop. Any suggestions?

I am always surprised when someone tells me “back in the day,” they followed a local band from club to club whenever word got around that their favorite band would be appearing. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time, and the band we were crazy about was The Greaseband. We traveled all over to see them and dance to their music.

A friend of mine who lived in Boston followed a band named Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. They were Jersey boys, but evidently performed a lot in Boston, too.

It got me to thinking a whole lotta people did a whole lotta dancing back then to a whole lotta different bands–talented guys who made the regional club scenes fun, but never got onto the national radar. What a shame, because they helped make weekends “somethin’ wonderful.”If you want to send me the name of your local band, I’ll try to locate their video and post it for you.

I saw three classic cars this past week! And they weren’t sitting on display at a car exhibition. They were actually on the road with someone behind the wheel driving them. The sight of each one made my heart sing.

The first one I saw was unmistakable, a Chevy BelAir.

It wasn’t black, though. It was the more familiar turquoise and white. Talk about moving back in time.

Do you remember when one of the most exciting events of the year was when the new cars were introduced? The unveiling of each new model was treated as a high point in the automotive year, and rightly so. The cars didn’t look like large boxes back then. Their bodies were sleek, daring; each one different from the others.

The second car I spotted last week was being parked by a gentleman in a black beret. I’m pretty sure that one was a ‘59 Chrysler. I could be off by a year or two. It looked like this one.

If you’re now thinking there is no way I saw a Pink ‘57 Ford Thunderbird; I confess, you’re correct. I just couldn’t bear to leave it out of the line-up. Is that the most beautiful machine you’ve ever laid eyes on? Too bad we’ll never see a vehicle like it in a showroom ever again. But, take a minute to think back to the days when seeing one on the road was a superb, delicious moment.

The car I did see was pretty good, though. I think it might have been a ‘58 or ‘59 Dodge Coronet. Classic! Drink it in.

That was the title of a recent article in Charles Schwab’s investment magazine, which the company sends out to its investors. They could’ve changed the age to 62 or 65. The answer would be the same, but it took them more than 200 words to say medical insurance costs are outrageously high even if you’re old enough to be covered by Medicare.

And the article also noted that although older workers had retirement portfolios that ballooned in the 1990s, those portfolios burst when techology stocks took a downward dive. Therefore, some American who had taken an early retirment had to return to work.

There was no mention of the fact that even with the new drug plans, retirees still can’t afford to buy all the drugs they need.

And think about this–many senior citizens didn’t save a dime while they were younger. So, the answer to the question, why are they still working? They have to!

Fortunately, I’m one of the people who at least took a stab at saving, mainly because I’m a realist and always have been. I never expected to be able to exist on Social Security alone. I knew, there was no way I could live on less than $300 a week. That’s actually what my Social Security check will look like when I reach age 66. The scary thing is, even after saving what little I could over the years, while raising a family, I’m still not going to be comfortable in my old age.

Another little ditty that Schwab printed in that issue was a list of quotes. One of them quoted Warren Buffett. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Looks and sounds good on paper, doesn’t it? But remember that bursting bubble Schwab wrote about? I’m living through this one, and I lived through a horrendous one years ago that wiped away almost half of the money I had managed to save. All of that money was in mutual funds, because I knew zilch about the stock market.

I still don’t know much about the market, but after that horror, I learned to diversify. I, at least, learned that much!

If you visit the folks at this site  who also read the Schwab article, their suggestion is try Fixed Annuities, Bank CDs, and U.S. Government Savings Bond. They make a case for keeping your money safe from loss.

That “risk-free” sounds pretty good, but there’s a trade off. The gains are small, and fees for variable annuities are pretty steep. And once you’re in a mutual fund, what do you do, bow out and take a huge hit?

Here’s something else that I found quite amusing.

When and if you actually do retire,

…just resist the urge to treat the contents of your accounts like mad money.

What?! There are people who actually have mad money? Not in my circle of friends.

That same amusing article goes on to say,

And forget about that cushy 15% income tax rate most retirees are eligible for, warns Schatsky. As soon as you have more than $63,700 in retirement income, the tax rate skyrockets to 25%.

Well, at least, here I get a break. I won’t have to worry about my tax rate skyrocketing. As a single, working woman, I have never earned that much money annually in my entire life while I was still working.

Now that I’m sitting here analyzing the question of retirement further, I’d venture to say that in another five years Schwab can print the exact same article; just title it, Why More Americans Are Working Past Age 75.

These pictures were taken near the coast of Canada’s Hudson Bay. A polar bear sees sled dogs.

Is this incredible, or what?!

The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs… Nature can be a beautiful thing.

I got it into my head that I should try yoga. Pretty much, the only things I know about yoga are, it’s a form of relaxation, it helps with flexibility, it’s good for one’s balance and it doesn’t require me to bounce around too much.

I had one problem with the yoga class; it’s held at my local hospital for the 55+ gang on Tuesday evenings and, as it happened, I had an appointment to get a pedicure last Tuesday. Pretty much, what I know about pedicures is it’s a form of relaxation, your feet and legs receive a massage and it, too, requires no bouncing.

Hmm. What to choose, what to choose…

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Here’s something to think about from Yoga Informer regarding relaxation.

The eye-catching promise of poise, grace, and flexibility are the common reasons why people—especially females—are being drawn to yoga classes nowadays. Having a similar stance with ballet, more and more people see yoga as a relaxing yet more elegant form of exercise.

But there’s something to be said for the pure pampering of a spa pedicure, too.

It isn’t often that a woman’s feet get to relax. Constantly on the go, with careers, family, and other commitments, the feet often take more than they deserve. Making the time to visit the beauty salon for spa pedicures rejuvenates the feet and keeps them looking their best.

Hmm. What to do, what to do…

I decided to check in on MSNBC to find out what ideas the exercise experts have beeen touting lately:

…new guidelines call for healthy adults to engage in moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week…

…The new guidelines offered specific advice for people 65 and older, urging them to consider lifting weights, improving their strength to prevent falls, and working on flexibility exercises and balance training.

Okay, I can forget about the weight training. That’s not going to happen anytime soon while I’m dealing with a rotator cuff tear. But there’s that flexibility and balance training again. It’s clear I should give yoga a try. And as an added bonus, if I yoga my heart out for an hour each week, I’m half way to meeting the five day requirement–well, almost.

Being a firm believer in having the best of both worlds, I attended my first yoga class on Tuesday; I rescheduled my pedicure for Thursday. The choice wasn’t so complicated afterall.

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