Freedom 55 or Freedom in the Box?

I’m going to retire and live off my savings. What I’ll do the second day I have no idea.

Unknown

I find now at the age of 62 the topic of retirement comes up considerably more frequently than sex and that is indeed a tragedy. There is nothing sexy about retirement, but there is a certain practicality to these kinds of discussions among my old fart friends. We’re all concerned about the dollars and cents of retirement and whether retirement is even an option.

In 1960 the average lifespan of a Canadian was 71 years so in essence you only had to fund a 6 year retirement. Now the average lifespan of a Canadian is over 81 years in addition to a growing number of Canadians in their 90s and 100s. My own family certainly supports the longevity of Canadians. Both of my grandmothers lived to be over 90. Both of my grandfathers lived to be over 80. My father lived to be over 80 and my spectacular mother is now 85 and is a perfect candidate to make it to 100 and beyond. Now instead of figuring out how to fund a 6 year retirement, it’s not inconceivable that many of us will have to fund a 25 – 35 year retirement. I don’t know about you but that takes retirement off the table for me.

I remember when the Freedom 55 campaign was launched in the late ‘80s selling the concept that with the right planning you could retire at 55. My reality is retirement is not in my cards; it’s going to be Freedom in the Box. Truth be told even if I could afford to retire, I wouldn’t. I’m quite hyperactive and have never mastered the art of doing nothing. I would not be able to go through life trying to fill up my days and I love working. What about you? Are you retired? Planning to retire?

Retirement can be a great joy if you can figure out how to spend time without spending money. 

Author Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Keep Your Webcam Covered. Someone May Be Watching.

The first webcam was used in 1991 by Cambridge researchers for checking the coffee pot without leaving their desks.

8fact.com

Like many of you, I’ve read articles over the years that say you should keep your webcam covered when not in use. Quite frankly, I thought that this was over the top. After all, who would be interested in spying on me? However last week while I was online I noticed that my webcam blinked on off a few times and I didn’t engage it. In fact the only time it should be on is when I’m Skyping which I wasn’t. Although I still don’t think anyone was spying on me, I no longer feel that covering your webcam is akin to paranoia. After all, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?

I was surprised to learn that it’s not just computers that are at risk. Hackers can access home cameras, baby monitors and security cameras as well. When I read that Mark Zuckerberg and the Director of the FBI keep their laptop cameras covered with tape, it seemed like a reasonable precaution given their positions and amount of sensitive information they deal with on a daily basis. But, it appears that hackers make quite an excellent living targeting average people as well. They try to get what could be embarrassing footage of people – in various stages of undress or having sex – and then blackmail them. Note to all hackers – if you have any naked screen shots of me go ahead and publish. I wouldn’t pay you a cent to suppress them.

I now keep my webcam covered when I’m not on Skype. Do you?

If it’s one thing I’m not its narcissistic. And I’ve got seven years worth of webcam video to prove it.

The Covert Comic

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Passport Expiry Dates Don’t Tell the Whole Story

If you look like your passport photo you’re too ill to travel.

Will Kommen

Depending on your passport’s expiration date as a cue to renew may not be a good idea. My friend just had a horrible experience attempting to travel with a valid passport.

He and his girlfriend set off for a wonderful week in Paris. I dropped them off at the airport and headed home. I had almost reached my destination when I got a phone call to come back to the airport and pick them up – no explanation. I made a u-turn and headed back to the airport quite worried about what could have possibly happened in so short an interval.

When they got into the car she looked like she’d been crying and he was livid. As they attempted to check in with the airline they were informed that although his passport was valid for another 3 weeks (they would only be in Paris for 1 week so his passport was valid for the duration of their stay in Paris and 2 weeks beyond) the French require that all passports be valid for a minimum of 3 months. They booked the trip with Expedia and had to supply their passport numbers at the time of booking. If his documents were not in order why didn’t anyone let him know? This was not a last minute trip. He would have had ample time to renew his passport.

I’ve done some research and there is no uniformity when it comes to passport requirements. It’s entirely up to the host country’s discretion and subject to change without notice. As a Canadian, if we travel to the U.S. or UK a passport only needs to be valid for the duration of your trip. However most other countries have a 3 month (as was the case with France) or 6 month requirement. If you are a Canadian planning foreign travel please save yourself a lot of aggravation and go to the Government of Canada website – Travel Advice and Advisories. Select a destination and read about the entry/exit requirements. Although the transportation carrier should apprise you of the information, clearly my friend’s experience demonstrates that they can’t be depended upon to do so.

Don’t take chances and renew your passport 6 months prior to expiration. No one wants to go through what my friends did.

A passport, as I'm sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between two countries, so that the official can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly.

Lemony Snicket

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Pre-employment Background Checks: An Exercise in Indigestion

A jealous woman does better research than the FBI.

Indulgy.com

I recently had an experience with a pre-employment background check that quite frankly makes the mind reel! I just accepted a one-year contract at a Fortune 100 company that’s an amazing place to work. In fact I like it so much that this is the 4^th contract that I’ve had with this same company. As four months have elapsed since my last contract with this company ended all of the background checks had to be redone – background, financial and employment. After all, I could have spent the summer at Club Fed, taken motorcycle riding lessons from the Hell’s Angels or swapped the geraniums on my terrace for pot plants. In any case I dutifully filled out all of the forms and signed the consent forms for them to find out that there’s nothing to find out – again.

A few days ago a person working for the company employing me sent me an email informing me that the company doing the background check on me couldn’t verify my employment. At first I thought it was a joke; after all I’ve already had 4, yes 4 contracts with this same company. If the background check company couldn’t find this out, why didn’t the person who works for the company know this, especially since I provided this information in the appropriate forms and supplied them along with my resume. To add insult to injury this genius wanted a copy of my incorporation documents. The information that I provided clearly states that I am a registered sole proprietorship, not an incorporated company, as I have no reason to incorporate. I do need to be registered as a sole proprietorship for HST purposes. She had no understanding of what a sole proprietorship was and insisted upon seeing my business registration documents from the federal government – which I provided, along with yet another list of the dates of my 4 previous contracts. Since I’ve had no further communication from her I can only hope that somewhere amid swirling incompetence, a light bulb has gone on. What a colossal waste of time, energy and money! And I’d still like someone to explain to me why they need to verify my credit score. I’m a business communicator. I don’t buy or sell product or provide any function that requires a credit facility. The entire process is ludicrous but they’ve got you by the proverbial balls, and as the Borg would say, resistance is futile.

When it comes to the issue of background checks, let's be honest - background checks will never be 'universal' - because criminals will never submit to them.

Wayne LaPierre

Make someone smile today.

Geri