Come Stitch With Me

Many of my teacher friends worked until 62 and then retired – drawing both pension and social security simultaneously. It’s simple economics, really. A teacher’s pension typically only replaces about half of their previous income. Combined with social security, it means they can replace 75% or more of their previous teacher salary. If this “income floor” matches their basic monthly obligations, then a lot of financial stress can be alleviated. This seems to be true whether they are single, married, divorced or widowed. Likewise, our original retirement plan also called for me to claim social security at age 62. Four years into retirement, we have a pretty good handle on our income and expenses. After reviewing the big picture holistically with our financial advisor, it now makes more sense for me to hold off pulling social security until later. To me, a financial plan should be flexible enough to pivot as your needs and circumstances change. [Nowhere in our planning did we anticipate a stage IV cancer diagnosis at age 54 for my husband. There is no cure for his type of cancer. Our philosophy since then has been to live our best lives, giving cancer the middle finger.] Just knowing that the benefit is available to access when needed provides a certain peace of mind.

Other fun benefits of reaching this milestone birthday:

My birthday gift to myself was a senior lifetime America the Beautiful National Park Pass for $80.00.

I’m eligible for an exemption on the school tax portion of my property bill starting in 2027. (Over $5k savings/year.)

For ages 62-64, Georgia exempts up to $35,000 of most kinds of retirement income from state income tax. The number increases to $65,000 at age 65. Note that Georgia does NOT tax social security income. A nice perk at tax time next year!

I still don’t see myself as a senior adult when I look in the mirror. However, I’ll gladly call myself one to take advantage of the discounts and benefits.

Before I left on my trip last week, I picked up a can of the Off! Clean Feel Fragrance Free insect repellent because I knew South Georgia would be full of biting insects. I’m the person that will let you know if there are fleas or mosquitoes in an area before you ever see them. ‘Cause I’m apparently a magnet for biting insects.

The product worked exactly as described. No smell, no sticky feel, and I didn’t get bit by mosquitoes, flies, chiggers or no-see-ums on my trip. I applied the product as directed and showered each evening to remove the product. However, after two days of use, I was sporting an angry red rash on my feet, ankles and upper arms that continued to spread. Benadryl, calamine lotion and hydrocortisone cream helped, but I had to see my primary care doctor to get a 10 day round of prednisone to help my body process the histamine response. Allergic contact dermatitis was my diagnosis.

I’ve used Off!, Cutter and other insect repellents for years with zero reactions. Not this time. This particular insect repellent contains picaridin 20% instead of the usual DEET. I don’t know if it was the picaridin, percentage of picaridin, or one of the unknown “other ingredients” in the product that caused my allergic reaction, but you can bet I’ll read the active ingredient list more closely on the next bottle of insect repellent that I buy.

Cutter Skinsations was my most recent bottle of insect repellent. It has a DEET 7% as the active ingredient. No reactions and no biting insects either. Adding that to my shopping list.