We spent some time checking in with our financial planners. Good news is, I’m not going to have to work five years after I’m dead in order to retire. We both could call “no mas” and go part time at 65, if we wanted. Which we plan to do. This is all predicated on no total meltdown happening.
So yeah. 50-50, I’m guessing. They are already making noises that social security is under water, so I’m betting (and always did) that it won’t be there when we need it. We’ll have two nickels to rub together, so I’m guessing we’ll be screwed. Our planners seem to be nimble enough to avoid most of the misery so far. We’ll see.
On the to-do list is rework the wills. We have them, as well as living wills, but they need updating.
This got me thinking of succession planning.
You see, I’m a tool ‘ho. Not as bad as Phil, but I am. I’ve been collecting tools since middle school. I still have many of those tools. I have tools from my dad. I have tools from friends that have passed, whose wives gave me some of their tools. I have crosscut and rip hand saws. You can’t find them these days even if you thought to look. I have my dad’s coping saw and pipe wrench, amongst others.
I have an actual monkey wrench!
These tools need to go to my son, son-in-law, and grandkids. Hopefully, I’ll be around to show them how to use them. So I need to have that jotted down. I’ve seen too many, and been to too many, estate sales where I’ve picked up well loved tools that the kids didn’t want.
BTW, that coping saw in the picture I’ve used since grade school.
My son changed his oil at his place. And when he came over to dinner, he said it’s a lot easier to do that job where all the tools are. The boy has been working with me since he was in grade school. He’s built fences, cut down trees, fixed cars over and over again, replaced toilets, wired electricity and Cat6 networks. Dudes done it all.
To be fair, so have my daughters. All of them have helped maintain the cars. My oldest can change oil like a champion.
But I can’t hold a candle to my father-in-law Benny. Dude was old school as they come. He’d go and buy the bearings and brushes to rebuilt an alternator rather than buy a rebuilt one. That’s hard core. Pressing bearings isn’t my thing. Although it should be.
I can’t wait until the grandkids are old enough to help Papa with his projects.
Inspected By Pat 
Two comments about Social Security.
1. They’ve been predicting it would run out of money for a long time. The first time I saw that prediction was in 1992, and they were saying around 2017 it would run out. Didn’t happen. Not to say that it won’t, but you need to take the predictions with a grain of salt.
2. If it “runs out” what will happen most likely is that they reduce the benefits. But the chances that you get zippy are very slim. You’ll most likely get slightly less than you were hoping.
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I’d agree, only that it can’t run out of money because it has no money. They simply take the money and distribute it from the budget. That was settled long ago on the first suit that happened back in the 30s. What’ll happen is they will most likely have to cut other stuff, and cut benefits. This is why I said since I have two nickels to rub together, they’ll mean-test me out of it probably long before I can claim it. Funny thing, my investment folks said to take distributions, and hold off on social security so I squeeze the max out of it. Here’s what’s funny – by that time my ‘required minimum distribution’ will dwarf what I’d get from SS in the best case. Hopefully it’ll be worth something by then.
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