2018 Spring June 18 2018

79 degrees this morning, Walk 35:17 minutes 

Overall good walk this morning.  Still feel I’m just not up to speed, and in fact there is solid evidence I’m not as fast as I was two weeks ago, for whatever reason.   

Pace was 17 seconds slower than my goal.  But, at least I am walking!

Thinking more about “retirement’, after reading several articles on it over the past week.  

Again, I think there is nothing better than the old time “pension”.  I have to wonder why songwriters, actors, writers, singers etc. keep control of (and receive money) forever from their work, but the ordinary person only gets their pay and no longer receive any kind of long term benefit from their work.  The only long term benefit is some type of retirement plan.  

I have nothing against the laws allowing songwriters, actors, writers etc. control of their work.  I just wonder why the protection isn’t extended to all workers.  I have no ideas on how that could be done.  I think the pension system may be a good alternative if it is handled right.  

It seems, at the least, if a business doesn’t want to provide the traditional  type pension, they could provide a Roth 401K etc.  The traditional 401K, IRA etc. has a big deficiency in that it is taxed as “ordinary income”.  For some reason, the ordinary workers salary and retirement is taxed as “ordinary income” while “investment income” is taxed at at much lower rate.  

Seems strange until you realize that the “investment income” is usually received by the donors, lobbyists and fat cats who donate to politicians and you get your answer as to why they receive all kinds of tax breaks plus the lower rate while the ordinary worker has their tax advantages like interest, taxes etc. ripped away and is taxed at much higher “ordinary income” rates.  

It seems like the person who has an IRA or 401K under the “ordinary income” rule ought to get the same right as the big businesses who squirreled money away overseas to avoid taxes, should also get a break to transfer an IRA or 401K to a Roth IRA at “investment” rates rather than “ordinary income”.  Of course that makes too much sense.

Another aspect of “retirement” I read about was the concept of “early retirement”.  The story mentioned people who retired early (I have nothing against that, good for them), but it seemed to deny the fact that many people enjoy working and don’t want to retire or at least would like to retire later rather than sooner.  

There are many reasons to retire early, including staring your own business, a second career etc. as well as the opportunity to do what you want with your life.  I know many people who have retired early and enjoy it.  

I think my qualms are about the advice they are giving younger people. I think a good plan for someone just starting out is to fully fund a Roth IRA, their 401k etc. if they have one, and then take advantage of the time to enjoy your life both in your younger days as well as the “golden years”.  

Just my opinion, that of course wasn’t available when I was younger  (The Roth IRA is a relatively recent opportunity) and I probably wouldn’t have taken my own advice!

That’s it for now, Monday, June 18, 2018.