Playing the waiting game

February 9, 2024

On Tuesday morning, I officially applied for retirement. A short while later, I received a document outlining additional tasks I needed to do in order to complete my retirement application package. It took some time, but everything has now been submitted. I’ve done everything on my end. Now, as with our health insurance, we wait while everything goes through the prescribed processes. Unfortunately, at this stage, there’s no tracking mechanism in place for me to follow the status online. I’ll actually have to call and speak to a rep to find out where we are in the process – or wait for the mailed document. Maddening. Quilting keeps me focused on other things while I wait.

Yesterday, Sadie & I participated in the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. It took nearly 2 hours to reach our first stop off I-75 with all the traffic getting out of Atlanta. The shops were really busy. A number of vans were taking shop hoppers to the venues this year. Three of the shops were so crowded, I didn’t even look around. I merely had my passport stamped, purchased my blocks and left.

Of course, we made the obligatory pit stop at Buc-cee’s in Fort Valley before heading across the state to the shops along I-85. Around 3:30 p.m., I turned in our completed passport to Hometown Quilt Shop – we were the first completed passport to be turned in! 

Today, I helped a friend spray baste her first quilt and learn how to do straight line quilting using a walking foot. She finished quilting her top right as we needed to pack up and vacate our space at the library so the next group could use it. Perfect timing! She’s going to trim her quilt and make the binding this week. If she’s brave, she’ll try to attach it. I’ll guide her through machine stitching it down and joining the binding ends next Friday.

My CraftLAB kiddos will be stitching with me on Saturday afternoon to complete their cross body bags. I’ve already advised them that the next project will be to work on their blocks for the kid’s exhibit at the June quilt show. Speaking of which, I’d best get started on quilting my own entry.

Happy emails

February 4, 2024

On Friday, the email began “Dear Pending Retiree” and it made my day. Today, I received the official email notification to enroll in “pending retiree” health insurance benefits once our current benefits under COBRA expire at the end of February. You bet I completed enrollment shortly after receiving the email! I now have confirmation in writing that our existing health insurance will continue with no break in coverage. This is exactly what we needed to happen. Now, I’m just waiting on my letter with the new login details so I can set up the new account to pay premiums electronically.

Once my active employee – COBRA – state extended coverage – retiree journey is complete, I’ll write a detailed post to share with my fellow teacher friends on how to navigate the process. Once friends learned I was able to take my insurance with me to fill in the gap until retirement, two other teacher friends did the same thing. This option is available to any GA teacher/state employee who meets certain criteria and you can keep the insurance in place as long as you are willing to pay for it. Yes it’s expensive, but it was the only option for our particular situation unless I wanted to continue working full-time (nope). I was able to leave two years early and meet the requirement to keep my health insurance coverage active from last date of employment to my official retirement date. At that point, premiums will drop back to reasonable retiree rates. This has been the goal all along. I’m so thankful this option was available so I could join hubby in early retirement. We’ve had a blast!

Photo by Dids . on Pexels.com

Retirement planning is about more than just money

February 2, 2024

It’s about your happiness and ability to fully enjoy the free time you’ve worked so hard for and deserve.

Sure, having your money figured out is extremely important before you retire. However, knowing what you want your retirement to look like and setting those plans in motion before retirement is equally as important as the money piece – perhaps even more so as an early retiree.

Ask yourself:

  1. What do you really want to do everyday when you are no longer working?
  2. Who do you want to do these activities with?
  3. Where do you see yourself doing these activities?

Chances are, you have some interests that you’d like to pursue in retirement. Your “what” might be a continuation of activities/hobbies you already enjoy. This is a great starting point to begin replacing the social network (your “who”) that you currently have at your job. Even if you are an introvert like me who is easily “peopled out,” you still need some folks to hang out with on a regular basis. Humans are social creatures, after all. Remember, friends will come and go in your life. Most tend to stay for a season, some for several seasons and a few for what will seem like forever. Cherish these forever folks and stay invested in the relationship. Be open to meeting new people at most any time, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Some people think I’m crazy for attending quilt retreats where I don’t know a soul. It forces me out of my comfort zone and I get to meet some of the most interesting people. Finding your quilty tribe takes time, especially as an early retiree because most of your social circle is probably still working full-time.

Your “where” may or not be where you are currently living. Perhaps you want a smaller home in the same area or want to move closer to family. Full-time RVer? Get as far away from the big city as possible? It will be helpful to have some inkling of your future plans before you retire. For us? One level house – yes. Location? TBD. The area in which we currently live is convenient, but rapidly changing with lots of high-density development coming soon. We’d both prefer a little more room us and our neighbors and a lot less traffic.

And finally, always keep in mind that even the best laid plans are subject to change. Don’t fight any changes – embrace them. Life is richer when you do. I am still quilting, volunteering and even working part-time as I thought I might be – only those activities look different today than I expected them to do when I retired in May 2022. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sadie and I were at the IPPE 2024 expo this past week with 3 other therapy dog teams.