Thinking about retirement can be stressful. Most of us need to come to reasonable estimates of how much money we should accumulate before retiring — and then we have to have plans for withdrawing funds from our nest eggs during our retirement so that we won’t run out of money. Many people find the “4% rule” helpful, as it can tell you how much you’ll need to retire with and how much to withdraw each year. Unfortunately, it has some drawbacks.
Wired Magazine has a monthly feature called “What’s Inside”, where the staff researches and shares the ingredients of some of your favorite products.
Patents for ballpoint pens go back to the late 1800s, but it took half a century to develop good, fast-drying inks. Bic, Pilot, and other makers jealously guard their formulas, but to get that classic ballpoint blue, these companies mix up a cocktail of colorants.
It happens to the best of us. Literally, the best of us.
Zach Honig is the editor-in-chief of the travel blog The Points Guy. This spring, he was on vacation in Mexico when he got a disturbing email.
“I received a confirmation email for a Holiday Inn in Connecticut, booked with my IHG points,” Honig told HuffPost. “I called the hotel to make sure it wasn’t a mistake, and they told me the guests had just arrived.”
Special Thanks to BG Kenneth Hara for sharing the photos for this posting.
Click on photographs to enlarge
Larry joined the Hawaii Army National Guard on September 10, 1974 and retired on September 18, 2016. He had a one year break in service so retired with 40 years of service.
Larry deployed twice in his career. The first deployment was with C/193rd Aviation to Iraq and his second deployment with 1-299 CAV to Kuwait.
His son Ryan also serves in the Active Duty and will be assigned to Hawaii for the first time with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Now that he is finally retired, Larry plans to start a garden on his new one acre lot and travel with his wife.
Congratulations and Happy Retirement to Larry!
During September, the following postings received a high number of viewings.
Air Force Retiree and Veteran Funeral Detail Entitlements. Colonel Kevin J. Gordon, the 15th Wing commander, has altered Air Force retiree and veteran funeral detail entitlements in his August 30, 2016 memorandum to Hawaiian Island funeral homes.
Retiree Update: Randy Lum. Hawai‘i Air National Guard retiree Randy Lum has volunteered with the Pacific Aviation Museum for many years.
Retiree Update: DOD retirees. A group of State Department of Defense retirees have dinner periodically to “talk story”. Dinner is usually Chinese with lots of fun catching up with each other’s lives.
Off Track: 12 Must-Have Cheap Eats in Honolulu. Here in Honolulu, we love to eat. Food is the backbone of our island and it only takes one visit to understand why. From hot sugar-dusted malasadas to shave ice, poke (before it was trendy), and hearty bowls of saimin, the food in Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures. At the beach, in food courts, or even at the corner grocery, finding a high quality and affordable meal is easy.
Major world events and the strong U.S. dollar are creating real estate investment opportunities across the globe. For example, Spain’s housing bubble, Greece’s debt crisis and recession in Portugal resulted in drops in real estate values in those countries that carry on today. And U.S. dollar buyers are benefiting from a strong greenback that now buys 90 euro cents.
From the Lonely Planet website
Coffee on the road doesn’t have to mean eye-wateringly expensive cups in tourist cafes or a quick mug of instant before a long day’s sightseeing. If you live for the caffeine buzz, you can base an entire trip around the world’s favourite drink.
The first time Jim Couch of Jacksonville, Fla., had a heart attack, there was no doubt what was happening. He felt a massive, crushing pain in his chest, and he was rushed to the hospital.
But the second time, he felt no pain. “I felt not right,” he says. He couldn’t catch his breath. His wife had the good sense to call 911 and, again, he reached the hospital before there was permanent damage to his heart muscle.
Veterans Crisis website: militarycrisisline.net
Story and photos by MSG-R Stephen M. Lum
In response to the Governor David Ige’s call to support the heat-abatement service project nearly 50 Hawaii State Department of Defense volunteers join other to form a force of more than 180 people to cool down James Campbell High and Ewa Beach Elementary Schools, September 17, 2016.
Volunteers came from the civilian staff, the Youth Challenge Academy and the Hawaii Army National Guard.
At Campbell volunteers planted trees and grass around Saber Hall and Building O to reduce sunlight on buildings, absorb heat, and limit glare and reflected heat into classrooms. The cost of this project is $36,500, and the funding is from Hawaii 3Rs (3R’s: Repair, Remodel, Restore our Schools, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye).
At Ewa Beach Elementary, 3,500 LED bulbs were installed in all the classrooms. The energy efficiency bulbs not only reduce lighting costs, but emit less heat. The project is valued at $32,000, is funded from the DOE facilities maintenance budget.
click on photographs to enlarge
CREDIT USER BJOERTVEDT / HTTP://MICHRAD.IO/1LXRDJM
The Senate failed to muster enough support to end debate and vote on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government Tuesday, raising the possibility of a government shutdown by the end of this week. Only 45 of the necessary 60 senators voted to consider passage of the CR before the full Senate, according to Reuters. Air Force leaders have been warning that even a successful CR could create a dangerous lack of stability for the nation’s armed services.
At ASC16 last week, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said, “if it is a short-term continuing resolution, let’s say three months or so, we can manage our way through that.” She continued, “But I also want to tell you that a long-term CR would be very, very damaging for the Air Force.” James said the Air Force would lose $1.3 billion in requested Fiscal 2017 funding under a long-term continuing resolution. James also said a long-term CR “would cap the production of the KC-46, … would prevent us from devoting the right amount of funds to the B-21 next year, and delay about 50 or so military construction projects, some of which would impact the F-35.” I
n the end, James insisted “we need our [authorization and appropriations] bills as soon as possible, and we need them certainly by the December time-frame.” The government last shutdown in 2013. The partial-shutdown lasted 17 days.
The ceremony and groundbreaking of the new National Army Museum was recently held at Fort Belvoir. The museum will be free-of-charge to visitors, and is expected to open in 2019. Plans for the 185,000-square-foot facility include more than 15,000 pieces of art, 30,000 artifacts, documents and images.
In the museum, Army weapons, uniforms, equipment, and letters written by Soldiers at war will help visitors better connect with their Army. The museum will also be a virtual museum without walls having connectivity with all of the Army museums.
For more information: National Museum of the United States Army website
Air Force officials have selected the service’s top enlisted members, naming the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2016.
An Air Force selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center considered 36 nominees who represented major commands, direct reporting units, field operating agencies and Headquarters Air Force. The board selected 12 Airmen based on superior leadership, job performance and personal achievements.
12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year (by command of assignment when selected, alphabetically):
Tech. Sgt. Michael A. Asuncion, Jr., Air Force Space Command
Tech. Sgt. Sharry L. Barnshaw, Air Mobility Command
Senior Airman Raquel R. Caramanno, Air Force Materiel Command
Tech. Sgt. Cassandra L. Cruz, Air Education and Training Command
Senior Master Sgt. Mark E. Farmer, Air National Guard
Senior Airman Jasmin N. Figueroa, Pacific Air Forces
Senior Master Sgt. Jeremiah F. Grisham, Air Force District of Washington
Master Sgt. Marcus A. Mader, Air Force Special Operations Command
Senior Master Sgt. Rebecca F. McNelley, Air Force Global Strike Command
Senior Airman Derek F. Miles, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa
Staff Sgt. Aaron M. Tobler, Air Force Reserve Command
Staff Sgt. Jamie K. Zimmer, Air Combat Command
Among these elite twelve is TSgt Cassandra Cruz, whose home of record is Hau‘ula, Hawai‘i. Her commendation reads:
TSgt. Cassandra Cruz, a professional military education instructor with the 81st Force Support Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2016. Cruz aided the Total Force Integration initiative by educating 113 Active Duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command leaders, facilitating 1,000 hours of instruction. She identified credential shortfalls for her primary Air Force specialty code and aligned civilian requirements with the Career Field Education and Training Plan, enabling the expansion of seven additional certifications available to over 2,000 airmen. As a base victim advocate, she dedicated 1,300 hours to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program, serving as a first responder and trainer for base personnel. She was recognized as a distinguished graduate from the Archibald Mathies NCO Academy’s Intermediate Leadership Experience.
Plenty is at stake this November for Americans 50+
America’s electorate contains 69.7 million baby boomers. What issues matter most to these voters — and are candidates addressing them?
Here’s what we know about how the two major party candidates stand on four major issues that matter to many older Americans.
