Still Clinging To My Hard Copy Magazines….

I guess I am of that rare breed who actually gets a weekly hard-copy magazine. That magazine is Time. Each weekly issue rests on my bedside stand and is read nightly until completed.

I think maybe Time is the only weekly magazine left with my political slant. There is just something about actually holding the info in my hands that still appeals to me. Now don’t get me wrong, 95% of what I read is probably digital. I have a Kindle Reader for most of my books now and part of my regular daily activity is spending about an hour at my computer browsing through news websites and my daily blog reads.  I very much reside in the digital world but that weekly paper magazine still has an infatuating appeal to me.

There used to be a phrase “High Tech, High Touch”. I don’t know if it is still popular today? What it means is that as we become more involved in  high technology we need a corresponding amount of things that we can touch and feel.  Let’s face it, the cyber-world is addictive but we all need more than that.  As we needed a mother’s touch as infants we still need some tactile reinforcement today.  Most often that comes from a  hug of another person.

There are other hard-copy magazines that I also enjoy. One of them is the Friends Journal which is subtitled Quaker Thought and Life Today. Much like their Amish brethren, Quaker life is much about simplicity so a high-touch physical magazine only seems natural to me for this venue. As some of you know I collect “Simplify” signs as a hobby. Including the one I recently got in Holland Michigan I have at least a dozen strewn throughout my study. I’m not sure if a high tech lifestyle is really compatible with a simplified life but I am trying to realize that combination.

Gaming The System……

Source: Get personalized help to max out Social Security.

Social Security Solutions’ optimization plan calls for my wife to file for her own benefits at age 67 but immediately suspend her payments — a perfectly legal strategy known as a file-and-suspend.

We start getting some Social Security benefits immediately when I apply (at age 66) to receive a spousal benefit based on her earnings record, half of what she could receive.

At age 70, my wife starts her own benefits; a year later, I switch to my own benefit when I turn 70. Both of our benefits are now at the maximum monthly level possible for the rest of our lives. Later on, after I (gulp) die first, my wife switches to a survivor benefit, which is 100 percent of my benefit…..

I’m sure all this stuff above is legal but, come on,  finding all the loop holes to get the most possible is carrying it too far in my mind.  Of course this article came from a large financial company.  They are used to gaming the system. These guys I’m sure have a large lobbying group in D.C. and make sure that these sort of loop holes are written into our laws.

Our government needs to adopt my current mantra in life and that is Simplify. If we could somehow get rid of all those lawyers around and put this stuff back into common folk’s hands I’m sure our laws would be simpler and with many less loop holes. But maybe the world has just gotten too complicated for simplicity?

Putting the level of social security benefits that you get related to what you paid in makes sense but it seems that the system has just spurned too may other conditions. I know that about one-third of those collecting benefits are not the seniors who paid into them. If the Republicans insist of changing the system then let’s put those folks in a different payout pool and take social security back to the insurance it was meant to be.  But I’m sure this would do little to placate my conservative friends who would be very happy to see social security go the way of the horse and buggy. In their minds if government is involved then it must be wrong.

Simplify

One of the themes of my life is “Simplify”. I have several plaques around my study with that message. In light of that I have decided to simplify this blog somewhat. Instead of attaching numerous photos on one post I have decided to limit it to just one. I have also changed to a more photo oriented theme. With this new change I will likely be posting more quick posts as the mood strikes me.

What is simpler than a kitten.  The one here was named Sophie. She graced our presence for several years.

Simplify, simplify, simplify