{"id":43,"date":"2018-12-10T03:48:33","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T03:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/?p=43"},"modified":"2019-01-17T06:47:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T06:47:26","slug":"welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/","title":{"rendered":"First Post!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48\" width=\"512\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1140x853.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to my blog!&nbsp; I retired in 2014, after working 30-plus years for natural resource agencies as a policy analyst and planner, including work on strategic planning, capital program budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, and watershed planning.&nbsp;&nbsp; In this blog, I would like to share some of what I\u2019ve learned as I\u2019ve made the shift into life after work.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will write several posts on the big question facing anyone contemplating retirement,\u201cCan I afford it?\u201d&nbsp; Having obsessed over this question myself for some time, and waded through a morass of conflicting and self-serving financial advice, I\u2019ve come to the realization that understanding where you stand financially is surprisingly simple \u2013 if you can screen out all the noise.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will also write about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>how to manage money and take withdrawals in retirement;<\/li><li>when to take social security; <\/li><li>are annuities as terrible as people seem to think;<\/li><li>can you send a kid to college when you\u2019re retired;<\/li><li>caring for a parent or disabled child when you\u2019re retired (and maybe beyond); and <\/li><li>mitigating the financial impacts of the life\u2019s nasty surprises and outright disasters.&nbsp; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll point to some resources and financial calculators that I think are particularly valuable and well written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you find my posts helpful, and that you are inspired to make sure your own financial plan is in order.&nbsp; It requires only a modest effort, and you will sleep better at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please come back, check out my future posts, and let me know what you think.&nbsp; Thanks for stopping by!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to my blog!&nbsp; I retired in 2014, after working 30-plus years for natural resource agencies as a policy analyst and planner, including work on strategic planning, capital program budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, and watershed planning.&nbsp;&nbsp; In this blog, I would like to share some of what I\u2019ve learned as I\u2019ve made the shift into life after work.&nbsp; I will write several posts on the big question facing anyone contemplating retirement,\u201cCan I afford it?\u201d&nbsp; Having obsessed over this question myself for some time, and waded through a morass of conflicting and self-serving financial advice, I\u2019ve come to the realization that understanding where you stand financially is surprisingly simple \u2013 if you can screen out all the noise.&nbsp;&nbsp; I will also write about: how to manage money and take withdrawals in retirement; when to take social security; are annuities as terrible as people seem to think; can you send a kid to college when you\u2019re retired; caring for a parent or disabled child when you\u2019re retired (and maybe beyond); and mitigating the financial impacts of the life\u2019s nasty surprises and outright disasters.&nbsp; I\u2019ll point to some resources and financial calculators that I think are particularly valuable and well written. I hope you find my posts helpful, and that you are inspired to make sure your own financial plan is in order.&nbsp; It requires only a modest effort, and you will sleep better at night. Please come back, check out my future posts, and let me know what you think.&nbsp; Thanks for stopping by!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retirement-planning","tag-retirement-planning"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Post! - Retirement Hangout<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Post! - Retirement Hangout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome to my blog!&nbsp; I retired in 2014, after working 30-plus years for natural resource agencies as a policy analyst and planner, including work on strategic planning, capital program budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, and watershed planning.&nbsp;&nbsp; In this blog, I would like to share some of what I\u2019ve learned as I\u2019ve made the shift into life after work.&nbsp; I will write several posts on the big question facing anyone contemplating retirement,\u201cCan I afford it?\u201d&nbsp; Having obsessed over this question myself for some time, and waded through a morass of conflicting and self-serving financial advice, I\u2019ve come to the realization that understanding where you stand financially is surprisingly simple \u2013 if you can screen out all the noise.&nbsp;&nbsp; I will also write about: how to manage money and take withdrawals in retirement; when to take social security; are annuities as terrible as people seem to think; can you send a kid to college when you\u2019re retired; caring for a parent or disabled child when you\u2019re retired (and maybe beyond); and mitigating the financial impacts of the life\u2019s nasty surprises and outright disasters.&nbsp; I\u2019ll point to some resources and financial calculators that I think are particularly valuable and well written. I hope you find my posts helpful, and that you are inspired to make sure your own financial plan is in order.&nbsp; It requires only a modest effort, and you will sleep better at night. Please come back, check out my future posts, and let me know what you think.&nbsp; Thanks for stopping by!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Retirement Hangout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hangout Host\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hangout Host\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hangout Host\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a\"},\"headline\":\"First Post!\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":269,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Retirement planning\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Retirement planning\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Post! - Retirement Hangout\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/10\\\/welcome\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First Post!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Retirement Hangout\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a\",\"name\":\"Hangout Host\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hangout Host\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/retirementhangout.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First Post! - Retirement Hangout","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First Post! - Retirement Hangout","og_description":"Welcome to my blog!&nbsp; I retired in 2014, after working 30-plus years for natural resource agencies as a policy analyst and planner, including work on strategic planning, capital program budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, and watershed planning.&nbsp;&nbsp; In this blog, I would like to share some of what I\u2019ve learned as I\u2019ve made the shift into life after work.&nbsp; I will write several posts on the big question facing anyone contemplating retirement,\u201cCan I afford it?\u201d&nbsp; Having obsessed over this question myself for some time, and waded through a morass of conflicting and self-serving financial advice, I\u2019ve come to the realization that understanding where you stand financially is surprisingly simple \u2013 if you can screen out all the noise.&nbsp;&nbsp; I will also write about: how to manage money and take withdrawals in retirement; when to take social security; are annuities as terrible as people seem to think; can you send a kid to college when you\u2019re retired; caring for a parent or disabled child when you\u2019re retired (and maybe beyond); and mitigating the financial impacts of the life\u2019s nasty surprises and outright disasters.&nbsp; I\u2019ll point to some resources and financial calculators that I think are particularly valuable and well written. I hope you find my posts helpful, and that you are inspired to make sure your own financial plan is in order.&nbsp; It requires only a modest effort, and you will sleep better at night. Please come back, check out my future posts, and let me know what you think.&nbsp; Thanks for stopping by!","og_url":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/","og_site_name":"Retirement Hangout","article_published_time":"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Hangout Host","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hangout Host","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/"},"author":{"name":"Hangout Host","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a"},"headline":"First Post!","datePublished":"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/"},"wordCount":269,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg","keywords":["Retirement planning"],"articleSection":["Retirement planning"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/","url":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/","name":"First Post! - Retirement Hangout","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-10T03:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-17T06:47:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P8240203-1024x766.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/10\/welcome\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First Post!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/","name":"Retirement Hangout","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4ae01981f8f32c14283392437fea2a","name":"Hangout Host","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hangout Host"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799085214a1e82ffa5671d285373508c6acc6cf15bfe9547be5ad32b50ca1e29?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/retirementhangout.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirementhangout.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}