Caetano Veloso Menino Deus
I don’t know the language – I just like the song
My music seems mellow because I am here at night or when I relax. Also, I am old – 13 years older than when I started this blog in 2008.

Personal update

January and February are the fastest months of the year. I just put away my Christmas coffee mug, and I saw Jasmine blossoms in my front yard. So I reluctantly took down Christmas decorations and tossed them in the living room. They are still lying in the living room.

It’s been 11 months since the pandemic lockdown started. I live alone, so the lockdown doesn’t affect my situation logistically. I am more isolated that I rarely use my vocal cord. The pandemic hurt me financially because I was helping people. I still send money to my relative, but I send considerably less amount now. After being very careful, I was able to meet my financial goal for 2020. My goal is to maximize contribution to my 401K & HSA account ($30k total).

I quit cable TV last year. Now I pay $37.49 a month for 3 TV streaming providers. They are…

• Hulu (no ads) – $11:99
• Philo – $20
• Locast – $5.50. I don’t get any local TV off HD antenna.

$37.49 still seems too expensive to me.

Christmas is coming to Costco in 6 months.

See you in March. 🙂

This blog post is for US residents only.

ssa.gov is a US government social security website. It shows how much you made in the past and shows how much social security benefit you will receive when you retire.

Depends on how long you live and how much you made in the past, you might receive well over $100k. It is very important that you have the access to your own social security data. Knowledge is power. This website provides me with a vital piece of information pertaining to my retirement.

I strongly recommend everyone to register at ssa.gov. I hope this will give you a fresh outlook on your retirement and financing.

In the past, it was absolutely impossible for me to register at ssa.gov. They would ask security questions that were impossible to answer. So, I gave up on registration.

Then, they recently updated their website with the new registration process. Finally, I could register on the website. Now I have a better feel for my retirement. I can check and make sure there are no errors in my records. Also, I will know if somebody uses my social security number to get a job – or even worse (I cannot think of any specific scenarios – but I am sure there are nightmare stories).

I think I will retire at 70 years old. But if I can, I would like to retire sooner and work part-time doing office work. I enjoy office work. Everything about office work is sexy and exciting. I enjoy dressing up for work. I enjoy waking up early when I feel sleepy and miserable. I feel alive doing all that, and it’s so much fun. Life is fun. I hope you feel that way, too.