'boondoggling'. Dictionary.com defines it as "work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy

Porfirio Rubirosa11-09-2009, 02:04 PM
How To Retire - must read. Golfers included

4 Pre-Conditions for Retirement
I retired in year 2000 at age 52. I am now 61, thus I can claim that I got more
experience at retirement than most!
I thought I should share my experience with mariners because I have seen too many
friends and neighbours
who became so bored that they have become a nuisance to their spouse and children and to
others!
A few of them have solved the problem by going back to work.
They were able to do so because they have a skill/expertise that is still in demand.
The rest (and many are my neighbours) live aimlessly or are waiting to die - a very sad
situation, indeed.

You can retire only when you fulfil these 4 pre-conditions:
1.Your children are financially independent (e.g. they got jobs)
2.You have zero liability (all your borrowings are paid up)
3.You have enough savings to support your lifestyle for the rest of your life, AND most
importantly,
4.You know what you would be doing during your retirement.

DO NOT retire till you meet ALL 4 Pre-Conditions. And of course you should not retire if
you enjoy working and are getting paid for it!
The problem cases I know of are those who failed to meet Pre-Condition #4.

When asked, "What would you be doing during your retirement?" Some replied, "I will
travel/cruise and see the World".
They did that, some for 3 months and then ran out of ideas.
The golfers replied, "I can golf every day." Most could not because they are no longer
fit to play well enough to enjoy the game.
Those who could, need to overcome another hurdle - they need to the find the "kakis" to
play with them.
It's the same with mahjong, bridge, badminton, trekking and karaoke - you need "kakis"!
Most could not find others who share their favourite game and playing/singing alone is
no fun.
AND when they do find them, a few of them found that they are NOT welcomed like my
obnoxious neighbour whom everyone avoids..

Thus if you are into group sports or games, you must form your groups BEFORE you retire.

You need to identify your "kakis", play with them and discover whether they "click" with
you.
The less sporty "can read all the books bought over the years".
I know of one guy who fell asleep after a few pages and ended up napping most of the
time!
He discovered that he did not like to read after all. We do change and we may not enjoy
the hobbies we had..

Routine Activities To Fill Your Week

For most people, your routine work activities are planned for you or dictated by others
and circumstances.
When you retire, you wake up to a new routine - one that you yourself have to establish
as nobody else would do it for you!
The routine to establish should keep your body, mind and spirit "sharpened". A good
routine would comprise:
a) One weekly physical sport - you need to keep fit to enjoy your retirement.
If you are the non-sporty type, you should fire your maid and clean your home without
mechanical aids.
Dancing and baby-sitting are good alternatives.
b) One weekly mind stimulating activity - e.g. writing, studying for a degree, acquiring
a new skill, solving problems or puzzles, learn or teach something.
You need to stimulate your mind to stay alive because the day you stop using your brain
is the day you start to die.

c) One weekly social activity - choose one involving lots of friends/neighbours.
Get yourself accepted as a member to at least 3 interests groups.
Unless you prefer to be alone, you do need friends more than ever as you get older and
less fit to pursue your sport.

d) One weekly community service activity - you need to give to appreciate what you have
taken in this life.
It's good to leave some kind of legacy.

With 4 weekly activities, you got 4 days out of 7 covered.

The remaining 3 days should be devoted to family related activities. In this way, you
maintain a balance between amusing yourself and your family members.
Any spare time should remain "spare" so that you can capitalise on opportunities that
come your way like responding to an unexpected request to do a job or to take advantage
of cheap fares to see places or to visit an exhibition.

Mind stimulating activities
Most judges live to a ripe old age. They use their brains a lot to decide on cases. I am
sure MM Lee's brain works overtime.
He's 80+ and still going strong. In "Today" you would have read of 2 inspiring oldies.
One is a granny who learned to play the guitar at age 60 to entertain his grandchildren.

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Porfirio Rubirosa11-09-2009, 02:05 PM
She's 70+ today and those grandchildren have grown to play with her.
Another is an Indian radiologist who on retirement, qualified as an acupuncturist.
He's age 77 and still offers his services (by appointment only) including free ones to
those who have no income.
I guaranteeyou that they are happy people who discovered a "2nd wind" to take them to
the sunset with a smile on their faces.
Mind stimulating activities are hard to identify.
They require your will to do something useful with the rest of your life, a mindset
change and the discipline to carry it through.
Your Bucket List

Despite your busy routine, you will at times be bored. Then it's time to turn to your
Bucket List.
Your bucket list contains a list of things to do before you kick the bucket. They are
not routine and are usually one off activities.
You need them to have something to look forward to.
These include anniversaries, trips (and pilgrimages), visits to friends and relations
abroad, re-doing your home, tending conferences (related to your hobbies), acquiring a
new set of expertise. 4 such activities that are spaced our quarterly would be ideal.

Retirement Is A Serious Business

If you can afford to retire and want to, do prepare to live to your fullest.
You need to be fit to enjoy it - therefore get into shape now.
You do not want to get up on a Monday and wonder what to do each week, therefore
identify your set of weekly routine activities now and try them out to confirm that they
are the activities that you will be looking forward to doing each week, week after week.

You bucket list of "rewards" or "projects" or"challenges" is needed to help you break
away from the routine thereby make live worth living.
Start listing what you fancy and refine it as you chug along in your retirement.
You will have so much fun, you would wish you were retired since your turned 21!

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Jabba11-09-2009, 02:51 PM
The retirees i frequently met are happily shouting "Picture!" on leisure world...and they dun seem to be short of kakis...

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SamuelStalin12-09-2009, 01:19 AM
Oh Portfolio Robinrose I LOVE GOLF!!!! ;);););););)

And for watching I smile when the greats strut the greens with their caddies while the multitudes of losers and journeymen just watch and follow from behind the approved lines.

Anyway I'm glad I'm not born too early. Those fuddie duddies, of course old people should be somewhat respected, but I'm also glad I'm not them living their kind of life. They are older and old, they feel unwanted by society, and, they seem to be quite clueless about how to live their lives upon getting older and retiring ie they don't really know what to do afterwards. Mid-life crisis. Really sad.

To be born later, the better.

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scroobal12-09-2009, 01:40 AM
Assuming you are financially secure, keep to this routine and you will be fine. Get in touch with old school mates (your age group), long lost friends and acquaintences etc. You are bound to find some that are in retirement as well.

Just pick a nice kopi tiam and meet on a regular basis. Get at least 4 kakis or more to cover absences by individuals attending family commitments, medical and other errands.

Don't plan too much, just start talking about politics, the Chua sisters, Chee, Old man, 9/11 etc. Cover local RC members who strut around like peacoks. etc.

When you work, you plan, you organise, you think ahead. In retirement, just get up, do the morning constitution and head to meet the khakis. Shoot the breeze. Every now and then, some will have bright ideas such as attending Photography courses, fishing, going to musuem and trying out Pure Blonde beer at the cafe, Lor 1, geylang for Briyani, Redhill for chicken rice.

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lifeafter4112-09-2009, 02:18 AM
Health, more than anything else is the most important.
Great piece of advice. Thanks!!!

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kingrant12-09-2009, 03:02 AM
All pretty good tips! Tks for the threads.

Agree with Porto mostly. However, finding something mentally challenging to do on a regular basis is not so easy. Even tuition or teaching - it gets boring after a while, esp. when the subject matter is kacang. Some people do sudoku, or play online word games.

Maybe can also extend that tip by scroobal - instead of just coffeeshop talk, which can degenerate to just empty gossip, I guess one can start some chess games with the kakis. Even with giant chess pieces on giant chessboards. That way, the rest can watch with ease. Of course, it is not de rigeur. Do as you please, at yr own time own target...

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Porfirio Rubirosa14-09-2009, 06:29 AM
just a quick add on...

nothing beats building strong long term meaningful relationships...better still to be loved and to have loved back...:)

All pretty good tips! Tks for the threads.

Agree with Porto mostly. However, finding something mentally challenging to do on a regular basis is not so easy. Even tuition or teaching - it gets boring after a while, esp. when the subject matter is kacang. Some people do sudoku, or play online word games.

Maybe can also extend that tip by scroobal - instead of just coffeeshop talk, which can degenerate to just empty gossip, I guess one can start some chess games with the kakis. Even with giant chess pieces on giant chessboards. That way, the rest can watch with ease. Of course, it is not de rigeur. Do as you please, at yr own time own target...

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SamuelStalin14-09-2009, 07:27 AM
just a quick add on...

nothing beats building strong long term meaningful relationships...better still to be loved and to have loved back...:)

Oh yes I do have a strong long term meaningful relationship with my gramophone. Dad left it for me and we are together to this day. And whenever I need a tune from the old, peaceful days it never lets me down. You don't know how lovingly I clean it fortnightly as well.

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LonewolfAlfa14-09-2009, 09:09 AM
just beware. when getting in touch with long lost friends and making new acquaintences, u will definitely come across a few whom will ask u for a loan.
u are better off avoiding them.

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SamuelStalin14-09-2009, 11:43 AM
just beware. when getting in touch with long lost friends and making new acquaintences, u will definitely come across a few whom will ask u for a loan.
u are better off avoiding them.

Quite true actually. Most people are fucks most of the time.

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1sickpuppy II14-09-2009, 02:41 PM
Well I think I can retire in 4 years time then.
1. Both my housing loans are fully paid
2. All my children are working overseas and I don't think any of them will be coming back.
3. Will be getting my pension + rental from 1 of my houses and my savings.
4. Continus with my hobby of plastic modeling, gardening and taking care of my 2 dogs.

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scroobal14-09-2009, 11:16 PM
What you need to do immediately is to start networking to assemble a core group of likeminded people. Best of old schoolmates and ex-colleagues of your age group. Also need to create 2 groups (one with wife and one with the boys)

Don't do it when you retire or about to retire. The links tend to evaporate rapidly.

Enjoy.

Well I think I can retire in 4 years time then.
1. Both my housing loans are fully paid
2. All my children are working overseas and I don't think any of them will be coming back.
3. Will be getting my pension + rental from 1 of my houses and my savings.
4. Continus with my hobby of plastic modeling, gardening and taking care of my 2 dogs.

23 March 2009



Mr Mah Bow Tan

Minister for National Development

HDB Hub
480 Lorong 6
Toa Payoh
Singapore 310480



Dear Mr Mah



Re: Request to Restrict Access of Sky Bridges of tttttttttt to Residents





We are future residents of yyyyyyyyy. We are delighted and impressed with the efficiency and professionalism that HDB has demonstrated in the landmark development.



There are about 1800 apartments that would house about 7200 residents (for an average family of four) in a small area. This is the first time HDB has experimented with such high-density development, the (severe) constraints of which we would never fully appreciate until the residents have lived together for many years. Thus we bought into the development with peace of mind that HDB would manage these constraints judiciously when it announced in the press that the sky bridges would be opened only to residents (see ST article dated 23 Nov 08 below).



Recently, some residents have called up HDB only to find out that HDB is planning to open the skybridges on the rooftop (Level 50) to the public. As much as we would like to share the scenic view from these vantage points with the public, we question the wisdom of doing so.



To allow an unlimited number more people to congregate on the rooftop of a tall building is an unthinkable and frightening scenario from a safety and security perspective. Especially when strategic resources such as water tanks are located at these places and when Singapore is prone to lightning strike. This is not to mention the logistical nightmare of supporting tens of thousands of people and vehicles descending into a small strip of land on festive occasions. In an emergency, no evacuation plan would be effective in such a situation. A disastrous loss of lives and damage to property could well be the consequence.



In addition, residents were reminded that they would have to pay service and conservancy charges that are much higher than normal rates to upkeep the sky bridges. Allowing public access to the sky bridges immediately removes this justification.



As future residents of this much talked about housing project, we call on HDB for some understanding that we are paying a premium price for our apartments due to the view and it would also be very unjustified, if not unfair to allow the public access to the roof garden. Although HDB may have its own "security measures" or certain timings of access, it would seem that the residents would not be able to enjoy their facilities (which they are paying for, of course) in peace.



On another note, ppppppppp is locating near office buildings and nightspots, thus it is unfair to expose our facilities to lunch-hour crowds or nightlife crowds. Furthermore, in events such as Formula 1, National Day, New Year's Eve and so on, it would be very unjust if residents have to face overcrowding on their own property, not forgetting littering and noise pollution.



As payers for additional facilities, we would take it to ourselves to upkeep the area and maintain cleanliness. Can we expect the same from the public? What is the distinction from P@D than a normal HDB if the public were allowed to access it?



In addition we also wish to highlight the other side of the equation - the public. If the public were able to access the roof garden during certain hours, what would stop them from writing in and complaining why they are allowed to access it normally but not during peak periods as mentioned above? This situation is of course if HDB were to put a stop to the public access during peak periods so as not to disturb the residents. Once a privilege is given, it is very difficult to take it away or to put restrictions to it.







We therefore appeal to HDB to honour its initial commitment to restrict access to the sky bridges to residents. We believe that this is the responsible thing to do where safety and security of the residents and the public is concerned. This would also demonstrate that HDB is a trusted partner to work with. Let us do all we can not to compromise the success of pppppppppppp, so that it can be a showcase for premium, high-density development to Singapore and possibly to the whole world for years to come.



We attach the article dated Nov 23 2008 from The Straits time which indicated that only residents would have access for your referral (http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/news/2008/11/1770/top-of-the-world).



We look forward to your favourable reply soon. Thank you.





CC

Ms Indranee Rajah

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Assoc Prof Koo Tsai Kee

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kwan Yew

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Mr Baey Yam Keng

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Radm Lui Tuck Yew

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Mr Tan Chin Siong.

Member of Parliament, Tanjong Pagar GRC



Regards,



Future Residents of uuuuuuuuuuuu









1. Name

Block Number

Unit



2. Name

Block Number

Unit

IE it has views, big windows, and a running track on the roof.

Duxton Plain today has changed again. These blocks of flats have gone. Today we have the Pinnacle. This is a photograph, not a computer visualisation. The building will be ready by the end of the year, the tallest and I think the most valuable HDB flats in Singapore

The Pinnacle @ Duxton was originally scheduled to be completed in June 2009. Due to some technical issues, the progress was slightly delayed. The first batch of residents may be able to get their keys in Dec 2009. The Chairman of Tg Pagar RC pointed out that many people are very concern about the completion date of P@D. But the works to link the sky bridges are complex, and engineers have to make some correction along the way. He said that if everything went smoothly, the first resident may be able to move in by end of the year. The Chairman said he hopes that when Singapore celebrates its 45th birthday, they can welcome the 7000 P@D residents at the same time. This can also bring more business to the neighborhood shops. About 95% of units at P@D has been booked. The 7 blocks are linked by sky bridges. It is a landmark building in Singapore. It is projected to be completed in the 4th quarter of this year.

China Construction Bank, the number two lender, is cutting loans by 70pc over the second half of the year. "We noticed that some loans didn't go into the real economy. Housing prices are rising too fast," said the bank's president, Zhang Jianguo. Andy Xie, a leading consultant, said China's boom was a "giant Ponzi scheme" that was likely to "bring very bad consequences" for the country. "The stock market is in a final frenzy again. The most ignorant retail investors are being sucked in by rising momentum," he said. Equities are overvalued by 50pc to 100pc. Mr Xie, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Japan's bubble in the 1980s, said China's ratio of property prices to incomes is seven times higher than in the US. It costs three months' salary per square meter of space – arguably the highest in the world – though tower blocks are sitting empty. Prices are being propped up by state enterprises, abetted by local Communist bosses. Mr Xie said Chinese booms and busts follow a political rythm. There is a deeply-rooted belief that the authorities can keep the game going – the "Panda put", China's answer to the "Greenspan Put" – and that the Communist Party will not let the rally fizzle before the 60th anniversary of the revolution on October 1. This belief is self-fulfilling, for a while. Mr Xie expects China's rally to falter around October, followed by fresh shots of liquidity before the economy falls into a deeper slump by 2012. "Property prices could drop like Japan's in the last two decades, which would destroy the banking system," he said. Mr Xie said China's asset boom is the flip-side of the weak US dollar. US monetary stimulus is in effect leaking across the Pacific. Bust will follow when the dollar rallies, draining liquidity again. If the Fed tightens abruptly as it did under Paul Volcker in the early 1980s, the denouement could be painful for China. Beijing deserves praise for trying to switch reliance from exports towards the domestic economy. It has had some success. Retail sales have risen 15pc over the last year. But Professor Michael Pettis from Beijing University said it is proving very hard to induce the Chinese to alter their spending habits. The cultural barriers will take years to overcome. Instead, the stimulus is feeding more industrial investment, leading to more excess capacity worldwide. While Chinese GDP continues to grow near 8pc, this is based on output. In the West, GDP growth is based on spending. These two definitions are chalk and cheese. The underlying story has not changed. The East-West imbalances that lay behind the Great Recession of 2008-2009 are getting worse, not better

weekday strolling at a park

The boxes came in handy to organised the assortment of books for psle & streaming exams. I have taken too long just to capture the broadband access for giga computer. Succeeded in the end. Decode and call me.