Using the obituary page as a retirement planning tool

Imagine being shipwrecked on a desert island for 20, 30 or 40 years. One of the first things you would do, even before designing a loincloth, would be to check out the supply of coconuts and fresh water. Fortunately, that is a problem most of us will never face.

On the other hand, most of us will retire — someday. And when getting your retirement planning ducks in a row, one of the best planning tools is the obituary section of your local newspaper.

Obits are journalistic works of art. In very little space they condense the life and accomplishments of someone who lived a very long time. Obits can help you figure out how much money you are going to need for the years, maybe decades, after your regular paycheck stops. But your urge to live, have fun, travel, etc. continues.

Workers who have or will retire under the Civil Service Retirement System after a long career are typically in good-to-very-good financial shape. Their annuities, which they helped pay for, are generous compared to most other retirement plans. These include the Federal Employees Retirement System, which covers most current employees. CSRS benefits are fully-indexed to inflation.

But assuming Congress and the White House leave it alone, people who will retire under the FERS program will also depend on Social Security and money they’ve contributed to the Thrift Savings Plan. Hopefully it’s enough to get the generous 5 percent government match.

For CSRS retirees the TSP is a nice option. For those under FERS it is an absolute must that will supply anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the money they have to spend in retirement.

So where does perusing the obituary page fit into your retirement plan? It won’t tell you how long you will spend in retirement, but obits give you a good cross-section look at how long you might spend in retirement, without a steady paycheck.

Consider the June 14 issue of The Washington Post. It had six short, but interesting news obituaries of recently deceased D.C., Maryland and Virginia residents. Two of them lived to be 92 years old, another 91, one 90 and the youngest — a university professor — was 82 years old. Two of them — a biophysicist and a psychologist — were retired from the National Institutes of Health. One was an Air Force officer, another a modeling school director and another a retiree from a well-known-yet-defunct department store.

What they did while working was interesting, and the amount of time most of them spent in retirement was amazing. And it probably surprised them, too!

One of the NIH employees retired in 2008 after 50 years on the job. Another left the agency in 1988 while the Air Force officer retired in 1979.

Friday’s Post had five local obituaries including an 89-year old U.S. Information Agency retiree, a 95 year old nurse and a 96 year old CIA economist who also worked for the Departments of Commerce and Defense. He left the government in 1981, meaning his retirement spanned 37 years.

Planning ahead? Be sure to listen to the Your Turn radio show on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Washington area attorney Tom O’Rourke will talk about what federal workers and retirees should be doing as part of their retirement planning. Is a will enough? What about various powers of attorney, and if you need a trust, which is best for you?

Listen to the show on Federal News Radio or on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Amelia Brust

Contrary to the urban myth, dogs can see more colors than simply black and white. Their spectrum of vision is less varied than that of humans, but they can make out shades of blue and yellow.

Sources: Psychology Today

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