RBC Retirement Designers

RBC Retirement Designers

I happened to see an interview on Marilyn Dennis, with Hilary Farr, who used to be on Love It or List.  She now has a gig with the RBC as part of their website called Retirement Designers. At the end of the blog you can find it a link to the website. I checked out the website although I didn't find Hilary on it.

All of the big banks have information on websites about retirement planning that focuses on the financial planning aspects. This website is less about finances and more about how you want to live in retirement and what you want out of retirement.  

RBC wants you to use the website to help "design a retirement" that will work for you (and your spouse, if applicable) on various levels and at different stages.  If you think that you should pick up and follow your dreams after retiring or that retirement will be one long vacation, then the website could be a buzz kill for that. It is more about clarifying what is a doable dream and what might be a nice dream but not a great reality.  

It seems some retirees have made decisions to move from their home or invest in a long held dream and then discovered that the reality is not what they had envisioned. Unfortunately for them, their dream retirement turned into an expensive mistake. Also, some retiring couples appear to be at odds or at least on different pages regarding their dream retirement.  The website is set up to help them reach an agreeable compromise by finding common ground through determining their priorities.  

There are some good points to the website and it poses many excellent questions for people who are considering retiring or changing up their lives;  such as defining what you will do with the 2000 hours that you used to work in a year and now have free. What makes you get up in the morning and how best to make sure you want to get up in the morning. What you will do when you are not traveling or doing that one thing that you really want to do when you retire?   

The website is worth checking out if for no other reason than to realize whether you have answers for the questions they pose or perhaps you need to do more thinking or investigating.  There is a good priority setting activity to work through on an interactive tool, some videos and there are checklists and valuable information.  Here is the link.   

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/mfd-campaign/fall-b.html

I think I might try to see if other financial institutions have similar types of websites that focus less on the financial.

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory

After finishing The Orenda, by Boyden, I wanted to read something a little less intense and chose to read about a wife of King Henry VIII.  What was I thinking?  Being Henry's wife is decidedly more elegant but only slightly safer than living in a 17th century Huron village.   

Philippa Gregory has a Ph.d in history from the University of Edinburgh. She is a prolific writer and her novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, has been made into a movie.

She writes about the women in history instead of the men. These women may have had influence and power in their time but their accomplishments are often dominated or claimed by the men of the era.  Enough has been said about Henry VIII, so it is interesting to learn about his wives. However, the most famous of his wives, Anne Boleyn, (perhaps because she was young and beautiful but quickly fell out of favour and met a sudden and horrific end) overshadows his other wives, even Katherine Parr, one of his most intelligent and accomplished wives.

It is strange that not more is known about Katherine Parr since she did out live him, and that wasn't just luck.  She had to outmaneuver the King and the royal characters plotting against her. As Henry's sixth wife she followed two who were beheaded, two who were exiled and one dead through childbirth. She had reason to live in fear. Much of her time had to center around not ticking him off which was quite a chore since he was already quick to anger, egotistical and easily insulted.  He was at this time in constant pain from a well described ulcerous leg and he also had great discomfort from his over indulgence in food and wine, making him even grumpier.

Katherine was well read, a great thinker and well written.   She was the first woman in England to publish a book that she had written and not just translated.  As part of the court she was very involved in religious and theological discussion. Part of Henry's legacy is how he shaped religion in England during his time, and Katherine seems to have influence on Henry's thinking on religion and his place as head of the Church of England, as well. That is, she had influence when he was favouring the reformists; when he switched to the papists; she was in danger of losing her head.

Katherine had a considerable life outside of her royal life. She was a twice widowed but without children before she married the King. She also had a secret that would have ended her life and the life of a few others had he discovered it.

The Taming of the Queen, like Gregory's other novels is rich in detail. However, the intricacies of the court can be confusing, especially with Henry who liked to keep factions fighting between themselves and would favour one side and then the other to keep everyone on their toes.

I would recommend it to read if you are interested in a story about a strong, intelligent woman who is able to keep a secret. The rich detail of the Tudor court creates an atmosphere of intrigue and danger.  There are points when the discussion of religion seems tedious but it always turns out to be necessary to the story.  It is a good biography about a clever and innovative woman.

Reading Challenge:  

I chose to use this novel for the READ HARDER challenge to fulfill the Read a Biography entry.  I could also use it as a book set in Europe for the 2016 Reading Challenge from Popsugar, but I am sure that I will read another book set in Europe before the year is over.  

2000 Hours

All that free time???

It is estimated that when you retire you suddenly have about 2000 hours a year free.  Those are the hours that you used to spend working full time.  This of course is a rough estimate for many people may have spent fewer or more hours depending on where they were working.  No wonder, people worry about getting bored--that's a lot of time to fill.

I have to admit, I still don't seem to have enough hours in the day. Yet in the next breath I would  say that my time is much less rushed and pressured than when I was working.  I feel short of time only because I am busy and I like it that way.

This morning at yoga class, the instructor was posing questions during our cool down or reflective time, asking us to consider what makes us get up in the morning.  What made us get up that morning?  For me it is because I have things I want to do or someplace to go. It's also because I need to be ready to do whatever comes up.

This morning, I wanted to get a few things accomplished before I left for yoga.  I needed to make a marinade for the chicken I was cooking for supper, I wanted the house neat and chores finished.  I wanted coffee while I did my French lesson on Duolingo and caught up on email before I left the house. After my yoga class, I wanted to be able to spend the afternoon on something I like to do.  I was thinking of finishing a knitting pattern and spray painting a couple of items for a DYI project or maybe blogging for the afternoon.

As it turned out, the wind, or rather the first day of winter melting, took me for a long snow shoe trek through fields and forest and then a long walk down the road in my heavy winter boots. It was glorious to be outside in the sunshine, my coat unzipped and carrying my mitts in my hand soaking up vitamin D.  Snow shoeing is a great way to get really warm! This trek was totally unplanned. It was a spontaneous response to the warmth of the day and the realization that there may be a limited number of days remaining to snow shoe.  Ahh, the promise of spring.

The best days are when I have one or two things that are calling to me to get done and then a plan for one or two that will be just for fun.  And the very best days are like today when I have plans for things to do but the chance to drop it all to do something spontaneous.

Since I've retired, I have been very diligent about getting out of bed whenever I wake up. I am waking up naturally because my body has had enough sleep not because of an alarm clock, so there is no point in lying around. Sometimes I might make coffee and then read for a bit in bed because that is something I love to do but I always make sure I am up and doing something else within the hour.  I have found that staying in bed with nothing to do just puts me in a bad mood or dampens my day. Likewise, I have been careful about the time sucks; social media, watching t.v. during the day, and email.

After all I only have 2000 hours to fill, I better get busy enjoying them. 

Banana Cupcakes

Sunday Baking

I love to bake and I find baking on a Sunday, especially relaxing.  Maybe it's because usually there are fewer chores and errands to delay and interrupt your sifting and stirring.

If you are like me, you also often have over ripe bananas that you want to use instead of throwing out.  I have a great family recipe for banana bread but I've made that so often that I really needed to branch out and try something new.
I discovered these cupcakes in Best Recipes Ever while I was searching for recipes to use up a quart of buttermilk.

If you don't have buttermilk, that's okay.  I have made this recipe without buttermilk by substituting sour cream thinned with a little water and once with Greek yogurt.  Both times the recipe turned out as well as if I had used the buttermilk.

They are moist, light and fluffy and the family loved them but now they want we to make my regular banana bread again.  

Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg.
Beat in banana and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of buttermilk.  Spoon into paper-lined or greased muffin cups.

Bake in 350 degree oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool.

Are good either plain or with icing.

The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

Not for the faint hearted

The Orenda is intense from its opening pages to the very end making it a page turner.  However, it is not for the faint of heart. It is the type of story to give you bad dreams if not nightmares.

It is a story told in alternating chapters from the viewpoint of three main characters, a Huron warrior, an Iroquois girl captured and adopted by the warrior and a Jesuit priest.  It is historical fiction set in the early 17^th century just before the destruction of the Huron nation and at the beginning of Jesuits coming to Canada to convert the First Nations to Catholicism. 

Boyden is a good writer, perhaps one of Canada's best.  He is definitely very descriptive and creates excellent characters while maintaining historical accuracy.  This book has intensity from its first page to its last. 

You feel the tension, the fear, the unrelenting struggle to survive.   This intensity had me fearing an arrow piercing into my back as I read accompanied characters on canoe treks through Iroquois land and fearing starvation through long, cold winters and summers of drought.  

I have read a great deal of historical fiction--medieval, Vikings, Romans--I love stories about Genghis Khan, so I have read a lot of battles, and violence, but Boyden's descriptions of torture in this story are very graphic and relentless.  You can't just breeze over a paragraph or two and then perhaps get onto something else, he goes on for pages. The Iroquois are recognized as fearsome warriors and history has recorded them as brutal and Boyden does not shy away from that.  The only balance to his graphic descriptions is to remind readers at one point that such torture has been used throughout the world throughout history.   Father Christopher reminds two other priests of how the people they refer to as “sauvages” are not alone in torturing their captives and draws their attention to the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition

It reads like a movie, you can imagine the panning camera shots and recognize some standard movie devices. There is one part where a secondary character stands up in the midst of a battle, stating something self-congratulatory in and then just like in any war movie when something like this happens you find yourself thinking "sit down stupid, before you get shot"...whoops too late, the arrow passes right through his neck and he dies while being comforted by the older, wiser primary character.  Other than that one part that is so cliché, the remainder of the book is worth reading and the movie would be worth watching—even though I would be watching the battle scenes from under a blanket. 

I enjoy a book that intrigues me enough to do check its historical accuracy and do some additional research.  I also checked out various reviews of The Orenda to see how it was received by First Nations readers. 

I recommend the book and hope someone makes a movie that does it justice.

Reading Challenge:  I used The Orenda to complete the challenge of a book recommended by someone I had just met.  Although I met the person a while ago, it was only one meeting.
Moe, out younger son and I were on a tour on the French River offered by the Lodge at Pine Cove, near Noelville.  Our tour guide, Alex, is the owner of the Lodge and is well read on the region and Canadian history.  On a beautiful, sunny day in June, we were on a pontoon boat in the middle of the French River listening to Alex talk about Canadian politics, geography, history and First Nation topics when he recommended the reading of The Orenda and two other books as good reading for understanding the early history of the area.  

I highly recommend visiting The Lodge at Pine Cove. Check it out on Facebook or at their website.

Designing Your Retirement

Retirement is going to change your life.  And it is going to change your life in more ways than just not going to work every day. It gives you freedom; it gives you choice and it gives you time. It also gives you the responsibility of keeping yourself happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.

 For some people retirement will be just an increase of what they already do when they are not at work. They will spend time on the hobbies they have always done, visit with the people they already socialize with, and perhaps take a vacation or two. No real change, just more time and more freedom.  In many ways they are very lucky people since the transition to retirement should be an easy slide into more of what they already have.  However, if they don’t have enough hobbies or variety of activities they may become bored of the routine.

I had a great fear of being bored in my retirement so I did some serious searching on the internet for advice on planning for this big change. Like many people I list travel as one of the things I will do for my retirement but my choice to retire before my husband means that travel isn’t the biggest part of my plan right now.  Also, I knew that hobbies alone would not be enough.

One of the most useful articles I read about planning for retirement is at the link below this page. 

I actually completed the “wheel of life” and found that it really did help me build a vision of how I would create a full and balanced life with all my new freedom, choice and time.  I really love activities like that and creating a pie with slices of life, all neat and pretty was fun. It is quicker and neater than a vision board.  It has also given me something to consider if I need to.  I updated it and made some tweaks after a rather unsettling conversation with someone who is finding he has too many hours to fill with his retirement--he's been retired for more than a year.  I found it useful to consider how I build up a "slice" and to consider how these slices would shift in importance over the next few months.  

 Here are the instructions and below that is a link to the full article.  

 Envision your new world. One tool I find helpful in transitions is “the wheel of life.” This wheel looks like a pie with eight slices representing different elements of life: Fun, Health, Money, Friends, Career, Spouse, Physical Environment (home), and Personal Growth. A useful exercise is to go through each category and write out your vision for each. Where are you now in this area, and where might you like to take these in your transition? If you have a spouse or partner, involve them in the process. Reinventions are a team sport, after all.

How To Design A Retirement That Excites You
https://hbr.org/2015/11/design-a-retirement-that-excites-you

Birthday in Retirement

Welcome back to my blog.


I didn't publish much last week as it was rather a topsy-turvy week.  It seems odd to say that I didn't really have time.  But that is somewhat true; I was busy doing other things.  And if I am being honest, I also took a vacation day (or two).

I started my week on Monday by missing my usual yoga class and I also skipped out on Tai Chi as well.  I spent the day, instead, taking my older son and his fiancee to the closest airport for the first leg of their trip to Thailand.  They will be doing some backpacking and viewing of temples and beaches in Thailand, then visiting Bali to meet up with daughter and her husband (on their honeymoon) to play ultimate Frisbee for Easter weekend and then perhaps onto Cambodia.  We are following their exploits through Instagram, Facebook and soon when they start publishing on their blog;

 travelmanuel@blogspot.com.

In the last month, we have been busy helping them store their things...which means my basement has been topsy- turvy as well.  However, they were quite good about things and I actually got my crafts room organized and put together because they needed the space in our storage room.

Also, in the last few weeks they helped me set up my blog and got me publishing maybe a little bit before I had worked out the logistics of how I was going to do this.  And maybe before I had worked out exactly what I want to do on my blog; but I think that will be all good.  Sometimes you just have to grab the opportunity when it presents itself.
You can't just put off beginning something until someday when all the stars are aligned and everything is right.  All of those are just delaying tactics because the "right time or the perfect time" may never come, or even if the perfect time does come you may still miss it because you won't be ready since all you've prepared are the excuses that are stopping you from doing it now.

It is somewhat similar with my son's trip.  A logical part of me would like to encourage them to stay here, focus on their careers, put that money toward a house, or RRSPs or something tangible, but then another part reminds me that you are only young once and right now they don't have the responsibilities and obligations that would tie them down and block such an adventure.  Sometimes you just need to do what feels right to you.

I had a birthday in the middle of the week.  My first birthday in retirement; it seemed like some sort of milestone.  The beginning of how all future birthdays will be.

While I was working in the last few years, I was able to book a vacation day on my birthday and then I would make an appointment for a manicure/pedicure or shopping and sleeping in so that I could cram in as much fun as possible on that day.  This year I still wanted a vacation day--even though I am on what still feels like a vacation from work. So I decided, I didn't want any appointments or plans to interrupt my day, and I didn't want to cram too much into it.  So I stayed in bed and read a bit, and did only enough housework to keep the house from being a mess the next day. And then I did pretty much nothing. No writing or knitting or cooking or baking or anything else. The only thing I did was go to my favourite coffee shop, Twiggs for a Chai latte to drink while I watched Netfix and waited for my younger son to arrive from Ottawa.

My younger son can be very sweet.  Months ago he scheduled his last orthodontic appointment for this week so that he could be home for my birthday. He stayed through to the weekend, happy to be home and enjoying our cooking and free laundry by mom.  We even took a road trip together to his appointment on Friday.  

So that's why I've been to busy to blog last week.

Pillar and Post

NIAGARA on the LAKE

Trying to make travel plans for a retirement trip during the Christmas holidays proved to be too difficult. We would have loved to have booked a sunny trip somewhere south... the Mayan Riviera would have been my choice; however we needed to work out when each of our sons would be home, when we could go to see my parents and siblings' families and work around my husband's return to work.  So instead we made a quick jaunt to Southern Ontario before Christmas and then a short visit to Ottawa after Christmas and then up to Walford to visit my parents for New Year's Day. 

I left the bookings up to my favourite travel agent, Moe.  

He loves TravelZoo because he loves to believe he is getting the best bang for his buck.  Through that website he was able to book a stay at the Pillar and Post in Niagara-on-the-Lake that included dinner at the hotel restaurant and a wine tasting at a local winery, the Reif Estates. The Pillar and Post is one of the Vintage hotels in this picturesque small town that I have been hoping to stay at someday.  The website claims the Pillar and Post is Ontario's only five star Inn, and includes on an on-sight spa, a first class dining room and a hot springs. There is also a very nice salt water pool. You can check out their website for some luscious pictures. 

http://www.vintage-hotels.com/pillarandpost

Their foyer was decorated with a giant Christmas tree and banks of poinsettia. That's me standing beside it. 

    

A large bouquet of red roses was on the table in front of the fireplace flanked by four club chairs. Sitting there to sip morning coffee felt like being part of the upstairs folk in Downton Abbey.  

We enjoyed our meal at the Cannery very much, although with the TravelZoo deal it was a limited menu.  Two choices for appetizer, three choices of entree and two choices for dessert.  I enjoyed all of my meal and Moe felt dessert was the best part.  The Cannery gets its rather strange name from the fact that it was once a tomato cannery for Aylmer.  You can check it out at the link below.  We both regret passing up having breakfast there in favour of going to a restaurant in town because we were planning to visit the shops on the main street.  

 http://www.vintage-hotels.com/pillarandpost/dining.php

Saturday night, there were too many guests taking advantage of the hot springs that we went to the salt water pool instead.  Moe got up early on Sunday morning to go check on the hot springs since he thought that might be our best chance to enjoy it alone. He was right. He came back to say that no one was there, so we quickly threw on our bathing suits and hotel robes to speed down the hall.  The hot spring was ideal.  You leave your robe on hooks conveniently close to the entrance and then can enter the water while still inside the hotel.  Once you pass through a covered opening you are outside in a warm hot springs with winter all around you.  The snow was falling very light and the sky was still dark, the pool was surrounded by rocks and tall pine trees and with the push of some buttons and you are basking in the warm bubbly water.  A great, relaxing way to start the morning.  

I would definitely go back to the hotel but I know that I would also like to stay at the other Vintage Hotels in town, The Prince of Wales which is located right down town on the main street making it very easy to stroll down the quaint street or Queen's Landing.  It's best to check out the Queen's Landing website to see just how beautiful it is.  

http://www.vintage-hotels.com/queenslanding/  

We look forward to visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake in the future and perhaps doing more wine tasting and winery tours. Of course we could also go to do more shopping or attend a play at the Shaw Festival.  Niagara-on-the-Lake is ranked as one of the best places in Ontario and Canada to retire.  It is a beautiful area of vineyards, with quick and easy access to Niagara Falls, St. Catherine's,  Buffalo and Toronto. It is close to outlet malls and regular shopping in St. Catherine's, as well, the quaint town offers unique and interesting shops on its very pedestrian friendly main street.  The town is small but offers many excellent places to eat, several historic areas to visit, beautiful parks and walking paths and of course wineries and the Shaw Festival.  Even if you don't want to retire there, it is a place worth visiting.

Dickens and Great Expectations

I don't think that I can convince anyone to read Great Expectations who doesn't already want to read the classics, but I am going to write about it anyway.  I read it to fulfill the entry for the Reading Challenge about reading a book that I should have read in high school.

I did read some of it in grade 9 and I know that Miss Havisham left a lasting impression but any other memory of the book was vague at best.  I am not sure if I read all of it, some of it or most of it back then but I do know that I listened to Mr. Tuer talk about it in class.  I probably remember more about the teacher and his rather strange choice of socks than I do about the book. The Reading Challenge forced me to take the opportunity to right the shirking of my educational duties from so long ago.

Reading it wasn't like swallowing a teaspoon of vile medicine that quickly does its job, but it still felt like taking some type of medicine.  There were points where I was trudging through it.  True to the conditions of the time, Dickens was being paid for each word and it is very evident at the beginning of each chapter when he sets the scene in often verbose description.  Definitely, good for brushing up or expanding your vocabulary, so you can use words like verbose.

Yet at other times it was truly enjoyable.  Dickens can be witty, even funny with clever turns of phrase and with sarcastic and dry explanations of human foibles.  In the last third of the book, all of the slow lead up with careful laying out of plot and character development the book comes together and it becomes exciting.  I read until I was too tired to read anymore and had to leave the last few chapters to the next day.  Dickens leaves no loose ends and ties up all the plot lines and characters very well.  I guess back then the idea of a sequel, or prequel or spin off was not considered the thing to do.  

Now that I finished reading it I am glad that I did take it on. After all it is a classic and I am probably a better reader because of it.   Next year, if the reading challenge has a similar entry I think I might be reading Dickens again since I only remember the first lines from A Tale of Two Cities and have a vague memory of Madame Dafarge knitting away.
I would rather be reading Austin, her world is kinder.

Absolutely yummy and decadent!

There are times when you want the kitchen all to yourself and then there are times when cooking should be shared.  Valentine's Day works perfectly for shared cooking.  We plan a simple menu; steak, roasted potatoes, salad, wine and add lobster tails if we can.  

This Valentine's we added a couple of upgrades courtesy of February's Canadian Living.  I made the brandy cream sauce that was included with their recipe for Filet Mignon as well as their recipe for Oven-Roasted Potato Wedges; which is just really tossing wedges of potatoes with olive oil and dried rosemary (I used fresh from my rosemary plant) and then roasting for 25 minutes in a 425 degree oven. 

 The brandy cream sauce is also very simple.  In a tbsp of olive oil saute 1 shallot ( I used a thin celery stalk because I couldn't find shallots) until softened.  Add 3 tbsp of brandy and stir cooking until it is reduced by half.  Add 3 tbsp of whipping cream and 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and any accumulated steak juices from the pan, cook, stirring until thickened which is about 30 seconds.  The sauce is rich, very tasty and was a good addition to the meal.  

However, the piece to resistance was the Mini Chocolate Pudding Cakes for Two 

The recipe is below.  We plan to make this again but will double the recipe for company.  Absolutely yummy and decadent!  Exactly what you want for a romantic dinner at home.

• Prep time10 minutes
• Total time35 minutes
• Portion size2 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp (18 mL) granulated sugar
• 5 tsp (24 mL) cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) baking powder
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 4 tsp (18 mL) milk
• 2 tsp (10 mL) butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) hot water
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar

Preparation

In small bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, 2 tsp of the cocoa powder and the baking powder. (Make-ahead: Cover and store for up to 24 hours.) Stir egg yolk, milk, butter and vanilla into flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among 2 lightly greased 6-oz (175 mL) ramekins.

In bowl, whisk together hot water, brown sugar and remaining cocoa powder. Pour over batter.

Bake on rimmed baking sheet in 350°F (180°C) oven until firm to the touch, about 18 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with ice cream or whipping cream.  (Grenache, caramel sauce or Dulce de Leche is a nice addition if you don't care about calories!)
I intend to double the recipe and make them for company on Saturday night. I even bought a new set of ramekins.
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