Wichita Community Matters November 2016

Commun ty Matters Wichita Presbyterian Manor

November 2016

The surprising secrets of some successful retirees If you’re in your 40s, 50s or early 60s, odds are you’d like to know what it takes to have a happy and successful retirement.To find out, a few authors — such as Wes Moss (“You Can Retire Sooner ThanYou Think”) and Bob Lowry (“Living a Satisfying Retirement”) — have surveyed retirees.

And now Marc Diana, the Los-Angelesbased CEO of the new personal-finance site MoneyTips.com, has surveyed 510 retirees to learn the magic elixir. He published the findings in the free e-book, “The Retiree Next Door: Successful Seniors’ Surprising Secrets” (you can download it at the MoneyTips site).

I spoke with Diana, a serial entrepreneur who also founded Savings.com, to find out what those surprising secrets were and what pre-retirees should do now if they want to join the club. I confess that the results did, indeed, surprise me.

Highlights from my conversation with Diana: RETIREES continued on page 2

A night in the opera He may not be the next Pavarotti, but Wichita Presbyterian Manor resident Ray Keller can now say he’s performed with the opera. Ray appeared in the Wichita Grand Opera production of “La Bohème” in October. He was a member of a band that appeared at the end of Act 2, dressed as a soldier and “playing” a flute.

The opera was performed once at Century II and again at the Carlsen Center in Overland Park. According to the WGO website, “Puccini’s masterpiece is a passionate, timeless, unforgettable story of love among young artists in (19th century) Paris. At first glance,‘La Bohème’ is a heartbreaking story of the joys and sorrows of love and loss; look deeper, and it will show you how OPERA, continued on page 4

Making new friends Cypress Memory Care residents and staff made snacks for Adventure Planet Child Care Center in recognition of Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. The residents and children had a great time visiting!

RETIREES, continued from page 1

What made you decide to do this survey?

Community Matters

is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org.

Dawn Veh, executive director Melody Dodge, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Amy Watson, life enrichment director, awatson@pmma.org.

Telephone: 316-942-7456 Fax: 316-941-3806 Address: 4700 W. 13th St., Wichita, KS 67212-5575 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

WichitaPresbyterianManor.org

Diana:We did a survey of boomers four months ago and found that half of boomers were not satisfied with their finances and a third had no plan.We thought that was a recipe for disaster for a large body of Americans, so we said: ‘Let’s reach some successful retirees and see how they are doing and how did they get there so we can help boomers approaching retirement.’

What did the successful retirees have in common?

They’re living within their means and they had a savings plan for retirement. About a quarter of them calculated how much they’d need to retire when they were in their 40s; another 21 percent did it in their 50s.

And how much were they saving each year before they retired?

Nearly 60 percent saved between 6 and 20 percent a year.

2

Community Matters November 2016

What surprised you in the survey results?

44 percent said they were comfortably retired with less than $500,000 in assets.

That surprised me quite a bit. I’m in my 40s and that wouldn’t cut it for me.

What does this tell you?

It hits on one of the ingredients in the root of what I uncovered through the survey, which is that successful does not mean ‘I’ve got gobs of money and houses all over the place and cars.’ People who came to terms with what they wanted out of life and managed to figure how to budget and live within that were happily retired.

Are the successful retirees frugal?

No.They’ve been prudent, not frugal.

Only 35 percent call themselves frugal; the rest said they spend enough to live comfortably. And 67 percent live on less than a $100,000 a year; 23 percent are in the 25 to 50 grand bucket.

The key is that two-thirds have been on a monthly budget and stuck to it.

RETIREES continued on page 3 Like us on Facebook

RETIREES continued from page 2

Did they use financial advisers to plan for retirement?

About 62 percent consulted advisers, at least some of the time, through their career to make investment decisions.

Was having a financial adviser useful for them?

Without a doubt. Engaging an adviser made them more likely to have a budget and to live within it.

What investment mistakes did the successful retirees regret making?

One big mistake they made was getting into the stock market too late or getting out of it too late.They tried to rifle-shot the market. And the other mistake they made was making bad real estate bets.

We respect the privacy of residents and ask that you respect their privacy, too.

Posting this?

Check the background.

If your photograph, video or Snap includes residents who are not a relative, don’t post it to social media.

What keeps them up at night?

The fear of outliving their savings and incurring substantial health care costs.

And twenty five percent are concerned about maintaining their standard of living.They worry that something might happen — like inflation or their lifespan increasing.

Looking for a gift for the senior who has

everything?

Like us on Facebook

Make a gift in their honor while making a difference in the mission of Presbyterian Manors. We’ll hang an ornament on the tree with their name on it.

Make your gift by visiting www.PresbyterianManors.org/GoodSam or see the reception desk

Wichita Presbyterian Manor

3

October’s resident of the month: Barker Davis Barker Davis was born in Canton, Mo., in 1922. He joined the U.S. Army infantry in 1943 and stayed in the military until the end of World War II in 1945. He spent 306 days overseas in combat, and he also helped teach about 2,000 fellow soldiers to swim during his tour. Today, he regularly has lunch with another veteran who was a paratrooper stationed just a few miles away from Barker in the Pacific.

Barker got his bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics in 1946. He married Kathryn in 1947, and they then had a daughter, Joan. He worked in payroll, sales and credit. He retired from an oil industry credit department after 32 years.

Barker has had miniature poodles for about 50 years. He has hunted and fished with them, and for about 15 years he has done agility training with his dogs.

In agility competitions, trainers teach dogs to run an obstacle course of jumps, tunnels and weaving poles.

Theater isn’t one of Ray’s main pastimes, but one of his good powerful even the most trivial things friends has appeared in several local can become, be it a candle in the dark productions.The friend auditioned for or a scarf in the cold.”

“La Bohème” and was accepted, but Ray said the entire cast was a pleasure they needed more actors for the band. to work with. “They were very, very So he called Ray to join him, as he did kind, the stars and the conductor always several years ago in a local one-act spoke to everyone,” he said. opera.

OPERA, continued from page 1

It is as much a challenge for the trainer as it is for the dog because the trainer must keep up with the animal.

Barker’s dogs have been in the top 50 of the United Kennel Club National championships four times. His dog Rusty is currently No. 2 in the UKC standings.

“It’s fun. I love to do it,” Ray said. “It’s fun to see how much more involved it is than what you see on the stage.”

Ray and his wife Helen used to serve as ushers for Music Theatre of Wichita’s summer productions.That made it all the more exciting to go, quite literally, behind the scenes on the same stage.

New beginnings in 2017

We will focus on new beginnings in an upcoming issue of Community Matters. As we approach the new year, what resolutions are you making?

Have you ever made a resolution that changed your life? What are your hopes for 2017?

If you’ve got a story to share, contact Life Enrichment Director Amy Watson, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.

4

Community Matters November 2016

Sign up to receive our newsletter by email. Visit WichitaPresbyterianManor.org and enter your email address in the subscription box.

It’s that easy!

Like us on Facebook