WHILE SITTING AT MY desk a few months ago, I received a text message from Citibank notifying me of “suspicious activity” on my primary credit card. I immediately logged onto my account and discovered someone that morning had attempted to use my credit card number at a luxury resort—one located several hundred miles from where I work. The charge had been denied, but the damage was done. I immediately cancelled the card. I also began notifying the companies I have automated payments with, telling them I’d have to provide a new card number for future payments. As it turned out, my credit card was hacked at around the same time Equifax announced a data breach that affected 143 million customers. Credit card numbers for more than 200,000 of those customers were compromised as part of that incident. I’ll likely never know if my card number was among those stolen or if the timing was coincidental. Still, the incident prompted me to take additional steps to ensure my identifying information is as secure as possible. After cancelling my credit card, I logged onto my credit union account to see if anything looked out of place. For that and other financial accounts, I utilize a password management program to keep track of my various passwords. In addition to using unique and strong passwords for my accounts, I also use two-step authentication whenever it’s available—an important precaution when accessing my accounts from a work or other non-home computer. That helps ensure my account information can’t be accessed without my knowledge. Next, I made sure I had fraud alerts set up on all my accounts. While many credit card companies will automatically provide some level of fraud monitoring, most also allow you to personalize the service. At my credit union, I can specify a dollar limit for individual purchases. Any transaction over that amount will automatically result in me receiving a notification via email, phone or text. I can also elect to receive an alert if my card is ever used abroad. A couple of weeks after receiving my replacement credit card, I ordered a credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com. While I could have downloaded as many as three separate reports—one from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus—I chose to look at just one. By electing to look at a single report every few months, I can keep tabs on my credit history throughout the year, without ever having to pay for a report. Finally, I plan to file my 2017 taxes as soon as I receive all my tax statements. Filing as early as I can may prevent thieves from successfully filing a fraudulent return, should they have access to my Social Security number. Kristine Hayes is a departmental manager at a small, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Her previous articles include So Rewarding, Driving Down Costs and Getting Sued. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]

MY MOM JUST SOLD her house. A few months ago, she interviewed three real estate agents. Each offered her a different opinion of how much her home was worth. All three also charged different commissions. In the end, she selected the agent with the highest fee. I was skeptical when she told me her 1,100-square-foot home would be listed for $500,000. My mom’s house and mine are nearly identical in size, age, location and condition. They would easily be classified as comparable for appraisal purposes. Given that I’d purchased my home three years ago for $375,000, I found it unimaginable that values could have increased so much in such a short period of time. I was also leery when my mom agreed to have her home professionally cleaned and staged. She spent nearly $3,000 preparing her home for sale before it had even spent a single day on the market. In my mind, I wondered if my mom was being overcharged for services that weren’t necessary and if her home would linger—unsold—for several weeks. Those doubts were dealt with quickly. Within three days of being listed, my mom had five offers to sort through. They ranged from $500,000 to $580,000. She ultimately settled on an offer of $563,000 that included a stipulation that the buyer would pay for any lender-required repairs. The inspection, appraisal and closing all took place quickly and efficiently. My mom raved about the service she received from her real estate agent. I’d always assumed that, when it came time for me to sell my home, I’d opt for the agent with the lowest fees. I also planned on staging the house myself, using a few pieces of my own furniture. But I’ve changed my mind. It’s now clear to me that the right agent can easily be worth the cost.

I’VE BEEN EMPLOYED on at least a part-time basis since I was 17 years old. For almost three decades now, I’ve been working fulltime. It’s probably not surprising that, at almost 51 years old, I’ve reached the point where I spend considerable energy contemplating a life beyond work. The idea of achieving financial independence and retiring early—captured by the acronym FIRE, short for financial independence/retire early—is never far from my thoughts. As a born planner, I’m all about drawing up a strategy and putting it into action. But even for me, figuring out exactly what it will take to leave my fulltime job often seems overwhelming. Faced with so many variables and unknowns, I’ve tried to solve my retirement equation the only way I know how: by breaking the plan down into smaller, more manageable chunks. I started by thinking about how to move from fulltime employment to fulltime retirement. Since I didn’t get serious about saving and investing until I was well into my 40s, I’m assuming I’ll need to work part-time for at least a few years before I leave the workforce entirely. Part-time employment will be beneficial in a couple of ways. It will allow me to have more “me time” to do the things I enjoy, while letting my investment accounts grow for a few more years before I start taking substantial withdrawals. Next, I started thinking about actual numbers. How much money would I need to save before I felt comfortable bidding farewell to a 40-hour work week? There’s certainly no shortage of advice on the subject. I settled on a goal of $500,000. It was an amount I felt I could realistically achieve through aggressive saving and frugal living. When combined with my pension and Social Security, that $500,000 should allow me to maintain a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Of course, estimating how much I need to save is determined, in large part, by how much I spend to maintain my lifestyle. Over the past four years, I’ve drastically trimmed expenses and now live on roughly half my gross income. When it comes time to transition to part-time employment, living modestly means I should be free to choose what I want to do, with little regard to how much it pays. The next item on my agenda was determining when I could access my various retirement investments. The accounts I have with my current employer contain the bulk of my nest egg. I can take withdrawals from them as early as age 55, provided I leave my job. My Roth IRA contributions, as well as my taxable mutual funds, can be accessed at any age. I can begin drawing money out of my pension as early as age 58 and as late as age 70, and I’ll be eligible for full Social Security benefits when I turn 67. Knowing the ages at which I can access these various funds has guided me as I wrestle with how long to continue with either fulltime or part-time work. Health care coverage is a major concern for anyone contemplating early retirement. Fortunately, I have access to generous benefits through my current employer—and it’s a major reason I can even contemplate leaving my job before full retirement age. Once I reach age 55, I can continue to receive the same health care coverage I currently have, even if I leave my job. And at age 65, I’ll receive a monthly stipend to help offset the cost of any Medicare supplement plans I choose to purchase. Kristine Hayes is a departmental manager at a small, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Her previous blogs include Long Story, Independence Day and Case Closed. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]

THIS TIME OF YEAR, nightly news shows often feature a montage of clips from various commencement and graduation speeches. The speakers, mostly well-known business people, politicians and celebrities, dish out anecdotes and inspirational words to hordes of newly minted college graduates. If I were ever invited to speak at a commencement, I’d offer a more commonsense approach, sharing some of the insights I’ve gained from working in higher education for more than two decades. In particular, here are five tips I’d give to young graduates venturing into “adulting”: 1. Realize you probably don’t know what you’re good at. Also realize you don’t really know what you want to do with the rest of your life. I started my college career as a journalism major who hated science. When I was forced to take a biology course to fulfill a graduation requirement, I discovered I was fascinated by the field of genetics. I switched my major to biology, but swore I’d never work in a laboratory. One unpaid internship later, I discovered I was not only good at lab work, but also enjoyed it. Now, I’ve been working in labs for most of my adult life—but when I was 20-years-old, it was a career that wasn’t even on my radar. According to some studies, nearly half of college graduates don’t work in the field their degree is in. To make matters worse, nearly 45% of college graduates may be underemployed, working at a job that doesn’t require a college degree at all. My advice: Take advantage of various career and learning opportunities as they arise. They might just lead you on a career path you never dreamed of. 2. Get an education—just not too much. Studies continue to show that a college degree leads to significantly higher lifetime earnings. But the statistics may be starting to change. With the increasing cost of a college education, a four-year-degree no longer comes with the guaranteed payoff it had just a few decades ago. Too many students seem to think that, even though they hated sitting in a classroom for the first 12 years of their education, they’ll suddenly love it when they go to college. Nothing could be further from the truth, and many end up dropping out. Millions of Americans are saddled with student debt, but no degree to show for it. My advice: Consider alternatives like trade schools, apprenticeships, community college certificate programs and the military. All offer pathways to rewarding and financially stable jobs. The best part: Most of them cost a fraction of the tab for a four-year degree. 3. Follow your passion, but do it as a hobby. I admit I’ve contemplated trying to turn my hobbies into a career. Who wouldn’t love to earn a living doing what they consider their passion? But once your hobby becomes your job, it will likely cease to be your passion. Instead, it’ll probably turn into a stress-filled, 18-hour-a-day job as you struggle to stay afloat, build a business and make money. The cold, hard truth is only about 35% of small businesses survive more than a decade. My advice: Find a job you enjoy and a hobby you love. Maintain a healthy work-life balance. Dare to dream about retiring early and then save the money to make it happen. Once you leave the workforce, you’ll have nothing but time to pursue all the activities you love. 4. Learn to cook. I’m no gourmet chef, but I can read a recipe and create something reasonably tasty from a few simple ingredients. The few times a year when I go out to eat, I’m usually disappointed with the food I get and astonished by the cost. My advice: Invest in some good cookware and a couple of good cookbooks. Learn how to shop for groceries on a budget. Once you’ve become familiar with the price of common food items, you’ll realize the restaurant meal you just paid $25 for contained just $3 of ingredients. 5. Examine all benefits of a job. It took working nearly 20 years at my current job for my salary to double. I’ll probably never come close to making a six-figure salary. But I’ve had jobs with fabulous retirement benefits and I’ve had jobs where working less than 40-hours-a-week was still considered fulltime. At my current job, my dogs can accompany me to work every day—a huge benefit when it comes to raising and training a puppy. My advice: Don’t just consider the salary when examining a potential job. Factor in retirement benefits, paid time-off and any other perks that come with the position. While it’s the salary that pays the monthly bills, often it’s the benefits that make a job desirable and worthwhile in the long run. Kristine Hayes's previous articles for HumbleDollar include Six Years Later, State of Change and A Better Trade. Kristine enjoys competitive pistol shooting and hanging out with her husband and her two corgis. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]

A FEW YEARS AGO, my future husband and I took a trip to southern Utah to participate in a pistol shooting competition. We were taken by the area’s beauty and easy access to outdoor recreational activities. While there, we looked at a few homes and were pleasantly surprised to find the prices quite reasonable. We decided Utah would be high on our list of places to relocate to once I retired from my job. Soon after we returned home, St. George, Utah, was ranked as one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country. As the population increased, so too did housing prices. Not long after our visit, we realized we were priced out of the market. Last year, we learned about a retirement community located just outside of Phoenix. Arizona was another state we were interested in retiring to, so we took a trip to investigate the area. Within a couple of days, we felt we’d found the right location for us and we began house hunting. It took two months before we closed on a home. We were outbid on two properties before finding a home we felt was ideal for us. We’d formulated a list of criteria for our retirement destination and the house checked every box. First, we wanted easy access to the various activities we enjoy participating in. Our retirement home is just 20 miles from a world-class shooting range. There are also multiple dog-training clubs throughout the region, which will help us keep our pack of four canines active and engaged. Live concerts, movies in the park and an overwhelming number of continuing education opportunities are available within the community itself. There are also multiple fitness facilities, a library and several clubs we look forward to joining. Next on our list was access to health care. With a full-service hospital and multiple physicians’ offices located less than two miles from our home, this box was easily checked. Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of our lives, both my husband and I were interested in retiring to a location with less rain and lower taxes. Arizona met both criteria. Weatherwise, we’ll be trading wet, cold winters for hot, dry summers. Taxwise, we’ll be trading high payments for much lower ones. The property taxes on our 2,000-square-foot Arizona home, located on a 10,000-square-foot lot, are 75% less than the taxes on our 1,100-square-foot home on a city lot in Oregon. [xyz-ihs snippet="Mobile-Subscribe"] Finally, we knew we wanted to find a home and community that were disability friendly. Although my husband and I are both healthy and active now, we realize this might not always be the case. When my husband underwent knee-replacement surgery last year, it gave us insight into how difficult it can be to negotiate a house that isn’t designed for mobility devices. Nearly all of the 17,000 houses in our retirement community were built with accessibility in mind. Most are single-story homes with open floor plans and bathrooms designed for use with wheelchairs and walkers. The sidewalks are wide and barrier-free. The major thoroughfares running through the community accommodate three lanes of traffic. Golf carts are street legal. The entire community was built with the idea of making it easy for residents to age in place. If, in the future, my husband and I need assisted care, there are multiple in-home health care providers available. Residents who need assistance paying for prescription medications, utility bills or appliance repairs can request funds through a community-based, nonprofit charity. Over the past four years, the organization has paid out more than $400,000 in financial assistance to community residents. I initially questioned our decision to buy a second home before I’d retired. But my husband reminded me of our trip to Utah and now I’m glad I listened to him. Housing prices within the Arizona community have already increased 10% since we purchased our home last year. Kristine Hayes is a departmental manager at a small, liberal arts college. Her previous articles include Decisions, Decisions, Day by Day and Did It Myself. Kristine enjoys competitive pistol shooting and hanging out with her husband and their dogs. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]

IT'S CLEAR LIFE experiences shape how we behave. But what role does temperament—the innate personality traits embedded in our DNA—play in how we navigate our personal and financial lives? I began exploring my personality in my mid-40s. Amid a midlife crisis, I wanted to better understand why I act the way I do. I was recently divorced, living alone for the first time and determined to do some in-depth self-reflection. I was aware my personality was the result of both inborn and environmental influences. Studies estimate 30% to 60% of human personality is heritable. I began to reflect back on my childhood to examine the behaviors I still have as an adult. The most obvious lifelong trait I possess: my desire to spend time alone. In elementary school, I spent far more time reading than I did playing with other kids. I was happiest when I could sit in the corner of a room surrounded by a pile of books. When I wasn’t reading, I was writing. I frequently gifted handmade books filled with stories and poems I’d penned to my parents and teachers. As a teenager, I was quiet and nerdy. Other girls my age enjoyed having sleepovers and reading Seventeen. I preferred to hang out with my farm animals and spend my allowance on issues of Dell Pencil Puzzles & Word Games. In college, I spent my days in class and my nights studying. I was more interested in getting good grades than partying. I struggled to make small talk with my peers but enjoyed having in-depth conversations with my professors. In my 30s and 40s, I frequently felt out of place. I wasn’t interested in climbing the corporate ladder, networking or socializing with coworkers. Working in laboratories meant I never earned a six-figure salary. But I did it so I could spend the better part of a 30-year career working in solitude. In 2012, the book Quiet was published. Reading it, I began to understand how and why my introverted personality affected the way I viewed the world. It’s also helped me understand why I may feel so content in retirement. HumbleDollar is filled with the life stories of retirees. It can feel overwhelming to read about the many issues they face. To move or stay put? To spend money on experiences or save for the future? To travel the world or stay closer to home? Not even two years into my own retirement, I’m still a novice at navigating my post-work years. But the longer I spend in retirement, the less I seem to worry. I’ve come to realize that the lifestyle my husband and I have adopted plays a large role in keeping us stress-free. We prefer quiet to chaos. To be sure, having four, large working-breed dogs sharing our home means some chaos is inevitable. But our ultra-simple way of living helps maximize the amount of peacefulness we have each day. When we sold our house in Oregon and moved to Arizona, we left most of our furnishings behind. We have no dining room table. We have no sofas, coffee tables or curio cabinets filled with knickknacks. The floor space is mostly open, sans the eight or nine dog beds randomly distributed among the rooms. I appreciate the simplicity. It’s easy on the eyes and easy to keep clean. Our days are filled with the activities we enjoy. For me, reading, writing and tackling small home improvement projects often keep me busy for a few hours each day. My husband spends time each morning meditating, studying history and working out. Most days also include a bike ride or walk around our neighborhood. At least a couple of hours is spent training and playing with our dogs. A trip to one of the grocery stores in our community is sometimes the only time we get into a car. Dinner is followed by spending a couple of hours streaming the TV shows, movies or mixed martial arts fights we enjoy watching. Our finances are equally simple. Our income is automatically deposited each month and our bills are automatically paid. Our retirement investments sit in just a handful of accounts. Our income is low enough we don’t feel compelled to find ways to minimize our tax burden. Any large expenditures we make are based more on practical considerations than aesthetics. Our kitchen is straight out of the 1980s. But the cabinets are in great condition and the appliances all work. Rather than spending money to replace items that are still functional, we chose instead to have 4,000 square feet of artificial turf installed in our backyard. The joy we get watching our dogs romp and play in our personal dog park is far greater than the pleasure we’d get from admiring a new cooktop. For me, retirement isn’t all that different from childhood. There have been very few other times when life felt relatively carefree. These days, I solve puzzles on my phone, rather than in a magazine, and I write my life stories using a Chromebook, not a notebook. The quiet life isn’t for everyone. But it suits me just fine. Kristine Hayes Nibler retired in 2022, and she and her husband now live in Arizona. She enjoys spending her time reading, writing and training their four dogs. Check out Kristine's earlier articles. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]