New Jersey Baby Boomer

The media is reporting that the first Baby Boomers in New Jersey, and all over the United States, have started collecting Social Security.  I’m a “Baby Boomer”, but still have 3-6 years until I can collect…though if those years go as fast as the previous years have, I’ll be there in no time.  Because I didn’t work outside the home for as many years as some…was a stay at home Mom as many years as possible, I don’t think my contribution to our household will be very significant, but it will be better than nothing.

Many predict that the baby boomers are going to eat up all the social security available, there’s quite a bit of talk and quite a few sites on the web projecting this.  Time will tell how all of that goes.  I’ve heard gloom and doom predictions before and they don’t always turn out as bad as predicted, but we are living in challenging times now, so it’s hard to say.

This gloomy article from foxnews.com states that 10,000 Baby Boomers will be retiring each day…and will start collecting Social Security, not to mention Medicare for some and Medicaid for others, things that we’ve just taken for granted that we will have available to us, just as they were available to our parents.  There are also interesting facts at the Social Security Reform Center website.

Fear does come along and rears it’s ugly head as I try to sort it all out in my thinking, and it’s good to think and plan as much as we can, but there’s a lot of things we can’t plan for…it’s those things that can bring fear.  It’s at those times that I love remembering and singing this old hymn of the faith, my faith:

I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.

I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand

It’s black Friday…or grey Friday if you look out my windows. No, I didn’t run out the door to hit the midnight sales last night, or the 3 am sales at Kohls, or the early sales at other stores. Those days are done for me, for some they may be a tradition, for me, they were something I did when my children were young….and there was no such thing as “online shopping”.

I’m an online shopper but this year, with a challenged economy and how it has challenged us financially, I’m going to try to rediscover my creative side, and see how we can save.

Thanksgiving holidays…yes, we have lots to be thankful for, there is no doubt about that, but it’s a deeper more meaningful kind of thanksgiving, not the kind that is thankful because we own this or that, but the kind that is thankful that someone in the family who is aging is still with you, the kind that remembers those that are no longer with you with thanksgiving for the part they have played in your life. There’s missing, the missing of those loved ones, missing children that may be overseas in the military, missing children that have married and moved out of the area. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so their approach to the season varies.

This was maybe not the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, not feeling well and various circumstances, but still, there are so many things to be thankful for, always…it’s a good exercise to take time to count your blessings, to count my blessings, especially if my mood isn’t lining up with the season as it should.

I’m thankful for you, my readers.

Opinions vary on our relatively newly elected Governor, Chris Christie. He is making headlines and media appearances not just here in New Jersey, but on other news stations as well because of the open and bold stands that he is taking.

What he is doing in our State is so very different from what the President is doing in our Nation…he is making everyone share the challenge of cutting back, something I wish was happening in our Nation.

I guess in my simplistic way I see this as a kind of experiment….what will be the outcome of what our Governor is doing in our State as opposed to what our President and his administration is doing to our Nation.

I don’t know if the experiment will work, because of concern about how what is being done on the National level will affect what happens to each State.

Time will tell, but I’m pleased for the most part with what Governor Christie is doing, even if sometimes it hurts.

I rarely share political opinions on here, but I’m just sayin….

I finished mine yesterday…online.  You can do your New Jersey Income Taxes free online if you like, but since I’ve been using TaxAct for a few years now, and my records are all in their “system”, I just used it again this year….it was only $17 and change to file both returns.

But for those of you who want to do yours free, the New Jersey State return, that is, you can go to this link - you will probably qualify, I always used to when I used the service.

The IRS also has a FreeFile service that might be useful to you.

Your life circumstances will determine which is best, for us, paying the small fee to have our information carried over from year to year, and the Federal information transferred to the State return, and all filing managed by TaxAct works well, as do other similar income tax services.

What have you used to file your New Jersey returns?

In my internet travels today I was introduced to a site unlike any I had seen before. I know there are a lot of charity sites, but this one was focused on providing help to classrooms and students. If you visit this Online Charity link you can visit this site, and see a list of school classrooms that you can donate to, with specific requests.

While there I decided to do a search on “New Jersey” and found quite a few requests for donations in classrooms in my home State. I liked doing that because I know the area, and can vouch for the fact that the schools are in needy areas. You may want to do the same.

It’s a unique concept to me, and something worth looking into especially now with school budgets being among many things that will feel the economic crunch.

I have to admit that I haven’t quite grasped the Tax Day Tea Party movement, it’s my own fault, haven’t really taken the time to explore it. Not because I don’t care, just distracted by other seemingly more important things lately. To learn more, I’ll be watching some of the special coverage on television.  Since this seems to be a conservative movement, FOX News, will probably be the station to watch…the station that claims to be “Fair and Balanced” but is definitely a bit more right-leaning.  They are going to have some great coverage today.

I decided to do a search this morning to see what Tea Parties will be taking place in NJ, there may be more than you’ll see on the following list of parties taking place only on the 15th, found at taxdayteaparty.com, so feel free to comment if you know of other NJ Tea Parties taking place….if you live in another State, visit the link above, and find the link to your State:

City: Belmar
When: April 15, Noon – 3:00pm
Where: 16th Avenue boardwalk
Contact: EMAIL

City: Cape May
When: April 15, 6:00 pm  – 8:30pm
Where: Harbor View Park, Texas Avenue at the harbor
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Participate by land or sea, bring your boat, flags and patriotic American Spirit!!

City: Flemington
When: April 15, Noon – 2:00pm
Where: The northwest corner of Main Street and Court Street
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://flemingtonteaparty.blogspot.com/

City: Hackensack
When: April 15, 4:00 pm – 6:00pm
Where: Bergen County Court House, Hackensack, NJ (Court Street Side)
Contact: EMAIL

City: Jersey City
When: April 15, 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Liberty State Park
Contact: EMAIL

City: Morristown
When: April 15, Noon
Where: On The Green at the center of Morristown
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Yahoo Group
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Newark
When: April 15, 12:00 pm
Where: Gateway Center One – 782 McCarter Highway, Newark Offices of Senator Lautenberg and Menendez conveniently located in the same building.
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Parking: 66 Edison Place, Newark
Google Map: Click Here
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Piscataway
When: April 15, 5:00pm
Where: Johnson Park (River Road, Piscataway Township)
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032409-new-jersey-tax-day-tea-party

City: Trenton
When: April 15, 11:30am – 4:00pm
Where: New Jersey State House, 125 W State St
Contact: EMAIL
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

City: Vineland
When: April 15th, 1-4PM
Where: 722 E Landis Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360
E-mail: t@thomassnow.com
Phone: 973-406-4688
Web Site: http://tomsnow.serveblog.net
Face Book: CLICK HERE

Please add your tea party info in a comment, if you like, and let me know what you think about all of this. I’ll probably do more on this at Married to Politics later today.

Just last week a friend of mine stopped by to say hello who is a nurse, and has been out of work for months, so when this website came across my path, it was hard to resist posting about it….I’m going to share this with my friend.

This is about job opportunities in the Travel Nursing field. There is a staffing service called Procare USA that provides registered nurses with assignments throughout the United States, and has been doing so since 1990. Assignments can last up to 13 weeks, or may be more permanent, depending upon the job requirements.

If you’re lifestyle is flexible enough to take advantage of a job opportunity like this, you can look forward to good pay, travel, and the can choose from hundreds of nursing jobs throughout the USA.

There are also benefits beyond just receiving good pay, they include free housing that is private, medical/dental/health insurance, 401k with company match, immediate vesting, expense reimbursement, and a lot more, so please do take a look at the procareusa.com site and see if this is for you.

Now I’m off to email or call my NJ Baby Boomer nurse friend to tell her about this opportunity.

With the increase in job loss, or fear of job loss in the present recession, there are support groups beginning to form in New Jersey. I just received an email from a fellow NJ Baby Boomer, and thought I’d share the content with you. If you know of other support groups forming, please leave a comment:

UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare to Provide Free Support Groups for People Affected by the Economic Crisis

NEWARK – Panic over job loss. Fear of unemployment. Profound worry about meeting mortgage and tuition payments. Unfortunately, these are the realities of this severe recession.

If you are experiencing any of these kinds of reactions to the current fiscal crisis, it is important to know that you are not alone; there is a place you can go for assistance.

Beginning March 3, UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC), a statewide mental health and addiction services network, will offer free 90-minute support groups, run by experienced counselors, for those affected by the economic downturn. Sessions will be held weekly at the following locations on the days and times specified:

-Newark: Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at UBHC, 183 South Orange Avenue;
-New Brunswick: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. at 303 George Street, 2nd Floor;
-Edison: Thursdays at 3 p.m. at 100 Metroplex Drive, 2nd Floor, Suite 200;
-Monmouth Junction: Tuesdays at noon at 4326 U.S. Highway 1.

• Sessions are open to the public and no appointments are necessary to attend. Participants may remain anonymous.
• People interested in attending may call (800) 969-5300 for more information.
• Members of the media interested in more information about this new initiative should contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-7273.

PLEASE VIEW THE COMMENT(S) BELOW if you are viewing this as a single post, or click the “comments” link under the title of the post, for more support group information that has been added since this post was published.  Thank you.