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Podcast: Where Do Gays Retire? Discover Why Vancouver, WA is a Top Retirement Spot for LGBTQ+ Community – With Gary Beagle
“Discover the unique advantages of retiring in Vancouver, Washington, as Gary Beagle shares his insights on the area’s vibrant LGBTQ community, affordable living, and stunning natural surroundings. With no state income tax and reasonable housing costs, Vancouver presents an attractive option for those looking to settle down in a welcoming environment. Gary discusses the moderate climate, excellent healthcare facilities, and the array of outdoor activities available, making it an ideal place for retirees. He also highlights the city’s cultural scene, including local events and diverse dining options that cater to various tastes. Join us as we explore what makes Vancouver a hidden gem for those in the LGBTQ community seeking a safe and fulfilling retirement.”
About Show Host Mark Goldstein
Mark grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and lived in Queens, NY, Westchester County, NY, and Stamford Connecticut before moving to the Tampa Bay area in Florida. Soon after moving to Florida, Mark and his husband Peter realized that retiring in Florida wasn’t a great choice. This is when Mark started a Facebook group called “Where Do Gays Retire.”
It took a few years for the group to gain momentum, and then suddenly there was an explosion of growth. From a handful of members, to today’s 12,300+ membership, the group continues to grow and provide the LGBTQ+ community with information on where to retire globally.
Mark started Zoom sessions with people from all over the world who are living in LGBTQ+ desirable locations to educate others.
His latest project was to expand on the Zoom idea to gain a larger audience. The Where Do Gays Retire Podcast was born.
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Savvy Senior: How Long to Keep Tax Records and Other Documents
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Is there a rule of thumb on how long someone should keep their old financial paperwork? I have file cabinets full of old receipts, bank and brokerage statements, tax returns and more that I would like to toss.
Recently Retired
Dear Recently,
It’s a great question. As we get older and our financial life gets more complicated, it’s difficult to know how long to keep old financial records and paperwork and when it’s safe to get rid of them. Some things you’ll need to hold on to for your whole life and others for just a month or so. Here’s a checklist I’ve created that can help you determine what to save and what you can throw away.
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Book Review: Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity, by Andrea Gilats
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookword Sez“Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity” by Andrea Gilats
c.2024, University of Minnesota Press
$19.95 232 pagesThe mirror doesn’t lie.
You look into it and the person peering back at you sure seems familiar, but older. More fine lines around the mouth.. Grayer hair. Dimmer eyes. Dryer skin. All this happened when you weren’t watching and in the new book, “Radical Endurance” by Andrea Gilats, you’ll learn to embrace it and enjoy it longer.
A decade after she was widowed, eight years after she’d retired, Andrea Gilats “woke up one ordinary morning” and immediately felt “an obsessive need to come to terms with my seventy-fifth birthday….” Specifically, she suddenly felt as though she’d officially entered “old age,” and she was nowhere near prepared.
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The Importance of 2-Step Verification and Changing Your Passwords
I received an email from my own account informing me I was a pervert and they had video to prove it. It had indeed come from my account so I logged in, fished around and found an activity log I didn’t know existed. What I saw was alarming. Nefarious people are constantly trying to hack us – or at least me – so I immediately changed all my email passwords (I have several accounts) and set up 2-step verification. As annoying as it may seem, having to get a code on my phone or at an alternate email is actually a very good security measure.
If you can check the activity with your email account, you may be startled. We have to have layers of security these days. Be prepared to gasp if you views your activity log and see this kind of thing, and take measures now to prevent hackers from being successful.
Here are some essential tools to enhance your email and password security:
1. Use Strong Passwords
Create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts. A robust password typically contains a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, and is at least 12 characters long. Avoid using easily guessable information, such as birthdays or common words.
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The Twist Podcast #282: Our Get Us Out of Here Year End Special, with Surprise Acrobats and the Happy New Year Singers
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we celebrate the long-awaited finale of a seemingly endless year. Recommendations, fun facts, and our own Twisted salute to the year gone by.
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Tech Talk: Exploring E-Readers and Alternatives to Amazon’s Kindle (1 of 3)
Mark McNease
2 more in this seriesI recently decided to break away from using a Kindle and ordering all my books and eBooks from Amazon. I won’t be taking my own books off the platform, but I’ve grown more resistant to being chained to all things Amazonian. As an author, too, it has its disadvantages, especially when it comes to their Kindle Unlimited subscription offering: subscribers pay Amazon $9.99 a month for the ability to download as many eBooks as they want to. Individual authors are then paid depending on the number of pages read. This translates to pennies, literally, and while many authors rely on this income as part of their royalties, for others of us it’s a Devil’s bargain. Our eBooks cannot be available anywhere else for 90 days, a recurring cycle that automatically renews unless we opt out after the exclusivity period.
That’s a very long way of saying I’ve left KU, as we call it, and made my eBooks available everywhere, including Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, directly from me, and on Amazon. Kindle is not the only game in town. You can get other e-readers, some of them described below. You can also just download the apps (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and several apps that allow you to read any ePub or PDF book file). I’ve downloaded the Kobo app for books purchased on Kobo, and the Bluefire app, which is currently only available on Apple devices.
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Dave Hughes: Is Your Retirement Fulfilling … or Just Busy?
The following is reprinted with permission from RetireFabulously.com
By Dave Hughes
RetireFabulously.com
If you ask many retired people what their life is like, they will probably tell you that they are as busy as ever. Every day is full of errands, shopping, household chores, yard work, TV and movies, club meetings, and all sorts of other things. Their calendars are filled with events, appointments, and get-togethers.
After you retire and you no longer have to go into work every day, it seems like everything else expands, multiplies, and rushes in to consume the time you used to work. You may wonder how you ever had time to work and still get everything else done.
Of course, staying busy certainly beats being bored and having nothing to do.
But after a year or two has passed and you settle into your new routine, you may start to feel a sense of discontentment.
It’s subtle at first, lurking just beneath the surface. You will begin to wonder if this is all there is, and if this is what you spent decades of your life working for. You’re busy, and some of it is fun or at least pleasant, but something seems to be missing.
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Book Review: Cher: The Memoir Part One, by Cher
Narration provided by Wondervox.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Cher: The Memoir Part One” by Cher
c.2024, Dey St.
$36.00 413 pagesMother knows best.
At least that’s what she’d like you to think because she said it a hundred times while you were growing up, until you actually believed. One day, though, if you were lucky, you learned that Mother didn’t always know best, but she did her best – like in the new book “Cher: The Memoir Part One” by Cher, when Mom helped make a star.
Though she doesn’t remember it, little Cheryl Sarkisian spent a few weeks in a Catholic Charities orphanage when she was tiny, because her father had disappeared and her mother couldn’t afford to take care of her. “Cheryl,” by the way, was the name on her birth certificate, although her mother meant to name her “Cherilyn.”
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New Year, New Look for My Payhip Storefront!
New year, new look for my Payhip storefront! Buy everything direct and save, while you support your favorite authors and avoid the Amazon monster. -
One Time Donation/Lifetime Subscription to Mark McNease On Topic Substack – $25!
As subscribers to my Mark McNease On Topic Substack know, I’ve eliminated paid and renewing subscriptions. Everyone gets everything, ’cause that’s the kind of provocateur I am. You can, however, donate and get a lifetime subscription for just $25. It’s a subscription! It’s a donation! It’s a tip jar! You decide.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, this is a great way to do it. Or just sign up at MarkMAMcNease.substack.com. We don’t twist arms at the Tree House, we just imply.
Let’s roar into 2025 with heads high, open hearts, and curious minds. – Mark
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The Weekly Readlines December 15
A note from the newsroom: It’s been a year, hasn’t it? And it’s not over yet. We’ve seen gains, we’ve seen losses, we’ve felt hope and we’ve felt heartbreak. Kind of like every year, when you think about it.Two very recent losses brought my youth to mind: the death of poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, and the passing of Michael Cole, one of the three now-dead leads from Mod Squad (1968 – 1973). It wasn’t until I saw the headline about Cole’s death that I remembered him as one of my boyhood TV man-crushes. Some others were Robert Conrad on Wild Wild West (“Who is your tailor, Mr. Conrad? Such tight fitting blue suits”) and Bill Bixby on The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.Nikki Giovanni was among a handful of poets I devoured in high school, learning from them how to use words most effectively, and how to make sense of a world I generally found unwelcoming.She was 81, he was 84, I’m 66. We all take a licking and keep on ticking … until the clock stops. So long, you two, thanks for being part of the puzzle that is me. – Mark
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don’t expect you to save the world I do think it’s not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.”
Poet and Activist Nikki Gionanni (1943 – 2024)
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Book Review: What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird, by Sy Montgomery
“What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird” by Sy Montgomery
c.2024, Atria Books
$22.99 71 pagesEvery day, you and your closest lady-friends have a good old-fashioned hen party.
It’s never too formal. You’re happy just winging it as you gather and gossip, squawking about this subject and pecking at that one. Life ruffles your feathers a whole lot less after you’ve cackled at each other’s jokes and crowed at your triumphs. As in “What the Chicken Knows” by Sy Montgomery, time with your ladies is pretty clucking great.
It’s not often that it happens, but when Sy Montgomery needed a rooster expert, she was happy to find one almost right next door.
The problem was that Montgomery’s pet rooster had gotten aggressive. Ashley, the expert, advised Montgomery to do the unthinkable: pick up the creature with scimitar-like claws and cuddle him.
