STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 5 March 2014

[AnneD]

36. One of the nicest perks of my pension...

aka guaranteed annuity, is that I can designate a beneficiary. I guess since most teachers are women, this was their way around having poor starving orphans raised by the state. Hubby and I are playing the odds: I am his beneficiary but my daughter is my beneficiary. Granted she will only get half of pension but it is for life. It is a darn site more than she will ever get from the ex and a hell of a lot more than I will get from Mom. With inflation, it may not be much, but it might be a house note, food or clothing for the grand children I may never meet, or help for her. Of course, she will not know about the indexed funds in her account until later in life (and she is in for a shocker-we got a 25% return on hers last year-I am a decent fund manager). She will not be a 1% er, but she won't be destitute. Hopefully I have given her enough economic 'smarts' and have changed our family tree as my Mom changed ours.

Kudos to your far sighted Dad, I am sure he is never far from your thoughts. I hope my daughter remembers me with the same fondness for both giving with a warm hand and leaving her with a little something extra.