I'm a 40-something proud wife of a union ironworker, with two grown children, living on an 80-acre farm in America's Heartland.

I worked twenty-five years as a fraud investigator for a large insurance company, but decided to leave that behind a couple of years ago to manage the farm operations full time and I'm so glad I did.

Besides raising livestock, I also happily take care of our three cats and four dogs and numerous other critters. My favorite pasttimes include gardening, landscaping, hunting, fishing and of course, writing.

I particularly enjoy writing about do-it-yourself projects, self-sufficiency and pets.

My passion is ...

making each day count for something.

I know too much about ...

nothing.

My parents always told me ...

never to sing at the dinner table as it was bad luck.

My childhood ambition ...

to be a forest ranger.

My favorite memory ...

getting married in Vegas.

Why I write ...

because I have to.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

mostly PBS, History Channel, Local/National News

My first job ...

cleaning office buildings.

My best moment ...

too many to list and most are personal.

My inspiration ...

my husband who knows too much about everything.

Personal Finance > Retirement Best new places to retire around the world

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Today more than ever before, American seniors are choosing to retire abroad. In 2004, an estimated 255,000 Social Security checks were mailed to countries outside of the United States.

In the past twenty years, the advent of new technology, namely the Internet, has spawned the global community. No matter where you call home, accessing bank accounts, filing taxes, and communicating with friends and family, is just a mouse click away. This in itself has made retiring overseas more feasible and attractive to many seniors who previously may not have ever considered an exotic, foreign lo...

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