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Why Smart People Take Social Security at 62 Are you counting the days until you become eligible for Social Security benefits at age 62? If so, you're not alone. Sixty-two has long been one of the most common ages at which to claim Social Security benefits -- even as experts repeatedly advise waiting as long as possible. Waiting to claim Social Security benefits is recommended because your benefits are reduced if you retire early -- before full retirement age (FRA) -- and they increase up until age 70 if you wait until after FRA. But just because you may get a larger monthly check by waiting to start your benefits doesn't mean delaying is the smart choice for everyone. In fact, there are plenty of reasons really smart people take Social Security at 62. Here are three of them: 1. Because they know they can't predict the future When you're advised to wait to claim Social Security benefits, the reason is simple: You may be able to get more tota...

Travel Cape Verde gets its moment in the sun Traditional Cape Verdean boats, painted in bright colors, on the beach in Mindelo. A parially "salt 'n pepper" grey bearded fellow in flip-flops and dredlocks ambles into the bar. Is this the mountain guide the bartender has called for us? My half-sister, brother and I exchange puzzled glances. Casually spreading a creased island map across a table, he speaks — in French, albeit a broken French a creole of sorts found in countries like Senagal and Haiti. The natives speak Portuguese, a creole dialect albeit a broken Portuguese - kriulo a mix of african languages. He’s a multilingual guide, but English doesn’t happen to be one of his five ot six languages. He seems to have lost count. It was dusk when we arrived at Ponta do Sol — the far northern end of an island at the westernmost edge of the Atlantic archipelago known as Cape Verde Islands. Specks scattered in the ocean 350 miles off the coast of Senegal, nine ...

Communication Success Ten (10) Signs You're in a Relationship With a Passive-Aggressive Narcissist ...Yes, you know what the words "Passive-Aggressive," "Narcissist" means. Thing is, if you're thinking it just means a guy who exclusively brags about his trust fund and never asks you any questions on a date, you might miss the  "Passive-Aggressive," narcissist right in front of you. Turns out, not all "Passive-Aggressive," narcissists are insufferably entitled rich boys in sockless loafers. Plenty can seem like woke feminists who'll drink in every word you say more than any other man ever has...until they do a 180° and call you a bitch in the middle of a small fight, in public.  Be on the lookout for these, before you get blindsided. “ Whatever! ” ― Common passive-aggressive retort “ It ’ s your fault that I forgot … because you didn ’ t remind me! ” ― Anonymous “ You ’ re going out looking like, THAT? ” ― Anonymous The ...

Le ão  ( Portuguese ) In many posts from this blog, I've written about flags inspired by coats of arms. On this review, we'll look how curious can be the opposite phenomenon: a coat of arms based on a flag! The kingdom of León or Le ão' s name comes from "legion", but the pun with "lion" was quickly noticed. While many European kingdoms were fughting the Crusades, the kingdom was fighting against the Moors in its own homeland. For use on the battlefields, the legions used a flag with a purple lion passant on white or light gray cloth, something like this: As the use of the purple lion by Le ão  (first half of 12th century) predates the adoption of the fleurs-de-lis by France, lions by England and the pales by Aragon/Catalonia, it may be, possibly, the oldest royal symbol documented. With the birth of heraldry, the purple lion would, naturally, fill a coat of arms. And here comes the most interesting part of this story! According to a study by Ricardo...

..... Greeting the sun as it rises over the Paradox Valley. Biking The Open Roads of Colorado and the West. The undulating, high-desert “sagebrush sea,” the only place where sage grouse can survive, sprawls across 173 million acres of the American West. But the unbroken expanses the birds require are now fragmented by roads, fences, drill pads, transmission lines, and subdivisions. “There’s just not enough habitat anymore,” says Brian Rutledge of the Audubon Society. Biking the Open Road in Colorado, With a Few Bumps Along the Way Colorado high grinding it out on a bike trail of bike trails. The newly opened Grand Junction-Moab trail, a 155-mile route linked by a network of backcountry huts, and accessible only two months a year, offers an almost irresistible challenge for bikers. The granite cliffs of Unaweep Canyon, in the western area of Colorado, just south of Grand Junction and about 265 miles from Denver, ( 308 miles from Colorado Springs, where I was working ...