BeInkandescent

THE INKANDESCENT SPOTLIGHT IS ON:
AUTHOR DAWN TRIPP — MARCH 2016

By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher Be Inkandescent Magazine

Author Dawn Tripp movingly portrays artist Georgia O’Keeffe as a woman striving to live the life she believes in in her new book, “Georgia,” an imagined story of the life of the famous artist.

The book draws readers in from page 1 as she writes:

“I no longer love you as I once did, in the dazzling rush of those early days. Time itself was feverish then, our bodies filled with fire … the metallic scent of the dark room, smells of sweat and linseed oil, a stain of cocoa on the dining room table. It was all smashed together back then — art, sex, life — mixed into the perfect color, every shadow had a substance, shape, and tone … My hands are cool now, the past remade and packed away. Sometimes, though, late at night the air lifts and I feel it — the faint burn of your eyes on my closed lids. Still. That sense of you rushing back in.”

The book goes on to describe the passionately complicated relationship that O’Keeffe had with the recipient of the note above — her manager and husband, famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

This is the fourth book by the author of The Boston Globe best-seller, “Game of Secrets,” who is also the winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for fiction for “The Season of Open Water.”

The Harvard grad explains that “Georgia” has been the toughest topic she has tackled — not only because Georgia O’Keeffe was so complex, but because it took nearly a year for Tripp to find the character’s voice.

Her journey into “Georgia” began in the fall of 2009 when she visited the Whitney Museum of American Art and basked in the 125 paintings in the exhibit, “Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction.”

“I felt overturned as I moved from piece to piece, and began to draw together an entirely new understanding of O’Keeffe and her art,” Tripp explains, noting that it was a century ago —1915 — when O’Keeffe, then 27, began painting abstract art in an era when few artists, much less women, were bold enough to do so.

“As I moved past the paintings, I wanted to know: Who was the woman, the artist, who made these works? Why was she not recognized for her sheer visionary power during her lifetime? And of course, what was her 30-year relationship really like with Alfred Stieglitz, the man who ‘discovered’ her?”

For more than a year, Tripp dove into the psyche of the woman who is celebrated as a central figure in 20th century art: “I read five or six biographies about her, and filled notebooks with thoughts and ideas because I still write longhand. I looked at O’Keeffe’s art, Stieglitz’ photographs of her, and the work of other artists in their circle. Then I started taking my own photographs every day because I was trying to see the world the way a visual artist might see the world.”

Still, the voice of O’Keeffe wasn’t speaking to her — until one Sunday afternoon in April 2010.

“It was an oddly warm spring day in Massachusetts, so I took my sons down to the river to play. They had their jeans rolled up and they were kicking around in the water and I was lying in the sun, when I suddenly ‘heard’ the first words for the novel: ‘I no longer love you as I once did in the dazzling rush of those early days.’ I remember that moment so clearly. I suddenly sat up feeling O’Keeffe’s voice inside of me. I looked around and the whole world was different. I started the book the following day.”

A sensuous 316-page work of historical fiction is the result.

“Fiction is a curious tool to get at a different side of the truth,” Tripp insists. “It’s what novelist Vladimir Nabokov called ‘the shimmering go-between.’ That’s the space that I wanted to write into, the space between what took place in O’Keeffe’s life — and what could have.”

Don’t miss this episode of Authors Between the Covers.

Did you know that women are twice as likely as men to live below the poverty line during retirement?

“It’s shocking, but it’s true,” explains financial adviser Carmen Wu of Egan, Berger & Weiner LLC.

In this interview on News Channel 8’s “Let’s Talk Live,” reporter Sonya Gavankar explores the topic to learn:

1. Why are women challenged in saving for retirement?

2. Does it have anything to do with how Social Security benefits are calculated?

3. Studies show that women are more likely to live in a nursing home than men. Is that because women live longer than men?

4. What does Wu advise the women she consults with to do to combat these challenges?

Click here to watch the episode.

And scroll down for more from Wu on this important issue.

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By Carmen Wu, CRPC®
Financial Adviser
cmwu@ebwllc.com

American women face a complex challenge when it comes to securing retirement income that will last a lifetime.

The reason often has to do with life spans increasing and women outliving the men in their lives.

As I explained in my article earlier this year about the tragic fact that so many women 65+ are living in poverty, being proactive about your retirement income planning is vital.

For a 65-year-old couple, there is a 47 percent chance that one of them will live to age 90, and that is up 2 percent from last year.

But longevity is only a portion of the story when it comes to achieving retirement security.

• Women make up 57 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and 68 percent of all beneficiaries age 85 and older.
• According to the US Census, in 2012 only 45 percent of women age 65 or older were married, compared to 75 percent of men.
• Although women have made progress in the area of earning power, they still have a ways to go before reducing the existing retirement gap with men. In addition to women’s lower earning, 67 percent of women spend a portion of their adult lives as unpaid caregivers.

Social Security Basics

Considering that a large percentage of women rely on Social Security as a main source of retirement income, making an informed decision about when to claim Social Security benefits must be carefully considered. Let’s first look at some basics of Social Security that will help you better understand your benefits.

Regardless of your gender, if you have 40 quarters of wages that were subject to Social Security payroll taxes you are eligible to receive Social Security benefits.

• Your benefits are calculated based on the average of the 35 highest years of earnings.
• If you work fewer than 35 years, your income for the missing years is counted as 0, which can bring your average down significantly.

The year you were born will determine when you reach FRA and are eligible to receive 100 percent of your Social Security benefits.

• Become familiar with a couple of acronyms: Full Retirement Age (FRA) and Primary Insurance Amount (PIA).
• Keep in mind that you do not need to reach FRA to begin receiving your benefits. You may begin taking reduced Social Security benefits when you reach age 62 rather than waiting until FRA.
• However, claiming your benefits when you turn 62 can be a permanent, costly decision.
• You may instead opt to postpone taking your Social Security benefits until age 70, which increases your benefits by approximately 32 percent depending on your FRA.
• Note: There is no advantage to waiting beyond age 70.
  
  

Navigating Your Way Through the System

How women claim their Social Security benefits greatly impacts their retirement income for the rest of their lives.

In the case studies outlined below, all figures are in today’s dollars and before tax; the actual benefits would be adjusted for inflation and would possibly be subject to income tax. Also, many of the benefits rules are complex, and it would be in your best interest to contact the Social Security Administration with any questions. Also keep in mind that these examples are hypothetical. Your results may be more or less than those shown.

Whether you are single, married, divorced, or widowed, you can develop an income strategy. Scroll down for more details.

Are You Single?

• For some individuals, claiming your benefits at age 62 might be a necessity, or you may want to retire as early as age 62.
• The gains from waiting to take your benefits can be significant; the longer you delay the higher your benefits may be.
• Regardless of your situation, keep in mind that Social Security is there for you to use and you have paid for it.

Case study: Colleen’s FRA is 66. If she begins taking benefits at age 62, she’ll receive $1,500 a month. If she waits until age 66 (her FRA) to collect, she will receive 33 percent more, or $2,000 a month. If she waits until age 70, her benefits will increase another 32 percent to $2,640 a month. If she were to live to age 89, her lifetime benefits would be about $47,000, or 13 percent greater, because she had waited until age 70 to collect benefits.

Are You Divorced?

• You may be eligible to claim Social Security benefits on your ex-spouse’s work records and he on yours.
• You may claim survivor benefits on your ex-spouse as long as your marriage lasted 10 years or longer and you have not remarried.
• There are actually several options to consider. Below is one option.

Case study: Kelly and her ex-spouse, John, are both 66 years old. They are both eligible for their own retirement benefits of $2,000 a month at age 66 (their FRA). Because their marriage lasted more than 10 years, Kelly is also eligible for $1,000 in spousal benefits, which is less than her own. She can claim her benefits today and collect $2,000 a month for the rest of her life. Alternatively, she can elect to collect $1,000 of spousal benefits only for the first four years and delay her own benefits to age 70. By then, her benefits would have grown to $2,640 per month, a 32 percent increase. If she lives to age 89, under the second example, her lifetime benefits will be $64,000 higher, which is almost a 15 percent increase. John can also do the same thing — elect to collect his spousal benefits at age 66 and then switch to his own benefits at age 70.

Are You Widowed?

• If you have survived your husband, you may be eligible to collect his Social Security payments as a survivor benefit.
• Also, if you are a surviving spouse, Social Security automatically defaults to the higher amount — your own or your survivor benefits.

Case study: Ann is 62 years old and is eligible to get $1,500 in benefits at her FRA of 66. Her husband, John, started taking monthly benefits of $1,500 at age 62 but died this year at age 66. If Ann claims benefits now, before her FRA, she would receive a survivor benefit of $1,215 because it is higher than her own benefits. Alternatively, Ann can elect to receive survivor benefits up to age 70, and then switch to her own benefits. By then her own benefits would have increased to $1,980 a month, a 76 percent increase in monthly benefits. Ann would earn more than $115,000 in extra payments if she lived to age 88, boosting her lifetime benefits by about 40 percent.

Are You Married?

Case study: Aaron and Elaine are both about to turn 62. Aaron is eligible to receive $2,000 a month from Social Security when he reaches his FRA of 66. He believes he has average longevity for a man his age, which means he could live to age 85. Elaine will get $1,000 a month at her FRA of 66, and, based on her health and family history, anticipates living to an above-average age of 94. The couple was planning to retire at 62, when he would get $1,500 a month and she $750 from Social Security.

Because they’re claiming early, their monthly benefits are 25 percent lower than they would be at their FRA. Aaron also realizes taking payments at age 62 would reduce his wife’s benefits during the nine years that they expect her to outlive him.

If Aaron waits until he’s 66 to collect benefits, he’ll get $2,000 a month. If he delays his claim until age 70, his benefits — and his wife’s survivor benefits — will increase another 32 percent, to $2,640 a month.

The bottom line for this couple: Waiting until age 70 will not only increase Aaron’s future cumulative benefits by 5 percent, it will have a dramatic impact on his wife’s benefits. Elaine’s lifetime Social Security benefits would rise by about $68,000, or 27 percent. Even if it turns out Elaine dies at age 88, her lifetime benefits will still increase 12 percent and, together, they would collect approximately $39,000 more in Social Security benefits than if they had claimed at 62. In order to do this, Aaron would either keep working or use savings to cover retirement expenses until he receives Social Security.

Questions? Send Carmen Wu an email at cmwu@ebwllc.com

Click here to learn more about Wu’s firm, EBWLLC.com, and EBWFinancialNews.com.