I’ve done a lot of traveling over the past years, and for a while I spent a lot of time traveling through Orlando’s airport. What a zoo! All those families with Disney backpacks, Mickey Mouse ears, etc. It’s not that I don’t love Mickey and the gang; I just don’t want to stand in line behind him at the security checkpoint.

Last week I was in Dulles Airport and saw the new CLEAR system at work. CLEAR collects information from you (like fingerprints and iris prints) and gives you a very thorough security screening. Then when you go through airport security checks, you can use the special lane, and zoom right through.

Not many airports have this service yet, but I’m betting it won’t be long. The cost is currently $128.00. If you’re a frequent traveler, it might be worth it. I’m thinking about it. Especially if it comes to Chicago O’Hare.

Are you the job?  If you are then what are you going to be without a job?  If you define yourself by work, well then that’s another thing all together.

My wife has an 86 year old aunt who works for the Social Security System.  Without that job she’d be dead.  Remember Woody Hayes, legendary football coach of Ohio State.  I don’t think he lasted a month after he retired.  Died of a heart attack as I remember.  Off hand, I don’t think those situations are healthy.

When I talk about a job, I mean something you do for pay for someone else, sleeves rolled up type of work.  I don’t mean the senior member of a law firm stopping in at a 11 and leaving at 2.

In the past men have always had a job identification problem when they retired.  Now, with so many women in the workforce it is becoming more prevalent with women also.

Understanding the relationship between how you define yourself and your job is not something you should put off until the day after you retire.  It’s not an easy question.  A more interesting question and a corollary is “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Answer the one and you may answer the other.

The new b5media business channel blog, The Daily Blender, has some evidence that we are possibly entering a recession. Jennifer Heigel writes that Portland, Oregon restaurants are seeing a decline in patronage.

Baby boomers nearing retirement might be “practicing” not going out as much. And we who have lived through several recessions know that prices are not going down. This decline in business with upscale restaurants, like the decline in sales seen at Starbucks recently, is an indication that people are holding on to their discretionary income, waiting to see what will happen to the economy.

“Recession” is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people think prices are going up and the economy is going down, then they behave in a certain way, causing prices to go up and the economy to decline. Hang on to your hats (and your coffee cups); it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I refuse to fly into/out of O’Hare (AKA O’Hell) Airport. Living in Iowa, it is almost impossible to travel anywhere without going through ORD but I can usually find a way around it. O’Hare is listed by “Sleeping in Airports” as one of the worst in the world, along with Bombay, Cairo, Delhi, and Jakarta (Indonesia). Quite a distinction, I’d say.

Jean Mercedes, at Doing Business Abroad, recently talked about London’s airports. If you are planning to travel to England, read her post.

By the way, if you are traveling and forced to sleep in an airport, here are some tips from Sleeping in Airports.

Do you know any good travel websites? Travel trends show that 89% of people looking for travel information check the Internet, and 77% consult online tools.

For cruises, you might want to check Vacations to Go. They also have other websites for River Cruises, Escorted Tours, and Safaris. I love reading about the safari vacations; you’d be surprised how luxurious the hotels are, and the photos are spectacular. They advertise special rate 90 days before the cruise, so if you can wait to plan you may be able to get a good discount.

For cheap tickets, try TravelZoo. They combine results from the top travel websites, like expedia, orbitz, etc., and in some cases, they will show you package deals. Also try Priceline. I found them to have the lowest prices in some cases.

If you have a travel website you use to find good rates, let me know.

Many baby boomers dream of working from home. Anne Wayman, over at The Golden Pencil, suggests a freelance writing career might be your way to get out of your 9-5 job and into a home-based job. But it’s not easy.

In this recent post, Anne gives some advice to an aspiring freelancer. She also lists lots of freelance jobs each week for you to check out. And if you want information about how set up the business side of your writing, see my blog, The Thriving Writer.

And if you want some more great advice on becoming a freelancer, here’s another recent post from Glen at LifeDev: “How Freelancers Can Kick Crappy, Outdated Business Norms.”

When the E-Bay reseller idea became popular last year, several people in my town jumped on the idea, but they quickly learned it wasn’t such a great idea.  Sean Kelly at Franchise Pick discusses why these reseller stores may not be the franchise opportunity they were billed as.

Both of the people who signed up for these franchises are now closed.  It is a good idea to check Franchise Pick regularly if you are interested in a franchise opportunity.  Sean keeps his ear to the ground and passes the news on to you.   You can also search companies (down the right side of his blog) for those that interest you.

Jim Gordon over at the Boss Hatch blog has a great post on how to form an LLC. I have formed two of them, and they are super easy to form, without an attorney. Which is one reason attorneys often won’t tell you to form an LLC. They want you to form a corporation so they can take your money (it’s pretty tricky to form a corporation without an attorney).

An attorney friend of mine said, “Attorneys who tell you not to form LLCs don’t understand them.”

Consider an LLC for your business.  Go to the website of the Secretary of State for your state and get the information you need to set up your LLC.

Jennifer Hoffman is burning up the blogging world in her new post at My Organized Biz.  She’s asked us b5media bloggers to comment on simplicity.  Here’s my contribution:

I am a firm believer in the “KISS” principle – that’s “Keep it Short and Simple.”

Henry Thoreau said, “Our lives are frittered away by detail; simplify, simplify.” And Einstein said, “Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

In business, this principle is of primary importance. I’ve seen far too many business owners try to over-complicate their businesses, and their lives. For example, in putting together a business plan, they spend a lot of time and money buying business plan software, and agonizing over the details. Then they take their 40+ page business plan to a bank, only to find out that the banker wants to know only two things:

1. How much money do you want?

2. How will you pay it back?

They could have answered these questions with a one-page business plan. The simplest solution to a problem is usually the best. It’s also usually the shortest distance between here and there. Working on the KISS principle can help your business, and it can also make your personal life a lot easier.

My husband and I have been thinking about turning our 401k/IRA money into annuities.  But we are concerned about:

1. Outliving our money
2. Not having enough for “play money” for those cruises we want to take.

Our financial consultant suggested variable annuities.  Since we don’t know much about them, we’ve been doing some searching.  Miranda Marquit, over at Yielding Wealth,  recently answered my question about the difference between fixed and variable annuities.

There is still lots more to learn.  It’s my understanding that with a variable annuity you don’t have to “annuitize” (take out the money each month), but you can take out money when you want to.

We’re still exploring.  I’ll keep you posted.