Joining us today is Valerie Kent, author of the helpful new book Gracious Living on Social Security. We’ll talk to her about this new book, her life, and how to apply the advice from her book to your daily lives.
CM: Welcome Valerie. It’s wonderful to have you here. Can you please tell our readers a bit about yourself?
VK: I am a mature woman who has worked my way through a series of experiences and identities. Married for many years to a difficult, heavy drinking industrialist in the Middle West, I was divorced at forty-five and began many years of higher education, leading to several advanced degrees and an adjunct professorship at Eckerd College in Florida.
CM: Your first marriage ended in divorce. How did you handle that? Were there moments where you felt you failed somehow?
VK: Divorce is never enjoyable. We had three children who needed a lot of support. But an increasing awareness that I was being stifled by an overbearing husband led me to back out at forty-five. Whatever regrets I might have had were more than offset by a feeling of liberation.
CM: You returned to school at the age of forty-six and went on to become a drug and alcohol counselor and then a college professor. But you grew up in an era where women were expected to be housewives. Did anyone challenge your decision to go to college and seek out a new career?
VK: Women of my generation were primarily expected to become homemakers. My parents in England were especially adamant on that point. Obviously my decision to move on was not what my ex-husband had in mind.
CM: You’re part of the Baby Boomer generation. How did that influence your career and life decisions?
VK: I came along before the baby boom, but certainly the women’s liberation movement and the increasing expectations of greater personal freedom helped motivate me to make the break.
CM: You moved from England to the United States during the Great Depression, and soon after, America entered World War II. Did living in America during these major events lead you to live a more frugal lifestyle?
VK: I was an adolescent during the depression and naturally making every dollar count was elementary inside my family. I’ve never been able to shake off the need to pinch every penny.
CM: Can you tell us a little about Gracious Living on Social Security?
VK: Gracious Living on Social Security is a compact but wide-ranging handbook on how to survive and prosper on a limited income. It also suggests ways to shape relationships and get the most out of every day.
CM: Considering what America was going through when you first moved here, are you more or less scared by the current state of the economy?
VK: Anyone who was largely mature during the Depression has to be petrified by the current state of the economy.
CM: Some people believe that Social Security is no longer the way to save for retirement. How do you feel about that? Do you wish you had invested more in other opportunities?
VK: The truth is, a required government savings program is probably the only way that most people could build up enough income flow to survive after retirement. It would be nice to have a large private estate, but the ups and downs of most people’s lives probably prohibit the amassing of a great deal of private wealth.
CM: How can the advice found in Gracious Living on Social Security change people’s lives?
VK: Even now, most people are very short-sighted about the way they earn and spend money. This seems to be changing somewhat as the recession deepens. This book shows people how they can utilize even a limited income to get what they really want and accomplish their more important purposes.
