LGMF Boot Camp

I dropped in this morning on the "boot camp" held for participants in the ICMA's Local Government Management Fellow program (LGMF). This day-long event helped to orient the fellows about ICMA and give them some practical advice about a career in local government. I had came in as a representative from ICMA-RC was talking about retirement planning. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from my former Assistant City Manager in Long Beach (thanks John Shirey) was to invest the annual maximum limit in a 457 K. That advice was about 17 years ago. It has paid off. An unexpected part of the discussion was preparing for impacts of not only your own retirement needs, but making sure your parents have their retirement plans squared away. There was discussion about issues of elder parents moving in with their children, the financial hardships on all concerned and the uneven participation of children in the care of the elder parents. It was an interested and thought provoking discussion. ICMA may well need sessions on challenges for caring for elderly parents soon enough.

The LGMF group is an impressive bunch. Here is more info on this year's group of fellows. Seek them out at the conference and say hello.