(Christian Science Monitor)This story was written by Peter GrierAfter years of unrelenting deficits, Washington may be experiencing a break in its fiscal weather. Strong tax revenues mean that the 2007 shortfall between U.S. income and spending will be the smallest it has been since 2002, according to new White House estimates.

But these rays of progress may be fleeting, say some experts. Revenue growth is already slowing, and defense spending and huge entitlement programs such as Medicare continue to expand at a rapid clip.

“It is always good to see the deficit coming down, but there is little about the current situation to inspire confidence that the trend will continue,” says Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a budget watchdog group.

First, the good news. According to the Office of Management and Budget’s annual mid-session review, the federal budget deficit is now predicted to come in at $205 billion for the fiscal year that ends this October.

That’s $43 billion lower than last year’s deficit and about half the recent peak of $413 billion, hit in 2004. In fact, it’s $15 billion lower than OMB predictions of only five months ago.

The big reason for the improved budget picture? Tax receipts specifically, higher-than-expected corporate tax liability, due to high profits, according to the mid-session review.

In addition, the federal government has had to pay out less than it expected in refunds of the federal telephone tax.

At a budget briefing on July 11, President Bush said the lower deficit figures showed that his economic policies were working, and that Congress should make permanent tax cuts passed at the beginning of his administration. Many of those cuts expire in 2010.

“Over the last three years, tax revenues have grown 37 percent. That’s one of the highest jumps in revenue on record,” said Mr. Bush.

Now, the bad news. The OMB mid-session review also predicts that the deficit will tick back up in fiscal 2008 to $258 billion.

The administration’s long-term forecasts still show the budget reaching surplus in 2012. But that estimate assumes there will be no unexpected expenses for combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, note critics of the administration’s budget policies.

Plus, when Bush took office, the federal budget was in the black. The plunge in red ink, due largely to his tax cuts and post-September 11 defense spending increases, occurred on his watch.

“You can’t give them credit for reducing the deficit unless you also blame them for creating it,” says Stan Collender, managing director at Qorvis Communications and a veteran Washington budget expert.

And just stemming the flow of red ink isn’t enough, according to Mr. Collender. The U.S. may be like a family that’s run up too many charges on its credit cards. Even if it stops buying, there is still a large accumulated debt to be paid off.

Since the beginning of the Bush administration, U.S. deficits have added $2.6 trillion to the total national debt, which now stands at over $8.2 trillion.

Collender says he is very concerned about the burden of the interest on this debt. “It’s the most uncontrollable part of the budget,” he says.

Looking farther ahead, the nation still faces a huge budgetary crunch when members of the baby boom generation begin retiring in large numbers, sending up the costs of Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs.

President Bush has threatened to veto some fiscal 2008 appropriations bills now working their way through Congress, saying, overall, lawmakers are on track to spend about $23 billion more than he requested in his budget. Yet that $23 billion is less than half the amount the U.S. will spend next year on the Medicare prescription drug benefit alone.

“Virtually all budget analysts, including those in the administration, agree that current tax and spending policies are not sustainable in the long run,” says an analysis of the mid-session review by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Economists often measure the importance of federal spending and receipts by their size relative to that of the whole economy. This gives them a feel for how well the U.S. can bear its fiscal burdens, they say.

And as a percentage of the nation’s gross domestic product, the current deficit is manageable, according to the White House. This year’s estimated shortfall of $205 billion will come in at 1.5 percent of GDP, lower than the 40-year average of 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, at an estimated 18.5 percent of GDP over the next five years, tax receipts are projected to remain above the 40-year historical average of 18.3 percent.

In this context, Bush hit Democrats as threatening U.S. economic progress by allowing his tax cuts to expire.

“We’ve shown what works,” said Bush at the budget event.

Michael Stauff’s first attempt at early retirement didn’t work out. Six years ago, at just 51, he retired from his job as chief financial officer of a Boston semiconductor company he had helped bring public. Immediately, he took on demanding new assignments to assist in starting up four new companies. It wasn’t long before he thought: “I don’t have to do this anymore.”

A self-described inner-city kid who made good, he decided instead to “give something back” through volunteer work. But he didn’t want to be slinging hash in a soup kitchen. He found his niche when he attended a volunteer fair and connected with the Executive Service Corps of New England, which places retired executives with nonprofits that need business and management expertise.

Now, Stauff has a new career—as a pro bono consultant to a charter school, a legal aid service, and programs serving single mothers and inner-city Hispanics. He schedules most meetings from Tuesday to Thursday, so he can also enjoy a more traditional retiree’s life at his golf course home on the South Shore of Boston.

Like Stauff, many other early retirees realize that volunteering can replace the purpose and social interaction they had on the job. But it’s not easy to find the perfect match for your skills and interests. A recent study by VolunteerMatch (volunteermatch.org) found that 63% of people 55 or older express interest in volunteering but are not doing so. The top reasons: They have not found the right opportunity or do not know where to begin.

Marc Freedman, founder of San Francisco-based Civic Ventures, an organization that encourages older adults to sign up for community service jobs, says it’s a tricky transition to volunteering. Energetic early retirees often fall into the “trap of being pulled in many disparate directions,” he says. “They tell themselves and their friends: ‘I’m busier than I’ve ever been before,’ but they end up with a portfolio that doesn’t provide a deeper sense of satisfaction.”

To avoid this, Freedman says that instead of saying yes to the first organization that crosses your path, step back and list the skills and experience you could bring to a volunteer job. These may include managing a large organization, writing convincing ad copy, or teaching. Then add your personal interests, including those you couldn’t pursue while you were working.

To identify specific opportunities, talk to friends, approach local groups you already know about, or use Internet sites that allow you to enter your skills, location, and the type of job you want to connect with organizations that fit your criteria. You can even look for a “virtual volunteering” job working from your computer.

Volunteer Match recommends that once you’ve identified a group that interests you, make an appointment to ask questions about its needs and goals and how you would fit in. Freedman says many nonprofits “are still guided by the ‘Let’s keep the old folks busy’ approach” and are not attuned to the benefits highly skilled early retirees can offer. So be prepared to experiment with a series of short-term assignments to find what you’re looking for.

Karin Bauer, 44, of San Francisco, who retired five years ago as a senior program manager for eBay ( ), describes her path to the perfect volunteer role as “kind of like dating.” For a few years, she contributed time to animal welfare and theatrical groups. But what really clicked for her was New York-based Video Volunteers, which creates video production teams in poor communities to promote social change.

After reading in a magazine about the group’s work in Ahmedabad, India, she visited that city last July to meet with key staffers. She came away thinking their mission fit perfectly with her professional background and personal interest in India, where she had traveled several times on vacation. So far, her contributions to Video Volunteers include advising on how to generate future income, helping recruit a bookkeeper, and funding and overseeing a summer internship program this year, says Bauer, who is also studying for a PhD in Indian philosophy and religion.

Because volunteers lack the authority of regular staff and may be shunted into stuffing envelopes, Freedman suggests that if you’re an expert in, say, financial management, you should “craft the role as a senior fellow or special adviser. Getting the right language can help focus the work and give it substance.”

Even if you have an unexplored interest, you can still become expert enough to get a good volunteer position. That’s what Jim Pugh, 65, of Vienna, Va., did after he retired 10 years ago as executive officer of the U.S. Treasury’s Executive Institute in Washington. He’s a volunteer at the Elephant House at Washington’s National Zoo, and he takes it seriously. To keep abreast of his new field, he attends elephant-management conferences and studies at an elephant sanctuary in Arkansas.

Three days a week, for six hours a day, Pugh’s tasks include cleaning the three elephants’ pens, preparing their food, educating visitors, and creating a photographic record of the animals’ feet when medical personnel check them for injuries. When the zoo’s youngest elephant, Kandula, was born five years ago, Pugh missed Thanksgiving dinner with his family because he was assisting with the birth. Pugh says people ask him why he works so hard now that he’s retired. He answers that “these are the most magnificent animals in the world, and they’re endangered. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute in some way to their welfare.”

Early retirement carries with it the challenge of defining a new lifestyle, and for many people this includes a major commitment to volunteering. When you’re not getting paid for your labor, it’s all the more important to find a satisfying pursuit. Otherwise, why give up what was supposed to be a restful reward for all your previous years of hard work?
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(MarketWatch)Mass-produced eyeglasses cost roughly $2 a pair to make, according to a 2005 MIT report, but Americans regularly shell out hundreds of dollars for a single fancy pair. What are we paying for exactly? Some of that money goes toward eye exams, of course, but a significant portion can be seen as a convenience tax.

With glasses, many of us are one-stop shoppers. We go to a single store, such as LensCrafters or Eyemart Express, to get our eye exam, lenses and frames. These retailers often offer affordable eye exams, but they make a killing on marked-up frames and unnecessary high-tech lens options.

You’d be far better off buying lenses online and foregoing all the bells and whistles. You now can find everything from designer eyewear to bargain basement frames on the Web, and they’ll cost you far less than you’d typically pay at a one-stop shop.

The sacrifice you make when you buy frames online is that you can’t try them on, but there are ways around this problem. Eyeglasses.com and FramesDirect.com allow you to “virtually” try on frames by uploading a picture of yourself.

If you prefer the hands-on experience, try treating your local eyeglass store as a fitting room. Go in and try on various frame shapes. When you find one you like, write down the make and serial number and look for bargains online.

Most vision prescriptions can also be filled on the Web at a reduced cost. When you’re choosing lenses, CR-39s offer the best bargain, says Consumer Reports. But they are less shatter-resistant than some of the more expensive lenses and can get thick when you have a strong prescription. Polycarbonate or high-index lenses are also a good choice because they come with scratch-resistant coating and UV protection built in.

If you’re in a hurry, or this all sounds like too much work, try the optical department at your local Sam’s Club or BJs, both of which offer all-in-one eye care at lower costs. Better yet, get a Costco membership; Costco is now the fifth-largest seller of eyewear in the U.S. and has a huge selection of styles.

If you’ve shopped around and still can’t afford new glasses, you might want to try for aid from two nonprofit organizations, Sight for Students and New Eyes for The Needy.