Forensic architect’s journey to new homeland

Forensic architect Steven Schraibman was a South African swimming champion who was denied participation in the Olympics due to that nation’s apartheid policy.

By Nora Todor Stoytcheva

Standing an imposing six-feet, six-inches tall, Carmel Valley resident Steven Schraibman, 48, has an interesting, and a bit sad, personal story to tell.

A national South African freestyle swimming champion, he was told he could be the best swimmer in the world. Schraibman twice qualified for the Olympics, but could not attend, because South Africa was excluded as an apartheid country.

“I never stood for the national anthem,” Schraibman said, “and did not stand to the flag. And if you don’t respect your country, you have no place living in it.”

Schraibman immigrated to America with his wife Ilana and his three kids in 1994. “I ran to America, not away from South Africa,” he said. Most of his family remains in South Africa, although a brother resides in England.

Schraibman is an architect by training, what is called a forensic architect. He built reputedly the largest casualty hospital in the Southern Hemisphere, and continues to do consultant’s job for his company, Arcor, Inc., short for the Architectural Corporation.

As a forensic architect, Schraibman identifies the mechanisms of failure in buildings — anticipated or already occurred.

It’s the stuff of litigation always. “When I give an opinion,” Schraibman said, “I anticipate that it’s going to be challenged in the court of law.”Schraibman charges $200 to $400 per hour, but it is money probably well spent since most of the cases he is called in on are settled out of court.

“I took my way of (logical) thinking and turned it into a profession, an occupation,” Schraibman said.

Schraibman became a very active citizen-volunteer after the 9/11 attacks. He figured that the guys who are real professionals should spend their time on the serious matters, and the capable people such as him should fill the gaps by doing what they were good at — in his case, searching for and rescuing people. He became a volunteer sheriff at San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Search and Technical Rescue Division.

“Immigration is challenging for anyone, but what is remarkable about Steve is his ability to integrate so incredibly into the society not only by appreciating what this country can do for him and his family, but rather what he can do for this country,” said his wife, Ilana Schraibman.

The Schraibman family had found refuge in South Africa after escaping the pogroms in Lithuania, and, later, the Holocaust.

While Jewish people in South Africa sympathized with blacks during apartheid, they also didn’t care that much, according to Schraibman.

For more information about forensic architecture call (858) 481 – 4494 or visit www.arcor.com

Steps to take now to get to retirement

By John Schooler

Give yourself a pat on the back. You thought the day would never come, but here you are – just a decade away from retirement. Sure, you’ve been saving and planning all along, but there are a number of steps you can take today to help you transition easily and stress-free to the next stage of your life.

Experts say it is better to “retire to” than to “retire from.” So, prior to checking out from your 9-to-5, spend some time thinking about what you want to do in retirement.

Of course, there are a few great dream vacations you want to take, but what will your every day life look like? Is there a hobby you want to pursue? Will you volunteer in your community? Will you work part-time?

Some pre-retirees take a vacation week and stay at home and live as if they were retired in order to get a real sense of the rhythm of retirement. Keep in mind, you and your spouse may have conflicting timetables or different definitions of the ideal retirement, so make some time to discuss your dreams and resolve any differences that may arise.

If you’re considering a major move in retirement, plan on a little travel to check out potential new homes. Remember, it’s a lot different to live in a location than to vacation there.

So, if you’re visiting a sun-and-fun destination, you need to think about more than great restaurants and golf courses. Your checklist for evaluating a new community should include everything from a suitable year-round climate, cost of living, and quality medical facilities to access to cultural and sporting events, outdoor recreation, continuing education programs, and retail services. Most importantly, don’t underestimate the importance of keeping your family and friends within reach.

Although you may always have been a disciplined saver, your peak earning years afford you a valuable opportunity to boost your retirement contributions significantly. Especially if your children are out of college and living on their own, or if you’re lucky enough to have paid off your mortgage, you may have surplus cash that you could invest. Remember, if you’re more than 50-years-old, there’s a federal catch-up provision that enables you to contribute an extra $5,000 this year into your employer’s retirement savings plan. Ask about that at work.

Anything extra you sock away in these last few years of your working life could have a positive impact on how you will live for the rest of your life. Accordingly, if you think you may launch a part-time business in retirement, try to get it off the ground while you are still working. That way, you may be able to sock away any earnings into one of the many tax-deferred plans for the self-employed where those savings, too, will have more time to compound tax-deferred.

The traditional rule of thumb has been you need 70 to 80 percent of your pre-retirement income to live on during retirement. However, recent studies suggest people tend to underestimate retirement expenses. Healthcare costs continue to rise dramatically. What’s more, all that leisure time leads to more spending, and people are living increasingly longer lives. It’s possible you’ll spend just as much time retired as you did working.

With all that as a backdrop, it’s now considered safer to use 100 percent of your current expenses to figure retirement funding. That way, your nest egg can weather any major curve balls retirement throws your way, such as unexpected medical expenses, changes in the tax law, a period of high inflation, or consecutive years of a down market.

With your income at a maximum and many of your major expenses such as college tuition and mortgages waning or gone, you may find yourself with a budget surplus. While it’s OK to splurge on occasion, just make sure those one-time special treats don’t become part of your regular routine. Keep in mind that getting too comfortable with a higher pre-retirement lifestyle could pave the road for a tough transition to retirement.

On the flip side, knowing the need to scale down lifestyles in retirement, now’s a good time to begin the cost-cutting process. Weaning yourself off of those fancy coffee shop lattes, or expensive dinners out, will be less painful the sooner you start. Also, evaluate your debt.

At your age, the negative impact of an investment mistake is magnified because you have less time to recover. That’s why diversification and careful portfolio monitoring become even more important as retirement approaches. In addition to reviewing your total asset allocation picture on an annual basis with an eye toward minimizing risk, you might consider diversifying into real estate or commodities that tend to perform differently than stocks or bonds, or in an asset that could afford your portfolio some protection in a period of inflation. Note, too, that a potentially problematic risk many pre-retirees share is a portfolio that is overexposed to company stock.

There’s no substitute for personalized, professional financial advice tailored to your specific situation and concerns. Not only can an advisor steer you away from investment blunders that are difficult to recover from just a decade away from retirement and help to control overall risk, the advisor can lay the foundation for a comprehensive retirement distribution plan that both identifies which sources of retirement income would be best to tap first and factors in the tax consequences of your withdrawals.

That way, you’ll keep more of the money you worked so hard to save for retirement.