With the start of June, we’ve arrived into Glorious Summer in Minnesota- and peak lawn mowing season. At the FIRE Station, we’ve also made the full jump to an electric lawn mower. When my folks moved to a senior apartment a few years ago, I bought my Dad’s Snapper Electric Mower. I used it now and then, but mostly relied on my trusty, gas-powered Toro. … Continue reading Quietly Moving To Electric
It seems every generation wants to dump on the next one. Or, the one before it. Boomers complain about Millennials and Millennials say, “OK, Boomer”. Millennials say Boomers left the world a mess and Boomers say Millennials are ruining the world with their decisions. The irony of the situation is that the Boomers parented the Millennials themselves. (I’m a Gen X’er and our son’s a … Continue reading Gen Z Growing Wealth: The Kids Are Alright
The current federal debt ceiling debate is running 24×7 through the financial media. A retired friend I went biking with last week seemed pretty caught up in it. He said he was keeping money out of stocks & bonds in case things “got real bad.” No surprise he felt that way, given the way it is being reported in the hysterical media. The financial press … Continue reading Debt Limit Hyperbole
My friend, Jeff, texted me last week asking for an insurance agent reference. He just got his homeowners insurance premium estimate for the coming year and it was up a whopping +29% higher than what he paid last year – which was +23% higher than two years ago! I haven’t gotten my new home insurance estimate yet, but we are definitely going to competitively shop … Continue reading Home Insurance Premiums Rising
I’m old enough to have been assigned the chore of ‘raking’ the orange, thick-cut, shag carpeting in our family room when I was a kid. We had a bonafide carpet rake to keep the shag looking new and not matted down under the feet of our family of six. I remembered that dubious task this week, as my wife and I prepared for carpet layers … Continue reading Roll Out The Rug …
When I was at MegaCorp, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Bob Johnson, the wildly successful founder of BET Television. Johnson was on our board of directors and I was on-hand to present an initiative at their offsite meeting. Johnson is a dynamic character and I’ve followed him through the media for the last 10+ years. He’s not afraid to jump into politics … Continue reading 401k Focus
Today I am up on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula on a road trip suggested by frequent reader, Randy. It’s the part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that juts up into Lake Superior. Definitely Paul Bunyan land. I drove my Jeep for 6+ hours yesterday to get here. Randy was up here last summer and sent me some flyers highlighting the many waterfalls in the area. You might … Continue reading Unexpected Hobby …
Television has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up just when color TV started to blossom. I think we switched from black & white to color about 1970. We got rudimentary cable about 1979. I was always enthralled with the TV’s glow of sight, sound, and motion bringing great stories, places, and events into our living room. TV wasn’t just my … Continue reading Finally … Cutting The Cord
I flew out to SmallCorp this week for our spring board meeting. On my way out, I stopped in to check out the new Delta World Club (above) that just opened at MSP – a benefit of my new airline credit card. Related: Taking Flight It was the first time I had stopped in an airline club since I stopped working 7+ years ago. I … Continue reading Back In The Club?
A friend has a senior role in operations at one of the largest banks in the country and said they get more complaints about removing coin machines from their branches than about anything else. It turns out that most of the biggest banks – Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, PNC, Wells-Fargo, and Capital One – have all done away with them. We found this out … Continue reading Coin Counting Charges
MrFireStation 