We just finished a fantastic long weekend at our Florida place enjoying all of the America 250 festivities. The celebrations & fireworks at Walt Disney World – and our own small-town Independence Day parade (no politicians!) were terrific. Seeing the tall ships in NYC, the time capsule in Philadelphia, and midnight fireworks in Washington DV were also highlights. We visited all of those places this … Continue reading Where Are We At USA?
I saw this chart in the March issue of Kiplinger’s recently. It shows what topics retired people are most interested in learning about. I guess I’m not the only one focused on history. The last few years have been a big focus on America 250 history for me. It looks like history is the favorite of most retired folks … There isn’t much difference between … Continue reading What Are You Learning?
This is a money & lifestyle blog, but I don’t actually post about actual money very often. Like real coins & bills! I’m excited to see that starting tomorrow, the US Mint is releasing a full set of America 250 / Semiquincentennial coins for circulation. I’m not sure how many they are stamping out, but I’ll be looking for them in my change right away. … Continue reading America 250 Coins
Since I don’t work, I probably follow the news more than the average bear. When you do that, you start to think you know more than most other people. Violating one of my own guidelines to buy index funds for the long-term and not play individual investments for the short-term, I bought $5K of the oil fund BNO a few weeks ago. Every few days … Continue reading A Lousy War Profiteer
I did it. I became a writer! I guess I already was a writer in the sense that I’ve written 1,189 posts over the past 11 years to this website. Still, now it feels more official as I spent the past few years researching American history and pulling together a book for the country’s 250th birthday party. Related: 200th & 250th Birthday America The idea … Continue reading USA Top 250 Book … FREE!
“Grateful Americans will come to this shrine of quiet valor, this forge of our Republic’s iron core. Valley Forge symbolizes the spirit of sacrifice that made independence possible.”” President Ford, Independence Day 1976 Just one post this week as I am traveling around some patriotic stops on the East Coast. I often say that early retirement is like “kidadulthood”. That is, it gives you the … Continue reading 200th & 250th Birthday America
I love watching rockets. I’ve been a space fan since I was a kid – watching the Apollo missions and the development of the Space Shuttles. I frequently drive from our place in Celebration FL to the Space Coast to watch launches. It’s about an hour each way for only a few minutes of excitement. I was there in April for the Artemis II moonshot. … Continue reading Seeing Stars in SpaceX?
Summertime is fun time, with a lot of activities. In addition to biking, pickleball, tennis, hiking, and walking the dog – I’ve added more golf into the mix this year. That’s gone pretty well, but I’ve had some muscle soreness and back pains adjusting from my Winter activity levels. You can see from the chart below how much my exercise minutes (activity > 100 bpm) … Continue reading Getting Going For Summer …
It’s graduation season, so the media is stoking the flames of political divide with what is commonly referred to as the “Student Loan Crisis” (example). I saw a couple of charts that illuminate the issue pretty clearly, so I thought I share them with my small readership here. First, according to the Education Data Initiative, the average student loan payment for a Bachelor’s Degree is … Continue reading Manufactured Student Loan “Crisis”
The economy is either strong, or very weak, it seems. Like many things in America, it just depends on your political perspective. According to Gallup, Republicans are +22 points positive about the economy, while Democrats are -80 points negative. If you go back to Biden’s time in office the viewpoints were switched almost perfectly. In Trump’s first term they were flipped again. I consider myself … Continue reading How’s The Economy? It Depends …
MrFireStation 