I’ve often said that if I hadn’t had a job that required me to go into the MegaCorp office every day, I might have worked much longer. As everyone has learned during the CV19 pandemic, people are happier when pretending to work from home. 🙂 Related: The Onion: Working From Home With the CDC announcement yesterday that vaccinated people can now safely go back to … Continue reading Return-To-The-Office?
The personal finance radio host Dave Ramsey often talks about creating ‘generational wealth’ as the final step in his Total Money Makeover. He encourages people to think about how they can fundamentally “change their family tree” by building an uber portfolio that allows them to pass money on to their kids and even grandkids. I like to listen to Dave Ramsey and think he generally … Continue reading Fertilize The Family Tree?
We are about 6 weeks into taking care of our new puppy, Riley, and everyone is asking us how we are adjusting to the ‘new baby’? The short answer is that it DOES feel like we have a new baby in the house. There are late night wake-ups to take him out, regimented feeding times, and lots of teaching basic commands. He has really restructured … Continue reading Puppies vs Babies
After President Biden was elected, I went through his proposals and could not find any that really would affect me directly in a negative way. The one concern I noted – before the Republicans lost power in the Senate – was a change in the capital gains tax. Now that we have one-party control in Washington DC – which is always scary – talk of … Continue reading Capital Gains Taxes – A Slippery Slope for Retirees?
Our summer softball league kicked off Wednesday night with a doubleheader against our longtime rivals. We swept the night – blowing them out 14-5 in the first game and eeking out a 9-7 win in the second. It’s the start of my 5th season since I began playing again in early retirement. My return to the diamond followed an almost 25 year hiatus that put … Continue reading The Thrill of the Grass
I’m not sure what to make of the value of our home is right now. A house in our neighborhood recently went up for sale – with a lot of square footage & high finish quality – but with a relatively low asking price. I really would have expected it would be priced 10% higher. We’re not thinking about selling anytime soon, but I still … Continue reading Knock Knock – Who’s Buying?
I turned 55 last week and to celebrate the milestone, my friend treated me to my first Senior Discounted meal at breakfast. We went to Denny’s and my 55+ eggs, pancakes, and extra crispy bacon (burn the hell out of them!) cost $8.49. That’s a savings of $1.00 even, or 16% off the regular menu. I guess that’s worth it, although Im not a big … Continue reading Double Nickel Discount
Reaching financial independence requires a combination of good choices and good fortune. Even the best laid plans sometimes go awry, but if you aren’t making smart decisions along the way, it won’t matter. Recently a post on the early-retirement.org forum asked “what changes/sacrifices did you make to reach financial independence?” In general, the folks responding are a very successful group of early retirees and their … Continue reading 25 Proven Moves To Reach Financial Independence
My son got me this nifty LEGO Architecture model for my birthday this past week. We’ve visited London several times as a family and he knows I love to build LEGO. We’ve built lots of sets together. He didn’t know that I had actually gotten a shelf at IKEA to start building something like this almost 5 years ago. I had the idea to build … Continue reading Checking The Boxes Of Early Retirement
How much does it cost to add a pet to the family? Like most things, the answer is “it depends”. We looked at dogs that would be close to free and ones that cost more than $3K before inviting Riley into our house. Then there is the cost of vet visits, supplies, dog food, and grooming. I found this helpful survey online that surveyed 1,300 … Continue reading How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?
