I took Monday “off” this week from posting. I’ve kept a pretty tight schedule of posting on Mondays & Fridays for years, but I figured I’d just post once this week. The reason is that we were simply enjoying early retirement. There’s something about the winter in Florida that makes retirement feel more real and enjoyable. If retirement is like “permanent vacation”, it feels especially … Continue reading No Responsibility January
We just finished a few wonderful days of holiday / fun activities with friends and family. We have more planned this week. We went to a terrific Lady A Christmas Concert, shopped an indoor Holiday Market, enjoyed lunches with friends, went to a fun Minnesota Wild game with buddies, drove my Jeep in a holiday light parade, watched a silly Hallmark movie, and were able … Continue reading The Calm Before Christmas
We’re still learning what it’s like to have two places — one in Minnesota and one in Florida. It’s funny how different the same place can feel depending on why we’re here and how long we stay. Sometimes a trip to Florida feels like a vacation. We don’t really settle into a routine — we just enjoy the sunshine, check out favorite restaurants, and maybe … Continue reading Two Places, Two Speeds …
Have you heard about the “U” shaped happiness curve? It’s the output of psychology research across ages. It suggests that people are happiest when they are younger, lose some of that happiness in middle-age, and then get it back as they get older. Here’s a plot of the curve, with the colors representing 7 different studies of happiness by age. There has been a lot … Continue reading Happiness “U”-Curve
These two bags of groceries (plus a couple gallons of skim milk) were a whopping $107 at Target today. I’m old enough to remember when our grocery bags averaged $15 each. That rule of thumb was from 35 years ago (in 1990) when we first got married and watched every $ closely. Related: Cut Those Prices In Half! I know prices have been rising, but … Continue reading Sticker Shock
I recently saw an interesting thread that discussed “How Can You Tell Someone Is Rich?” That is, what are the signs that someone has money, even if you just met them? It caught my attention because high on the list was “they retired from work in their 40s”. Here are some of the responses that people said suggest someone is rich … In general, these … Continue reading Signs Someone is Rich …
When I started this blog back in 2015, the concept of FIRE – Financially Independent & Retired Early – was relatively new. Over a decade later, perhaps the bloom is off the flame. Someone recently asked AI ChatGPT to “roast the FIRE movement” and the perceptions are pretty cutting. Since AI basically scrapes data from across the internet and presents it back in an organized … Continue reading Bloom Is Off The FIRE Flame?
If you are a certain age, you might have carried a Franklin Day Planner with you to meetings like I did. Before Smartphones, these zippered, leather-backed, “monarch-sized” portfolios were essential to MegaCorp life. I would get to work early and dutifully plot out my objectives for the day. I especially enjoyed seeing the daily quote that accompanied each page. How long ago that seems now! … Continue reading Quotable Financial Quotes
I met up with an old friend this week on a visit to my hometown of Racine WI. He had retired four years ago and said he “wasn’t happy without something to do” and went back to work at his old job half-time. I wondered how common that feeling was among early retirees and found an online thread where people addressed the question, “Are you … Continue reading Are You Happier In Retirement?
Today is ‘National Relaxation Day’. It’s recorded in Chase’s Calendar of Annual Events, after being proposed by Chase’s 9-year old grandson, Sean Moeller, in 1985. I celebrated the day by mowing the lawn. For me, that’s pretty relaxing. After all, I’ve had a busy week. On Monday we played pickle ball. Tuesday was a 37-mile bike ride – my longest ever. Wednesday I played tennis … Continue reading Relaxation Day
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