I know some readers hate it when I write about Bitcoin, so I try to only comment on its dynamic returns a time or two a year at most. Still, when it hits another all time high – fueled by the most dynamic entrepreneur of our age, Elon Musk – it’s worth another mention. Musk’s Tesla board agreed to invest $1.5B into Bitcoin yesterday, driving … Continue reading Double Down on Bitcoin?
We went to Walt Disney World on Wednesday morning and spent the day at one of our favorite places …. EPCOT Center. Before we left our rented townhouse, I peeked at my daily FaceBook ‘Memories’ which included this unforgettable post from exactly 5 years ago … The funny this is, I had forgotten it. You would think like a birthday or anniversary, you would remember … Continue reading Suddenly … Five Years
We just arrived in Florida for our ‘No Responsibility February’. I took this picture with my camera drone above Melbourne Beach on a beautiful 75-degree day. We visited with some Minnesota friends that are staying here with a beautiful ocean view. Leaving cold high-tax Minnesota for sunny low-tax Florida inevitably brings up the “should we move to Florida for 6 months and a day?” conversation. … Continue reading Sunny Skies & Lower Taxes
I promised an quick update on the progress of my refractive lens exchange surgery last month and the good news is everything has worked out extremely well. The first eye was done right after Christmas and the second eye two weeks ago. They removed my perfectly good, but near-sighted, natural lens and replaced it with a trifocal artificial lens that supplants any need for me … Continue reading The Eyes Have It
I like to tell my son – “my turn running the world is over, it’s your responsibility now.” With Biden now in office, I started looking at what impact the Democratic Party proposals might have on our household. I sold a lot of stock options for cash last year to get ahead of potential changes in tax rates, but that cash will only last so … Continue reading No Impact From Washington DC?
I used to joke to my son that when I retired early I was going to adopt a ‘fuzzy fleece lifestyle’. I was going to wear only fuzzy, polar fleece clothes, slippers, and watch TV under a big fuzzy blanket. I never did it, but the idea has caught the popular imagination with people started working-from-home during the CV19 pandemic. I guess I got beat … Continue reading Fuzzy FIRE Lifestyle
Financially, when does spending on a hobby become crazy? I have a number of hobbies that come with very different price tags. We have a sports car – that’s expensive in annual depreciation, insurance, and repairs. We like to travel, but flights, hotels, and sightseeing also add up quickly. Activities? Softball costs money, curling costs money, and the tennis club costs money in the winter. … Continue reading Crazy Bricks
I just got this notification from WordPress that it has been 6 years since I started babbling nonsense through this blog. In January 2015, I still was 14 months from quitting my job and living a life of nonsense. This writing project was inspired as a way to perhaps help others think through their journey to early retirement. I found very few longer-form descriptions of … Continue reading Six Years Of Nonsense
Count us among the very, very lucky in 2020. Amid the craziness of a deadly pandemic, global race riots (that started in our metro area), and a rancorous Presidential election, we stayed healthy and our retirement nest egg did much better than expected. Last night I went through our year end numbers and updated the spreadsheet I use to track our portfolio. We’ve been enjoying … Continue reading 2020: A Most Unexpected Result
My Dad was a department store manager for his whole career, so the idea of ever shoplifting was abhorrent to me growing up. Never did it. Not even a piece of candy or a baseball card. Strangely, this week I’ve become a ‘reverse shoplifter’ and may do it more in the future! What’s a reverse shoplifter? That’s my name for someone who brings merchandise into … Continue reading Antique Store Reverse Shoplifting
MrFireStation 