A number of readers have been chatting about how many months they have until their own early retirement dates and how anxious they are getting. I started this blog when I had 15 months left before my FIRE escape date from MegaCorp. That seemed like a really long time at that point, but now when I reflect on it, it seems like no time at … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Let Me Count The Ways
This is the third chapter in a series of four posts that look at how our first year in early retirement has gone. This chapter covers activities related to Family/Friends and Work/Money. These are two of the busiest areas on my Life Wheel map and have been very satisfying. (Here are links to the FIRST and SECOND posts of this series) My goal wasn’t to … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (3) – Work/Money & Family/Friends
My Mom & Dad called recently to get my take on their Long Term Care (LTC) insurance. They’ve had a policy for fourteen years and recently got a notice from their insurer that their rates would be going up. The increase – stepped over the next few years – totaled a little more than +50% versus what they were paying now. If they didn’t want … Continue reading Long-Term Care Insurance – Cost/Benefit Tradeoffs
This is the second chapter in four posts about how we’ve spent our first year of early retirement, which started on April Fool’s Day last year. Click here for last week’s update on Travel/Play & Arts/Creative. This week, I’m reporting in on two more segments of the Life Wheel: Health/Sports and Love/Romance. I established 13 goals in these two areas and so far, I’ve made … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (2) – Health/Sports & Love/Romance
My son forwarded me this sobering cartoon that he saw on Twitter yesterday. I’m not sure who originally drew it, but it does describe the dark side of the American Dream that we all worry about, doesn’t it? Sorry to not have something more cheerful to send you off this weekend. If nothing else, here’s a link to a collection of funny Monday morning memes … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Running Through Life
It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I made my FIRE escape from corporate life! More than anything, people ask me “what are you doing with your time in early retirement”. Several people have asked me to provide an update on my post last year, when I introduced my “Life Wheel” and talked about the activities I am hoping to … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (1) – Travel/Play & Arts/Creativity
I am now closing in on my first full YEAR of early retirement. I will hit the anniversary mark on April Fool’s Day this year. It has been a terrific rotation around the sun and I haven’t regretted it at all. Not surprisingly, everyone is asking me “are you doing all of those things that you thought you would?” I wrote this post last March … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Possibilities
More than a year ago, I wrote this article contemplating whether or not I was more of an introvert or extrovert. Some people think that being an extrovert helps you in the business world and being an introvert helps you in retirement. The difference comes down to your need to be with other people to ‘find your energy’. Here is a link to that article: INtroverts … Continue reading Introvert or Extrovert?
The stock market is off to a nice clip so far this year with the S&P 500 and International EFEA up more than 5% in less than two months. Things are moving so fast that I am already losing my bet on where the market will be on the Fourth of July this year, as I wagered on less than 4.5% growth.. Our portfolio doesn’t … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Patient Profits
One of my team members told me today that they are now on their “final lap”. We were talking about great cities to visit – my favorite is Rome – and they shared their plans to start traveling more in early retirement. Next year! This person plans on retiring on 5/1/16 after 35 enjoyable years at our dear MegaCorp. They’ve been a company loyalist for … Continue reading Roman Holiday In Early Retirement
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