I asked my AI illustrator app to picture 77 pints of beer on a bar top, but I think it went a little overboard with this image. I can relate. After a couple years of buying ‘Pub Passes’ and ‘Tap Room Passports’, I now have THREE of them to use in 2023. Those three books entitle me to a total of 77 ‘free’ beers after … Continue reading 77 Pints of Beer on the Bar
I’ve always been good about going in for my annual checkup, both when I was working and now 7 years into early retirement. I was blessed to work for MegaCorps that had on-site health clinics and executive health programs, that made it easy. I recently went in to our post-retirement clinic for my annual check up and was surprised to get a bill for $278 … Continue reading A Good Question To Ask At Your Next Check-Up
It’s pothole season and good friend and regular reader, “Bowmanifesto”, commented about the “financial potholes” that prevent people from reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early). Just like the potholes in the road, there are hundreds of financial hazards that we all need to dodge each year. Just like the holes in the road, financial potholes aren’t catastrophic, they are just annoying costs that add … Continue reading Financial Potholes – Ten To Dodge!
I’m turning 57 this year, which certainly means I’m on the downhill side of the mountain. Not just in age / likely lifespan, but also in annual spending. This JP Morgan chart shows ‘the other side of the mountain’ in spending. The average American household slows spending quite a bit as they age … more than I would have guessed. I’m seeing a pretty steady … Continue reading Heading Down The Hill …
Our friends and us sometimes debate the “vibe” of snowbirding in Florida versus Arizona. I would guess that about 2/3rds of our friends opt for Florida and 1/3 opt for Arizona. We were undecided until a few years ago when my wife noted that although we’ve been to both many times, when we’ve chosen Florida over Arizona at about a 3:1 ratio for vacations over … Continue reading Sunshine State Snowbirding Vibe
Mr. FireStation has been tied up with a family emergency over the last week. Coincidentally, regular reader, “Klaus” Wentzel offered to step in with a post, which was great. Klaus and I have never actually met in real life, but he often shares very insightful comments. This post is based on one of his observations from a couple years ago that is relevant today. Thanks, … Continue reading What is Your Household’s Largest Budget Item?
I never planned on making any money off of this blog or monetizing the traffic in any way. Still, if it had exploded into millions of readers and I received a 8-figure offer to buy it, this is the kind of place I would have wasted some of that money on … a real fire station! This one is for sale in the French Quarter … Continue reading The Real Mr. Fire Station
We’re back in Florida for our fourth year snowbirding from cold Minnesota. We toured models at the giant Latitudes Margaritaville/ Daytona Beach development yesterday. A weird thing happened when they asked us where we were from. Being from Minnesota, we had to sign an “Out-Of-State Non-Solicitation Affidavit” to acknowledge that we arrived “voluntarily”. What? Yes, apparently it is against Minnesota law for a Florida developer … Continue reading Wait, Sign What?
We’re back in Florida this winter, snowbirding from the Minnesota cold. One bucket-list item I got to do today was drive down the sands of Daytona Beach in a bright red Jeep with the roof panels taken off. That was fun! Recently, I’ve been reading about people’s disappointments with some of their bucket list experiences. It started with THIS POST on EarlyRetirement.org, where people shared … Continue reading Bucket List or Garbage Can?
This may be the shortest post that I have ever written. It’s one of my first experiences with artificial intelligence. If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT yet, it’s an artificial intelligence (AI) program that seems to be a real breakthrough. To test it out, I asked 5 common retirement questions and am posting the ChatGPT answers. All were copied word-for-word, from the first answers provided. … Continue reading ChatGPT Retirement Advice
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