I’m am more than a little perplexed at how the media reports on early retirees. Most articles do their best to talk people OUT of saving up to be financially independent and enjoy the rest of their life in retirement. This article from AARP is no exception. You would think that an organization seeking to represent people in retirement (politically and otherwise) would be a … Continue reading WTF AARP?
MegaCorp announced significant layoffs last week .. again. In fact, both of the Fortune 500 companies I worked for have had significant job cuts this year, despite weathering the pandemic pretty well in 2020. I am years away from the two MegaCorps now, but it is still tough to see colleagues let go after long careers. Combined, the two companies cut nearly 5K employees – … Continue reading MegaCorp Affinity Waning
Everyone I know keeps quite busy in early retirement. It might in fact be true that early retirees are even more busy than they were when they were working. Summer, which gloriously exploded this week in MN, is an especially busy time. Whether it is the season or my age (I turned 55 back in April), I am finding myself too busy to accomplish everything … Continue reading Reading Goals – Abridged
They say that a puppy is a ticket to immediate exercise, but our 3-a-day walks of the new pupper have surprisingly been a ticket to something else …. getting to know our neighborhood in a completely new way. We thought we knew the neighborhood well already. We’ve lived here for almost 11 years and have met everyone up-and-down the street at one time or another. … Continue reading Neighborhood Tour Guide
I might have mentioned before that my wife and I don’t really keep a household budget. We used to be very, very diligent about it, but over the years we just stopped. I could tell you what we roughly spend each month, but not without actually adding it up. I only really know if we are spending too much by looking at our long-term net … Continue reading Budgets & Big Purchases
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
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 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
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