Reflections on Six Years of Retirement
For most of my life, I didn’t plan to retire. Reflecting religious influences, I’ve long thought we were put here to spend our life working in the productive service of …
Money and Happiness
the joy of retirement Work
First, turn on its head the idea that work is what we need to do to live. Instead, consider that work of our own choosing is what we live to do. In its optimal form, work is not drudgery, but a delight in and of itself. A creative activity done for the love of work itself.
the case for a Big Travel Budget
I spent the last three weeks in the Carolinas. It was great. The picture of me is from Hilton Head, South Carolina where we stayed for a few days. We …
Financial first responders
Last week I got the type of call no one wants to get. I learned a friend and colleague, who was in the prime of life, had taken his own …
The way of the dragon
Being a banker, I suppose it was logical that I would be drawn to read dragon books to my kids. These complex creatures remind me of some of my more …
Butkus, Rivers and Retirement
I understand why poets use rivers as metaphors for the passage of time. Rivers move me to think about life. Perhaps that’s why I found myself evaluating a personal milestone …
Break the rules–Occasionally
I’m not much of a lawbreaker. But one Halloween some of my teenage buddies and I were having a great time throwing water balloons at trick or treaters. It was …
Retirement DAshboard Part II
I’ve been enjoying a Western Philosophy course the last couple of weeks. It started with that fascinating scene in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. You might remember it. There are …
The retirement Secret Sauce
Let me say something radical about how to have a successful retirement. I’ve read a lot of retirement books touting the “keys to a successful retirement.” Some have great ideas. …
Pandemic Lessons
One of my favorite quotes that sums up last year is, “2020 is like looking both ways before crossing the street then getting hit by an airplane.” I just got …