#30 – 1st Year Summary

At the beginning of 2021, I decided to try my hand at writing a blog, and with retirement a couple years away, thought it might be good to make the blog about retirement preparation- encourage conversations between those who’ve already retired and those of us about to. I also wanted to learn more about the “blogosphere”. Had no idea I would be retired at the end of this first year.

The first couple posts were merely descriptions of the pain of establishing the blog. The rest of the year the blog picked up a handful of views from friends and an even smaller handful of comments. The good news is that the comments were most helpful, and writing the posts was an enjoyable process. So here’s a rundown of the first year’s posts:

• The third or fourth post was about trusts, and it brought forth my first comment (nothing to do about trusts). Off to a roaring start……
• The fifth post started a common trend of of describing visits to my 90 year old parents and running through a list of aging health issues. In my parents I saw myself 25 years from now- how was I going to handle these issues? This worth reposting in 2022.
• In Post #6 I wanted to learn what criteria people use to determine when it’s time to retire, and in this post I listed some of my criteria and current plans (which would change).
• In Post #7 I briefly went through the personal history of what got us to these current plans.
• Post #8 highlighted a retirement-themed podcast I listen to regularly.
• Post #9, on Feb 28, I put out some leading questions on retirement considerations and actually got some comments.
• Post #10 was about travel, where I asked viewers what their favorite travel experiences were. I will repost this one too, with updates.
• I posted a link in #11 from my friend Brian on aging and the brain– great article, also worth a repost in 2022.
• Post #12 was about my trip to Baseball’s Spring Training in Florida with one of my brothers where we got to watch the (future) 2021 World Series Champions. Also raised the issue of trusts again, but no comments.
• Just before Post #13 (April) we broke ground on our future retirement home. We also got news from the FAA that my plan to work remotely from Tennessee in 2022 might not work for them- time for an adjustment to our retirement plans.
• Post #14 was on diet and its major impact on our health. No comments, but worth reposting in 2022. Post #15 was on Social Security and considerations on when to pull that trigger. Got some good comments on that. #16 was on the subject of volunteer work. No comments, but again, probably worth a repeat.
• Post #17, in early June, raised the idea of considering part-time work, and this one elicited some solid considerations, thanks. Will be revisiting this subject in early 2022.
• Post #18 reported on a trip to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, visiting a unique friend.
• Post #19 was about a financial subject: Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).
• Post #20 reported on another visit with my aging parents and the impact these visits are having on me.
• Post #21 included my first blog picture– a technology breakthrough for me. And my first announcement that we were going to retire at the end of 2021.
• Post #22 was on Medicare. I wanted to spend good time on this subject, but there’s so much to it that I just abbreviated this post.
• In September, for Post #23 we made the retirement decision formal by submitting the paperwork package (added another house picture). Some really nice comments.
• Post #24 listed a number of retirement-related subjects, and included a cool picture taken from our apartment balcony.
• Post #25 was on reading, which brought one real nice comment.
• Posts #26 – #29 were all good news stories as things started falling in place with the retirement process, the house, moving, visiting family, holidays, and other issues.

So today, January 2, 2022, is my second official day in retirement. These first two days have been filled with packing duties as the movers show up tomorrow. The next post will come from Tennessee where a new life awaits us! Thanks for visiting the blog.