Hope everyone had an enjoyable 2022 Thanksgiving weekend. We had a wonderful week with Andrew being home (along with a visit by Tayler, one of his cousins), and the week before, I got to visit a couple of USNA classmates. More to follow on each of those events.
As mentioned on the home page, and in many of the posts, the purpose of the blog is to help make me- and others- smarter during the transition to retired life via online dialogue. It hasn’t really developed into the envisioned format just yet as I haven’t been able to successfully encourage the desired conversations- granted, people may be hesitant to discuss some of these personal subjects in a public forum. Got that. Have to deal with that.
Basically, the retired life 1.) gives us a bunch more free time on the calendar, 2.) makes us adjust financially from life in the “saving” mode to life in the the “spending” mode, 3.) causes us to decide what’s going to occupy our time moving forward and 4.) brings into focus family and financial end-of-life considerations. In our case, short term, it also included a move to a new geographic location. While many of us have been planning for these aspects for years, actual retirement brings us face-to-face with required decisions. I don’t know about you, but the learning curve is pretty steep as I seek information on this last stage of life.
I learn from conversations, either participating in them, or just listening to them. These past two weeks have been especially fruitful for me, although not through blog dialogue:
- On this last road trip, I learned from one classmate some specifics on what he’s dealing with in caring for his older parents, both 90+. His issues are very similar to mine, although his parents live close by and he deals with parental issues daily. He’s doing a good work for his parents and it’s clear they appreciate what he and his wife do for them. I got to talk with his parents for a good hour plus- hadn’t seen them in almost 40 years. They’re a wonderful family to know.
- The other classmate visited on this road trip has been semi-retired for several years. He and his family (kids live close by) seem to have learned many of the travel lessons that bring them lots of happiness (see post # 51). They live in a nice South Carolina city which has a real airport, something I do not have nearby. I learned a good bit about what occupies much of their time and what else brings them happiness besides travel. Was a great education. Both classmates own dogs which also brings great happiness and some extra responsibilities.
- Also on this trip I spent the better part of a full day with my financial planner. Been with him for over 30 years. We started the ongoing investment conversation in his office and continued it at the golf course. We’re the same age, and though he’s still working full time, we have the same financial considerations. He’s still learning about them too. Had lots of discussion about the transition from building the retirement nest egg to using it. It was a fruitful dialogue and a great day.
- I picked up Andrew the Monday before Thanksgiving, and much of the conversation on the long drive home was on investing (one of the reasons Beth does not come with me when picking him up from the airport). I always gain interesting investment perspectives when talking to other generations. It was another great day.
- From Tayler, who stopped by the next day for an overnight visit, I had a very helpful initial conversation on running blogs, a conversation I hope to maintain with her to help me with this forum. There are so many things she can help me improve here, starting with putting it out on social media platforms. Another situation where I learn from another generation.
- With 4 road trips in the past 6 weeks, I’ve been able to listen to dozens of podcasts, mainly on the FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early) Movement. This combines conversations on finances, investment, and preparing for retired life activities while listening to younger generations’ perspectives. It’s very different from our Boomer generation perspective. See post # 45.
So there you go. There are plenty more learning conversations going on, especially from my peers here in our new community. Just about every one of them makes me smarter.
BTW, I actually did get a couple of comments on recent posts. Unfortunately they were just bots trying to sell me something.