(OK, it’s been about 3 months since the last comment. Guess I should beg for at least one…)
This is just a snap shot of the notable retirement trends in the last few months of Retirement Year #1- since Post #48 dated July 11- life events and considerations for where being retired changes how one might approach such events. This time last year, the weekend before Thanksgiving, we were just a few weeks from my last productive day in the workforce, and none of these events were on my radar scope.
- Two days ago got back from my 4th road trip in five weeks. The first two being to Pennsylvania/DC, then Pensacola, and this week to SC and Jax FL- all visiting family and friends, but also getting work done on some projects. No more trips scheduled until a visit to the grand daughter sometime around Christmas.
- Thanks to Vance/Helen and Ken/Margaret for the visit and hospitality over the last few days- great seeing you! And enjoyed learning about retired life from you folks.
- Back in July I finally dealt with our negative cash flow by taking on a part time job as a starter/ranger at one of our golf courses. Low stress work, low pay, two days a week. Got to meet a bunch of folks in the community and had some good insight as to how things work behind the scenes here. Feeling better about the cash flow, and the nest egg is trying to recover from its 2022 downward trend. As the job is seasonal, its down to a trickle of hours per week. Still on the fence about turning on Social Security now, or wait until age 70. Clear advantages to either option.
- More recently, played two rounds of golf last week in 70 degree weather here, but now we’re into the 20s and I may have played my last round in 2022. Golf game isn’t getting any better (sigh!).
- At the end of September, had Basal Cell cancer removal surgery on my upper lip, left a good-size crater which was masterfully reconstructed the following day. Now sporting a camouflaging beard until at least after Thanksgiving, but the remaining scar is surprisingly minimal. Think I’ve moved into the medical senior season of life.
- Major high school (50th) and college (45th) reunions are now on the 2023 calendar.
- My youngest brother sent out a wonderful email to our cousins with the intent of keeping closely connected as we’ve now all moved into senior citizenship. Way to go Doug! We’re also down to a very small number of survivors from our parents’ generation.
- A couple of weeks ago I decided to write an article highlighting my last Navy community (Foreign Military Sales), even though I’m four years removed from the community. It’s brought great joy by connecting me with several old friends and a profession which I thoroughly enjoyed for almost 15 years. Just finished the article yesterday, now running it through a lengthy review cycle. If it gets published, probably won’t be out until middle of 2023. No $$$ involved, but considerable satisfaction, and I think it fills a gap for the community. We’ll see.
- Last….during all these road trips, I listened to a ton of podcasts, most which start out as a blog, then a money-making blog, and finally a full-blown podcast/website/blog business, some with 250K – 300K subscribers. Very impressive, and for me, very enjoyable to listen to while on the road. Not on my blog wish list though, nor in my blog DNA as one has to be a real salesperson to make that work. But it makes me think.
- Will update this post at the end of the year, but in the meantime, hope it brings you some joy. And yes, comments welcome.