Chapter 18 - Winter Blues

 Another day, another chapter. Actually, I’ve been quite delinquent with my writing. My motivation seems to have gone out the window. Not sure if it is the weather, the winter blues or the state of the world. The winter blues is a real thing for me. Always has been but I didn’t understand why until almost a decade ago, when I was diagnosed with depression. But that is a whole other story that I’m not quite ready to get in to.

The weather this winter has been nasty by times. We had our driveway plowed for the seventh time yesterday. Two years ago, we went the entire winter without a single plow. There was a lot of talk about global warming that winter, but maybe it isn’t as far along as we anticipated. That’s not to say we don’t feel the effects. Our weather patterns are definitely changing.

I have managed to take a couple of items off the retirement bucket list. My wonderful mother-in-law has shared more of her creative kitchen talents with me. A few weeks back, I learned the craft of making brown bread. It is a fair amount of work, but worth every bit! She shared with me, after we had finished, that she expected to get her hands dirty showing me the art of kneading. To her surprise, she didn’t have to lift a finger. Apparently, I take instruction well. The end result was some of the most delectable brown bread I have ever tasted. I’m looking forward to making more soon.

My next cooking adventure was learning how to make mustard beans. As a kid, I was never a fan of homemade pickles and the like. A neighbour lady changed that. Helen was like a second mother. I spent as much time at her house as I did my own and consumed many meals there with her family. At supper one evening, I was persuaded to try the mustard beans made with beans from their garden. One taste and I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough. For years after, Helen would make me my own batch. Decades later, I shared this story with Mum. One day, a few weeks later, she arrived at the house with a freshly made batch of mustard beans just for me. Since then, she has continued to keep me stocked. As with the jelly and brown bread, I wanted her to teach me how to make these while she her health and can enjoy passing on her skill. As each year passes and we lose more of our older loved ones and friends, I’m reminded that with them goes their memories and knowledge. History that hasn’t been documented and is lost. Tidbits of information they possess from past generations is gone forever. I’m hoping to retain some of that wisdom so I can, in turn, pass it down the line. Hopefully, someone below me in the family tree will have the same interest.

I guess I’m feeling a bit philosophical today. I am in need of sunshine and fresh air. I’ve had enough of winter and am ready to get outside and tick a few more items off the list. I will get more into that next time. Hope you can join me.

Chapter 17 - Learning a New Trick

Another week in and everything is going well. I’ve been working away on small projects around the house. Yesterday, I emptied five boxes of junk we’ve collected over time. Most of it made its way into a garbage bag. There is a lot of satisfaction in that. I continue to ask myself the question most of us probably have. Why the hell did I keep that??

When I was getting ready to pull the plug on my working days, I made a list of many of the things I wanted to do in retirement. Among the activities was to learn how to make preserves. I’ve always relied on others to provide me with a selection of jams, jellies and pickles and now I have a desire to create my own. This past week, my wonderful mother-in-law gave me a crash course in making choke cherry jelly. We have a large number of choke cherry trees on our property and, until a couple of years ago, I really didn’t bother with them. A couple of summers ago, Mum was over for a visit. As she looked out the window, she offhandedly said to me, you should pick some of those berries and I will make you some jelly. I did and she made me a small batch. Truthfully, I figured it would sit on the shelf until I cleared it out a few years from now, but I thought it only fair to at least give it a try. To say I was blown away by how good this newfound delicacy was would be an understatement. I absolutely love it! Last summer we had a great crop of berries, and I filled two large containers and put them in the freezer. We spent about half a day last week boiling and stirring and filling bottles and I am happy to say I have my supply back for another year. After years of consciously not having bread in the house because if I see it, I will eat it, I now look forward to my toast and jelly every morning. So much for the bread diet, but it is so worth the sacrifice! Next week, she is going to teach me the craft of making brown bread.

I don’t often buy big ticket items, but I got a great Boxing Day sale on a TV. To be more precise, I bought myself a sixty-five-inch smart TV. Now that we will no longer require home offices, I came up with the brilliant idea of turning one of our spare bedrooms into a den/media room. My wife had a hair appointment one afternoon last week and, knowing that moving furniture with her in the house would take twice as long because we would have to do silly things like measuring furniture and space, I made the executive decision to spare her the stress, and make the move on my own. I figured I had at least ninety minutes to get the job done. As soon as I saw the back of the car disappear, I jumped into action. I had to clear out an accumulation of small items from the former office, move a bed frame, box spring and mattress into that room, empty a bookcase from the office and move it into the new den and then move two relatively large recliners from the living room, down the hall and into the new space. I really should have made a YouTube video on the last move. When the chairs are as wide as the hallway and significantly wider than the door, it pays to have a good imagination. When she asked me how I managed it, I told her we were following the don’t ask, don’t tell philosophy. Long story short, when she arrived home from her appointment, the new room was set up and ready to go. More importantly, she was happy with the outcome. I live to see another day.

Hope you can join me next time to see what trouble I get into next. See you then!

Chapter 16 - The Budget

We have hit the motherload of snow this week. In fact, most of North America felt this system. Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad for us. The snow came down for close to thirty hours, and we received a foot or more, but it was a very light fluffy snow. We did not receive the freezing rain and wind experienced by other areas, so I would consider us lucky. It has also been extremely cold. We’ve had wind-chill in the minus thirty range and nothing will zap your energy quicker. I haven’t left the house in three days, and any ambition has pretty much gone out the window. I find myself in a period of hibernation.

We are about seven weeks away from our next adventure. This time we will travel to

Mexico and enjoy some warm weather and cold drinks. This is a bit of new experience

for us. We have rented a villa and will not have our own transportation, so will have to

find our way around on foot. Fortunately, we will have friends who have done this before

close by to show us the ropes. We are hoping this will be a good experience and

something we will plan to do again. There are other southern destinations we want to

explore in retirement too. It is a big world with so much to see and do.

I wrote last week about moving toward the creation of a weekly budget. Over the past

year, I have worked to reduce our number of monthly payments. For some smaller

things, we have moved to one annual payment. We have set up most of our monthly

bills on a credit card that I pay weekly. I reached out to our internet provider and

negotiated a better rate, and we have also been able to reduce our spend on cell

phones. Sometimes it is just a matter of making a call and asking the question.

Something else we have done is to consciously monitor our grocery and gas spend, and

to read the weekly flyers for deals on grocery staples and dry goods. We have built a

healthy pantry by doing this and greatly reduced the number of items we buy each

week. Having a better handle on all these things has taught me that we don’t need an

excessive weekly income. We are still doing all the things we did before I retired but

now have a better understanding of where our money is going. I’m also encouraged by

the fact that we have been living on one income for three months without issue. The

money set aside to cover my former income until my wife retires and we move to our

retirement savings hasn’t been touched. The trepidation I’ve felt about retiring early is

fading. I’m feeling great about this decision.

We are now about six weeks away from no longer having regular deposits dropped in to

our bank account and being on our own financially. Feel free to follow along to see if we

make it. Until next time.

Chapter 15 – Can We Do It?

Oh oh, I’m late writing again this week. This seems to be turning into a habit. I do have an excuse, of sorts. You see, I’ve started a new routine this week. With the holidays over, I’ve begun working with a daily list. I’m trying to ensure that I don’t fall into the trap of letting my days drift away without some sort of accomplishment. I have given myself specific household duties to perform. Each morning after coffee I start with the kitchen. Either emptying or filling the dishwasher, hand washing items that require a more delicate touch, wiping counters and the like. Next, I turn to the floors with my handy dandy Swiffer. Our floors have never been so clean. There is usually some laundry to do, whether it is washing, drying or folding and putting away. Essentially, I am quickly becoming an awesome housewife. I’m not sure what this means but I really enjoy it. Guess I’ll have to run this past my therapist son for his analysis. Another thing on my daily list is exercise. I promised myself that I would build a daily exercise routine into every day. Beginning this week, I have spent an hour each day on the treadmill. I’ve also cut back on my food intake and cut out sweets. So far, so good. It has only been three days, but I’ve managed to drop three pounds. And trust me, I have a lot more than three pounds to lose. Writing is also on my list. I think it is time I move it closer to the top.

So, bottom line is retirement seems to be going well. In fact, I love it! Financially, things seem to be on track. When I last wrote about our retirement plan, the question was, would we be disciplined enough to manage our spending and stick with our savings plan. Not only had we committed to putting a fairly significant amount into our joint RRSP every two weeks, but our new mortgage payment, post renovation, was much higher than we were accustomed to. We did this purposely to achieve our ten-year plan. Well, the short answer is yes. In fact, a few years into the plan, we also began adding a regular bi-weekly amount into our savings account. We were both committed to achieving our goal. Due to a little good luck along the way, we were able to pay off the mortgage a year early. My wife changed jobs a little while back. Some sloppy accounting by her former employer’s administration office had her overpay her pension contributions. We put the small windfall in the bank and moved on. One Saturday, when I was doing my weekly bank reconciliation and paying bills, I started to look closer at our accounts and made an interesting discovery. If we were to take her pension overpayment, some money from our savings account and a bit from an emergency stash we had squirreled away, we could be mortgage free! It took a bit of convincing, but my wife finally bought in and, just like that, we owned our home outright. What an amazing feeling! This allowed us to focus on our savings. Over the next year, we were able to build a fund to cover my missing income during the gap between when I retired and her pending retirement date. We also stashed some money to cover the cost of our retirement trips (we have another coming up when my wife retires in a couple of months). We learned the importance of an emergency fund along the way. The summer before I finished work, we had to replace our septic field. For those of you who are not on a municipal sewer system, you understand the cost involved in this project. Fortunately, we had additional funds in our savings, and we successfully survived this storm. As retirement got closer, I started looking closely at our weekly budget. How much would we need to sustain ourselves? More on this next time.

I’m thinking a lot today about our decision to retire early, and the reason behind it. If you have been following along, this all stems from the fact that both of our fathers passed away before they had time to enjoy their golden years and I made it my goal not to be that person. During my last year of work, I lost two friends who had been co-workers. Both were my age. I remember many conversations with one, where we would discuss retirement and how we looked forward to our pending freedom. Sadly, both were still employed when they passed. Yesterday, I received a message that another friend has succumbed to cancer. Fortunately, she did retire early, but she will never see her old age pension. She was only 64.

Chapter 14 - Observations

 

It’s flu season! I know this firsthand. After developing what I thought was a simple head cold a couple of weeks ago, I found myself at urgent care on Sunday afternoon with a sore throat that just would not quit. In fact, my throat was swollen to the point that it was starting to obstruct my airway. Earlier in the week, knowing that pharmacists in our province now can diagnose and treat certain ailments, I visited my local pharmacy only to discover my throat was not something they could help with. I purchased some lozenges recommended by the pharmacy owner and they did help to numb my throat. I also started taking extra strength Tylenol every four hours to deal with the increasing pain. On Thursday, I called my doctor’s office but could not schedule a quick appointment. On Friday I thought I would try our eVisit service. I signed up to participate and submitted a request for a virtual appointment with a nurse practitioner. Late that evening, the NP reached out and did her best to diagnose my symptoms. She asked for a photo of the area afflicted. It turned out that my throat was so swollen we were unable to get a clear picture of my tonsils and the swelling. It was obvious by the extreme redness of the area that there was an issue but, because it wasn’t possible for her to get a complete visual, she could not give me a definite diagnosis and suggested I see a doctor. The infection was taking a toll, and I pretty much slept the day away on Saturday. By Sunday, it was apparent that this was not going to go away by itself, so I bit the bullet and went to the emergency department at a local hospital. Why didn’t I do this sooner? Well, I am a man, and man logic dictates that emergency departments are for people who are sick and need attention. It took me a while to accept that I might just be one of those people. All this to say that my post is running a few days behind schedule.

I must say I am truly enjoying this part of retirement. Not getting sick but having the ability to go to the pharmacy in the middle of the day, stay up late to wait for a call back or sleep a day away without the stress and pressure of worrying about work. By the time I went to the hospital, I considered my stress levels to be pretty high, but my blood pressure was hardly elevated….and I have chronic high blood pressure. During my working days, it would have been off the charts. This is all I’m saying about retirement this week. If you will indulge me, I would like to comment on a couple of observations from my afternoon at urgent care.

I arrived at the hospital at about half past twelve. The process was simple. Take a number and have a seat. After about ten minutes, my number was called, and I was ushered in to see a triage nurse. She took vitals and notes on my concern and then directed me to the registration desk to have a file opened and receive a patient bracelet. I then settled back into the seating area for what I correctly assumed would be a significant wait. The sign on the wall said wait times were three – four hours and that was okay. I knew I was where I had to be to get the help I needed. Sitting in the waiting room of the emergency department is always an interesting experience. You take note of all the other patients, determine how many are being accompanied and then calculate how many are ahead of you. You then guess at their ailments. Who is there as I am, for flu/cold support? How many are injured? We all know that eventually we will be seen and treated and be on our way. Sadly, there is always another group of our population represented. On this day, we were joined by two members of the homeless community. A gentleman who said his name was Donald checked in at about the same time I did. I wasn’t quite sure of his symptoms or his story, but he was polite and very well spoken. A short time later, a young lady arrived. I would guess she was in her mid to late 20s. It was obvious that she was suffering with some mental health issues. She checked herself in and joined us in the waiting area. Donald spoke to her, asking how she was doing. He offered her comforting words, telling her the medical staff would help her. She would sit for a bit and then get up and roam. In a low voice, to nobody in particular, Donald shared that she was in rough shape. She hadn’t slept for days. He said there were about eight of them, all from the shelters, who were watching out for her, both men and woman. They would give her cigarettes and try to keep her calm. There was great concern that she would cause harm to herself. My heart broke for her. On this cold, damp, miserable day, how could we as a society allow this poor kid to be on the streets, at the mercy of the elements when she should be in a warm environment receiving the care she deserves. At least, there with us, she was warm. She asked a receptionist for a drink of juice and the kind lady found her a glass. She would take off her boots, curl up in chair and sit quietly, sometimes talking to herself or singing. She had a terrible cough. She would pull her boots back on and repeat the drill. This cycle continued for a couple of hours.

After almost three hours, my turn arrived. Donald and I were taken into the patient care area at the same time and were placed in curtained treatment areas beside each other. He was first to see a doctor. I listened as he explained to the doctor that he was on medication for mental health issues, but his bag had been stolen from the shelter, and he lost his pills. He shared that when he had been under a doctor’s care and on medication, he was able to function and hold a job. I had previously heard him speaking in the waiting room about the type of work he did. He was a skilled laborer. He performed a job that I couldn’t do on my best day. I can relate to his story. You see, I also suffer with mental health issues. I was diagnosed with depression and severe anxiety several years ago and I too am on medication. But for the grace of God, Donald and I could very easily be in reversed roles. I am very fortunate to have the love and support of family and friends. Maybe he is not as fortunate, I don’t know. With only a curtain between, I heard the remainder of their conversation. The extremely gracious doctor went above and beyond to assist Donald, giving him medication he really needed and directions on next steps to get him back into the system for support.

In the meantime, I saw a doctor who acknowledged that I did have a significant problem. While waiting for a test, I could hear the young woman from the waiting area being brought back for treatment. By this point, she was beyond frustration. I could hear the nursing staff working diligently to assist her, but there was no reasoning with her. She was offered food and other comforts but was beyond the point of being rational. She became louder and started to get violent. I told the nurse who was treating me that I could not do their job. I felt so absolutely terrible for this poor girl. I know that she had zero control over her actions. I also knew that the immediate care she required was not available in this emergency department. I could see on the faces of the staff as I was released and ushered out of the department that they too were heartbroken.

I made my way outside and met police officers on their way in. As bad as this sounds, it really was the only option for this girl to keep her safe. I watched from my car as they wrestled her out of the hospital and into the back of a police car. I can only imagine how her day ended. I hope she is getting the care she needs and deserves.

So, what are my observations? First, we have a very efficient and functioning health system. Yes, it is understaffed so we don’t always get in and out as quickly as we would like. However, we all need to be grateful for the healthcare professionals we have. They do care. Secondly, we all need to own our homeless situation. Don’t look past these unfortunate souls. They are not all drug addicts. And of those that are, the drugs are in most cases a result of living rough, not the cause. We need more mental health support for all our citizens, both housed and unhoused. The difference in circumstances between you and me, Donald and this young lady might only be one bad decision or one missed opportunity. Let’s all try to be a little kinder.

We will get back to the retirement conversation in my next post.

Chapter 13 – Happy New Year!

And just like that, here we are in 2026. For a whole lot of reasons, this was by far the best Christmas holiday I have experienced in a very long time. As it is for many people, Christmas is usually a very hard time for me. The commercialism and expectations have taken a toll. It seems the reason for the season has been forgotten. As far back as I can remember, going to church on Christmas Eve has been important to me because it reminds me why we celebrate. I grew up going to church, as did my children. Sadly, a couple of decades ago, my wife and I found that the church we knew and felt close to was changing. We no longer felt comfortable and, as a result, stopped attending. That said, I always attend the Christmas Eve service when I am able because it is special to me.

 A few years ago, I became aware of another reason this time of year is hard. Actually, it was a very painful event over the Christmas holiday that led me to being diagnosed with depression. I mentioned in an earlier post that I plan to write a blog on the topic of volunteerism. Truthfully, when I decided to challenge myself to begin writing again, there were three topics I wanted to cover. Living with depression is the third and, I expect, will be the toughest. More to come on that.

Anyway, this Christmas was as close to perfect as I remember. We spent time with almost all our immediate family. Those who were missing will be here to spend some time with us in a few days. We ate and then we ate some more. We welcomed new family members to the circle. The weather, for the most part, was accommodating. We made new memories. For this I am thankful.

Back to our journey. As we were approaching our renovation project, we received some scary news from our bank. Jennifer, our personal banker, received a well-deserved promotion and would be moving to another city for her new role. Great news for her, but we were terrified. She had orchestrated our retirement plan that had just launched. Who would look after us now? Were we going to be left having to manage this financial maze? I remember attending a meeting she scheduled with us, to do a handoff of our file. As we sat in her office, the door opened and another lady entered. Jennifer got up to greet her, and she turned to us. She said she wanted to introduce us, not to her colleague, not to her replacement, but to her friend Ann Marie. She was very specific about this. She requested Ann Marie to replace her with our file because it was important to her to ensure we would be looked after. Mission accomplished. We have received nothing but the best support, advice and encouragement over the past ten years from Ann Marie. Again, we are incredibly grateful. I admit I was more than a bit concerned when we received the final invoice for the renovation and discovered that we had gone over our budget. I remember being very anxious heading into a meeting with Ann Marie to figure out how we would manage this. There was no concern on her part. She simply said we would do this and we would do that. She confirmed that I would be okay working for an additional year. That was it. The long-term plan hadn’t changed. We were committed to regular contributions to our registered plan designed to give us the money we would need. Now, we just had to stay the course and live our lives. We had a decade to plan our golden years. We would have to commit to being fiscally responsible, but I felt good about this. We have over thirty years’ experience in making bad financial decisions. Surely, we learned our lesson. But had we? More next week.

Chapter 12 – Merry Christmas!

I’m writing early this week while I have some time during the last few days before Christmas. Composing my thoughts from the car again, as I wait for my wife to finish her early morning appointment. I do love this part of retirement. As a remote worker, I would often accompany my wife to work or personal appointments so she wouldn’t have to find parking, because the roads might not be the best, or because there was travel involved. Mostly, it was so we could have time together on the drive. Time is precious, as we all discover as we age. It was easy for me to work from the car, or a coffee shop. The downside was that I had to be online and available. Meetings sometimes could be difficult, so I would always try to be back in my home office for those, meaning we would often be rushed. I’m happy those days are done.

This morning, after her appointment, we will go to one of our favorite pubs for breakfast and then on to wrap up some last-minute shopping. It is a light workday for her. In a few short months, she will be retiring too, and I am excited for that. When you think back to your youth, what was more exciting than being able to hang out with your best friend, without worrying about any obligations? You were foot loose and fancy free. The only restriction was being home in time for supper. Well, that is what it will be like for us. Our time will be ours. We joke that one of our first activities will be to go to a 24-hour McDonalds in the middle of the night, because we can! We’ve done our time. We’ve raised our kids, given back to our community, made our contribution. There are no more expectations. Our proverbial ship has come in.

It's Christmas week so I’m not going to bore you with more of our retirement preparation journey. I will save that story for the next time. This week is a time for family, friends and the special people in our lives. We have a busy week planned. Tuesday night we will have family in to celebrate the season, with lots of food and drink. Wednesday is Christmas Eve and, because of schedules and logistics this year, we will have Christmas dinner at a relative’s house and open some gifts. On Christmas day, we will host brunch for our immediate family. On Boxing Day, the last of our company will leave to go home and the house will once again be quiet. My personal tradition is to spend the day watching hockey on television. I do look forward to the downtime after the holiday. Things are so rushed leading up to the event that it is nice to take pause and reflect on the year that was and the year ahead.

With that, I will take this opportunity to wish all who happen upon this post a very Merry Christmas and all the best of the season. I truly hope you receive all the blessings I have over the past year. Please take time to appreciate all you have and be generous to those less fortunate. Happy Holidays!

Chapter 11 – Life Goes On

Just a week to go until Christmas. It is a hectic time, but enjoyable none the less. Last minute shopping to do, holiday baking, gift wrapping and cleaning the house. This year seems different. My days are mine. Well, with some direction from my wife of course. Last week I put up my mother-in-law’s Christmas tree and ours. Yesterday, it was my mom’s turn, after we went out for lunch. I learned how to make a pie this week, for our annual supper club holiday get together. I’m off to have coffee with a friend later this morning. Life is good. 

Back to the renovation. It seemed almost surreal. A dream we had had for a long time was about to come true because we had decided to take some serious steps toward our retirement plan. Who knew? This was the furthest thing from my mind when we scheduled that first meeting with our personal banker. Oh well, there was no turning back now. The reno plan was confirmed and a timeline was set. Summer was just beginning and we were excited.

As it turned out, we were going to have a few tough weeks in front of us before we got underway. My grandmother was moved to hospice care and passed away a week before her 95^th birthday. We were sad to lose her, but grateful for all she had given us. Not the material things, but the life lessons and great memories. We miss her dearly. A month later, I lost my younger brother very suddenly. He had struggled with addiction for many years. I saw him for the first time in a long time at my grandmother’s visitation and was so happy to see he had turned a corner. He spoke with clarity and took in his surroundings. I offered up a suit that had belonged to one of our sons for him to wear to the funeral and he graciously took me up on the offer. This was the same guy who refused to dress up for our dad’s funeral seven years prior, when he was in the depths of his addiction. On the day of the funeral, I saw him outside the church with something in his hand. It was a vape cigarette. He had quit smoking! I was truly amazed and cautiously optimistic that I may be getting my brother back. I made the mental note that I should reach out and take him for a coffee soon. It may be time to start rebuilding our relationship. Sadly, I didn’t make that call in time. Four weeks after I had seen him, I received a call telling me he had passed. As tragic as this news was, we were grateful that he passed away in his bed at the group home where he lived, with the people who cared for him close by. It was not by himself in a ditch somewhere with a needle in his arm, which had been our worst fear. One of God’s small miracles.  I share this story as a reminder to make that call when it pops into your mind to do so. Don’t put it off as I did this time and on so many other occasions, with relatives and friends who have enriched my life in one way or another. You may not get another chance.

We delayed the start of our renovation for a week while we laid my brother to rest. The last social event we held in the pre-reno house was the reception after his funeral. The following week was spent filling boxes with the contents of our entire main floor and preparing to move out for a month. Soon the construction crew would be onsite, and our home would take on an entirely new look.

Life was moving on as it does, and we tried to focus on what was in front of us. Five weeks later, our home had been transformed and step one of the retirement plan was complete. There was one caveat to the story. We had gone a bit overboard with the renovation and exceeded our budget. It would mean pushing retirement out by one year. We were okay with this. The house far exceeded our expectations, and the additional cost was worth every penny.

More on the adventure next week. Hope you can join me.

Chapter 10 - The Ten Year Plan

I find myself sitting in my car this morning, parked with a perfect view of the bay. Retirement has given me this freedom. We had rain last night and most of our snow from recent days has gone, here by the harbour anyway. We still have a pretty good covering inland, at our property. Like a lot of people, I am drawn to the water. Being close to the ocean brings a feeling of tranquility. A peacefulness that allows me the clarity to reflect on my life and feel grateful for all that I have, family, friends and a warm bed. This is something that I don’t take for granted. Especially in today’s climate where so many are struggling. We are fortunate.

The first decade of the new Millenium was a turning point for us. It felt like things were falling into place. The sacrifices and hard work over the past twenty years were paying off. However, the future was on my mind. I had recently turned 50 and was very much aware that I had more years behind me than in front of me. If we were going to achieve my goal of retiring at 60, we needed a plan. Yes, we did have our pensions and my work RRSP, but realistically we knew that these would not cut it. The goal was not to stop working and sit at home. We wanted to do the things our dads hadn’t had the chance to do, so we would need an income that would accommodate an enjoyable and active retirement. We were going to need some help. As I’ve mentioned in past posts, working with a financial advisor had not gone well for us, so that was out of the question. We decided to make an appointment with a personal banker at our bank. We met with Jennifer and shared our goal with her. She said she would be happy to assist us with a plan. Our next meeting is something I will never forget. She was more excited than we were! We talked about our current situation, income, current debts, savings, etc. She asked a lot of questions, but one especially caught me off guard. She asked if we had plans to renovate our home. I responded that this is something we would like to do someday but it was certainly not something that would be done in the immediate future. She disagreed, saying that we should do it now because we did not want to have to spend our retirement funds on home renovations. This made sense, but my first thought was I would never be able to retire. Renovations would be expensive. They would no doubt take all the money we had hoped to put away for our future. Besides, we were very close to paying off our mortgage, which to me was integral to affording to retire. Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong. Taking into consideration our current income and debt load, and our ten-year timeframe, Jennifer helped us to build an investment plan that would accommodate the retirement we wanted. It would mean a regular healthy contribution that we would have to stick to. But it would also leave enough in the coffers to increase our mortgage payment, allowing for some renovations.

Our next plan of action was to meet with a contractor to discuss the renovations we would like to make, and a budget. Good luck was on our side again. We contacted a friend who was a very reputable contractor, knowing full well that we probably could not afford him. We knew him to be a very honest person and had hoped to get some guidance. It turned out that he was slowing down his business activity and now only took on small jobs with a small crew. He would be more than happy to take on our reno project. Dwight came to the house to meet with us. As we tried to determine which areas of the house we thought most needed a remodel, he said for us to dream big and tell him everything we would like to change. The list was significant, but we could prioritize. He took away the list and came back about a week later with a quote. The number jumped off the page, hit me square between the eyes and knocked me to the floor. The renos were going to cost double what we had paid for the house. I didn’t see how we could do it. We took the quote to the bank and let Jennifer perform her magic. Twenty-five years earlier, we purchased our house at a very high mortgage rate of almost fifteen percent. The rate on the table for the renovation costs was under three percent. My, how times had changed. We were going to have to commit to a significantly higher monthly payment than we were accustomed to, but it was do-able. We were about to take the first step of our ten-year strategy. The plan was coming together. More next week.

Chapter 9 – The Forties

Winter is officially here. We received our first snow of the season this week. As much as I dislike the thought of winter, a fresh clean white covering is pretty, especially when you live in the country as we do. Fortunately, our mechanic was able to get our snow tires on over the weekend, so we can now safely hit the roads. Even so, most of our Christmas shopping was completed online a few days ago. My wife enjoys beating around the stores looking for treasures, but I prefer a hot coffee and the peace and quiet of my home to perform this task. I do try to support local eleven months of the year but, as I age, I dislike crowded stores more and more. Now that I am retired, I was able to dedicate most of the day to this stress free.

I had an opportunity to listen to a presentation by a financial specialist the other day. She was speaking to a group on good financial management, saving for the future and retirement. I found it validating. Most of what she recommended is what we have done. In fact, I think we have exceeded her recommendations in terms of staying on top of our current situation. Personally, I feel it is important to regularly monitor our accounts, so we always know where we are. It helps me sleep better at night, especially now that I no longer have a regular income.

I finished last week saying we were headed for a new era. We were entering our forties and had both recently moved into new jobs. This was a significant change for us. These were career positions with full benefits and pensions. The newly obtained university degree helped my wife to land a local government job in a field she was very familiar with. I had been working for several years in an industry that I was very passionate about but recognized that, for our future, I would soon have to make a move. A couple of things led to this. I was working in small business where pensions were nonexistent. I knew the growth potential with this particular business simply wasn’t there. I remember a conversation with the business owner one day over coffee. He was not one to pull punches. By his estimation, I had pretty much reached the top of the ladder in terms of compensation. That was the day I knew I would have to move on. Not long after that conversation, I received an offer from a national corporation to work in the same field I was currently in, but on a much larger scale. For some reason, my gut told me this would not be a good move, so I stayed put. The stars were soon going to align for me. I was out of the office one day speaking with a prospective customer when they turned the tables on me and asked if I would be interested in a position with a global company who had only a few years earlier opened an operation in our area. We sat down to discuss the opportunity and compensation package. An interview was arranged and within a few weeks an offer was on the table. Truth be told, I was scared to death! I was about to enter a world I knew absolutely nothing about. It turned out to be a good move. We didn’t know it then, but I would go on to work for this organization for the next twenty-two years, until retirement. As far as listening to my gut, it was right on the money. The national enterprise who made the first offer was working with a skeleton crew within five years and eventually shut down operations in our area.

For the next decade, our focus was on growing our careers and doing volunteer work in our community. This was a passion for both of us and something I plan to write about in the future. This was also the first time in our lives that we had experienced a steady and consistent income. I’m not going to lie. It was pretty awesome. We could spend money without thinking about it. And spend we did. Outside of our employer sponsored pensions, we really didn’t save. Looking back, we should have been putting a little money away, but no regrets. After years of living pay cheque to pay cheque and worrying about putting food on the table, I think we’d earned this. We were in the prime of our lives and empty nesters. By this time our kids had left home for school and work. Things were going well, although we still would have a couple of challenges to overcome in the years ahead.

Next week I will get into our first retirement discussions with our personal bankers. See you then.  

Chapter 8: Life

We arrived home earlier this week from my retirement trip. The last few days have been dedicated to unpacking, doing a month’s worth of laundry and getting over the jetlag. I would consider the trip a success. My days start the same way they have for as long as I can remember. A cup of coffee or three, some scrolling on my phone and listening to the local news. After being out of work mode for almost seven weeks, I no longer reach for my laptop and headset. And it feels comfortable. My mind now shifts to my list of projects, writing, and everyday odds and sods.  Phase two is underway.

Last week I wrote about purchasing our home and learning some important lessons. But there were still plenty more lessons to learn. Every time you think you have figured something out, life will inadvertently get in the way. For us, it was a growing family and the associated needs. Two kids going through the school system. Sports, drama club and other extracurricular activities. These were our priorities. We wanted to provide every opportunity. Two jobs and conflicting events in opposite directions, often requiring two vehicles. All the normal things that make up a very fulfilling life. And all of them came with a cost. Fortunately, by this time in our lives, we were better prepared to manage these needs. I don’t suggest for a minute that we solved all our financial problems and were living in our own little utopia. Far from it. Like everyone else, we still had our struggles. I think, however, this banking experience taught us to be more responsible in our decisions and fortunately the lesson stuck with us. Yes, we would need to borrow again to replace vehicles, appliances, and so on. But now, borrowing responsibly was far less stressful because of the E word. We were building equity in our home, so we had that illusive collateral that lenders like to see.

This would not be the only time we would consolidate our debt into our mortgage payment. With interest rates still on the down swing, it made good financial sense to do this. Credit card debt creeps up on all of us. Car repairs, Christmas, vacations and on and on. During this time, my wife made a critical decision to secure our future. She went back to school. Her first year of university was completed part time. For the final three years of her degree, she became a full-time student. This required commitment from the entire family and the kids were rockstars. It also required significant student loans. This was an expense we were happy to take on because we knew that to get ahead, one of us would require a higher level of education. This decision paid off in spades, but not overnight. It was a long-term investment.

I think my proudest accomplishment at this point of our lives was being able to facilitate a family vacation. It had been a goal for a long time, and the kids were getting older. If it was going to happen, it had to happen soon. We asked the kids where they would like to go. As expected, and without hesitation, the answer was Disneyworld. We scrimped and saved for almost three years, all the while planning our trip. My wife is destined to be a travel agent in her next life. She researched every option, looked for the best deals and put together an amazing package for us. Every detail was documented. To me, and I think my family would agree, it was a huge success. Honestly, I’m still not sure how we were able to pull it off, but with a lot of dedication and tenacity, we did it. We made memories to last a lifetime.

University and high school graduations followed in the coming months and years. With my wife wrapping up her university education and our oldest soon to begin his, being able to utilize the equity we had built and capitalize on the ever-decreasing interest rates kept us from becoming financially overburdened. We were living our lives and enjoying new experiences. With the help of our personal bankers, we were managing our debt responsibly. Life was good.

It wouldn’t be long before we entered a new era of our lives. The kids were well on their way and did not need us as much. Our focus was changing. It was time for some personal growth. I hope you can join me next week for more of our story.

Chapter 7: Equity Baby

Hello from the British Virgin Islands! We have spent the past seven days crossing the Atlantic Ocean and are closing in on the end of the vacation of a lifetime. This trip has accomplished all the things we had hoped for, and now it is time to get home and start the next chapter. Quite honestly, I’ve thought very little about this while we’ve been away. The subject that has been top of mind for the last year has taken a backseat lately and I’m glad about this. It had become all consuming, and my brain needed a rest. I feel like I’ve had the reset needed and am ready to refocus.  

Back to the journey and our best investment decision ever. When we purchased our home all those years ago, mindsets were different. Renting your home meant you were pouring money out the window. Well, that was one side of the argument. The other opinion was owning a home meant you would be responsible for maintenance and repairs, and that was expensive. We believed in the first theory and were anxious to put our money into something that we knew we could sell if we chose and get our money back. So, we bought as soon as we were able. In today’s world, you more often hear that buying a home is an investment. Property has value. If the property is maintained and the housing market stays strong, your house value, or your investment, will grow. Of course, over almost forty years, our property value grew with inflation. What has happened since COVID, with the explosion of the housing market, was an anomaly. Although our home value went up during this period, this did not have an impact on our story, at least not yet.

We were in our very early twenties when we moved into our home and purchased it just a few years later. We had accomplished our goal; we were no longer pouring money out the window. It was some time after that when I came to understand and appreciate the word equity. Essentially, I discovered that the more I paid on my mortgage, the more of my house I owned! Because mortgages are front loaded, the first few years we were paying primarily interest, so we could lay claim to door handles, the kitchen sink, you get the picture. As our equity grew, so did our credit and our ability to borrow from the bank. This is not always a good thing because we, like many, probably borrowed more money than we should have. It also gave us the ability to obtain the biggest evil of them all, credit cards. When you are relatively young and have access to money by simply passing over that dangerous piece of plastic, it makes you feel very powerful. Besides, all you have to pay is that monthly minimum, right? The bottom line is we made all those mistakes. We lived above our means.

When we made the switch to TD Bank, we were able to consolidate all our short term and long-term debt into the mortgage. Instead of having multiple monthly payments and varying interest rates, we now had one payment at a very pleasant interest rate. Yes, our mortgage principal amount had grown significantly but, because of the low interest rate, we were paying more on the principal and less on interest every month. I’ve always been a spreadsheet guy, so when I started plugging numbers in to an Excel document and seeing how fast we could pay down our consolidated mortgage compared to our former situation, I was amazed! This was a huge lesson for a couple of inexperienced kids. I would like to say this put me on the straight and narrow and that I was financially astute from that day forward, but something else was going on in the background that I was not consciously aware of. Life was in full swing and living costs money.

I’m off to enjoy our last couple of days in the sun before heading back to reality. More next week. I hope you can join me.

 

 

Chapter 6: Best Investment Ever

I am so happy we adopted the plan of my former work colleague Gerry and booked a retirement trip. We have just wrapped up the first leg of this cruise experience, twelve nights sailing the Mediterranean Sea and visiting beautiful cities along the way. We are back on the ship now for part two, ten nights sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, on our way to Puerto Rico. No, we did not win the lottery. The initial plan was to do an eight-night river cruise somewhere in Europe. Early one morning about seven months ago, I hauled my tired body out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen for my wake-up coffee. My partner in crime is an early riser, so her day has been underway for an hour or two. I will never forget the words she said to me that morning, “Get your coffee and sit down. We have to talk”. I came to life very quickly. What did I do? I quickly scour my brain for any recent missteps that may have come to light. I poured my coffee and took my stool at the counter. This time, out loud, I repeated those words. What did I do? Her response allowed air to enter my lungs again. “Oh, nothing. I need to show you something.” She passes me her laptop, and I see a quote for back-to-back cruises with more discounts than Kellog’s has cornflakes. Factoring in all costs, this back-to-back twenty-two-night cruise package was cheaper than the river cruise! The plan had changed.

This story really has nothing to do with our best investment ever, but it is an example of how we have lived our lives. We know we can’t have it all, so we focus on what is important to us. Travel is something we very much enjoy so we have made it a priority. Patience and taking the time to seek out the best deal has served us well.

Our best investment ever was purchasing our home. We have lived in the same house for almost forty years. When we bought, interest rates were extremely high, compared to today. Our first mortgage rate was a whopping 14.75 percent! A decade before, some people were renewing their terms at twenty percent or higher. There was a huge financial crisis in the late seventies/early eighties and many people suffered greatly because of it. When we bought, the rates were on the decline. It was slow, but they were coming down. Before I get in to how buying our home helped us financially throughout our lives, it is important that I start from the beginning to give some context.

At that time, we banked exclusively with the Bank of Nova Scotia. As we watched mortgage rates drop, our bank did nothing for us. For convenience, I would often stop on payday at a branch managed by my friend Bill, to cash my pay cheque. This was long before the days of direct deposit and online banking. One day, Bill called out to me and asked if my bank branch had talked to me about blending our mortgage rate, taking our existing rate and the rate of the day and blending them to reduce the rate we were paying. There was a one-hundred-dollar administration fee, but still in all it was a good deal. We ended up blending our rate about three times over the next year, always initiated by us. We were not at all happy with our personal banker at our branch. Push came to shove when I received the renewal notice for a car loan we had. Although interest rates had been continuously falling, our car payment was going up! I called Barb, my banker, and asked what was happening. She said that it had something to do with insurance. I responded that I didn’t understand. Interest rates were falling so my loan payment should be going down, not up. Again, I was told it had something to do with insurance. I said to her, Barb, you don’t understand. Interest rates are down; my payment should be down. No response. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We started the hunt for a new financial institution. We made appointments with all the major banks. We built a file with our entire financial history, current accounts and loans, etc. Some wouldn’t take us; some wouldn’t even meet with us. A wonderful young representative at TD Bank met with us. She listened to our story and reviewed our documentation. She said she would take it to her manager and get back to us. A few days later, Jill called. She said her manager agreed to take us on, on one condition. They wanted everything. Mortgage, car loan, all of it. We met again and she showed us the numbers. We were coming in at better interest rates than we had ever seen. The numbers were almost unbelievable. We were ecstatic! I asked what next steps would be. She said we would need to reach out to Scotiabank and ask for all the buyouts. We would most likely have to pay a penalty to get out of our mortgage early, but it would be worth it. I will never forget my final conversation with our banker Barb. I said Barb, I would like the payouts for our mortgage, our car loan and our personal loan, on a specific date. She said to me, Brian, is there a problem? I said, with a big smile, not anymore!

We went through the process of switching banks and started fresh with our new institution. One day my wife called me. There was a problem with our bank account. What was the problem I asked. We had too much money in the account. Payments should have come out. Something is wrong. It turned out that there was such a significant difference in what we had to pay monthly, she thought there had been a huge error. Finding not just the right bank, but the right people made a tremendous difference in our lives. We are grateful every day for all they have done for us, and we have never looked back. Making this decision to find a better financial partner meant we were finally in a position where our best investment to date, our house and mortgage, could finally be an asset instead of a constant worry. More on this next time.

Chapter 5: Finding Our Way

Picture it. Sicily, 2025. If you are a fan of the TV show Golden Girls, you will get the joke. As I write this post, I am sitting on the balcony of our cabin, on a cruise ship, entering the port of Siracusa (Sicily), Italy. This is our retirement trip. It has been a month since I last worked, although I’ve only been officially retired for a total of seven days. The objective of the trip, along with it being a celebration, is to break the habit of the daily work routine. I think it is starting to work. I’ve been monitoring the health app on my watch and phone. Stress levels are down, blood pressure is good, and sleep numbers are better than I have ever seen them.

Last week, I shared the story of our first attempt at financial planning. Although this was a valuable lesson, it did not contribute to our early retirement. However, the lessons learned did get us to where we are today. I attribute any success we’ve had to this early education and the following five things. First, our parents, who showed us by their examples what being financially responsible meant. Second, being a very young family with very limited resources taught us how to live modestly. Third, an old friend who, when I asked him for financial advice a long time ago, simply said pay off your debts, short term first, then long term. Fourth, the book The Wealthy Barber and author David Chilton, who explained, among other things, the magic of compound interest. Fifth, two of the most incredible women we have ever had the pleasure to know. These ladies were/are our personal bankers at TD Bank. When we were ready, both personally and financially, to build our plan, they took us by the hand and started walking us through the process, step by step. We are forever grateful to both. More on them later.

After the Investors Group fiasco, we became very tainted by the whole financial planning industry. Over time, as we got older and gained more life experience, the sting dissipated. Well, it did for me. Fortunately, to keep me grounded, I had a secret weapon, my wife. She has inherited a long-standing family tradition. She doesn’t forget. As a couple, we complement each other. In my younger years, I was the sucker. If it sounded like a good idea, I would be first in line to take the bait. Her extreme sense of caution would be the virtual slap upside the head I needed to snap me out of the dream. I am thankful for the red flags she has raised and, looking back, I wish I had paid attention to a few more than I did.

Securing your financial future is important and it is not my intention to devalue all planners. In fact, I know a lot of people who have had great success working with some very astute professionals. We understand now that the money we were investing was not enough to get an invitation to the group of highflyers Fred was attracting, so he handed us off. From a business perspective (that I did not have forty years ago), I get it. But it still stings. Truth is, we did not have the disposable income at that point of our lives to be in this game anyway, so I guess the outcome was a blessing in disguise.

Nex time, I’m going to write about the best investment we ever made and how it contributed to the life we have lived. Hope you can join me.

Chapter 4: Lesson #1

It has been busy this past week. Preparing for the retirement trip was quite a bit of work. Along with packing, we had to make sure everything was in place to have the house and, more importantly, the cats looked after. Cats are funny animals. They seem to have an innate sense to know when something is changing. The suitcases come out, and the cats get suspicious. Their personalities take a dramatic swing, from being the rulers of the kingdom to little furry balls of love, who want for nothing more than snuggles, neck scratches and belly rubs. The jig is up. The cats know we are going to be leaving. Fortunately, we have family who are as concerned about our feline children as we are and who will visit daily to ensure dishes are full, treats are doled out, and litter boxes are cleaned. We are extremely fortunate.

In my last post, I mentioned that we were introduced to “financial planning” many years ago. Our first attempt to set ourselves up for financial success happened when we were young parents trying to figure out life in general. Some folks we knew had a financial planner from the Investors Group, who were a growing player in the market, visit them. Wanting nothing but the best for us and our future, they referred us as potential clients. Following the script, Fred called and asked if he could visit us in our home. He dropped the names of our mutual acquaintances, and I got very excited and convinced my wife that we should meet. He came to the house and spent a couple of hours showing us charts and using words we really didn’t understand to explain how we could invest our money and build a nest egg that would guarantee our financial future. It really did sound great! For a small monthly contribution, we would be setting ourselves up for life. Obviously, against my wife’s better judgement, I said yes. We signed the paperwork, gave him the cancelled cheque for direct withdrawal and we were all on our way. Him, to collect his commission and us to securing a future for our family. 

Over the next year or so, we might have heard from our “personal financial planner” a couple of times. Then, one evening we received a call from his associate. He introduced himself and said Fred gave him our names and said he should follow up with us. He asked to come to the house for a visit. We found out that Dave had recently left his job in construction to become a financial planner with Investors Group and Fred would be his mentor. We were young. We still did not understand how the world worked. If Fred said it was okay, it must be okay. Dave also said that our growth fund that Fred had initially set up would better serve us if it were an RRSP. But Fred said our money would be available to us if an emergency happened. No problem, Dave said. It is your money, and you can have it anytime you need it. 

Long story short, several months later I had to replace the transmission in our vehicle. We didn’t have a separate emergency fund, but we had our RRSP! I called Dave, our new financial planner, and said I needed the money. He asked if there was any other way to get it. Could I borrow the money from family? I said I’m not borrowing the money from anyone. I have the money in my RRSP, and I need it now. He did everything he could, using his construction background, to convince me not to withdraw from the account. He explained that this was a registered plan, and we would have to pay a withholding tax. I told him to do what he had to do and to close our account and send me a cheque. 

Attempt #1 was a definite fail but very educational. More on our adventure next time. 

Chapter 3: Back to the Beginning

 Another week of retirement and the adjustment continues. I filled our municipality provided garbage bin this week, from the accumulation of  junk collected over almost forty years. If I can do this every garbage day, the basement should be cleaned out in about ten years. Our supper club met on the weekend and we toasted my retirement. My wife is now the only member still employed. These folks are role models for me. Some are newly retired in the last couple of years and have paved the path for me. The daily exercise routine is probably the most important activity I’m trying to emulate. I do admit I am feeling better and my energy levels are ramping up. 

A few more items have come off the to do list this week. One of those was removing a pile of brush from the yard. This was a very educational experience.  I learned just how out of shape I am. That is what sitting in front of a screen as a remote worker for almost fourteen years does to you. Up in the morning,  coffee, open the laptop and off we go! At the end of the day, especially during the winter months, I would close up shop, eat supper and binge watch TV until it was time to turn in. I may be exaggerating a bit, but this is really not that far from reality.  I lived a very unhealthy lifestyle. One of my retirement goals is to fix this.

The true adventure to early retirement started with a ten-year plan, although the dream really began many years before. As the dreamer in the family, I am the idea man. The initial plan was to get out of high school,  get a job with the government road crew and collect my pension in 30 years. Turns out I had a bit more ambition than I gave myself credit for. The years went by and a few not so great jobs got me to thinking that I might be able to make something of myself after all. A job with a government crown corporation in the early years was very enlightening. It was the first time I worked in an environment where the primary objective was to do as little work as possible. Sorry, but I was not raised that way. I was a casual worker, which meant I could be called in any day of the work week to fill in at any position. Management and I worked out a pretty good system. They would call and I would come, no questions asked. It didn’t matter what the job was, or the pay grade. I showed up and went to work. This work ethic paid off in the end. The plant was going through a major refit and they hired me on to work on the renovation project. As I reflect back, that was a definite turning point. Before long, I was on to bigger and better things.

Our first attempt at building our “financial future” came long before we were ready for it. As a young family in the eighties, we lived like most, paycheck to paycheck and, trust me, there was not much left after the necessities were looked after. More on this next time. I hope you can join me.

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

Okay, eight days in. I don’t think it has hit me yet that I don’t have to go back to work. Truth is my last day of work was the Thursday before Thanksgiving, which effectively gave me an extended long weekend. When I think about it like that, I’ve been retired for a grand total of four days. It might take some more time.

 I've started to adapt to a daily routine. Up at 6:30 every morning (6:55 this morning because the Blue Jays playoff game was on late), coffee, screen time, etc. Then I head to the basement for thirty minutes on the treadmill and another ten stretching. I hope I have the willpower to keep this up. My body hurts, but everything costs something. At some point during the day my wife and I meet her Mum at a local walking track and walk for another half hour. I’ve got the exercise covered. Check box is ticked. I have a to do list that grows daily. Most days a couple of tasks get crossed off. Oh, and the naps. Very important,  those naps. They bring a certain balance to my day. Bottom line is my days seem to be comfortably full.

I’ve been planning this retirement thing for a while. Some might say there was some personal motivation involved. You see, I had a front row seat to my father-in-law’s battle with cancer and subsequent death. He was my age, a ripe old sixty-one. Four years later, my Dad succumbed to emphysema.  He made it all the way to sixty-eight. Neither of these gentlemen had the opportunity to enjoy their golden years. Call me selfish,  but this guy has no intension of checking out before experiencing the next phase. So, let’s say I’m hedging my bets. If my number comes up earlier than expected, my wife and I will have had the opportunity to make some great memories. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

One of our first adventures will be what my wife has dubbed my retirement trip. This concept goes back a few years to a conversation with a former colleague who was about to begin his own retirement. I asked him about his plans and he shared that he and his wife, both avid golfers, had planned a month on the road in warmer climates. They would spend their days golfing, relaxing and site seeing. At the end of the month, they would return home and the cycle of the daily grind would be broken. I thought this was a fantastic idea and that evening I shared it with my wife. More conversations ensued over time until this concept became our goal as well. My wife won’t be wrapping up her career for a few more months, but we do have another trip booked for then.

Obviously, this whole concept of walking away from a guaranteed paycheck took some financial planning. I’m a spreadsheet guy. Actually, a very anal spreadsheet guy. That means I have literally spent hours upon hours of time over the last twenty odd years staring at a screen while calculating every possible scenario that might lead me down the path to no stress, warm temperatures and absolute freedom. Or, as most people call it, daydreaming. As I continue this self-analysis of how got here, I hope to document this part of the journey as well. You are welcome to join me.

Chapter 1: I'm Retiring!

Retirement! Wow! Almost here. In three days, I will close my work laptop for the last time. I will hand it in on day four. Then, for the next twenty days, I will be taking some saved up vacation. On day twenty-one, I will be officially retired. That is a lot to take in. My forty-three-year journey is coming to an end and the next phase will begin.

A lot of thought has gone in to what my next adventure will look like. Purging my basement, tending to lots of neglected yard work and travel have been on the list for quite some time. I think these are most likely on everyone’s list. I will have lots of time and I am going to be productive damn it! Well, truth is, I question if I will attack the basement and yard with as much vim and vigor as I see in my mind’s eye.

Lately, I’ve been trying to think with more of a hint of realism. Work is not necessarily what I want to replace work with. Deep down, what are the things I’ve put off from my “want to do” list? I must say, the list grows each day as this new reality becomes more than a light at the end of the tunnel. Obviously, family comes first and will always be my priority. But now is my time. How am I going to fill my days?

Early in my career, I had a job that required me to do a fair amount of writing. Surprisingly, I became very passionate about it. Over the years, I’ve tried to find opportunities to practice this hobby but, like with most things, life got in the way. Now I have no more excuses. Let’s just say my calendar has opened up.

All that to say I’ve decided to commit to myself to follow my passion and write. I’ve thought about what type of medium to utilize to express my thoughts, and what the focus of those thoughts might be. I’ve had a bit of experience with blogging, and it is a relatively easy process, so this is where I’ve chosen to share my words. A while back, I took time to think about topics that are important and interesting to me. Given my new “career”, I’ve decided to use this forum to document my retirement! Am I too young to retire? Do I have enough money? Will I be happy without a structured day? So many questions that will only be answered with time.

I don’t know that anybody will find my writing interesting, or if it will bring any value to anyone. Hell, I don’t even know if it will ever be read. If it is, great! If somebody is intrigued and comes back for more, fantastic! If not, that is okay too. After decades spending my days playing to the beat of somebody else’s drum, this song is for me. I invite you to come along for the ride.