Life without employment seems almost unnatural. From the time we are five years old our parents, schools, grandparents, and pretty much everything we encounter and experience is part of the process of preparing us to support ourselves, maybe a family, too.
Sure, we intellectually accept that in the very distant future we will not be working. We see our grandparents and at some point, our own parents, getting off the treadmill. But, for us, this is a hard concept to personally grasp. We live in a culture that believes very much in the "no pain, no gain" model of living.
We believe that people who don't work hard do not enjoy all the fruits of life. We grasp the concept of a social safety net for those who can't provide for themselves, but we can see quite clearly that net has huge holes in it; a lot of folks slip right through and disappear. We will not permit that to happen to us! We will stay employed!
Work is important, sometimes gratifying, and absolutely essential to life. However, and here comes the spoiler: not working can be ever so much more satisfying, enriching, exciting, and full of joy. I absolutely loved what I did for a living. Now after two decades of being on the other side, retirement can take you to an entirely different type of satisfaction.
What has happened that I didn't plan for, didn't even know was possible?
Financially Much More Relaxed. There were several ups and downs in the economy and my investments, even before the Great Recession and now the double whammy of inflation and supply chain issues of the past two years. In the first few years of retirement, I was constantly worried that I had miscalculated or forgotten some major expense.
At least once a week I'd use a calculator to re-check my financial plans. Each time, the numbers confirmed we should be OK. I did not expect health insurance costs to go up so rapidly, year after year. I actually forgot about having to buy new cars. But, overall, the financial plans my wife and I made have held up. Today, I am much less likely to stress over every up and down. We have made over 20 years. We'll be OK.Much More Aware of The Passage of Time. When you first retire, the time horizon does seem rather far away. That is an illusion caused by the sudden end of daily job responsibilities. Days of the week suddenly become much less meaningful. Monday is every bit as good as Saturday. There is no rush.
Much More Open to New Ideas. The first few years are spent finding your rhythm and becoming comfortable with the decisions you have made. There are a lot of adjustments as you move through the stages of retirement. I did not have the inclination to take on additional challenges in my life. About 15 years ago I felt the need to begin to grow and take on new projects. I was comfortable thinking about how my life was being lived in new ways. I have shed some old convictions and approaches. In this 21st year, my brain is too full of new things I want to try. I am moving full speed ahead until my time is up.
Zero Interest in What is Going On in My Old Industry. I spent 35 years in my field of choice. I knew a lot of people. I had a lot of former clients whom I wished the best for. I was interested in staying in the loop. About five years into retirement, I began to lose interest.
Much Better at Saying "No." When someone first retires there is often a rush of requests for that person's time. Volunteering for this or that, heading a committee, helping with the Boy Scout meeting..... the lack of a full-time job must mean you are constantly available to help others.
What about your retirement journey? Regardless of how long you have been without a full-time job, I bet you have noticed differences in that period of time. I'd be fascinated in learning what you have observed. Please share one or two thoughts.
Great retrospective on the way one's outlook changes over the course of retirement years. I identified with much of it. Those early years for us included a lot of sit-up-straight-in-the-middle-of-the-night episodes wondering if we were going to make it financially. The accepted advice was that, with mortgage rates so low, it was better to finance your house and let your savings grow as stock market growth was predicted to be at a higher percentage clip than the mortgage rates. However, paying that mortgage payment each month meant that our fixed income was not enough to cover monthly expenses since we were then also helping a single-parenting daughter who was the mother of a fragile grandchild. It galled me that we were essentially throwing away a few hundred dollars each month while also taking money out of savings to meet expenses. I convinced my husband to retool our finances. We took a deep breath and withdrew the funds from our savings and paid off the house we'd purchased at the beginning of retirement. What a wise and comforting choice it turned out to be for us. We owned our house, our car, and had no other major debts. Relief! We could tailor our expenditures to our income, and we're doing fine eight years since making that decision. Of course, we dislike unexpected big expenses as much as the next couple, but it prompts choices such as not redoing our master bathroom for more accessibility this year, as we had hoped, not the kind of worry and angst that they did previously.
ReplyDeleteI had two careers: first as a fiction writer and second, writing about the global stock markets, technical indicators for the markets, and complex delta-neutral trades on the stock market. Neither were high paying jobs. I walked away from that second one with relief and no regrets. We made our choices of financial representation and, even in times like the present times, I check our balances only every two weeks or so in tumultuous times and once a month otherwise. I returned to writing fiction. Chronic illness has slowed progress to a crawl. I knew when beginning that this novel might never be traditionally published because of its subject matter, but I'm proving something to myself, not to the world.
Those night-time financial terrors are so common to new retirees that we should come up with a name and just make it part of retirement handouts. The fear is probably based in the awareness that once retired, the regular inflow of "fresh" money has stopped. Before Social Security starts, the checking and savings accounts seem to only go one way: down.
DeleteYour were a fiction writer? How neat. Was anything every published? What new subject are you tackling? Everything about the writing process, from the initial research through the publishing phase fascinates me.
Five of my YA horror (LOL) novels were traditionally published, with agent and editor and the whole thing, including lunch with my agent in NYC. The books were published in both the U.S. and Germany, except that my first one was published only in Germany because of some contract concerns. My German publisher didn't want the last one, meaning that out of the five, four were published in the U.S. and four in Germany. The teen main character distrusted her parents, and that was a no-no for the German market. Interesting cultural difference, don't you think? My books sold better in Germany than in the U.S. My U.S. publisher made me change to a penname for the last two so they could throw more of my books out at one time and see if one "caught," but did no marketing other than designing R.L. Stine-type covers that didn't fit my books. That was just the way it was back then. My "marketing" was the width of the spines of three novels on the bookstore shelves, not a lot when pitted against Stine, etc. I was discouraged from doing any marketing on my own because "that wouldn't make enough difference," but there's been a revolution in thought about an author's part in marketing. I'm not bitter, even if I sound so. I'm smiling. It's all part of the process. My current novel-in-progress is for the adult market and was prompted by my discovery that my grandfather had brought his two sons, including my eleven-year-old father, to a lynching. My grandfather died before I was born, but did my beloved grandmother condone her sons being brought to a lynching? My 45-year-old main character, at a crossroads in her life, similarly learns disastrous secrets about her own family. Writing about racial issues should, wisely, be tackled by those most impacted. It's not my voice that's needed to tackle how racism permeates the generations, but I certainly needed to write it.
DeleteActually, I read a fair amount of YA material that is recommended by my granddaughters, usually like the Wingfeather series with dragons and such. I checked on Amazon and located two of your earlier books under your real name, but both show unavailable and out of print.
DeleteYour new project using your grandfather's rather gruesome action as a springboard to a character's self awareness sounds very much like something I would read. Be sure to let us know when it is published!
10 years in and still loving it. I'm still not over the slow mornings. No more hitting the floor running. The mission statement these days is "Look after myself and my property". No more suppers at 9PM and an evening to-do list. There's more time at my disposal and more time to play to which I can say "yes" to more often than "no". What's a weekend? as Dowager Crawley asked in Downton Abbey. I do feel some responsibility to use my time responsibly, i.e. do time so time doesn't do me. I'm conscious of the ageing process on my physical ability; tasks take longer. There are added responsibilities, i.e. tend to an ageing parent; maintain the good health I've been graced with; manage the legacy that I will leave my successors. Some of these things are not necessarily connected to retirement but life stage. Like the words in a Patty Loveless song - life's about changes, nothing ever stays the same.
ReplyDeleteAnytime you can quote Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, it is a good day.
DeleteOne change I have noticed after the forced shutdown of so much during the worst of the Covid time, is that I seem to have increased the periods when I am totally fine with being "unproductive" in the normal sense. Watching a movie at 3pm, reading for an hour without a break, painting on and off over a few hour span....things I used to relegate more to the "off hours" of the day, are becoming more frequent. A few years ago I wouldn't have considered this the best way to structure a day, but now it flows nicely.
All wonderful expression of experiences!
ReplyDeleteI retired at 58 from 4 decades in healthcare. I'm coming up on 3 years in 2 weeks. My observations:
1. Most of my friends still work and I rarely hear from any of them even though we used to do things after work.
2. My retired friends love being home themselves but we occasionally reach out and connect.
3. Every volunteer opportunity I've looked into wants a schedule-weekly. Sorry, if I wanted a schedule I would have continued bankrolling retirement. I am a quilter. I decided my "volunteer work" is covering our community in warm hugs. My goal is 36 minimum every year and 2y ago I completed 52. It is a joy to stitch for others.
4. As an extrovert, I'm surprised how much I love being home, love solitude, love walking the 'hood that I used to find boring and a chore.
5. We hired a money manager 5y ago. He does a terrific job for us, far better return than I was managing. I don't worry one iotta about $. I tease him and tell him I have no expenses, he pays the bills ;-) If funds dropped significantly we can tighten our belts and be just fine.
6. At 61 I'm loving my life. I need less than ever and I want for nothing. A mindfulness lifestyle and the absence of 'the shopping gene' are wonderful qualities to have. I get teased often about how old my clothes are and that I replace nothing until it's usefulness is over. As well, I never move furniture and only replace when life is over-I just don't care much about this :-) But I love the decor in our home. It's all made by family or me or I've purchased directly from the artist. Paintings-watercolor mostly, cross-stitch, quilts and photos. I am a decorator's nightmare 🤣🤣
7. Time has definitely flown by. My youngest nephew, 26, gets married in 2 weeks. I can't believe he's that old. We don't have kids so he's my life gauge ;-)
My parents are long gone. God knew what he was doing when He only gave us 2. I couldn't do that a 3rd time.
I think it's important to value each day even when I don't feel like doing anything. There is nothing wrong with a day of couch-potato mode. A dear friend who died 2y ago had a tagline on her electronic signature "We are not promised tomorrow". I remember Marianne every single day and am grateful for our electronic friendship. I had planned a trip to see/meet her in person just months after she died. Such a bummer. I miss her dearly. And with luck I will become very old and will have more experience of losing people I love. A lesson every time.
Cheers to retirement! May we all be Blessed with great days, joy, love and relaxation. We've earned it 💖💖💖
I absolutely love your comment, Elle. There is so much wisdom here after a relatively short period of retirement. If I could bottle what you have said and send it to every person who asks me about retirement, my job would be done!
DeleteTo me, your point #6 is the essence of a retired life well-lived: "I'm loving my life. I need less than ever and I want for nothing." Being comfortable in one's own skin and satisfied with one's life, while not ignoring new opportunities, is what we strive for.
I, too, love your comment, Elle, and love your life choices, too.
DeleteI think the idea of no paycheck panicked me for quite a while, but once I would not become destitute, I don't think about it all that often. Inflation is unpleasant, but we are fortunate in many, many ways.
ReplyDeleteVolunteering has been a good experience for me, although in-person hospice support visits stopped completely during Covid. Now we do them with caution -- masked, and with health checks at any home or faciltiy we're visiting. The facilities I visit have had off and on Covid cases and even one case shuts down our visiting and keeps us quarantined for 10 days. Our health system is more flexible with their staff (5 day quarantine) than their volunteers, which I can respect.
The other thing that resonate with me is having no interest in my former industry. If I see a news story about it, I will often read it, mostly because the industry is largely centered in our area. But overall, I've checked out. I have one or two work friends that I keep in touch with, but really very loosely. A holiday and birthday card, an annual or semi-annual lunch or dinner. But as life goes on, we drift farther apart without work to connect us.
once I *realized* I would not become destitute...
DeleteThere is one fellow on Facebook who has a very active page that promotes Syracuse music artists and the radio station we both worked at together for a few years. That is really my last radio link.
DeleteAfter several different types of volunteer stints, I found my thing: working on two different boards that deal with our city library system.
It's great to find your niche re: volunteering. I am not sure I'll do hospice volunteering forever, but there is a botanical garden and sculpture park that I think I'd enjoy doing volunteer work. A friend volunteers there and can't say enough about it, and we're members, so I know I love it. I'm a big library user, so I applaud your volunteer work there!
DeleteMy first few years were a flurry of projects and my long list of "I finally have time for...." I did not miss my job, but took away from it my habit of life-long learning, which has served me well. I still remain in touch with my old colleagues and take advantage of my "emeritus" status to partake of the educational, research and cultural opportunities my former employer has to offer, but I am so glad to be away from the "rat race" and enjoy the freedom to live a simple life.
ReplyDeleteJust the other day I was sitting outside, drinking my morning coffee after working in my garden. I suddenly realized that at some point post--retirement I have become enveloped in a general sense of peace about things... big and small. I still find myself disturbed now and again by world events, and I am occasionally disappointed by my various shortcomings, but for the most part I feel an increasing sense of peace as I age, out of which has emerged frequent feelings of happiness. I would have never experienced such a thing while working. I had a lot of satisfaction then, but happiness? Joy? Not so much. I had not experienced a sustained feeling of contentment like this since childhood.
At my job I was known in my department for my sophisticated, tech-based workflow system... always keeping detailed plans for each workday, each hour. That thankfully, is a thing of the past. Now when I arise in the morning there is no mad dash to get dressed and on the road to work. I sit on the edge of my bed and read a copy of my favorite poem that is framed and mounted on the wall opposite of me, and below it is posted my new "To Do" list: "Today: Seek Knowledge, Wisdom, Compassion, Courage and Gratitude."
My life seems to steadily get simpler, and I love it!
Great post as usual, Bob. You always trigger a lot of reflection and review.
Rick in Oregon
I will simply focus on one thing you said that is absolutely true for my retired life. I found satisfaction in my career and even occasional times of happiness or confirmation. But, the joy of my life now is several notches above the emotional highs of working. Then, I knew a good outcome meant more business and a steady future. Now, I find a deeper sense of calm and gratitude that I have another day on this earth and I can make of it what I will.
DeleteI empathise so much with your comments especially about that divorce and enormous chasm between the old life at work and now. When I retired I was really keen to meet up with old colleagues regularly, and, albeit for a very short time, read my professional newsletters and avidly absorbed the changes that were afoot. 8 years on, I have a new circle of friends and am far more interested in the progress of plants in the greenhouse than my previous profession with which I now feel no bond at all.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that we are so focused on the work part of our life for so many years, but then it slips away so easily once it is no longer with us. Does that mean we were deluding ourselves for decades? I prefer to believe the human spirit and mind are extremely flexible. When our parameters change, we quickly adjust.
DeleteIDK - I am enjoying following the evolution of my field (architectural history/historic preservation) and what is happening around the country thanks to seminars moving to zoom - cheering on the next gen -
DeleteOops...published the above but apparently it was "anonymous!." You can delete if if you want.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob! As a person who was only seldom "employed" I read your post with interest. I can see how so many people approach retirement as you did. But there are a few like my husband and I who were self-employed for the vast majority of our past and never felt the need to leave. We NEVER had a secure paycheck so learning to work for, and then budget our resources just developed. At the same time, we were never overly ambitious so we both refused to slave at our tasks and always managed to find time to travel and do things together. (We celebrate our 45th in a couple of months). And maybe because of that we don't consider ourselves retired and still work at our chosen occupations--just not as much as previously. At the present time (and because we have so much freedom) we don't plan to stop any time soon. Besides, what income we do bring in extra allows us the resources to travel even more. We never had a lot of friends from work so that never changed. We could pretty much always wake up when we wanted and volunteer if and when we wanted. It hasn't always been an easy lifestyle--we didn't have any health insurance until we were in our 40's--just didn't have the extra money! And we relied a little too much on credit cards for a while--but finally we are able to live a somewhat modest but totally debt free life and I wouldn't change a thing.
Of course one thing we do have in common with you and most all your readers is that we are much more aware of the passage of time. That's why we are making an effort to include things in our days that we've always wanted to do. Having the freedom to work a little (or not!) makes all the difference for us.
Just thought you might want to consider a different perspective to those of us who took a different path and are still working. ~Kathy
Absolutely, Kathy. I know my experiences are not universal. Even my path didn't follow the traditional one. After being fired with a wife and two kids under 4 to support, and just after moving to a new community, I had to quickly figure out how to build a business that involved very little capital and under a very tight timetable. Things worked out well. Like you and Tom, being self-employed for the last twenty-some years of my employed life meant no work-based friendships, only clients which is a totally different dynamic.
DeleteMy consulting position required constant travel which put my family life under some serious strain. Because we were so committed to making things work, Betty and I put in the effort to fix some of the most glaring problems.
For both of us my leaving the road was like a giant weight lifting from our shoulders. Besides the normal positives of a freer life after retirement, we could rebuild the type of marriage we had wanted (now 46 years ago).
Each of us follows a somewhat different path. After looking at all the pictures of you and Tom spending the last few months in Europe, it is obvious you have certainly found your stride!
Like you, I left job I loved, and surprised myself by how easy the transition was. As you said, I never really looked back. Yes, friendships I enjoyed were work specific and faded with time, but other friendships adapted. I found that to be true when I was living overseas as well. There were friendships that were country specific and others that traveled well.
ReplyDeleteTime does flow by quickly, but I find myself more engaged with the present, and so I don't experience myself as "running out" of time. (Funny expression if you think about it.)
And definitely a "yes" to learning to say "no"! Time might not be running out, but there is a sense of the present moment being precious. I'm much clearer in my own mind about what I want to do and what I don't want to do, and I'm much more willing to live by that rather than trying to please others. Someone reminded me of something I said once that they took to heart. "I'm not doing that." Simple, she said.
I enjoy reading all the different perspectives and experiences in the comments.
I don't sense time going by more quickly during the day. But, it absolutely seems that Friday comes much sooner after Monday than it used to. I love the feel of Monday, with the fresh week stretching out before me. But, then it is Saturday and i wonder when happened to all the days in between. And, how can it possibly be July already?
DeleteOne of the reason i keep blogging after all this time is due to the quality of the comments, the civility of those who take the time to leave their thoughts, and the fresh perspectives I gain from reading what others have to say. Each new post generates something new for me, in both the writing and the reading of how others react.
"Friendships . . . that traveled well". Love that phrase, Galen, and I'm privileged to have a number of friendships that fit the description.
DeleteOne of your comments really resonated with me, Bob. You said you had moved on in reference to your former career, but it was a good life that had allowed you to live this one now. I grew up in banking; it was my first professional job. Working first in accounting then moving over into human resources, I learned a LOT. Between my middle class, money-stretching parents and my exposure to the world of finance through banking, I had an excellent foundation that helped me achieve my goals. Now I'm freely living a retirement life that I love, and it was, indeed, my former life that enabled me to do so. Thank you for prompting the revelation!
ReplyDeleteWe are now ten years in! Yikes how did that happen? Our retirement journey has been like most of our life has been— we learn as we go, we find good advisors,make some mistakes, correct course, change,grow, and somehow it all turns out ok in the end. We did what everyone says NOT to do, in year one—we moved to a new area and that did not work out,so we moved back. That was a little expensive but we recouped. I volunteered too much and got cranky. I decided to pursue a long time dream of mine— to “do real estate.” That turned out to be WAY TOO MUCH WORK! (There is NO SUCH THING as a part time realtor!!!) Ken decided he actually loved what he did (chiropractor/acupuncture) but we did not want to manage a big costly practice anymore.. since we had a home office available with separate entrance, he went back to work 2 half days per week and has been loving that, for the past 8 years. We still consider ourselves “retired” but his work is pure JOY now. So, the first 2-3 years were constant readjustments as we tried out different ways to be retired.. Over time I came to value my friendships more than ever and spend time every week making lunch or breakfast dates,happy hour get together on my patio, art group,and dates with Ken. I love the slower pace of life and the absence of lots of “obligations.” I volunteer, but much less that at the beginning.Our money situation has held up—we were luck,early on in life, to connect with a practice management group that taught us how important it was to stay debt free, pay off our mortgage, and SAVE. So we did. We spend less than we thought we would. We travel less than we thought we would. This last few years, more friends have passsed away, and we’re feeling the changes that gettting older brings (we are 68/69.) Our son has some health issues,still ,a nd we’re having to help him quite a bit and we have to manage our energy and our emotions more, to conserve our strength and energy. I pray,meditate, spend a LOT of time in Nature. And life is good. I have always been a natural optimist and I think that has helped me in this phase of life.Ken has always been a steady,measured kind of guy, and that works too. Retirement:I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
ReplyDeleteMadeline, I had forgotten about your foray into Real Estate. I can only imagine the amount of study, prep, constant phone calls, and dealing with unreasonable or indecisive clients that entails.
DeleteYou and Ken are a couple willing to change and adjust as needed and for a result that pleases you. With that approach you have crafted a very satisfing retirement.
I think in tghe beginning I felt pretty “over zealous” about retirement and what i wanted to do with all that time and energy! I was busily,even frantically, planning retirement as I had planned our other businesses!! In retrospect, I now realize that slowing down, being picky about what activities to give energy to, and just “drifting” a bit more, is actually the key!
DeleteWhile I never had the "sit-up-straight-in-the-middle-of-the-night" panic attacks that Linda P mentions I was very aware when we retired that after decades of saving that was it,. Whatever we had then was what we had. At the time we retired 8 years ago the retirement financial types, and the general disposition of almost all retirees me included, is to keep your savings intact "just in case" you need it down the road. However, when we were scrimping and saving putting money away for retirement the idea was that by saving now we'd be able to enjoy our retirement doing whatever it was we'd always dreamed of--that was the pitch anyway.
ReplyDeleteTo finally get to retirement and be told we had to be very careful with spending because it had to last to some advanced age, maybe even 100, this wasn't the retirement I'd dreamed of. After a lot of thought we decided to defer our Social Security pensions to age 70 which gave me comfort to spend our savings in our early and most healthy retirement years so that even if our savings went to zero when we hit some future age (like say 80) we'd still have enough to get by on no matter what.
As it's turned out money hasn't been an issue at all and in reality most retirees are too conservative with their spending. It seems that before retirement the focus is on the money when the truth is that if you've saved at all during your working years you should be fine, money just won't be an issue. I am also seeing the retirement financial types have eased up on the "don't spend" message lately, which frankly always seemed a little self-serving to me as most are paid by commission based on how much of your savings they hold.
Yes, the passage of time is very noticeable to me. When we retired I had the idea of the first 10 years we'd do mostly overseas travel and the next 10 years closer to home and now, 8+ years into retirement, incredible as it seems, that first 10 years is almost up. How did that happen?!? Our grandson, that was born the year we retired, is now 8 and in 5 years will be a teenager. It is all rushing by so fast. We often think the limiting factor in our life (retired or not) is money, when in truth the limiting factor is time. You can always find a way to get more money, but you can never get more time. Use it wisely.
Eight years of being "Off the Clock" and I seldom look back and look forward to what life has for me to discover. So many choices to do, or not to do. It's up to each of us how we wish to spend our time doing what brings us joy. I just came back from a motorcycle ride on some backroads. Just me and the road cruising through some bucolic views of the countryside. It just doesn't get any better than that and puts a grin on my face. Is there a risk when I ride? Yes there is and when related to retirement, there's a risk of not trying new things while we have the "time" to experience them. Before we moved to be closer to our kids and grands, I must have run the numbers dozens of times. Turns out we'll be just fine. As far as travel after the last 2 years, we took a road trip from Portland to the BayArea to visit family and friends and then to LA to visit our son and his girlfriend. On the way home we took the coast route savoring moments in Solvang, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel and the wine country. There was no need to be in a rush, still enjoyed our slow mornings over coffee before hitting the road. We're grateful everyday to do what brings us joy and contentment. Blessings to you and Betty.
DeleteBob, So much of what you have written here resonated for me. It took me a couple of years to get used to spending money from savings instead of earnings. In the end, I decided to treat my monthly income (from Social Security and RMD) as earnings and, as I had during my working years, to have line items in my budget for "savings" (e.g., money set aside toward the next new car, money set aside for travel, etc.). Like you I lost interest in what was going on at my former workplace pretty quickly. There are parts of my work life that I loved (e.g., teaching, writing with a sociological lens), and I now do those in very different contexts. I am also doing things in retirement that I never expected to be doing (like choral singing and formal education in horticultural science). Every day is a new adventure!
ReplyDeleteI have kept a budget ever since I was in my early 20's. Even though I really don't need to anymore, I feel naked without one. Plus, I really do want to know where the money goes each month. I don't like surprises!
DeleteEvery day has a nice rhythm. Sometimes I have lots of energy and tackle several projects or tasks. Other days, I read, write a post, and take things slower, and that is just fine.
Thank for continuing this blog and this article in particular. Just turned 73, been retired 3 years this August. I also was somewhat anxious about finances, but my wife and I are fortunate with several retirement streams other than Social Security - her teacher pension, my military and other accounts. Yes, now taking a beating with this infaltion and down market, but so far ok. Retirement is good - no longer have to work for somebody else - I had enought of that!!! But for me, I've learned a number of things - I don't have to always be right or have to win; I pick and choose what I want to do and enjoy (including "friends"), not bothered as much with all the BS (just ignore it all) and now get to enjoy our first granddaughter! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome!
DeleteI won't look at my investment accounts until the markets figure out what they are afraid of this week. It will sort itself out in time.
My wife does remind me I am not always right, and when she does, she's right.