Blog
Weekly articles about how to live a secure, fulfilling retirement.
Retirement is a path, not a door
Almost every ad you see or article you read treats retirement like it's a date on the calendar. What's your "number?" When do you want to retire? At what age can you start collecting Social Security? It's worth remembering that retirement is not a date, but a...
30 day learning challenge: SCUBA edition
Greetings from the bottom of a cold, dark lake somewhere in Nebraska. What ridiculous set of circumstances brought me here, you ask? As you may remember, this month’s learning challenge was supposed to be learning how to make croissants with my wife. I had to call...
An open letter to the Class of 2012 and the Monthly Rewind
As some of you may know, I write a column on retirement for the Omaha World Herald. Today's column was an open letter to the Class of 2012. Since many of you have graduates in your life, I thought I'd pass it on so you could share it with them. Here's a link: An...
What if it doesn’t work out that way?
I had lunch with a client last week who was just diagnosed with Leukemia. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of that lately. Maybe it’s just the stage of life that I’m in. During my 20s it seemed like every other week I got invited to a wedding. Now it seems like...
The benefits of an extravagantly modest lifestyle
I used to think that frugality was only spending money on the very basics in life. Don’t eat out. Don’t drink expensive coffee. Pinch pennies where you can. As I’ve gotten older my position has evolved. Rather than living like Scrooge, I...
Tiger’s advice for your retirement
There is perhaps no more revered institution in America than that of Sport. Baseball is our national pastime. The Super Bowl is our most watched television program. Popular franchises have billion dollar price tags. Phrases like “The Miracle on Ice” and “The Dream...
Don’t let death of a spouse derail retirement
The odds are extremely good that my wife will outlive me. Whatever the reason—genetics, a healthier diet, the fact that she uses our treadmill as something other than a clothes rack—there will likely come a day when she bids me adieu. Most people know that women have...
Social Security statement now available online
I’m back from the land of the midnight sun and trying to get caught up on any retirement news I missed while on the road. One item that caught my eye was the Social Security Administration’s decision to provide online statements for estimated retirement benefits. ...
How to retire now
Think back to Bill Gates in his Harvard dorm room when he first conceived of the idea for Microsoft. Did Windows come out fully formed, with all the functionality that it has today? Of course not. He started with Version 1.0. I’m sure the features and...
30 day learning challenge: World geography edition
In the recent post “How (and why) to be a lifelong learner” I wrote about how constantly learning new things makes for a rewarding, meaningful life (and retirement). Lucky for us, we live during a time when it is easier than ever to teach ourselves how to do just...
Free “8 Habits” poster
A few months back I wrote a post called "8 Habits of Successful Retirees." It struck a chord with many of you, so I had my designer make it into a poster. You can download a PDF copy of it here: 8 Habits of Successful Retirees Poster. Feel free to share it with a...
5 questions before you quit
If you asked a group of people to define retirement, chances are good that almost every person’s answer would somehow revolve around no longer working. In fact, “working during retirement” sounds like an oxymoron to most people. In reality, though, working during...