Blog
Weekly articles about how to live a secure, fulfilling retirement.
Essentialism
Quick review I’m doing a 3-part series on how to overcome obstacles and achieve the real, significant and lasting change necessary to live the life you want, both now and in retirement. It’s a 3-part series, because we’re covering 3 big ideas. Idea #1 was...
The more of less
Well, we’re one month in. How is your New Year going so far? Any progress on your goals or resolutions? I’m not a huge New Year’s Resolution guy, but I am all in on the idea of living a life that has joy, meaning and purpose. That often requires change (hence the...
35 Quick ideas to make 2017 great
Happy New Year! What do you have planned? Need a little inspiration? Try this: I want more purpose The funny thing about time 15 Practical ways to live a purposeful life Harnessing the power of compounding for an exponentially richer life I want to be happy How to...
A life changing lesson on loss
The Lesson This past week a close friend of mine lost his mom. She was in the hospital recovering from an illness, but her prognosis was good and the staff was ready to send her home. A few hours later a blood clot took her life. In a tribute he wrote for her...
How spending changes throughout retirement
When planning for retirement, you need to make a lot of assumptions. How long will you live? What will your investment returns be? How much income will you need? When it comes to that last one, most people just estimate their first year of retirement expenses and...
Methods vs Principles
I'm retired. Now what? I was in L.A. a while back speaking to a group and during the Q&A a lady raised her hand and said something like: “Retirement is harder than most people think. Not necessarily the money part, but figuring out what to do. I thought I’d...
Climbing Mt St Helens
“Oh. Sorry. You’re on the wrong side of the mountain.” That was the response I got when I called the park ranger help line. The number was conveniently posted on a big “You Are Here” board which I got out of my car to examine because it happened to be right next to...
How and why to make a written retirement plan
The headline from a recent study caught my eye: “Majority of retirement plans done ‘in people’s heads’ or not at all.” I think the latter is more likely. Doing a retirement plan in your head is kind of like reciting Pi out to a hundred decimal places or trying to...
What makes a good life?
What makes a good life? Now there is a question with universal appeal! Who wouldn’t want to know, in advance, what types of things would make them healthier, happier and more fulfilled? Unfortunately, research shows that we’re not very good at predicting what will...
Global debt is staggering. Why that could be bad news for your retirement.
The amount of debt in the world is staggering. Auto loans recently passed $1 trillion for the first time and the average car loan is the highest it’s ever been, recently surpassing $30,000. Student debt stands at about $1.4 trillion. Mortgage debt is about $14...
Routine is the enemy of time
Last year I read a book called The Power of Habit that gave me some insight into what happens in our brain when we develop habits or get into a routine. I’ve thought about this topic before and had the sense that, while some routine is often necessary, too much...
So…I moved into assisted living. Here’s how it went.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in one of those newfangled senior living facilities that are popping up all over the place? I was curious too. So I moved into one. I have a friend whose company owns a number of these retirement centers and they...