(Photo Details:  If only our apple tree was still blooming I wouldn't have to consider braving the grocery store now.)   I suddenly have a lot of time on my hands.  Maybe you do too. Our six-county vicinity here in the San Francisco Bay Area just announced the most restrictive coronavirus measure of its kind in the continental U.S.  It’s just short of an Italy-style lock-down—we are to “shelter in place” for all but essential outings.  We can go get groceries or go to the doctor, but, as it happens a haircut and color are considered non-essential. Like I’m sure most of you, all the t ..read more

(Photo Details:  Home sweet home.  According to the Wall Street Journal today, "slightly more than half of all assets owned by the bottom 50% of households comes from real estate.")   Even though I was a tax professional for many years, this estate planning technique came as a shock to me when I read it yesterday in the Wall Street Journal (you may have to be a subscriber to see that link.)  For those of you who were not tax accountants, here’s some background before I get to the punchline: Estate Tax Most people won’t pay an estate tax when they die.  Estates receive an exemption from ..read more

(Photo Details:  Doug is the opposite of me.   Here he is when he found a guitar at a coffee shop in Italy, entertaining whomever happened to be there.)   I often hear people say that one of the advantages of getting older is that you stop caring what other people think of you.  How old do I have to be to get to this point? Sure, there are some areas where this is true:  I don’t care what people think about what I am wearing.  I don’t care what people think about my political views.  And I no longer concern myself about what people will think when I tell them I’m retired. But I still g ..read more

(Photo details:  Italy, 2017--biking out of the seaside town of Oltranto after an al fresco lunch)   Yesterday I wrote a test-drive post, which has made me in the mood to tell you more about some of those things I touched on in that post.  This one is to answer the travel question. On our last big trip, to Italy two years ago, I made Doug sign a piece of paper on the flight home that said, “I, Doug, hereby certify that I am never travelling again.”  That was on the flight that was cancelled, well the one we ran to with three minutes to spare because our flight had been cancelled. Wait, let ..read more

(Photo Details:  That's me at the piano in my first jazz combo performance--playing Take the A Train)   How long I have been retired now:  11 years. Questions I never ask anymore:  Do I have enough money to get me through the rest of my retirement?  How will I fill my time?  Should I be more productive?  What will people think when I tell them I’m retired?  Oh, and I never feel guilty about being retired. In fact, I never think about my life as “retired life.”  It’s just life.  Which is probably why I haven’t been blogging about retirement at all the last couple years. I don’t contempl ..read more

(Photo Details:  Pizza party awaiting guests) Just a quick note before my in-laws arrive for a couple days--kicking things of tonight with pizza by the fire.   I wanted to post a link to the Forbes article I was interviewed for, How Two Couples Fund Their Fun in Early Retirement.   I enjoyed reading about the other couple, David and Sally.  Especially to get introduced to his great blog.  He pubishes many of the financial details I don't publish here.  So for those of you for whom that is valuable, check him out:  I Retired Young, What I do and What it Costs.  I will certainly add him to ..read more