Von GOOGLE AdSense unterstützte Inhalte | Google Adsense-Richtlinie

Accumulation of stuff. Big stuff, small stuff, worthless stuff, we all have lots of stuff. As George Carlin once noted, a house is just a place to store our stuff. Even if you believe in living a more minimalist lifestyle, you have stuff. A few weeks ago, a reader asked a good question: "When is the best time to get rid of your stuff?" If I remember, his comment was triggered by a rocking chair, one that his grown children could have used while raising their own kids. Instead, mom and dad held onto it until the need for the chair was passed. They didn't purposely not give it away, rather it just never crossed their minds. This question is much like the one many of us wrestle with: when is it time to start giving away your financial inheritance? Should you start to distribute it now, when the need among your relatives might be greater? Or, should you hold onto to your investments until your death, insuring you won't have given away money you end up needing or worked a ...

Voluntary simplicity, frugality, simple living, down-sizing....all have their genesis in trying to cut expenses. Less harm to the environment is another motivator, but the financial aspects are usually key.  Certainly, for many of us, spending less money, living within or below our means is necessary. A faltering, or failed pension from work, a job loss at the wrong time, unexpected medical, housing, or caregiving expenses can force our hand. For others, money isn't the overriding concern. Sure, we worry the money will run out before we do, and we can't predict some future financial disaster. But, overall, we are in good shape. There is something else that motivates us to reduce. Interestingly, being in the first or second camp doesn't seem to be a solid predictor of our urge to cut expenses, pinch pennies, and find a less expensive way to accomplish a goal. Maybe it is a gene many of us carry. Maybe it is lesson we learned from a parent. Or, a rough patch in our past has l...

The faint click of tiny nails, the rapid patter of small feet, woke me up. It was probably the middle of the night, though with no bedside clock there was no way to know. I recognized the sound, a field mouse most likely, running in the attic over my head. The sound no longer scared me, in fact it was kind of comforting since I heard it most every night. It reaffirmed I was in a favorite place for our family vacation: my grandparents' summer place, a rural farmhouse, out buildings, and  36 acres of fields and trees  north of Pittsburgh, a few miles from  the small town of Butler. Hearing nothing more, both the mouse and I relaxed back to sleep. My dad would work the day before we left on our annual trip, then drive all night to arrive the next morning in this magical place. While mom sat next to him during the long, dark, drive to keep him awake, the three boys were in the "back-back," the rear of the station wagon, sleeping on blankets and pillows. An occasional stop at ...

 Life is made up of continuous change. Nothing stays the same for very long .  Both are true statements but that doesn't make them any easier to accept. As human we generally prefer stability. When things don't change it is easier to predict what will happen or how our life will unfold. Unfortunately, those desires are in conflict with the real world. Today, I am looking at a few things that used to be part of our everyday life but are getting harder to find. Change has relegated them unnecessary for many of us. How about you? *Yellow Pages. Virtually all  phone companies have taken steps to eliminate the printed books that once arrived with a thump on your front porch once a year. What reminded me they still exist was the recent arrival at my house of a small version with maybe a hundred pages of display ads and listings. It went right into recycling. The Internet makes these books out of date almost as soon as they are printed.  White pages for residential and business...

I saw a press release a few weeks ago that noted Americans spend an estimated $9.5 billion on unwanted Christmas gifts. Many are either returned or discarded. Over the years I am sure I have contributed to that problem. I remember the year I gave my wife a non-working blender. I remember because she reminds of that faux pas occasionally. I received a grey, homemade, Nehru suit from my mother-in-law many years ago. It was as ugly as it sounds. No way was that being worn! The subject triggered a thought: What purchases have I made that I simply don't use?  These were not gifts, rather stuff I bought on purpose.  Either the "need" wasn't real, the product doesn't work as advertised, or that season of my life has passed. Too many end up in the garage or storage shed. Here are five that come to mind (I am sure there are many more!): *Fitbit Heart Rate Tracker. This was one of the best selling items on Amazon this past holiday season. I know a few people who own one...

It is easier to lead a  satisfying retirement  if you have few financial worries. While money certainly doesn't buy happiness, few would argue that your options for living how and where you choose are more likely to happen the fatter your investment portfolio. So, this post isn't for you. On the other side of the issue, much of the popular press would have us believe we are doomed to a future of diminishing opportunities and darkening skies. I disagree. Yes, way too many seniors have been put in a very tough position by recent events and they will struggle. They may have to choose between buying some medicines and skipping meals. For the richest country in the world to allow that to happen is, in my view, criminal. So, who am I writing for today? This is for those who have a retirement income that is sufficient for our needs and allows for satisfying an occasional want. The Great Recession may still affect what we can afford and how we live. We have li...

Followup: I will blame it on the eggnog and staying awake until 12:30 AM on New Year's Eve. Replacing the word  Retirement  with  Re-Vision  is a non-starter for this blog. I asked the question, knowing that you would tell me exactly what you thought and why. I depend on you, dear reader, to help me stay on track and keep my focus on what you expect on these pages. While a few comments voiced support for the idea of  re-vision  being a good replacement for retirement, the "No" votes were more persuasive. I think the word,  re-vision , might reappear on occasion as part of a blog post, but not become the official name of the blog, nor is it destined to become the new word for retirement.  There were several excellent suggestions, though, that you can expect to see appear in future posts.  So, back to the subject at hand: This is the time of year when those of us who live in the desert southwest come out to play. After 5 months of non-sto...

We have all experienced disappointments, loss, and troubles both big and small. If you live long enough there will be things you have done you'd probably like to undo. Life is a never-ending challenge that requires us to have hope in ourselves and the future. All too often, though, we can forget our achievements, those things we have done over our lifetime that make us happy, maybe even a little proud. As we enter the last few weeks of 2016 (Yea!) I thought it might be encouraging to focus on some of the achievements that we are most proud of. I will list a few of mine to get you started. Notice that some of the things on my list seem rather small. But, that is the important thing about achievements: size doesn't matter. 1. I quit smoking (That was a tough one) 2. Raised two well-adjusted, happy daughters who want me in their lives 3. Have been happily married to the same woman for over 40 years  4. Am loved by my grand kids 5. Rebounded from being fired to forming a successful...

Average means ordinary or usual. Average is what many people aspire to be. Don’t rock the boat, don’t stand out, don’t make waves. I’m guessing you want more. You want each day to be special, to mean something. You’d like your life to follow a path that you create. Here’s the answer : ignore common wisdom. Just forget it. Common is average. Your life can be more by being different. Here are 4 ways to break from the pack and create a satisfying retirement lifestyle that is under your control. 1) Short cuts usually get you lost . Too many people figure they know how to get something for nothing. Hard work is for suckers. The path to glory and greatness lies through other's efforts or money. Don’t bother perfecting your skills. Don’t waste time learning what you need to know. Look for the easy way. Look for the shortcut. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself in the forest with no way out. There are no shortcuts on the road to a non-average life. You have to want it enough to w...

One of the bloggers I enjoy following is Barbara Hammond.  Zero to 60 and beyond  is a lively chronicle of her retirement journey.  More than that, it is a place she shares details of her turbulent and difficult childhood, a journey soon to be turned into a book. I look forward to her thoughts and beautiful photos on Facebook.  At one point I discovered that she and I actually worked at the same time for competing radio stations in Pittsburgh, she in sales and me in program consulting. Small world! After too many moves to catalogue, she and her husband made a dream come true: they moved from the big city to a small seaside resort town at the southern tip of New Jersey. I asked if she would give us an overview of what that journey looked like and some of the adjustments she had to make to downsize to a smaller town. " I didn’t see an ocean until I was seventeen. I had lived on the edge of Lake Erie my entire life. It wasn’t for lack of moving ...