
Retired and Inspired at 55
Thoughts and Musings on Early Retirement
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Early Retirement Can be Yours
Welcome to my blog on early retirement. It took a lot of planning and discipline but I was able to retire at 55 in February 2020. I'll share how I did it, and my experiences in retirement.

Neil Peart Tribute
My inspiration for starting this blog, and the best drummer to ever grace our planet, passed away a little over a year ago after a 3 ½...

Taking Down the Christmas Decorations
Having survived 2020 and happily sent it packing, it’s now time for the ritual of taking down the Christmas decorations and the tree. A...

2020 Year End
As we come to the end of 2020 it’s time to reflect on the year that was…. I’ll let you finish that sentence. For sure no one saw the...

Snow - No Need to Shovel Between Zoom Calls
Since I became the primary shoveler I have not been a fan of snow, but in retirement I view it a bit differently since the urgency to...

Enjoy the little things
The title and theme this week come from one of Woody Harrelson’s character’s mottos in Zombieland (highly recommended if you like stupid...

Changing Priorities
As we evolve through life, our goals and priorities ebb and flow with age. Coming out of college I was the typical idealistic, naïve,...

Wakeup Call - Exercise and Diet Together
I had my annual physical recently and it was a wakeup call regarding some of my new routines. Even though I have been working out more...

Thanksgiving in Covid-Land
Thanks to Covid, the holidays will be very different this year. Different doesn’t have to be bad though, and you have the power to keep...

Remodeling in Retirement (or, My Wife Wanted Change)
Fear not, the change my wife wanted was with our home, not with me (she gave up on that a long time ago). Once I retired, the...

Biden Won, But ……
I wrote the below post on November 4th when it still looked like Trump was on his way to another 4 years. That didn’t happen, and...

Don't Fall Back
Now that we are back to Standard Time and it is dark by 5:00, and the weather is turning colder, it’s easy to become deflated. This can...

It Takes Time To Adjust
Not only does your brain need time to adjust to retirement, your body does too. You’ve likely completely changed your daily routine, or...

Fulfillment After 50
A common thread I found when speaking with co-workers over 50, and within myself, is that after 50 having a fulfilling role is more...

Friends
Friends are our lifeline in tough times, and we sure are in tough times right now. Whether you’ve got more friends than you can count or...

Volunteering
As early retirement started to become attainable I began thinking about how I could use my skills and experience to make a difference...

WIIFM
One more Post inspired by this election season. A second call to action. Next Post I’ll be back to musings on early retirement - I...

Make a Difference
I had intended for this post to be a call to volunteer, to put your skills and experience to use to help others, but the passing of Ruth...

Open Your Windows
This week’s topic was inspired by the fall-like weather we recently received that enabled us to finally turn off the air conditioner and...

To Dine or Not To Dine
I hope you all enjoyed the Labor Day holiday weekend. Our big question over the long holiday weekend was whether or not to embrace indoor...