Retirement Planning…. be prepared…

Stairway

Stairway to Retirement

Elderly

Retirement

I started preparation for retirement from my first job out of collage.  Immediately when I qualified for savings contributions to their 401-K plan I participated to the maximum the company matched, I contributed 6% before taxes and the company contributed an additional 3%.

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Tourist or Traveler

Sheltering Sky

Sheltering Sky

I was retired for only a couple of weeks, when I saw an interesting statement on a lady’s hand bag while riding the CTA in Chicago.  After memorizing as much of the saying as possible, a search of the Internet informed me it was an excerpt from a novel written by Paul Bowles, “The Sheltering Sky.”

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Retirement Packing – Will it Fit Into the Truck??

Will it fit into the truck?

Will it fit into the truck?

Part of the retirement plan is to sell our car and buy a Ford F-150 pick-em-up truck.  Rather than settle in a single place, we wish to stay in small scenic towns across the Southwest.  Towns like Moab, UT; Taos, NM; and Page, AZ.  The goal is to get me closer to photography.  One cannot get great photos breezing into a town for a night or two.  I want to stay in each town for 3-6 months and experience numerous lunar cycles.  The truck is necessary to do a modern day version of the Clampets when moving from town to town.  So this weekend was the big test.  Will all of our belongings fit into a truck?  Gayle’s belongings could fit into two suitcases.  On the other hand, I have a large Epson printer, printer stand, golf clubs, computers, monitors and photo books and lenses….  On the attached photo, you can see the blue tape on the floor where I have outlined the dimensions of a Ford truck bed.  The indentations are the wheel wells.  The two large boxes at the end are wardrobe containers.  Bottom line is I have more donations to do….

Great Scott, It is Time to Retire!!

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

Thirty-seven years in the finance business is coming to an end April 29th 2011.  While I have been planning for retirement since my very first job, the year 2000 attempt was thwarted by the bursting tech bubble.  After a few more years retirement was again delayed by the financial crisis in 2009.  Timesawastin’ and there’s a world to explore with camera in hand.  If one waits for everything to be perfect with no risk involved, we would be frozen with indecision.  Things to do list includes make insurance decisions, sell car, buy truck, downsize through EBay and Craig’s List, travel to New Mexico from Chicago via Route 66.

See you there…..