If you a new or recent reader this blog is half stand alone posts and half a continuous story on my OMY to retire. It is best to start on the first post here – Let there be Light (saber). Onwards I’ve always been a creature of habit. I call it…

After hitting “publish” on my last post, I realized I’d done something dangerous. I’d hit a nerve. My own. I admitted, in black and white, that I am currently at work strictly for the paycheque. It has been bugging me ever since. It’s as if I’ve inadvertently accepted a position…

These last few weeks I have been more reflective than normal. It’s not only related to what Padme is going through in her career, or my own “will he or won’t he” retirement thoughts, but more on life in general. I have just passed my anniversary of being laid off…

I have admitted to floating toward the dark side at times—and by that, I mean small “d” depression. I can see the dark side of things when maybe it’s not so bad. Some of the reason is due to my career experiences, but there is a part of it due…

This is part 2 in my Career series.   This series is an honest look back at three decades: the mistakes made, the math that didn’t add up, and the pivotal inflection points that shaped the road to where I am today.  Part 1 can be found here The Greatest Teacher,…

We don’t track our spending. That means we don’t budget. I hate paperwork; it’s just another item to procrastinate on, right up there with the laundry. So, I haven’t made a budget. I tell myself I will do it. Some day. Soon… In the world of the FIRE crowd (Financial…

Humans are funny creatures. We crave the binary. We want everything to be “on” or “off,” “black” or “white.” We want to ignore the middle state or the third option (my apologies to quantum physics). For me, that black-and-white state is the Holy Grail. If a decision is binary, it…

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” That is the best Mike Tyson quote there is, and last night, it felt like I took a heavy one right to the jaw. My plan—and let me reiterate, it was my plan—was for me to retire at 54…