Would you bare all ( financially ) in a magazine ??

[sgeeeee]

Someone should revise this poll and ask both if posters would be willing to expose all to the general public and what they believe their "E" or "I" status is from Meyers-Briggs.

[Nords]

Fortune says the article should be published next week and on their website by the 15th.

I'm one of five people interviewed but they actually sent a transcript back for my approval. Here's the "before", and we'll have to see how this text survives their editing process:
"Age: 46
Retirement age: 41
Career: Officer, U.S. Navy
Narrative:
- After 20 years of active service in the military you can retire with a pension worth about half your final basic pay. I've read that more than 85% of officers who retire start a second career. I went through all the assessments and they said I should be a nuclear engineer or mid-level manager, which was pretty much what I was doing. I was griping about it to my dad and he asked, "Didn't you save anything over the last 20 years?" I had never thought of that before. So in June of 2002, after my 20 years was up, I retired.
- My wife and I have always tracked our expenses and lived below our means. We were able to figure out what our expenses would be and had a portfolio large enough to sustain us through the remainder of our lives. Part of that was in a Thrift Savings Plan, which is like a 401K for government and military employees. I also receive $36,000 a year from my pension, which covers our mortgage, groceries and most other expenses. My wife, who is in the Navy Reserves, can earn as much as $15,000 but usually it is much less. Health care and inflation are solved by the military. The pension comes with a cost of living adjustment and you get cheap health insurance: $460 a year covers the family.
- What are you going to do all day? I call it being responsible for your own entertainment. Now I have the chance to do all of the things I have always wanted to do. There is surfing, for example. I check the surf every morning. If the day is going to be good for surf, it doesn't matter what home improvement projects I might have had on my To Do list, I adjust my day to allow for a few hours for surfing. I gotta have my priorities! Boredom has never been a problem. My daughter, who is 14, has turned into a surf monster so on her days off or the weekend, we're both down there.
- I have been growing my hair since the day I retired. The joke is that I have saved hundreds of dollars by not having haircuts. For 40 years (first at home, then in the military) people told me how long my hair had to be. This is the first time in my life that I was ever in charge of my own hair length. It sounds silly but it is my version of a teenage rebellion and a mid-life crisis all at once."

[kcowan]

The time surfing with your daughter is worth every penny you gave up, Nords. What a great story of ER! When she grows out of that stage, you will look back on it fondly.

It's funny but when I finished a CEO contract in 2002, I had a choice of "signing up" for another 5-7 years for another startup. That seemed a long time plus it is a grunt. So I said to DW, let's give ER a shot and see how it works out. I can always go back. So far, coming up to 5 years Aug 7th and just fine thank you!

[Nords]

Originally Posted by kcowan

What a great story of ER! When she grows out of that stage, you will look back on it fondly.

I don't think I'll ever grow out of that stage. At least I can still keep up with her, although that margin is shrinking every time we go out.

And if she doesn't want to surf with me anymore, there'll always be someone else to teach...

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Nords

I'd hesitate to lay out my tax returns & brokerage statements for a voyeuristic exposé, but I volunteered for this:



Usually a reporter gives me "Hmmm… Hawaii… not exactly our target audience… our readers might have trouble identifying with your experiences… thanks for stopping by!!" . However Corey Hajim read the Kaderli's interview (thanks, Billy & Akaisha!) and followed up with nearly an hour on the phone.

She's interviewing five ERs across the U.S. (including, I'm told, at least one other member of this board). The questions were about lifestyle, the ER process, the challenges, the motivations, and what's up with my ponytail. "What are you buying?" barely entered into the discussion. Fortune isn't skimping on the expenses-- they flew two freelance photographers from NYC to Oahu to spend four hours shooting me paddling around Waikiki and kicking the bags in our dojang. They were actually checking the lighting with Polaroids and shooting real film. Considering the travel costs and the number of exposures they ran through it probably worked out to a dollar a shot.

The article (or whatever survives the editing) will probably run in June or July. So far they've treated me right.

One of the unexpected benefits of the interview is the pictures, and when the photographers get some quiet time I'm going to buy a dozen prints of their best shots. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity-- when else can you have a professional document "Whaddya DO all day?!?!" for your photo album? I know that I could pay someone to take a bunch of surfing/martial arts photos but even if I thought it was worth the expense I'd always find something "more important" that I'd rather do with my time...

the photoshoots are the best part, we loved the attention and being the center of it all . for both money mag and fidelity mag the photoshoots took hours with hundreds of pictures taken. all for that one pic

[Fireup2025]

Wow Mathjak - I actually read that article when it came out. You're almost as famous as Nords!

[Nords]

Fortune's five ER profiles

(Thanks to Calgary Girl for spotting it first)

[mathjak107]

nice article..