Recent content by doneat54

Thanks all. That is encouraging. I will tell the bank that the house (may be) torn down (if we do this). The local bank has our existing mortgage anyway. It is a very low rate, but a 7 year ARM that we are into maybe 3 years now. I'll post back here after I talk with them.

So this idea of knocking down our house and building a new one (same waterfront lot) is getting more traction, and we are now fishing for quotes. I'll spare the real estate/reasoning details on that. We have a mortgage of $225k now and it is assumed that if we knock the house down, we will...

This. I was reading this thread and thought to post until I saw this. I'll spare the essay. Me, FIRE'd 7+ years ago, have never been happier/busier. But that doesn't mean that everyone's retirement experience should/can. It's the transition of our lives from one (significant) state to...

Started reassembling my 1957 VW Beetle's original engine. I had a machine shop in CA build up the short block. To be honest, the engine case is probably the only thing original, but that is the part with the serial number!

Short hike with the pup today at Homolovi State park outside Winslow AZ. You can see that the park trailhead was VERY crowded.

Oak Creek Vista, Flagstaff AZ today.

No way. Not me.

Drone shot of our RV encampment in Painted Canyon, Mecca, CA a couple weeks ago. AMAZING experience hiking the (challenging) slot canyon trail, almost 6 miles.

A shot from out frozen lakeshore a couple mornings ago. Love the textures and contrasts in this one. South Central New Hampshire.

.... and being a cancer survivor has changed my perspective on pretty much everything too.

I know you weren't asking me, but I have the Ambient Weather one and like it very much. Would recommend.

LOL, so true. My father passed at 72, and no one in his family made it out of their 70s. My mom is still alive and living independently at 92 and has family that has lived semi independently past 100. So I spend time wondering what I am going to get. I am 61 and a few pounds over my senior...

I have said for the last few years that dealing with my life now is recognizing that "I'm in the fourth quarter now."

Our current plan is a HDHP, and we have used our HSA while having it. I just found out that I can (and did) open an HSA at Fidelity. I also entered info on DWs Healthequity HSA account and requested that all of it be transferred to the new FIDO HSA (it's all cash there, not invested)...

DW retired mid 2022 and we are on her COBRA (at over $2k/mo!) for insurance until the end of the year. I will have been retired 7 years in January. We are shopping ACA plans now to get insurance for 2024. We put in our "base" expense budget as our income for 2024 at healthcare.gov, and it...