RIP Dirk Cotton-Retirement Cafe Blog

[Huston55]

I just learned that Dirk Cotton died in late January 2021. I didn't know him personally but, read his blog regularly and enjoyed it while learning a lot. His writing influenced my journey to and after FIRE. Dirk was what we'd call a "Safety First" investor, and you'll find that philosophy throughout his writing. He was also very thoughtful and good at responding to Blog comments and exchanging thoughts. If you're not familiar with his Blog or, if you are and just want to revisit it, I've left a link below.

The Retirement Café

 

[Dawg52]

Was not familiar with him but read a couple of articles in the link and will go back and read more. I'm sorry about his passing.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

It does look like he had a decent blog. He died far too young (68) but was fortunate to have retired at 52. Yet another good reason to retire sooner than later.

I would note that his last post (Oct 2020) mentions this:

I apologize for the lengthy surprise interruption of posts at The Retirement Cafe. The disruption was the result of personal issues that are now largely resolved, so I can resume blogging. I will, however, be changing the focus of the posts somewhat.

Previously, Retirement Cafe posts focused almost exclusively on retirement planning issues. Now that I have reached a later phase of retirement that began in 2005, I am experiencing a lot of practical issues related to my retirement strategy that I didn't quite foresee.

It's unfortunate he didn't get around to elaborating.

 

[bmcgonig]

That makes me sad. I read every one of his emails.

 

[Koolau]

I too was unfamiliar with him but my first impression is that I generally agree with the concept of "safety first" and also having back ups. I'll take a look. Don't know his bio, but sounds like he had a short retirement (same time as mine - so far.)

 

[Sunset]

It does look like he had a decent blog. He died far too young (68) but was fortunate to have retired at 52. Yet another good reason to retire sooner than later.

I would note that his last post (Oct 2020) mentions this:

It's unfortunate he didn't get around to elaborating.

He did mention one:

For example, I should have created backup options for my Two-Step Authentication-protected accounts to prepare for a lost or new phone. This is fairly easy to do in advance but a little harder in an emergency. I'll explain this in a separate post shortly.

A little planning and groundwork can simplify these activities and are best done before an emergency to save time and effort. I will be addressing these processes in future posts. I hope you will be a little better prepared for the "real world" than I was.