Hello from Southern California

[Sirka]

I retired in 2005 at 55 and moved to local mountains. We always vacationed in the mountains, so here we are and the beach is not too far.
Back in the bubble, it was cheaper to build a new house, then buying one. I am glad we did. Some of our neighbors walked away from their houses last year. I am not sure how many houses are bank owned.
It's been good and exciting 6 years, stock market and all. I did not think I would see another downturn like the one in 2002. What a ride we had, again in 2009. This time I was retired and watched it blow by blow. It did not help to be diversified - everything went down. It's good to be even (or close to it).
How did you manage switching from CDs to bonds (to get more income) and watch the bonds crash, too?

[Coach]

Sirka, welcome to the forum! It's sounds like you've found a lovely mountains and beach lifestyle.

I'll be looking forward to your future posts.

Coach

[yakers]

How is 'mountain life' for retirement? I have friends with a place near Arrowhead but they also have a condo (a lot going cheap these days) in Palm Springs. So when too much cold hits they just go down the hill.
I retired March 08 and it did strike me that I had picked a very bad time to retire, market wise Then there was some recovery. Working on would have been good financially but I have enjoyed my time to travel and do other things I like.

[MasterBlaster]

Are you staying dry ?

I read that some of the mountain communities received more than 6 inches of rain yesterday as the big storm came through.

We love the local mountains. I would choose to live their if I could.

[Sirka]

We got 1-2 feet of snow overnight. I just finished clearing the driveway, so I am dry for now. It is beautiful up here in the snow and sun!

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterBlaster Are you staying dry ? I read that some of the mountain communities received more than 6 inches of rain yesterday as the big storm came through. We love the local mountains. I would choose to live their if I could.

We had a decent storm here (as far as so cal storms go) with some
toppled trees here and there.

I have this big bushy tree in my front yard (30 - 40 feet tall). I'm not sure what kind it is but it's got little bottle brush like florettes on it. It seems to have become the humming bird sanctuary of the neighborhood during the recent storms here. There's ~ 20 of the little guys buzzing around inside it swigging the flowers this morning. Gave me a good feeling that they had someplace safe to go last night.

I saw a couple of them buzz in last afternoon before dark. Pretty surprising how they can manage flying in that much wind and rain..