4th Annual SWFL E-R.org Get Together

[Dtail]

Did anyone bring up Politics? If so did they have to stand outside in TimeOut for 5 or 10 minutes?

No politics discussion at our table, although some of the usual ER ORG topic suspects were discussed.

 

[W2R]

If the elusive W2R attends, then I am there!

Not gonna happen!!! Nothing personal!

Other than Frank, I haven't met anybody from the internet in real life for twenty years. I just prefer not to do that. Living in New Orleans, people I know online often want to meet me in person when they are here on vacation, or driving through. But I just never do that.

Maybe makes me sound mysterious and elusive, but actually the reality is that I am aging, introverted, and it's just not my thing.

 

[omni550]

No politics discussion at our table, although some of the usual ER ORG topic suspects were discussed.

No politics discussed at our table, either.

omni

 

[omni550]

If the elusive W2R attends, then I am there!

P.S. I bet we could get Sandy Morris to sponsor the whole deal.

I had no clue who Sandy Morris is. I guess you mean this Tampa-area financial planner? ....https://sandymorrisfinancial.com/

If she wouldn't sponsor the whole deal, maybe we could get her to cover steak dinners for attendees, as per Jerry1's suggestion above?

omni

 

[pb4uski]

Not gonna happen!!! Nothing personal!

Other than Frank, I haven't met anybody from the internet in real life for twenty years. I just prefer not to do that. Living in New Orleans, people I know online often want to meet me in person when they are here on vacation, or driving through. But I just never do that.

Maybe makes me sound mysterious and elusive, but actually the reality is that I am aging, introverted, and it's just not my thing.

Hook, line and sinker! I wasn't sure if you were following this thread.

Hold on a second... you met Frank on the internet? That seemed to have worked out pretty well for you!

 

[pb4uski]

I had no clue who Sandy Morris is. I guess you mean this Tampa-area financial planner? ....https://sandymorrisfinancial.com/

If she wouldn't sponsor the whole deal, maybe we could get her to cover steak dinners for attendees, as per Jerry1's suggestion above?

omni

Yes, that is her. I guess it was an inside joke to Tampa area folks and I forgot that a few of you were from far away. She has a one-hour show hawking her services on both NBC and CBS every Sunday morning without fail. I have sometimes thought of signing up for her analysis for sport.

 

[W2R]

Hook, line and sinker! I wasn't sure if you were following this thread.

Hold on a second... you met Frank on the internet? That seemed to have worked out pretty well for you!

That's true! But once is enough.

 

[pb4uski]

That's true! But once is enough.

Wow! That is like hitting a home run in your first major league at bat and then after touching home plate running off the field and retiring!

 

[Major Tom]

Thanks for the photos. Y'all look like normal people

 

[Lewis Clark]

Thanks for the photos. Y'all look like normal people

Looks are VERY deceiving ....

 

[Dtail]

Yes, that is her. I guess it was an inside joke to Tampa area folks and I forgot that a few of you were from far away. She has a one-hour show hawking her services on both NBC and CBS every Sunday morning without fail. I have sometimes thought of signing up for her analysis for sport.

Actually I have watched a show or two on Sundays by her.
Forgetting the obvious sales mode, some of her topics are the same as the common topics on this site.

 

[pb4uski]

Agreed.... nuggets of info but not ever enough to get a sense if it is substance or spin.

 

[CaliKid]

OK, CaliKid, now you've got my 'brain wheels' turning....

Have lectures/discussions on:

Pay off mortgage, yes/no?
Take on a mortgage in retirement?
When to take Social Security?
Mental preparedness for retirement
Retirement planning calculators
Roth conversions
Tax planning
(Heck, any of the recurring themes on the forum would probably work)

Rent booths to:

Vacation spots
Retirement spots - domestic (AZ, TX, FL, etc.) and foreign (Chang Mai, Thailand, Lake Chapala, Mexico, etc.)
Second-home locations (low/no tax) - can overlap with above locales
Cruises
Vacation purveyors -- Active (hiking, biking, etc.) or Themed (photography, cooking, history, etc.)
Federal programs - Social Security, Medicare, Retired Military, Retired Fed workers
Fidelity
Vanguard
Schwab
Insurance Sales (can include HSA, Medicare Supplemental and Advantage)
Financial Planners
Annuity Salespeople

Any other^ suggestions?

Who's interested in attending?

omni

That all sounds good. I'll plan a pool party one day and also a nightclub night!

 

[BeachOrCity]

Where is everyone? I’ve been at Gecko’s for hours all by myself. @omni550 did you cancel it this year and forget to send out a note?

 

[RVplusDog]

Looked like fun! And you’re right, people did look young. At first I was surprised at the lack of masks, then I noticed this was a year ago. Maybe next year!

 

[Dtail]

Looked like fun! And you’re right, people did look young. At first I was surprised at the lack of masks, then I noticed this was a year ago. Maybe next year!

Yeah it was really nice to meet or see again folks from this site.
Hoping for next year.

 

[pb4uski]

Why not this year somewhere where we can be outside and socially distanced? Actually, I recently had lunch on the deck of the Gecko's where we were last year and it seemed pretty good. Or perhaps BYO at Benderson Park or some other local park.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

You all were very inspiring to meet last year! I would definitely try to make any meetup this year. I had hoped to show up to celebrate my first year RE but I'll have to show up a bit ashamed that I'm in my OMY - I am tracking for this summer unless I delay slightly to resolve a minor medical issue before changing insurance.

 

[omni550]

Gosh, I just saw these ^^ 2021 posts.

A few words of explanation as to why I didn't schedule anything this Season.

>>Several of our regular Snowbird attendees weren't planning on coming to Florida this Season.

>>Concern about the initial unavailability and 'lumpy' rollout of covid vaccines early-on. (See history in vaccine distribution thread.)

>>I was busy hosting house guests for weeks.

Looking forward:

Current plans are to schedule our 5th SWFL E-R.org gathering in early 2022, most likely in February, as that worked well in the past!

(Stay tuned, maybe FLSUnFIRE will attend as a fully-retired member!)

Hope to see y'all in 2022.

omni

 

[Dtail]

Yeah it will be nice to get together again.
Expecting FLSUnFIRE to be a full time member, otherwise PB4USKI and I will corner him and not let him go until he retires.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Yeah it will be nice to get together again.
Expecting FLSUnFIRE to be a full time member, otherwise PB4USKI and I will corner him and not let him go until he retires.

I'd be too ashamed to show up (not really, I'd look forward to the deserved chastising and you all are such great people)! I feel myself shifting from anxiety to excitement and I think that's the change in mental state I needed. Still very stressful but with a more positive spin. I do think it was prudent to pause with the onset of COVID/Crash/Economic shut down but I think that the worst has passed.


FLSunFIRE

 

[Lewis Clark]

... I do think it was prudent to pause with the onset of COVID/Crash/Economic shut down but I think that the worst has passed.

Lots of folks do one more year and some do it multiple times. Nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about.

If you aren't ready financially and mentally, much better to work one year too many than one year too few.