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I retired in 2020 at 58 with less than 4M. In the past 4.5 years we've spent about 18 months traveling. I wouldn't trade a single day for a day of work. The market has been good and we're at almost 5M now. We literally are not spending enough. Now that we are both in our 60s we realize that we...

My wife also likes having all the things she cares about in one app. I made a dashboard just the way she likes it and it comes up by default on her phone. I have several dashboards that show me a variety of things, and all the apps on my phone for when I really need to look directly at something.

Maintenance... Today's example. The integration for my Rheem water heater decided to change the name of the water heater entity. It used to be "Electric Water Heater" and is now "Gladiator Water Heater". This makes my water heater entity "Unavailable". This wouldn't be an issue, except that...

Some broad categories of things I use Home Assistant for: Making a smart switch control something, like a switch that is not directly wired to the living room lamps turning all the lamps in the living room on or off together. Automatically turning on lights at night, and off in the morning...

I have a Home Assistant setup with over 400 Devices exposing over 5000 Entities and 150 Automations, so I guess it is pretty good sized. I started running Home Assistant on a virtual server running under Windows 10 because it was free to setup. The virtual server was a bit flaky, and when...

We had a pressure regulator on our house that started making noise every morning. More of a squeal than a moan, but annoying all the same. It was failing. We replaced it and the noise stopped.

Congratulations! Glad to see you finally decided to retire and join the club!

Learn a new language, learn to play a new instrument, start a garden.

I had the same experience, but my daughter was 8. She got invited to go to a movie, and it sounded like the other girl was going to pay for everything. I gave my daughter $20 (this was 10 years ago) and explained what to do if it turned out she had to pay for herself. When she returned home she...

I'm with your wife on this one. Plan on being away for the whole summer. You don't need to be back in 2 weeks. Last summer we took a 3 week trip in our car that turned into 5 months on the road. Every day was an adventure! Make sure everything is taken care of back home. You don't want to...

@statsman, I also fixed a few LED strings recently, so I have some familiarity with your LED questions. While I'm not qualified to explain how the LED string works, I was able to replace the individual burned out LEDs with some that I bought online. When removing the old LEDs from the holders...

We gave up on public school for our daughter when she was in 5th grade. She was in an advanced class and the teacher could not keep up with the students. Just when she needed a better school, BASIS Charter School opened a campus very near our house. She started in 6th grade and never looked...

@ATXFIRE2034, a hearty congratulations to you. We spent the first 10 years of our marriage just getting by, so it took a serious change in our attitude to get ahead. I don't remember the date of our 1st million, but I do remember showing my wife the numbers and she was shocked. We hit 2m in...

We did a 15,000 mile trip around the US this summer. 5+ months on the road. About 20 different houses and hotels. No RV, just driving the car. The last night was in Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. My wife and I were sitting in lawn chairs and watching the fireworks and chatting about how...

Fredericksburg TX is a great stop. There are hundreds of wineries and tasting rooms in the area. Make sure to visit the National Museum of the Pacific War. It's just 1 block off main street. If you are driving I-10 across southern AZ you should stop at Kartchner Caverns State Park.

1. Like most, I would have retired earlier, and spent more time with my kids. 3. Tell everyone you are a stay at home dad. Like you, I have a car project that I never had time to work on. Recently I was able to spend a several weeks working on it every day. It is amazing the progress I made...

Congrats! Time to enjoy your freedom.

We also have wandering cats, rabbits, javelina, and coyotes. The cats keep the mice and lizards at bay, and the coyotes keep the cats and rabbits at bay. The javelina travel in packs and it is quite the site to see them eating the flowers. Oh, you meant someone from AZ should comment about...

This sounds like a variation on One More Year. Whatever your end date you will be leaving some money on the table. Doesn't matter, unless you are short on money. Once you make up your mind to leave, things will change. You can let the stupid stuff slide as you will know it will only last a few...

Congratulations on your retirement! I also waited for a separation package and it was well worth the wait. Good to see it worked for you too. Enjoy your time on the water.

AC on the roof is not unusual in AZ. Both my houses have the AC on the roof. They are installed with a crane like a giant window unit. Living in the desert is different.

I went through the same thing recently. Daughter heading out of state to college. Sold her car so there is one less thing to maintain and worry about and take up space. Let someone else enjoy it.

I gave my company a long notice. They did nothing to prepare. My leaving was delayed (my decision) due to COVID. They still did nothing to prepare. The only thing HR cared about was my employee number. They sent me a check for my accrued vacation time. Give them 1 week, 2 at most. That...

Our daughter (18) was to attend college out of state this fall. We told her she can choose. 1: Go and do not come back for Thanksgiving (and maybe Christmas) and if you get sick we will not come and get you. 2: Stay at home and attend college remotely. We laid out the rules and let her...

My daughter started college from home this semester. I just retired and got to spend a few more months with her. If I'm lucky she will study from home again next semester, and I'll get to spend an extra year with her. Kind of help make up for all the years I had to work late.