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Although I had planned on staying till the end of the year, push came to shove lately & I finally retired effective today from my fed LE :police: job of 25 years 5 months (+4 yrs bought-back military time for a total of 29/5) I'll be 49 next month. :clap:

I am looking forward to retiring at the end of '09 at 49 years old from the Fed Govt (fingers-crossed, knock-on-wood) & have quite a few $ ([-]000[/-]K) in the low cost Thrift Savings Plan G-fund. (earns based on a mix of short, med, & long term US Treauries) My ER plan is such that I don't...

The recent thread re: "how long do you keep your car" got me thinking. There is certainly not a one-size-fits all answer to the question of how long one should keep a car - as this can be directly related to the cost of repairs as the car ages. It becomes much less cost efficient for someone...

Best Item: AC/DC "Back in Black" CD !!!!! (thanks DD) (been missing that one for years)

Planning to ER Dec 09 at 49 y/o - have a sizeable amount (multiple 6 figures) in my TSP (federal employee version of a 401k) I don't plan on tapping till 60 y/o. This is my biggest bucket of money. I went 100% G-fund (Treasuries) in spring 07 & so missed the big market fall -but I realize I'll...

Just curious - is there anyone else on here currently who like me is just plain sick of their career. I've held four very different positions in my organization, all of which many people would consider an interesting job - but I'm just sick of it all. I'm not even interested in pursuing a 5th...

Diversification: "The best thing to do with your money is to diversify. Now, what we're going to do is take half of it and bury it in an old pickle jar in the backyard. The other half, we'll take to the dog races and bet on the one who...

A sizable part of my ER income will be federal pension under the newer FERS plan. (the older CSRS system gets a better deal) The pension is COLA'd to the CPI as follows: CPI = less than 2% COLA = CPI increase CPI = between 2% & 3% COLA = 2% CPI = greater than 3% COLA = CPI minus 1% I...

Swiss IRA's & Swiss Annuities So, should I decide the sky is falling & to don my tin-foil-hat for good - what are these? If one's faith was shaky in the good ole US dollar, seems to make sense (in concept) to move ones already very conservatively invested retirement $ to Swiss francs, no...

Well, despite the high airfare, we (me, DW & 13 y/o) are still planning two weeks in Hawaii last week of Jul & 1st week of Aug.t Thinking of staying in Maui (Kihei area?) one week & Big Island (Kona area?) the next. Looking for tips on condos & things to do. We're planning on going to...

So I hear USGS is finally going to release their official assessment on how much recoverable oil is actually there in the Bakken oil fields. Some guess USGS is going to say 200 billion barrels. Others are speculating possibly as high as 400 billion. Either way, that's a heck of a lot of...

Since I've noted some have objected to political discussions becoming too partisan on here of late - how about an objective non-partisan discussion of my two favorite topics : Politics & "My Money!". Predictions anyone? on the effects on the markets, business, investments, inflation, etc in...

Well, the big hailstorm hit & it looks like we may be in for a new roof. 1% deductible so it's not gonna be cheap! Insurance Agent said go ahead & call some roofers for damage estimate & get back with them. It's a fairly large house, two-story, steep roof, lots of hips & valleys, complicated...

For those of us who still have a child at home: (one more reason I won't live in CA again) Bill on home schooling rights urged - Los Angeles Times (here in Texas - all you have to do is send your local school district a "Letter of Assurance" that your child is being educated at home. Per a...

I am planning to ER next year at 49 y/o - part of the plan "was" to sell the house this year or next, use the equity to purchase a smaller house, & dump the mortgage payment. (We have about 200K equity in a 300K- 3400 sq ft - house.) Well, it seems the housing slump is really messing with...

I am a somewhat avid Ron Paul supporter, don't agree entirely with everything - but he's the only presidential candidate who is in line with a lot of my ideas about how things ought to be with the Fed Govt. Now I realize of course he doesn't have a snowballs chance - & never did after not...