Where Are They Now?

[Oz investor]

That's utterly adorable!!

I would imagine that if forums really DID disappear, then those of us who love to write a lot on forums would probably continue to write a lot, only on some other type of venue. My guess is that that is what happened with most former Usenet habitués (like me) when Usenet lost its popularity. Personally I'm no fan of Twitter due to the limitation on message size.

so has talk back radio disappeared yet

i think the content quality , and member usefulness will be the deciding factors.

PS i do not have Facebook , Twitter or Linkedin accounts ( nor any of their close rivals )

this forum might become a dinosaur , but a living oddity , rather than a ghost from the past

 

[donheff]

I would imagine that if forums really DID disappear, then those of us who love to write a lot on forums would probably continue to write a lot, only on some other type of venue. My guess is that that is what happened with most former Usenet habitués (like me) when Usenet lost its popularity. Personally I'm no fan of Twitter due to the limitation on message size.

I was a Usenet fan. I discovered it in the early 90s and absolutely loved the rec.windsurfing group. The technology moved on and rec.windsurfing eventually migrated to a Yahoo group and sort of died off. I think the major reason for it's demise was a loss of interest in windsurfing, rather than a change in technology. Seems like there is a never-ending supply of newbies interested in ER so maybe we have a future even as technology changes.

 

[COcheesehead]

What happened to @imjustawarrior ?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just musing, really, not expecting an answer is possible, but was thinking about this over the past couple days, and coincidentally, the "Goodbye" thread today by Meadbh brought it to mind again:

It would be interesting (if it were even possible) to compile a list of what some of the long-time posters are up to, who have "retired" from this forum - a la the old "Where Are They Now?" series.

Even as a relative newcomer here, less than a year, one can see prolific posters ("Blue Collar Guy" comes to mind) who were actively taking part in the dialogue - and who then simply vanished. And researching older topics, sometimes one realizes others also vanished, years ago (e.g. "cute fuzzy bunny"). Did some stroke of misfortune befall them? Did some comment offend them? Did they just grow weary of repetitive topics? Did they land a position as an oligarch? Did they have to go into deep cover? Who will ever know?

It's striking because, on the whole, this is such a welcoming, even warm, set of people, very convivial even when points of view differ, and so it's easy to have the sense that there is community... but it seems that people can vanish without a trace, sometimes almost unremarked. And although that's to be expected, and probably many of the people here like some degree of anonymity, still, the contrast between the overall rapport and the unmissed vanishings can be a little jarring. Something about how one is not truly gone, until one's name is no longer spoken...

End of musing. Back to the regularly scheduled program.

In my case I got married and had a kid. Who immediately absorbed 95% of my waking hours. A lot of discussions were cyclical and have been talked about over and over again. There were also so many people around that a lot of questions were answered quite quickly. But now I'm divorced my kid is 21 and I'm sitting in my garage drinking coffee and thinking about switching over to beer if it would just hurry up and be noon time!

 

[RetiredHappy]

What happened to @imjustawarrior ?

I have been wondering for a few months too.

 

[Dtail]

What happened to @imjustawarrior ?

Check out his last few posts. Seemed to be a disagreement of sorts.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Check out his last few posts. Seemed to be a disagreement of sorts.

I hope that was all that was about. I worry about cyclists (that includes COCheesehead). Our good friend had a nasty accident to avoid hitting a kid who just ran across his path.

 

[COcheesehead]

Check out his last few posts. Seemed to be a disagreement of sorts.

That happens here from time to time. I still enjoyed his posts.

 

[marko]

I don't find excessive moderation to be a problem AT ALL on this forum.

Some days I wish there was a little more moderation here.

Over the past few years--at least to my ears--the tone has often grown a bit harsher, less patient and less respectful by some posters.

Usually its the same characters so you learn where to step lightly.

"...if you came here for an argument, you're in the wrong office! This is verbal abuse...." Monty Python

 

[athena53]

I don't find excessive moderation to be a problem AT ALL on this forum.
It was a significant problem on a different forum starting with the letter B...

I agree. I appreciate the mods even though I sometimes think a discussion that was cut off didn't need to be. I was on another Board (did NOT begin with a B) for over 10 years but took a break for a couple of years because I got into yet another tangle in which I expressed an opinion, people who disagreed twisted it and no matter what I did to explain my position, it got twisted even more. It had happened to others who also left for good. I still lurked to see how everyone else was doing and ventured back in a year ago. A few months later it happened again. I deleted my account. After a couple of weeks I checked to see what the reaction was to my leaving and let's just say a couple of members said pretty vicious things. No one shut them down but the moderator had once warned me (not as a moderator, she said) about the disparaging comments I'd made about an airline I'd just flown. Like, who doesn't complain occasionally about a bad airline flight? I have not been back. It's turned into the Mean Girls Club.

This forum reassures me that I'm not a monster and I'm grateful to be here.

 

[Dtail]

That happens here from time to time. I still enjoyed his posts.

Same here. Just explaining a possible reason for stoppage. HFWR, Nemo2 and RobbieB are just 3 more examples.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Some days I wish there was a little more moderation here.

Over the past few years--at least to my ears--the tone has often grown a bit harsher, less patient and less respectful by some posters.

Usually its the same characters so you learn where to step lightly.

"...if you came here for an argument, you're in the wrong office! This is verbal abuse...." Monty Python

That's happened in all social media. People are forgetting that there's another person on the other end that they're speaking to. It's just a faceless electronic doodad. I used to spend a lot of time on Twitter before a muskrat bought it. Pretty freaking harsh these days. It doesn't help that that's where I met my second wife.

 

[Diogenes]

In my case I got married and had a kid. Who immediately absorbed 95% of my waking hours. A lot of discussions were cyclical and have been talked about over and over again. There were also so many people around that a lot of questions were answered quite quickly. But now I'm divorced my kid is 21 and I'm sitting in my garage drinking coffee and thinking about switching over to beer if it would just hurry up and be noon time!

Somewhat off-topic here, but it's convenient place to reiterate my amazement at how much parenting changes the course of our retirement journey, our social lives, our sense of self. Most of the folks here are (or were) parents. They worked hard, only partially to secure a sumptuous retirement. The other part, often the bigger part, was to raise and launch their children. What of the child-free? We hear little from them, and indeed, a crucial motivator to retire early, it seems, is to spend more time with one's growing children.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Somewhat off-topic here, but it's convenient place to reiterate my amazement at how much parenting changes the course of our retirement journey, our social lives, our sense of self. Most of the folks here are (or were) parents. They worked hard, only partially to secure a sumptuous retirement. The other part, often the bigger part, was to raise and launch their children. What of the child-free? We hear little from them, and indeed, a crucial motivator to retire early, it seems, is to spend more time with one's growing children.

I spent a lot of money on my kid but I didn't have to I wanted them to grow up with lots of technology so he'd be prepared for the world ahead of him.

I respect people that don't want to have children but wow can it be rewarding.

 

[Nords]

Nords is one who checks in, especially when a military member can use his knowledge - his daughter is in the Navy now and I'm too darn vague to speak to her accomplishments.

He always had valuable feedback I hope to see him again last I heard his daughter had just graduated high school. I thought for a little while about buying a whole smack load of houses right around me but having family members like my dad living in the house next door made me think otherwise

I'll add a life update here.

Our daughter finished her five years of active duty in 2019 and her Reserve obligation in 2022. She's now a total veteran, although her spouse is still on active duty. For several years she's worked as a paraplanner for a financial firm (part-time, remote), and her financial literacy now exceeds mine. She's taking some time off to study for her Series 65 certification but she's surfing a lot more and not in a hurry to get back to work.

Her spouse is on his final active-duty tour now and leaving that in 2028 (at 14 years) to continue to 20 on Reserve drill weekends. At this point I think his main motive is Tricare Reserve Select (although he'll also enjoy the Reserve pension at age 60) with a hugely-improved work/life balance in his 30s and a far better quality of life.

They're both financially independent (high savings rate during their years of sea duty with 70% underway) and he's now stationed on Oahu. They're living right up the street from us, a 10-minute walk with plenty of quality family time. She's still surfing her high-school graduation longboard while he just bought a sweet Aipa 8'0" pin-nose Stinger longboard, so even if the Navy agreed to leave them alone in Hawaii he'd still move to the Reserves.

Our six-year-old granddaughter just finished kindergarten. She's the daughter which both sets of us grandparents warned our children about. (Generational karma has a wicked backlash, but I always enjoy hearing their apologies.) She's attending her mother's old school system and is showing all the symptoms of fourth-generation engineer. Since all six of us parents & grandparents are Navy veterans, our family joke for our granddaughter's high-school graduation is "Mom, Dad, I'm joining the Space Force."

I'm saving her a Scott Burke 8'0" foamie for the day when she's ready to stop riding tandem with her parents and tackle her own waves.

I'm still surfing 2-3 times per week, although I use a different avatar on other forums. My spouse and I plan to stay on Oahu for the rest of our lives, and we slow-travel at least 2-3 months per year for due diligence. I haven't found any surf that's better (let alone warmer) than Hawaii, although we'll travel as long as we can.

In April 2026, after nearly 24 years of retirement, I reached the dubious milestone of receiving more months of pension deposits than active-duty paychecks. Next I'm planning to double down on that.

I picked up my Medicare card a few months ago, and my spouse's turn is coming sooner than she cares to notice. We're both holding off Social Security until age 70.

Personally, life is still very good. My knees have shed the last of their cartilage, which ironically reduced the chronic pain from a 5/10 to 1. Along the way I lost 20 pounds and recently started viscosupplementation, so I'm confident that I'll never have my ACLs rebuilt... although I'm willing to revisit total knee replacements in my late 70s if necessary. A squad of orthopedic surgeons concur with this plan.

Last year I started a 5mg dose of rosuvastatin after a cardiac artery calcium score (194) proved that diet & exercise wasn't enough to overcome my liver's genome. I'm also belatedly dealing with chronic sinusitis (and a scarred sinus) from the effects of inhaling the Mount Pinatubo eruption during a 1991 submarine portcall in Subic Bay. It's manageable. If you're a U.S. military veteran of any era, go get your PACT Act screening from the VA while you still have the memories (and cognition) to do it without your family's help.

A couple of years ago (at the request of my family), I did a new audiogram with the VA and received a free set of hearing aids. They've changed my life (and my family's happiness) for the better-- and now I can stream Bluetooth classic rock in my head without earbuds. The VA has the medical evidence to claim that hearing aids will extend a human's cognition, and my spouse assures me that now they'll extend my life with her.

I've written about most of those preceding paragraphs on my site, but feel free to contact me if there are questions-- especially if you're in a military family.

I'm still writing, and our forum members' collective efforts at creating The Military Guide (between 2005-11) have donated $30,828.64 to Wounded Warrior Project & Fisher House Foundation.

I'm still desultorily crafting an updated edition (along with an audiobook version) but I'm easily distracted.

I check this forum (and a few others) every week for keywords, or whenever someone tags me. Or message me.

These days I spend the vast majority of my time on ESIMoney's Millionaire Money Mentors forum, which (as a few of you know) has been an incredibly enlightening education into the emotions of behavioral financial psychology with humans who have already reached the tripwire of the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate. In our family, it's shifted our focus from wealth management over to legacy, gifting, and philanthropy.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'll add a life update here.

Our daughter finished her five years of active duty in 2019 and her Reserve obligation in 2022. She's now a total veteran, although her spouse is still on active duty. For several years she's worked as a paraplanner for a financial firm (part-time, remote), and her financial literacy now exceeds mine. She's taking some time off to study for her Series 65 certification but she's surfing a lot more and not in a hurry to get back to work.

Her spouse is on his final active-duty tour now and leaving that in 2028 (at 14 years) to continue to 20 on Reserve drill weekends. At this point I think his main motive is Tricare Reserve Select (although he'll also enjoy the Reserve pension at age 60) with a hugely-improved work/life balance in his 30s and a far better quality of life.

They're both financially independent (high savings rate during their years of sea duty with 70% underway) and he's now stationed on Oahu. They're living right up the street from us, a 10-minute walk with plenty of quality family time. She's still surfing her high-school graduation longboard while he just bought a sweet Aipa 8'0" pin-nose Stinger longboard, so even if the Navy agreed to leave them alone in Hawaii he'd still move to the Reserves.

Our six-year-old granddaughter just finished kindergarten. She's the daughter which both sets of us grandparents warned our children about. (Generational karma has a wicked backlash, but I always enjoy hearing their apologies.) She's attending her mother's old school system and is showing all the symptoms of fourth-generation engineer. Since all six of us parents & grandparents are Navy veterans, our family joke for our granddaughter's high-school graduation is "Mom, Dad, I'm joining the Space Force."

I'm saving her a Scott Burke 8'0" foamie for the day when she's ready to stop riding tandem with her parents and tackle her own waves.

I'm still surfing 2-3 times per week, although I use a different avatar on other forums. My spouse and I plan to stay on Oahu for the rest of our lives, and we slow-travel at least 2-3 months per year for due diligence. I haven't found any surf that's better (let alone warmer) than Hawaii, although we'll travel as long as we can.

In April 2026, after nearly 24 years of retirement, I reached the dubious milestone of receiving more months of pension deposits than active-duty paychecks. Next I'm planning to double down on that.

I picked up my Medicare card a few months ago, and my spouse's turn is coming sooner than she cares to notice. We're both holding off Social Security until age 70.

Personally, life is still very good. My knees have shed the last of their cartilage, which ironically reduced the chronic pain from a 5/10 to 1. Along the way I lost 20 pounds and recently started viscosupplementation, so I'm confident that I'll never have my ACLs rebuilt... although I'm willing to revisit total knee replacements in my late 70s if necessary. A squad of orthopedic surgeons concur with this plan.

Last year I started a 5mg dose of rosuvastatin after a cardiac artery calcium score (194) proved that diet & exercise wasn't enough to overcome my liver's genome. I'm also belatedly dealing with chronic sinusitis (and a scarred sinus) from the effects of inhaling the Mount Pinatubo eruption during a 1991 submarine portcall in Subic Bay. It's manageable. If you're a U.S. military veteran of any era, go get your PACT Act screening from the VA while you still have the memories (and cognition) to do it without your family's help.

A couple of years ago (at the request of my family), I did a new audiogram with the VA and received a free set of hearing aids. They've changed my life (and my family's happiness) for the better-- and now I can stream Bluetooth classic rock in my head without earbuds. The VA has the medical evidence to claim that hearing aids will extend a human's cognition, and my spouse assures me that now they'll extend my life with her.

I've written about most of those preceding paragraphs on my site, but feel free to contact me if there are questions-- especially if you're in a military family.

I'm still writing, and our forum members' collective efforts at creating The Military Guide (between 2005-11) have donated $30,828.64 to Wounded Warrior Project & Fisher House Foundation.

I'm still desultorily crafting an updated edition (along with an audiobook version) but I'm easily distracted.

I check this forum (and a few others) every week for keywords, or whenever someone tags me. Or message me.

These days I spend the vast majority of my time on ESIMoney's Millionaire Money Mentors forum, which (as a few of you know) has been an incredibly enlightening education into the emotions of behavioral financial psychology with humans who have already reached the tripwire of the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate. In our family, it's shifted our focus from wealth management over to legacy, gifting, and philanthropy.

Thanks for replying buddy sounds like you're falling apart like I am my knees are s*** just heads up the American doctors love doing knees and and hips my dad had his hip done and that turned into a minor disaster he had to go into assisted living for a while what you did not like you know the Alzheimer's starting to show itself. Interesting having your dad suddenly start telling you all kinds of t
hings about his youth cuz he can't remember what he ate for breakfast yesterday.

I'll add a life update here.

Our daughter finished her five years of active duty in 2019 and her Reserve obligation in 2022. She's now a total veteran, although her spouse is still on active duty. For several years she's worked as a paraplanner for a financial firm (part-time, remote), and her financial literacy now exceeds mine. She's taking some time off to study for her Series 65 certification but she's surfing a lot more and not in a hurry to get back to work.

Her spouse is on his final active-duty tour now and leaving that in 2028 (at 14 years) to continue to 20 on Reserve drill weekends. At this point I think his main motive is Tricare Reserve Select (although he'll also enjoy the Reserve pension at age 60) with a hugely-improved work/life balance in his 30s and a far better quality of life.

They're both financially independent (high savings rate during their years of sea duty with 70% underway) and he's now stationed on Oahu. They're living right up the street from us, a 10-minute walk with plenty of quality family time. She's still surfing her high-school graduation longboard while he just bought a sweet Aipa 8'0" pin-nose Stinger longboard, so even if the Navy agreed to leave them alone in Hawaii he'd still move to the Reserves.

Our six-year-old granddaughter just finished kindergarten. She's the daughter which both sets of us grandparents warned our children about. (Generational karma has a wicked backlash, but I always enjoy hearing their apologies.) She's attending her mother's old school system and is showing all the symptoms of fourth-generation engineer. Since all six of us parents & grandparents are Navy veterans, our family joke for our granddaughter's high-school graduation is "Mom, Dad, I'm joining the Space Force."

I'm saving her a Scott Burke 8'0" foamie for the day when she's ready to stop riding tandem with her parents and tackle her own waves.

I'm still surfing 2-3 times per week, although I use a different avatar on other forums. My spouse and I plan to stay on Oahu for the rest of our lives, and we slow-travel at least 2-3 months per year for due diligence. I haven't found any surf that's better (let alone warmer) than Hawaii, although we'll travel as long as we can.

In April 2026, after nearly 24 years of retirement, I reached the dubious milestone of receiving more months of pension deposits than active-duty paychecks. Next I'm planning to double down on that.

I picked up my Medicare card a few months ago, and my spouse's turn is coming sooner than she cares to notice. We're both holding off Social Security until age 70.

Personally, life is still very good. My knees have shed the last of their cartilage, which ironically reduced the chronic pain from a 5/10 to 1. Along the way I lost 20 pounds and recently started viscosupplementation, so I'm confident that I'll never have my ACLs rebuilt... although I'm willing to revisit total knee replacements in my late 70s if necessary. A squad of orthopedic surgeons concur with this plan.

Last year I started a 5mg dose of rosuvastatin after a cardiac artery calcium score (194) proved that diet & exercise wasn't enough to overcome my liver's genome. I'm also belatedly dealing with chronic sinusitis (and a scarred sinus) from the effects of inhaling the Mount Pinatubo eruption during a 1991 submarine portcall in Subic Bay. It's manageable. If you're a U.S. military veteran of any era, go get your PACT Act screening from the VA while you still have the memories (and cognition) to do it without your family's help.

A couple of years ago (at the request of my family), I did a new audiogram with the VA and received a free set of hearing aids. They've changed my life (and my family's happiness) for the better-- and now I can stream Bluetooth classic rock in my head without earbuds. The VA has the medical evidence to claim that hearing aids will extend a human's cognition, and my spouse assures me that now they'll extend my life with her.

I've written about most of those preceding paragraphs on my site, but feel free to contact me if there are questions-- especially if you're in a military family.

I'm still writing, and our forum members' collective efforts at creating The Military Guide (between 2005-11) have donated $30,828.64 to Wounded Warrior Project & Fisher House Foundation.

I'm still desultorily crafting an updated edition (along with an audiobook version) but I'm easily distracted.

I check this forum (and a few others) every week for keywords, or whenever someone tags me. Or message me.

These days I spend the vast majority of my time on ESIMoney's Millionaire Money Mentors forum, which (as a few of you know) has been an incredibly enlightening education into the emotions of behavioral financial psychology with humans who have already reached the tripwire of the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate. In our family, it's shifted our focus from wealth management over to legacy, gifting, and philanthropy.

Grandpa n0rdshard to believe. Good to hear from you and how you doing my knees are about shot as well I take about 11 different pills everyday more than once. Just a heads up on the drink replacements the American doctors really love doing that surgery and the hip surgery the hip surgery wasn't so good for my dad it it worked out in the long term but when he had that was when the doctor said he had Alzheimer's and that was the point in time where we went into assisted living and never left. I just signed up for Medicare as well and I too I'm going to plan to wait on the social security until 70. But I keep rethinking what would happen if I took the money now and invested it myself. That lower my withdrawals to nearly zero cuz I'm still getting by on about 3 or $4,000 a month. I just don't do anything expensive but I eat good food doordash a lot and most of my time is spent hanging out with dogs. But my lost dog Max passed away a few months ago and I've been looking for a new one I just found a German Shepherd looking for a rehoming and his name is also Max so I'm taking that as a sign. A sign that I'm an idiot because Max is apparently the most common dog name. He's a White Shepherd which is perfect for the hut Sunny weather we get and my German Shepherd Sammy I think you guys missed her entirely cuz I had her for 10 years she passed away about 3 years ago. Anyhow your invest like you're immortal phrase and sticking with the s&p 500 index as well respected around this place. I still have some money in Wellington and Wellesley a 50/50 split in my IRA a lot less volatile than the s&p 500 and I held dvy which turned out to be a very good ETF for about 15 years I cashed it out last year but I make it back into it pays about a 3% dividend and had great capital appreciation while I held it.

Anywho great to hear from you Grandpa

 

[Amethyst]

What of the child-free? We hear little from them,

People without kids obviously don't have grandkids, so there goes at least 50% of the things old people like to talk about.

 

[aja8888]

People without kids obviously don't have grandkids, so there goes at least 50% of the things old people like to talk about.

I have step grandkids (none from my daughter though)! Not a replacement, but they fit the bill!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

People without kids obviously don't have grandkids, so there goes at least 50% of the things old people like to talk about.

Then you get the other side of it where my dad when he was deep into Alzheimer's admitted that he didn't really like my kid which is weird cuz he and my and my son spent a whole lot of time together. But that's just my s***** dad

 

[JoeWras]

"We hear little from them [child free]?" Is the "we" this forum or groups of friends?

We are here, we participate. I'm not understanding the comment. There have even been threads about the unique challenges we have in navigating late in life situations without a support system of children.

We may not get involved in some of the threads that go down the route of discussing children or grandchildren. I stay out, mostly, because I don't have experience, and the last thing this forum or any other forum needs is an "outside expert" giving opinions on stuff they haven't lived. There's enough of that on the internet.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'll probably throw in here that the two happiest times in my child raising was when he could hold his own bottle by himself and when he slept more than a couple of hours at a time. The third one was when I walked by the bathroom and he was perched up on the toilet seat given it a try at 2 years old. Hello after a month I was so damn good although not hello I was so good at changing diapers it took me about 1.2 seconds. You do want to get used to the trick of untaping the diaper and blowing on their stomach because that cool air makes them pee. Better that happens inside the diaper than shooting up the air into your face. Being a retirement dad I got to go to all of the school stuff and I was usually the only dad there my son was really happy about that that he had his dad there. I was pretty happy about it too. Then you get to the part where they're 12 years old and you suddenly turn into a giant idiot. And 19 or 20 years old when you grow your brands back when they need money.

 

[RetiredHappy]

You do want to get used to the trick of untaping the diaper and blowing on their stomach because that cool air makes them pee. Better that happens inside the diaper than shooting up the air into your face.

I have never heard of this!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I have never heard of this!

Works like a charm. The other thing that we found worked wonders was swaddling. You roll them up like a burrito in a little blanket. He hated it for about a minute or two and then fell sound asleep. And since a lot of the times they wake themselves up by inadvertently smacking themselves in the face with their hands they tend to sleep a lot longer. I told his mom the seamstress that she could be making those up for him until he was 18 years old. But by three and a half he was pretty much snoozing as much as he was going to. Somewhere I have photos of me with him and one of those baby b j o r n s while I was vacuuming the floor or carpet cleaning. His mom was especially fond of those pictures

 

[Diogenes]

"We hear little from them [child free]?" Is the "we" this forum or groups of friends?

We are here, we participate. I'm not understanding the comment. There have even been threads about the unique challenges we have in navigating late in life situations without a support system of children.

There is of course a panoply of topics. But consider: how much of the FIRE literature/culture/internet revolves around stepping-back from traditional employment for the specific purpose of spending more time with family? Those without family, are something of a "white crow". For the white collar upper-middle-class milieu from which much of the FIRE movement is drawn, we find the child-free to be outliers both in the workforce and in retirement.

The psychology of not-being-a-parent is a comprehensive re-ordering of values and priorities, showing up in all sorts of decisions. Consider for example our various automotive threads... EVs, performance-cars, driving-habits and so on. Parents are naturally concerned with safety and comfort. Non-parents are more likely to value the driving experience, the driver-machine connection, even if that means something less comfortable, less reliable, less safe, less commodious and less versatile. Often we end up talking past each other, even if deferentially or politely.

The midlife crisis, often preceding early retirement (I don't mean that they're causally related; they just tend to occur at similar stage of life... call it mid 50s), is also different for parents vs. non-parents. The former worry about being a good example for their children, and perhaps wonder about their own achievements vs. those of their now young-adult offspring. The non-parents are instead likely to wonder why their scientific or artistic or business achievements were so mediocre, and in an existential sense (sorry to trot out that term!) wondering "what's it all for". For the parents, it's clear what it's for... it's for raising well-sorted and responsible kids, who in turn would continue thusly, with their own kids, and so on.

OK, now back to wondering if I should buy a house (as a non-parent)....

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

There is of course a panoply of topics. But consider: how much of the FIRE literature/culture/internet revolves around stepping-back from traditional employment for the specific purpose of spending more time with family? Those without family, are something of a "white crow". For the white collar upper-middle-class milieu from which much of the FIRE movement is drawn, we find the child-free to be outlier both in the workforce and in retirement.

The psychology of not-being-a-parent is a comprehensive re-ordering of values and priorities, showing up in all sorts of decisions. Consider for example our various automotive threads... EVs, performance-cars, driving-habits and so on. Parents are naturally concerned with safety and comfort. Non-parents are more likely to value the driving experience, the driver-machine connection, even if that means something less comfortable, less reliable, less safe, less commodious and less versatile. Often we end up talking past each other, even if deferentially or politely.

The midlife crisis, often preceding early retirement (I don't mean that they're causally related; they just tend to occur at similar stage of life... call it mid 50s), is also different for parents vs. non-parents. The former worry about being a good example for their children, and perhaps wonder about their own achievements vs. those of their now young-adult offspring. The non-parents are instead likely to wonder why their scientific or artistic or business achievements were so mediocre, and in an existential sense (sorry to trot out that term!) wondering "what's it all for". For the parents, it's clear what it's for... it's for raising well-sorted and responsible kids, who in turn would continue thusly, with their own kids, and so on.

OK, now back to wondering if I should buy a house (as a non-parent)....

Home options are pretty good for childless couples. You can look at those weird one and two bedroom homes. I have a four bedroom house now with nothing in three of them. The house I made an offer on yesterday is a two bedroom two bath. You got that in a lot of retirement housing like the one I made an offer on. Our Gold Rush areas around where gold was first discovered are completely loaded with one bedroom and two bedroom homes everybody slept in the same room and sometimes in the same bed together. The non retirement housing ones tend to be really cheap. There's also 10 acre horse properties all over the place here with one and two bedroom homes. Then you have a perfect excuse for not letting somebody sleep over your house. I'm a couple hours downhill from lake Tahoe right near the Gold Rush area in Sacramento and a couple hours at the most drive to San Francisco Marin county and wine country. Lots of people that I know from around the country keep badgering me to come by and sleep in my guest room. I tell them sure bring a couple of sleeping bags. Plenty of room on the floor. Shame I don't like roommates or renters because the second floor of my house is three bedrooms a bath and a big open hallway / living room thing about a thousand square feet.