Nicholas Clements

Comments:

• I worked hard to accumulate sufficient funds for retirement and so this has taken away a source of worry but with that said some of the happiest people I know have very little money.

  Post: On the Clock

  Link to comment from August 17, 2024

• Jonathan, I remember chatting with our aunt many years ago and she asked me if I was happy. I told her, feeling somewhat uncertain, that I thought I was to which she replied that one is never truly happy, a statement which made me think more deeply into what does happiness look like to me. As many HD readers know it’s a subject you have written about frequently. The answer, which at times felt intangible and out of reach, has become more clear as I get older. Each individual has their own idea of happiness and it’s one that you discover on your own. I find it irritating when told that I should do this or that as if that person knows what will make me happy! I’ve always known that it doesn’t come from material goods and having all the money in the world. For me happiness comes from being home, spending time with family and friends, walking in nature, volunteering, helping others, etc. and putting aside as best I can anxieties that use to keep me awake at night. All quite simple things that have little to do with money or material goods and that I think will find my days fulfilled. Nothing too complicated, the way it should be.

  Post: On the Clock

  Link to comment from August 17, 2024

• Yes he is.

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 3, 2024

• Jonathan, even before your diagnosis I had already looked ahead to the inevitable, whenever that time might be, and I wanted to ensure that all was in order for whoever might be handling my estate. Just this past week Larry (my husband) and I had our wills updated along with new POAs and health directives. Our estate attorney is young and so with any luck will be around to help guide Larry with how to proceed should I be the first to go. I have decluttered my life and I would like to think it will be smooth sailing for Larry. We are fortunate to have a mother who is similarly in tune to ensuring all her documents are in order. This is not the case with my father-in-law who is leaving us with a financial mess and stubbornly refuses to accept personal responsibility for his actions. One thing we can do as we get older is to realize the strain that you can put on your children and caregivers when you leave them with a financial and estate disaster that needs to be managed as we enter into old age, dementia and beyond. With all that said I want to express my admiration for you with how you have managed your diagnosis. Many of us can only hope that we have the same noble and brave approach.

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 3, 2024

• Since entering retirement I have tracked my monthly expenses, even giving myself a budget to keep to for each month. I have never gone over budget! I also keep an annual budget for the big ticket items such as estimate federal and state taxes. All of this is unnecessary but I feel compelled to do so. Perhaps it gives me some sense of self-control, to ensure that I am not spending wildly, as if I would!

  Post: Where It Goes

  Link to comment from April 13, 2024

• There’s a lot to be said for a quiet and simple life and I find this more important as I get older. Instead of cluttering my mind, I have been trying to keep it less so. My daily schedule is enough to keep me occupied and in touch. This helps reduce my anxiety something that my family is prone to. Watching my mother as she navigates the later years of life and seeing how my father managed his when he was alive is also helping me prepare for what lies ahead. Thank you for sharing your story Kristine.

  Post: A Quiet Life

  Link to comment from March 23, 2024

• Robert, thank you for sharing your story! At least you’re in a country where I have found the cost of living to be much lower than in the USA. I am heading to Mexico next month, to Ixtapaluca and San Francisco Cuautla. We will spend a couple of days in Oaxtepec, close to Cuernavaca.

  Post: For the Fun of It

  Link to comment from February 21, 2024

• I have thought of how I will be remembered after I am gone. Will I be remembered for all of the volunteer hours that I put in picking up litter, encouraging neighbours to plant trees, beautifying my community, etc? Some have told me that I inspired them to volunteer but I’m not sure if that inspiration will continue after I have passed. Over the past 25 years I have become close to several Mexican families. The husbands, brothers, sons, and cousins from these families worked with me at my landscape company. My company went through the bureaucratic hurdles to get them work visas. After I sold the company I have remained close to some of the families and I help them financially each year. I would like to think that after I am gone that my memory will remain with the families, that in a small way I made their lives better. For me this would be the greatest legacy of all.

  Post: Forget Me Not

  Link to comment from February 19, 2024

• Our time in Bangladesh has had a lifelong effect on me. Those were my formative years. I hate to see food wasted. I don’t like seeing lights left on unnecessarily. I am uncomfortable in luxury environments. I am more comfortable spending time in remote Mexican villages and spending time with the people who live there. The poverty of Bangladesh will be with me always.

  Post: Drawn From Memory

  Link to comment from February 3, 2024

• Margaret, thank you for your comment and your volunteer work. We need more leaders to rally people to help clean up our environment. And yes, I pick up so many Starbucks, McDonalds, 7-11 plastic cups and lids. It’s disheartening.

  Post: Things I’ve Picked Up

  Link to comment from February 2, 2024