soon to be retired physician, aging athlete, passionate surfer, itinerant scholar
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Early in my career I dreamt of buying more precious (read: expensive) antiquarian medical and science books. Think Vesalius, and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Have accepted that that would not make me happy.
More recently, a second home back in the Pac NW, where I did my residency. We loved the climate and geography, and don't love our central TX heat. Now we have the money for that, but are tethered to TX by choice because of aging in-laws (who we are happy to help).
I am retiring in October of this year, about 4 mos. Going to get the fancy home espresso machine I have always dreamed of. Have postponed because I anticipated that while working I would not have the time to play with it.
One thing I did splurge on years ago, and am so happy about: For any of you surfers, I had a board made by the then very-much-aging Dale Velzy. About 6 months later, after many handwritten notes from he or his wife, and a few phone calls, my stunning board arrived. Its a 9'6" triple stringer, shaped and finished by Dale. His signature on the board belies his age. It may be one of the last boards he build start to finish before he died. Best $1500 I ever spent.
PS - Curious if any other surfers on this board?
Agree it is a false dichotomy, that - apologies if I am offending anyone - often seems self-congratulatory.
You can never fully know another person's circumstances, and what drives their choices. To paraphrase Morgan Housel, Nobody is crazy.
Buying a new car is a different experience for someone who has never been able to afford one.
First one without my mother, who died in Feb after 3 yrs worsening dementia and debility.
Spent time with my 91 year old MIL. My wife is her only living child. Was nice to celebrate her, and her husband.
Our daughter lives in town so saw her. Son across the country but we spoke. We have great kids.
We are lucky and grateful.
The gyrations taught me that I don't like the gyrations. And I don't need to suffer them. So backing equities to ~50%, cash/treasuries to about 30%. Rest is a ladder of invesco bullet shares (corp). And I am sleeping better. This allocation will work for us. Retiring this year, certainly could increase equity once we get some of our time horizon gets smaller.
Interesting thread, thanks. I am 4-8 mos from retirement (though we can afford for me to cut the chord now, which I am thinking about on this relaxed Sunday morn!), am in Austin near one of our adult kids. We have lived our entire adult lives here, have a lot of connections. We have 2 strong opposite pulls: 1) spouse's two elderly parents are here, and they will need our help -which we want to provide. They won't be around forever. And 2) we are done with the heat. My wife in partic gets truly depressed about climate change, and the recent prolonged 100+ Fahrenheit summers have not helped. I did residency in the PNW (Portland), we'd be happy in Portland or Seattle areas.
Maybe a condo (that works with our pets!) would work - but I foresee that keeping up two homesites would start to feel like a drag, and that we wouldn't feel settled or connected to either place.
We are lucky to have options.
My parents encouraged me to chart my own course, but within a culturally-defined world view. My father's father, a hard man from the depression era, raised his family in to the middle class with hard work. My father came in to adulthood with the expectation of working hard, starting his own business, all in service of supporting - and protecting -his family. My parents valued education but were not highly educated. They had a limited vision of the range of things one could do to support themselves in this world. I did well in school, generally liked math, and some science. Started our big state U as a civil engineering major, wound up in chemistry, then made my way to medical school. It seemed and interesting and alluring profession, though I did not have in depth knowledge of what being a doc was really like. And I did it. It has been a great career, and I have carved out a path of my own, particularly in this last stage of my career. That all said, it was not a "passion". I loved the learning curve of med school and residency. And I loved getting to meet so many wonderful and interesting people, often at important times in their lives. But didn't love doing the medical work after the first 5 years or so, after which it became rote.
I am fascinated with the notion of our unlived lives - the way that walking through a door closes other doors.
Father (the breadwinner) worked hard - too hard, all the time - to make a small family business support our comfortable middle class life. He assumed that hard work and good character would translate into financial security. It didn't, exactly.Honestly, at this juncture - making small to medium discretionary purchases (the expensive coffee, the airline upgrade, the nicer hotel, taking family to dinner on my in NYC) without having to worry about it. This is the result of years of frugality and saving.I suppose, but not really sure I know. The money is there, worry would creep in for sure. I am 3 months from retiring. 25 years in primary care medicine + 12 in the health care start-up world. Yes, I can say I made a positive difference to a lot of people, made a very significant difference to a handful. I feel great about that, though still wrapping my head around the cost.I can fall easily in to moving the goal posts. I have enough, but now worry about our current "administration" and the destruction being wrought.Helping those around me, more time and experiences with my adult kids, pursuing my interests more. I have not lost my curiosity at all, for which I am extremely grateful. That said, am very curious to see what retirement brings - that curiosity led me here to HD.My spouse or kids. I have a different take on this one. I just buried my mother about a month ago after 4 years of dementia, 2 in a very expensive memory care facility. I was the primary caretaker, the "burden" that so many refer to regarding their kids and future needs. Yes, it was a lot of work, not fun, often tiresome - but an honor. We plan to earmark our home equity for LTC, if needed. After seeing what dementia in my mother, I am intentionally NOT spending a lot of time worrying about this. I am focused on my healthy years remaining. We are lucky that we have the home equity to make this reasonable.I think so. Current approach is to focus on using our savings during our lives to enjoy and help our children.I appreciate the many comments on Humble Dollar. Thanks Jonathan.
short answer as to what did: nothing
longer answer: I look at this as well as Bogleheads and a few other forums. I find it a bit disingenuous to assert that it's never different this time. Regarding economic cycles and unpredictable shocks, fair enough. The issue at hand now are societal/political system shocks, which are certainly affecting the economy, but have potentially far larger implications. (Apologies to mods if I have dipped my toe in to the political- but its part of this story and this moment.)
Comments
Early in my career I dreamt of buying more precious (read: expensive) antiquarian medical and science books. Think Vesalius, and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Have accepted that that would not make me happy. More recently, a second home back in the Pac NW, where I did my residency. We loved the climate and geography, and don't love our central TX heat. Now we have the money for that, but are tethered to TX by choice because of aging in-laws (who we are happy to help). I am retiring in October of this year, about 4 mos. Going to get the fancy home espresso machine I have always dreamed of. Have postponed because I anticipated that while working I would not have the time to play with it. One thing I did splurge on years ago, and am so happy about: For any of you surfers, I had a board made by the then very-much-aging Dale Velzy. About 6 months later, after many handwritten notes from he or his wife, and a few phone calls, my stunning board arrived. Its a 9'6" triple stringer, shaped and finished by Dale. His signature on the board belies his age. It may be one of the last boards he build start to finish before he died. Best $1500 I ever spent. PS - Curious if any other surfers on this board?
Post: Dreams I Had by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from June 3, 2025
Agree it is a false dichotomy, that - apologies if I am offending anyone - often seems self-congratulatory. You can never fully know another person's circumstances, and what drives their choices. To paraphrase Morgan Housel, Nobody is crazy. Buying a new car is a different experience for someone who has never been able to afford one.
Post: Reflecting on life experiences. Money well spent. How about yours?
Link to comment from May 19, 2025
First one without my mother, who died in Feb after 3 yrs worsening dementia and debility. Spent time with my 91 year old MIL. My wife is her only living child. Was nice to celebrate her, and her husband. Our daughter lives in town so saw her. Son across the country but we spoke. We have great kids. We are lucky and grateful.
Post: How was your Mother’s Day?
Link to comment from May 12, 2025
The gyrations taught me that I don't like the gyrations. And I don't need to suffer them. So backing equities to ~50%, cash/treasuries to about 30%. Rest is a ladder of invesco bullet shares (corp). And I am sleeping better. This allocation will work for us. Retiring this year, certainly could increase equity once we get some of our time horizon gets smaller.
Post: Ch-Ch-Changes?
Link to comment from May 6, 2025
Interesting thread, thanks. I am 4-8 mos from retirement (though we can afford for me to cut the chord now, which I am thinking about on this relaxed Sunday morn!), am in Austin near one of our adult kids. We have lived our entire adult lives here, have a lot of connections. We have 2 strong opposite pulls: 1) spouse's two elderly parents are here, and they will need our help -which we want to provide. They won't be around forever. And 2) we are done with the heat. My wife in partic gets truly depressed about climate change, and the recent prolonged 100+ Fahrenheit summers have not helped. I did residency in the PNW (Portland), we'd be happy in Portland or Seattle areas. Maybe a condo (that works with our pets!) would work - but I foresee that keeping up two homesites would start to feel like a drag, and that we wouldn't feel settled or connected to either place. We are lucky to have options.
Post: Stay or Go, and How Do We Know? By Dana/DrLefty
Link to comment from May 4, 2025
My parents encouraged me to chart my own course, but within a culturally-defined world view. My father's father, a hard man from the depression era, raised his family in to the middle class with hard work. My father came in to adulthood with the expectation of working hard, starting his own business, all in service of supporting - and protecting -his family. My parents valued education but were not highly educated. They had a limited vision of the range of things one could do to support themselves in this world. I did well in school, generally liked math, and some science. Started our big state U as a civil engineering major, wound up in chemistry, then made my way to medical school. It seemed and interesting and alluring profession, though I did not have in depth knowledge of what being a doc was really like. And I did it. It has been a great career, and I have carved out a path of my own, particularly in this last stage of my career. That all said, it was not a "passion". I loved the learning curve of med school and residency. And I loved getting to meet so many wonderful and interesting people, often at important times in their lives. But didn't love doing the medical work after the first 5 years or so, after which it became rote. I am fascinated with the notion of our unlived lives - the way that walking through a door closes other doors.
Post: Going Against the Grain
Link to comment from April 27, 2025
a purpose (small p) can be as simple as a credo to be kind to the people around you, those that you actually encounter in your day
Post: Ask Me a Tough One by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from April 19, 2025
Father (the breadwinner) worked hard - too hard, all the time - to make a small family business support our comfortable middle class life. He assumed that hard work and good character would translate into financial security. It didn't, exactly.Honestly, at this juncture - making small to medium discretionary purchases (the expensive coffee, the airline upgrade, the nicer hotel, taking family to dinner on my in NYC) without having to worry about it. This is the result of years of frugality and saving.I suppose, but not really sure I know. The money is there, worry would creep in for sure. I am 3 months from retiring. 25 years in primary care medicine + 12 in the health care start-up world. Yes, I can say I made a positive difference to a lot of people, made a very significant difference to a handful. I feel great about that, though still wrapping my head around the cost.I can fall easily in to moving the goal posts. I have enough, but now worry about our current "administration" and the destruction being wrought.Helping those around me, more time and experiences with my adult kids, pursuing my interests more. I have not lost my curiosity at all, for which I am extremely grateful. That said, am very curious to see what retirement brings - that curiosity led me here to HD.My spouse or kids. I have a different take on this one. I just buried my mother about a month ago after 4 years of dementia, 2 in a very expensive memory care facility. I was the primary caretaker, the "burden" that so many refer to regarding their kids and future needs. Yes, it was a lot of work, not fun, often tiresome - but an honor. We plan to earmark our home equity for LTC, if needed. After seeing what dementia in my mother, I am intentionally NOT spending a lot of time worrying about this. I am focused on my healthy years remaining. We are lucky that we have the home equity to make this reasonable.I think so. Current approach is to focus on using our savings during our lives to enjoy and help our children.I appreciate the many comments on Humble Dollar. Thanks Jonathan.
Post: Ask Me a Tough One by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from April 19, 2025
I think we will survive too. But, for me, this is a new type of worry that supersedes any worry about "Will I have enough?".
Post: Tariffs and our retirement assets
Link to comment from April 6, 2025
short answer as to what did: nothing longer answer: I look at this as well as Bogleheads and a few other forums. I find it a bit disingenuous to assert that it's never different this time. Regarding economic cycles and unpredictable shocks, fair enough. The issue at hand now are societal/political system shocks, which are certainly affecting the economy, but have potentially far larger implications. (Apologies to mods if I have dipped my toe in to the political- but its part of this story and this moment.)
Post: Tariffs and our retirement assets
Link to comment from April 5, 2025