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I am a retired IT executive with 44 years of experience in IT. I am originally from Virginia and have lived in North Carolina the past 60 years. I am a widower who was married for 57 years to my late wife, Judy. We have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. I volunteer with my church and serve on the board of 2 retiree associations, one of which has more than 50,000 members. I still enjoy golf, travel and taking care of our home and 2 acres of land.
Comments
One of my daughter's friends had her wedding reception at the Charlotte Coliseum (think big bucks). She too was divorced within a year.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
We based catering on RSVPs plus 20. My daughter was in a fraternity. Very few RSVPed but they all showed up. We still had more than enough food. I am sure the caterer thought I low balled her.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
I have been there Mark. We only had one daughter. She got married in 1995 after graduating from college. A woman that worked for me set a budget of $10,000 for her daughter, which with inflation is more than $22,000 today. That sounded reasonable to me, and I informed my wife and daughter of their budget. Daughter seemed ok, wife not so much. It worked out. They did not have to scrimp on anything and we had a great wedding. We had $500 left and that plus our wedding gift made for a nice honeymoon in Cancun.
Post: A Wedding Too Far
Link to comment from September 8, 2026
Well done Greg. We were never frugal but neither were we extragravant, at least most of the time. I had a HELOC on our house, which I always used to buy cars. We usually kept our cars for 10 years or more, and accumulated 150k or more miles. There was a minimum monthly payment required, but I usually paid more and usually had the car paid off in 12 to 15 months. If I had a car payment instead, I would have probably paid it off in 24 to 36 months and spent the extra money in my checking account. Similarly, we had a 25 year mortgage for our house. We paid it off in 18 years. It is a great feeling to have a fully paid off house. One indulgence we had was having dinner at Ruth Chris on our anniversary. It was expensive but the food and service was great and we both really enjoyed that. We need to have some indulgences but obviously need to discipline ourselves for them to not be excessive.
Post: Locking it in
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
Thanks Bogdan. My refund is $164. I will definitely take it.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
I have been a SF customer for more than 30 years. Several years ago I shopped my policy with other leading insurers. Overall, SF was the lowest. That, plus their good service made it an easy choice.
Post: State Farm Dividend
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
My wife and I did not have expensive habits and were generally conservative in our spending. One area that we did spend on in retirement was travel. We took some great trips and thoroughly enjoyed them. We both kept our cars for a very long time. I am on my 4th Toyota Camry since 1992. Judy preferred bigger cars with lots of features. She bought a used 2007 Toyota Avalon in 2010 with about 30k miles. The engine blew in 2022 with almost 200k miles. There were few new or used cars available in 2022, and she wanted another Avalon. We found a 2019 Avalon Limited with all the features she liked. We bought it and she was very happy. I have lived in the same house for 54 years. We considered moving after I retired, but we decided to remodel our house instead. Judy passed in 2025, so I am selling the house and looking for a new home, most likely in a CCRC. Another area we have spent on is family. We assisted with college expenses for 2 of our granddaughters and provided assistance to our 2 children when needed. We also tithed at our church and contribute to worthwhile charities. I feel blessed to be able to do that.
Post: Jonathan’s Parting Thoughts: No. 7
Link to comment from September 4, 2026
I agree with this. Even are factoring in the reasons people gave in the Gallup article, I found we were better off than I expected. I have heard that from other retirees as well.
Post: A bleak picture for retirement in the future?
Link to comment from September 3, 2026
I feel really blessed to have both SS and a pension (non COLA). It is sad to hear the pessimism so many people have with retirement.
Post: A bleak picture for retirement in the future?
Link to comment from September 3, 2026
I agree with you John. However, their prices are competitive with similar restaurants in that area. Inflation is not the only factor restaurants must consider to set their prices.
Post: Inflation Hedge
Link to comment from August 29, 2026