As I approach my 80th, a "wild hair" prompted us to splurge on a new Z. We'd had one from '90 to '06 and loved it, but decided a SUV was more practical as we aged. An automatic w/a 180 mph speedometer was a lot easier on my left leg and the safety features are surprisingly numerous compared to 36 yrs ago. As before, I negotiated with several dealers up to 2000 miles distant from my home and found the best price at 2010 miles. A flight, followed by a train, followed by a rental car with friend/relative visits along the way took us to Arkansas and then a very fun drive back to the west coast. The only two downsides are the slight difficulty entering/exiting and the increased insurance cost. You only live once!
COSTCO is great! It's saved me Ks of $ over the years. Joined them in '04 when I needed a large plasma TV near Xmas. Been a CITIbank COSTCO card member since. Only shop there about 6 times a year, but the credit card's $ return is over 800 every year when you take advantage of the fuel/restaurant/travel/&Costco purchases. And those buck fifty dogs w/drink make my day (used to be polish sausage w/kraut, but they discontinued). Don't mean to sound like a commercial, but their NYSE stock has done well, too. And my daughter even worked for them during her freshman year at Humbolt 20+ years ago. They paid well above minimum.
As always, an enjoyable missive. My wife and I have been to several of these type presentations and our table mates are usually simpatico with our intention of just enjoying the steak and ignoring the pitch.
I've managed our stock investments since 1974 when I bought my first share. However, my wife has NO interest in investments. Therefore, as I approach 80, I've handed over half of our portfolio to a professional at a firm whose principles I've followed on their radio show since 1995. They've done a very good job for 3 years. My wife will transfer the other 50% when I'm no longer capable.
I used to take a scissors and cut open the toothpaste tube, unfold it, and use my toothbrush to scrape out the last of the paste. Now, I no longer need to save the last penny.
That's very true -- bigger problems. Recall that it took from 1929 to about 1945 for that come back. Sixteen years for someone retiring in '29 would usually have been a lifetime.
After reading most of the comments below, I couldn't help but think about inflation. Yes, some of the increases far exceed US inflation, but others not so much. Location, location, location is mostly the driving factor. I've had to move (the Air Force doesn't want you to stay in the same location very long) a lot. Ohio residence increased a very small amount; Florida a modest amount, Califoria-huge, other places in between. Luck of timing also plays its part.
Doug,
Thanks for the suggestion. I use about 50 different passwords and don't use qwerty+digits anymore. All of them conform to: upper, lower, special character and number, but are rarely longer than 9 or 10 keystrokes. What do you think of using those google Chrome recommended multi-character passwords that show up every once in a while when I go to some new site? (I use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari for various sites...do you recommend one more than another?)
Great article. As I approach 80, I've done almost all of the things that you've done. The main thing that I've purposely not done is to commit my passwords to an online secure site. I have four 8x10 pages of sites/passwords that are roughly categorized and updated about 3 times a year. Call me paranoid or overly cautious, but with all the compromised (once secure) websites that I've noted over the last two dozen years, I sleep well. I also switched everything to an Apple computer in 2012 after having used Microsoft stuff since 1991.
Comments
Not all car models are Costco available. Nissan Z is one that you can't purchase through Costco.
Post: Buying a car in retirement
Link to comment from July 18, 2026
As I approach my 80th, a "wild hair" prompted us to splurge on a new Z. We'd had one from '90 to '06 and loved it, but decided a SUV was more practical as we aged. An automatic w/a 180 mph speedometer was a lot easier on my left leg and the safety features are surprisingly numerous compared to 36 yrs ago. As before, I negotiated with several dealers up to 2000 miles distant from my home and found the best price at 2010 miles. A flight, followed by a train, followed by a rental car with friend/relative visits along the way took us to Arkansas and then a very fun drive back to the west coast. The only two downsides are the slight difficulty entering/exiting and the increased insurance cost. You only live once!
Post: Buying a car in retirement
Link to comment from July 18, 2026
COSTCO is great! It's saved me Ks of $ over the years. Joined them in '04 when I needed a large plasma TV near Xmas. Been a CITIbank COSTCO card member since. Only shop there about 6 times a year, but the credit card's $ return is over 800 every year when you take advantage of the fuel/restaurant/travel/&Costco purchases. And those buck fifty dogs w/drink make my day (used to be polish sausage w/kraut, but they discontinued). Don't mean to sound like a commercial, but their NYSE stock has done well, too. And my daughter even worked for them during her freshman year at Humbolt 20+ years ago. They paid well above minimum.
Post: Frittering away Frugality
Link to comment from July 11, 2026
As always, an enjoyable missive. My wife and I have been to several of these type presentations and our table mates are usually simpatico with our intention of just enjoying the steak and ignoring the pitch.
Post: The Vision, the Babe , Einstein and the Q
Link to comment from April 29, 2026
I've managed our stock investments since 1974 when I bought my first share. However, my wife has NO interest in investments. Therefore, as I approach 80, I've handed over half of our portfolio to a professional at a firm whose principles I've followed on their radio show since 1995. They've done a very good job for 3 years. My wife will transfer the other 50% when I'm no longer capable.
Post: One Good Call?
Link to comment from April 18, 2026
I used to take a scissors and cut open the toothpaste tube, unfold it, and use my toothbrush to scrape out the last of the paste. Now, I no longer need to save the last penny.
Post: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Link to comment from April 18, 2026
That's very true -- bigger problems. Recall that it took from 1929 to about 1945 for that come back. Sixteen years for someone retiring in '29 would usually have been a lifetime.
Post: Carrying Humble Dollar Forward
Link to comment from April 12, 2026
After reading most of the comments below, I couldn't help but think about inflation. Yes, some of the increases far exceed US inflation, but others not so much. Location, location, location is mostly the driving factor. I've had to move (the Air Force doesn't want you to stay in the same location very long) a lot. Ohio residence increased a very small amount; Florida a modest amount, Califoria-huge, other places in between. Luck of timing also plays its part.
Post: The Home Ownership Gamble
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
Doug, Thanks for the suggestion. I use about 50 different passwords and don't use qwerty+digits anymore. All of them conform to: upper, lower, special character and number, but are rarely longer than 9 or 10 keystrokes. What do you think of using those google Chrome recommended multi-character passwords that show up every once in a while when I go to some new site? (I use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari for various sites...do you recommend one more than another?)
Post: Simplify Everything
Link to comment from April 5, 2026
Great article. As I approach 80, I've done almost all of the things that you've done. The main thing that I've purposely not done is to commit my passwords to an online secure site. I have four 8x10 pages of sites/passwords that are roughly categorized and updated about 3 times a year. Call me paranoid or overly cautious, but with all the compromised (once secure) websites that I've noted over the last two dozen years, I sleep well. I also switched everything to an Apple computer in 2012 after having used Microsoft stuff since 1991.
Post: Simplify Everything
Link to comment from April 5, 2026