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DURING MY FINAL NINE years with the Coast Guard, I was involved in decisions regarding search-and-rescue operations. We were almost always working with imperfect information. For three of those nine years, I was responsible for all missions in one section of the Great Lakes and, in my last year, I made the final decision on when to suspend search-and-rescue operations in an even larger area.
To lower risk, we often assumed the worst, and threw copious operational resources at the situation.
IN JANUARY 1987, I was an unmarried junior Coast Guard officer just beginning the flight stage of U.S. Navy flying training. I decided to see a financial advisor who’d been recommended by friends.
This wasn’t just any advisor, but rather a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and fighter pilot. He worked for a firm whose advisors were comprised mostly of retired military officers, and they marketed their services primarily to military officers. If there was anyone I could trust,
Comments
Now that's a good morning. When friends ask me if I get bored in retirement I say, "Sometimes, but then I just take a nap and it goes away." 😉
Post: Momentarily Embarrassed by “Not Much”
Link to comment from October 10, 2026
Comparison is the thief of joy isn't it Chris? I watched my Dad, a WWII vet, live a 31 year retirement (and he retired at 65!) with his enough and he was very content--and he did it as a widower. Having grown up in the depression, his retirement enough was a paid for house, a paid for car, golf with his buddies 4-5 days a week, and lots of travel. He did that on less than $30K a year having passed away in 2014. When I did his taxes every year, I was amazed at how he lived so well on so little income yet he had no debt. While pondering this reply, the thought just hit me regarding how one might know if they have their enough. I've been thinking I may have mine, but it's always nice to have a little more. I live in a paid for house, retired, and am looking at my cars in the driveway now. I have a 2003 Yukon XL, a 2012 Camry, and for excitement, a 2022 Subaru Outback--all paid for. Might what's in your driveway or garage be a sign of enough? At least in part I would think, but always a work in progress--like life.
Post: Rich or Wealthy?
Link to comment from October 10, 2026
Great article. I'll tell you one thing I don't miss in retirement and that is solving work problems under pressure. There may be a cognitive benefit, but for me the absence of that stress in retirement seems a whole lot better. Glad to have you back John and I look forward to many more of your articles.
Post: The Number Is Not The Answer
Link to comment from October 10, 2026
Dick, maybe Connie hasn't replaced you yet because you bought an extended warranty on yourself? 😉
Post: Laundered
Link to comment from October 3, 2026
Excellent article, thanks Adam. I have a relative that retired in about 2019 after a great career with a major oil company. After many years of overseas work, he took a lump sum retirement in his early 60s. He told me it all went into the stock market. Obviously, I found that surprising. Then Covid hit and the sequence of return monster reared its ugly head. He decided to diversify into commercial real estate. Other friends and family seem to have done well in that. Since then, he's had a guy drive a vehicle into a storefront, major HVAC issues on one of his buildings, and then a tenant was running a fraudulent medical service out of another of his buildings leaving a huge mess behind and months of missed payments. My point is risk lurks just about everywhere, in many different forms, and so diversifying in retirement makes a great deal of sense. As for my relative, I doubt he overpaid for the buildings because he's a very smart guy, and he is one to persevere through the bad luck, so I have no doubt it will turn out fine in the long run, but in the meantime....things can get hard.
Post: Why Bonds Matter
Link to comment from October 3, 2026
John, I'm putting a note in my will documents regarding this matter. I had no idea. Thank you so much.
Post: Widow’s IRA Choice
Link to comment from September 13, 2026
Ditto. Very helpful John. Thank you.
Post: Widow’s IRA Choice
Link to comment from September 12, 2026
Comparison is the thief of joy. I really believe that. No one shows you their bad times on social media. I don't have Instagram or TikTok, just a rarely used Facebook account. If you need an antidote to that feeling you might get watching other people sit on Waikiki Beach sipping Mai Tais, just watch the evening news. Every night it seems are reports of peoples homes being burned by wildfires, every town in the midwest is flooding, a random stabbing in New York, a school shooting (we are back in school after all) and yes, even a guy being struck by lighting caught on a ring door camera. That's what I saw on the NBC Evening News last week and it gave me the feeling of being somewhat fortunate, yet I also felt for all those getting flooded and burned living in areas where this never used to happen. Making a list of what I'm grateful for is often the best medicine. I hope everyone reading has something to be grateful for as well.
Post: The Economy of Expectations
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
It took me 2.5 years after college graduation, with a decent income at the time, to begin to spend less than I made. My entire life up until that time I spent everything. I never had much, so out the door it went. But once I had a nice car in the driveway, a nice apartment amply furnished, with my pay increasing, I began to pay myself first, so to speak, and invest and save. I suppose I had to get to my level of "enough" to begin to save. Some people never seem to get enough. The hedonic treadmill will wear you out if you can't get off.
Post: Behind The Finery
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
I am definitely better off than I expected. My net worth is far higher than when I retired from the military in 2009, and in the interim, we put 4 kids through college. Why? Well, asset prices have inflated due, in part, to low interest rates and expansion of the money supply disproportionally helping those with financial assets. My expenses every month are now much lower than the past as the kids are all self sufficient. I feel very fortunate.
Post: A bleak picture for retirement in the future?
Link to comment from September 5, 2026