Stephen Koenigsberg

Comments:

• Jonathan, it's a privilege to know you.

  Post: No Regrets

  Link to comment from September 7, 2024

• I trust you realize how much people love you, more probably because you care and bring that caring to all of us, than for your particular financial expertise. If you never printed another word and went off to do the things you delayed because of your commitment, I'd be happy for you. Reading your post, I think of Valerie Harper's words when she beat the statistics of her diagnosis: "Don't go to the funeral before the funeral." You have my gratitude and appreciation.

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

• Work sets a lot of the agenda and keeps you busy, then you retire and life asks you to make a decision or two. Do I want to keep busy because I don't know how to sit still, or do I want to learn to be comfortable being still. I chose the second and now when I want to be active it's not because I feel guilty about or am bored with taking my rest. Socially I'm lucky, I still go to AA meetings after 43 years, sponsor several guys and have friends. I go to the gym 3 times a week and talk with millennials (when they aren't looking at their phones and have their earbuds out). I hike with friends in the mountains in which I live, and make a concerted effort not to eat out in restaurants, most of which use more salt on one meal than I would eat in a week. My wife and I eat vegetarian and are both fit at 77. None of this has one iota to do with money.

  Post: Sailing Away

  Link to comment from June 8, 2024

• Please redo the experiment at some point, but do not inform readers at the outset which articles are AI generated. That way you eliminate the bias people have against AI which colors their criticism. I'd be interested to see responses to articles, whether some people don't notice the difference, and/or others start seeing AI when it's not there.

  Post: Bucking the Trend

  Link to comment from May 29, 2024

• Good for you. At 73 we moved from Denver to the mountains west at 8700 feet. Doubled the size of the house for half the money. The winters are longer, walking the dog uphill takes care of our aerobic fitness. At 77 we are mostly healthy and fit. For the most part we traded city amenities for the peace and calm of nature. Should we ever become too frail to manage this lifestyle, we'll deal with it then. I enjoyed reading your odyssey very much.

  Post: A New Kind of Heaven

  Link to comment from May 1, 2024

• What a wild ride. Almost everyone can say that about their life, but I see you saying it with a big wide grin. For me at 77, that's worth all the tea in China.

  Post: For the Fun of It

  Link to comment from February 21, 2024

• Thanks for your heartfelt share. This reminds me of what a therapist once said as I was headed for an imminent breakup. "Steve you wanted a peach, Kiki is an apple." Today I am married to a woman who has much more difficulty asking for what she wants than I do (Minnesota meets New York). What has happened is that with a lot of work on ourselves, I have toned it down and she is bit more assertive. But more than that we learned to accept each other for who we are. Without that awareness, it doesn't matter who you marry, it will not go well.

  Post: Letter to My Ex

  Link to comment from November 29, 2023

• I think the biggest transformation for me is learning to live without an "agenda." When you're working there's a mindset, what's the next thing I have to accomplish. Without the built in agenda, it feels empty. But it's not. You now can fill up your time with what you want whenever you want with no rigid schedule. It can seem like I wasted the whole morning relaxing on my deck in the Rocky Mountain foothills doing nothing. But that's the point, I can now do that if I want. In a way it is a permanent vacation, but you have to notice how much you've been driven previously and say without guilt, no more of that. It's learning to be OK (not depressed) without "accomplishing."

  Post: Retirement Takes Work

  Link to comment from October 25, 2023

• As it is in any time of life, best to focus on what you do with time rather than what time is doing to you. Remaining identified with work or other identities is an attachment to be reckoned with. The Eastern practices that tell you you are not your thoughts or emotions (or your job) are very helpful. I really missed the kudos that come from work, so I now do volunteer work in my area of expertise in my community, and retain one paying client. I still do all of the other things like hiking and traveling, but that didn't seem fulfilling on it's own. On the other hand I have a 65 year old friend who's life is fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and skiing. To each his own.

  Post: Coming of Age

  Link to comment from October 11, 2023

• There is no such thing as a benign addiction. Some will kill you physically much quicker, but anything on the spectrum of addiction will steal your soul in due time. And chances are if you have an addictive personality you can't safely exchange one for another, as in I no longer drink but I overeat. It's said in recovery circles, once you are a pickle you can't be a cucumber again. Thanks for your honesty Jeffrey and may we all be free from our addictions.

  Post: Behave Yourself

  Link to comment from September 20, 2023