Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
Saving For Bucket List That's Likely To Evolve In Years Before Retirement
Prior to being un-retired (from work) I usually didn't have time for projects or the pursuit of lifestyles.
My working day was pretty much spent catching up. A week's vacation here and there did little to foster a new lifestyle and project around the home usually waited for my later attention. Emergencies got done (car and home repairs) by a roll-a-dex of somewhat skilled and hard to schedule professionals who always charged professional prices and sometimes did professional work.
Just prior to retirement, I realized my working salary qualified me for a much larger conforming home mortgage and with rates at 4ish % I stepped back from being a home owner (I owned my home...not the bank) to being a home-loaner (30 yr fix @ 4.3%).
I mention this because by leveraging my debt to income prior to retirement I still felt comfortable with the monthly payment in retirement and the "cash" I acquired provided me with inexpensive dry powder to fund my retirement projects and occasional lifestyle choices.
Now with "all the time in the world" I had a few extra bucks to fund material costs while I supply most of the labor for projects. My skill set is constantly developing and being refined in retirement as I take on more and more challenging projects which I just didn't have time for when I worked.
Comments
Prior to being un-retired (from work) I usually didn't have time for projects or the pursuit of lifestyles.
My working day was pretty much spent catching up. A week's vacation here and there did little to foster a new lifestyle and project around the home usually waited for my later attention. Emergencies got done (car and home repairs) by a roll-a-dex of somewhat skilled and hard to schedule professionals who always charged professional prices and sometimes did professional work.
Just prior to retirement, I realized my working salary qualified me for a much larger conforming home mortgage and with rates at 4ish % I stepped back from being a home owner (I owned my home...not the bank) to being a home-loaner (30 yr fix @ 4.3%).
I mention this because by leveraging my debt to income prior to retirement I still felt comfortable with the monthly payment in retirement and the "cash" I acquired provided me with inexpensive dry powder to fund my retirement projects and occasional lifestyle choices.
Now with "all the time in the world" I had a few extra bucks to fund material costs while I supply most of the labor for projects. My skill set is constantly developing and being refined in retirement as I take on more and more challenging projects which I just didn't have time for when I worked.
Well, off to welding class...