We’re in a whole new environment now after the recent actions taken by the U.S. against Iran. I won’t get into the politics of that decision and situation since this is a personal finance blog so the prudent thing to talk about here is how to prepare for a war economy. With the help of…
Category: Financial Odyssey
Got My Severance Payment
I got my severance package payment today. It actually came a bit faster than I was expecting but I’m not going to complain. It came at the perfect time, I’m getting ready to head out for the summer on holiday. This reminds me that I may not be posting frequently given I will be visiting…
Unemployment Benefits
Now that I’m unemployed, I signed up for unemployment benefits and it’s an interesting experience. First, there are many hoops to jump through to get started but after going through the gauntlet I finally got my benefit statement. It seems the state makes it as hard as possible to collect benefits. Evidently I am entitled…
I Got Laid Off
Well today was my last day at work but don’t feel sorry for me as I got a generous severance package. And it came at the perfect time, right before summer so I can take a very long vacation traveling South America where it’s nice and cool. It’s strange but the three times I’ve been…
Retirement & Sacrificial Lambs
As I get closer to retirement, I’m getting really excited but there will be some “lambs” that will need to be sacrificed to make retirement work and last. So I’ve been taking inventory of things that I/we are willing to go without. Here’s a partial list: Sacrifices Gains There are other things we’ll miss but…
Why Leave America?
When I tell people I plan on leaving the United States I get two types of responses: incredulity or affirmation. The people that are incredulous don’t want to accept that anyone would want to move outside of the United States. After all why would anyone want to leave the greatest country on earth? I often…
Demographic Crisis In The United States?
I’ve been reading and researching demographics given the current administration is keen on trying to incentive people to have kids. On my wife’s side of the family, I have 4 nieces/nephews. On my side of the family, I have zero. From a total of 8 siblings (mine and my wife’s) only 4 nieces/nephews were produced….
Which Countries Are The Safest In The World?
I just got back from a month long trip in Asia and I had a great time visiting a few countries there. I was impressed with so many things and my expectations were exceeded in many ways but the most impressive was how safe many places were during my visit. One of the reasons I…
What Does Quality of Life Mean To You?
I asked AI what quality of life means to most people and here is what I got. I agree with the list although I think it left quite a few things out. But the point is to have an understanding of what your quality of life ecosystem is so that you can perform a comparative…
The Book of Life – Chapter 9
AI is simply amazing. I intended titling this post, “I have no desire for material things anymore” and write about where I feel I am in my stage of life but it got me thinking so I decided to have a conversation with AI. The conversation led to creating the table of contents below about…