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Retired Syd

Young retired bitch (as my friends affectionately call me).

Interests: knitting, gardening, dogs, enjoying the company of friends and family, reading, sewing, fitness, dining, drinking

Recent Activity

Reverse Mortgage as an Estate Planning Tool

(Photo Details: Home sweet home. According to the Wall Street Journal today, "slightly more than half of all assets owned by the bottom 50% of households comes from real estate.") Even though I was a tax professional for many years,... Continue reading

Posted Aug 30, 2019 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Where is that Advantage of Aging Everyone Talks About?

(Photo Details: Doug is the opposite of me. Here he is when he found a guitar at a coffee shop in Italy, entertaining whomever happened to be there.) I often hear people say that one of the advantages of getting... Continue reading

Posted Aug 27, 2019 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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A Vacation from Vacationing

(Photo details: Italy, 2017--biking out of the seaside town of Oltranto after an al fresco lunch) Yesterday I wrote a test-drive post, which has made me in the mood to tell you more about some of those things I touched... Continue reading

Posted Aug 25, 2019 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Surprise! An Update from Sydney

(Photo Details: That's me at the piano in my first jazz combo performance--playing Take the A Train) How long I have been retired now: 11 years. Questions I never ask anymore: Do I have enough money to get me through... Continue reading

Posted Aug 24, 2019 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Link to Forbes Article

(Photo Details: Pizza party awaiting guests) Just a quick note before my in-laws arrive for a couple days--kicking things of tonight with pizza by the fire. I wanted to post a link to the Forbes article I was interviewed for,... Continue reading

Posted Aug 3, 2017 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Irrational Exuberance?

(Photo Credit: Yahoo Finance S&P 500 historical graph through today.) As I mentioned in my previous post, the big consolation prize of this election has been its effect on the stock market. I’m not sure this is what the voters... Continue reading

Posted Aug 2, 2017 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Are Any of You Still Out There?

(Photo Details: What have I been up to? You're looking at her, my new baby.) I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long without writing a blog post, nearly seven months! To be honest, I have drafted a few blog... Continue reading

Posted Jul 31, 2017 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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The Trinity of Retirement

(Photo details: Doug serving my birthday martini last week in what I call the Christmas Room (the living room)--an admittedly underused room of my house.) Thanks again to JP for contributing this post last week. I love the conversation it... Continue reading

Posted Dec 19, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Guest Post: How to Retire in a High Cost of Living Area

I'd like to introduce you to a fellow retirement blogger, JP over at The Money Habit. She retired at the age of 28 after working at an investment firm for seven years. She shares tips for getting to your retirement... Continue reading

Posted Dec 14, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Calling All Retirees

(Photo details: Relaxing in the back garden with a glass of wine is certainly one of the benefits of retirement, but you'll need more than that for a happy retirement.) (Caution: This is a post about retirement. If you came... Continue reading

Posted Sep 29, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Why I Would Rather Be Retired Than Run for President

(Photo Details: My kitty. Why? Because she is so cute.) Here’s a little story. I graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara with a degree in Business Economics with an Accounting emphasis. I went to work after college for a “Big 8”... Continue reading

Posted Sep 28, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Postcard from Retirement

(Photo Details: The relaxing part of our bike trip in Indonesia on the island of Lombok-May 2016) It’s always hard to write a post after such a long absence. Even when I’m not blogging, I think about blogging all the... Continue reading

Posted Sep 16, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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The Unwelcome Visitor

(Nope, this one is welcome. Just not ON my computer.) OH MY GOSH. This morning the cat let me sleep in until 5am. I was so happy. I got up and did the usual routine, feed her, open the cat... Continue reading

Posted Jun 30, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Can I Still Retire if I Hate Golf?

(Photo Details: Hawaii--Doug without his clubs) I receive a lot of requests from people wanting me to write a guest post on their blog. I know I will never get around to that, I barely get around to posting on... Continue reading

Posted Jun 27, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Then and Now in Retirement: Health Insurance

(Photo Details: Crossing precarious bamboo bridge in Bali) A reader recently asked me to address the issue of health insurance and how the experience obtaining health insurance in retirement compares to when I first retired. Then As I mentioned in... Continue reading

Posted Jun 6, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Having A Great Time, Wish You Were Here Instead of Me

(Photo details: Chinatown Shophouses, Singapore) Ok, I’m going to be honest. I didn’t want to go to Bali. At all. Doug and I met a new friend when we went biking in Southeast Asia two years ago. April is her... Continue reading

Posted Jun 5, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Am I Sad to Sell Our Vacation Home?

(Photo Details: Croquet at Meadowood—July 2006) A lot of people have asked me if I’m sad to have sold my wine country vacation home. I do get very attached to my real estate—it’s personal to me. So it’s surprising that... Continue reading

Posted May 16, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Then and Now in Retirement: Travel

(Photo details: Our lodging on Ha Long Bay 2014. The trip that was too long even for me.) This post is one in a series I promised comparing my concerns in early retirement with how things are turning out now,... Continue reading

Posted May 15, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Is a Vacation Home Worth it?

(Photo Details: Murphy Brown in Calistoga) Is a vacation home worth it? Let’s just cut to the chase. No, it’s not. I mean, unless money is of no concern to you. Of course it’s not always about money, is it?... Continue reading

Posted May 13, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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How Did I Ever Have Time for Work?

(Photo Details: Staged patio of the vacation home I no longer own--as of yesterday.) You’ll hear this question from retired people all the time, “How did I ever have time for work?” And I know what working people think about... Continue reading

Posted May 12, 2016 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Never Resist a Generous Act

(Photo Details: Uncle Jim at his 80th birthday party, July 2015) Wow, what a year. And not in a good way. It’s hard for me to not write what is going on in my life, and I haven’t really felt... Continue reading

Posted Dec 31, 2015 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Maybe Men Aren't Boring After All

(Photo Details: The View from Round Pond Winery, Napa Valley) As I mentioned last week, I’m planning on writing a series of posts comparing the early days of retirement to retirement now, eight years later. You know—now that I’m a... Continue reading

Posted Oct 7, 2015 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Where Am I going to Find Ten Thousand Hours?

(Photo Details: Cupcakes at my Uncle Jim's 80th birthday. Hopefully I'll be playing jazz piano at mine.) Ok, I really am going to kick off the new series of then-and-now posts next, but I just had to share a current-day... Continue reading

Posted Sep 29, 2015 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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Retirement Then and Now

(Photo Details: Above-Sydney with work friends at her retirement party in 2008. Below-Sydney with Dad and Doug eight years into retirement.) I’ve been retired for nearly eight years now. Over that time I’ve worried about money, and then stopped worrying... Continue reading

Posted Sep 27, 2015 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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The Three Phases of Aging

(Photo Details: Subway home from the Yankee's game two years ago, back when I was actually young.) Only seven years ago, people used to say, upon hearing that I was retired, “Wow, you are so young to be retired.” At... Continue reading

Posted Aug 18, 2015 at Retirement: A Full-Time Job

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