Walking Dan

  This all started because I'm not a coffee drinker. And at work there was a Starbucks machine that had the option of chai.  And this was the only thing I would drink from the machine. But sometimes the machine displayed alerts about cleaning being needed.  And these would persist for days or weeks. So I thought that is probably not good to keep using the Starbucks machine. So if I really wanted a chai, I would start buying it from a store, that way I could be confident the machines were cleaned. Then I just have a hobby of trying things from all over.  When I was doing my gluten challenge, I would try a donut from all the shops.  (Come to find out there are way more coffee shops than donut shops) So I've been trying hot chai lattes from every shop around, and after I'd gone around 20, I started to write this blog.  So I'm putting this into Best / Good / Forgettable / Bad / Worst This whole project is really silly, because shops may use the same mix, so it'...

My goal is to retire at 60. This came about before I found the Choose FI podcast , and after listening to the podcast my goal didn't change, but my desire for this to happen has been strengthened. Why retire at 60? I have known several people who got diseases and died pretty soon after they retired, or while they were still working. - Rick Prouse , died at 60 of liver cancer, while still employed/ -Rob Robinson.  I can't find his obituary online, but I believe he was 62, while still employed, and died of a heart attack. - Jack Ballard , my amazing high school choir director, actually died at 81.  And he retired probably at 65.  The problem was that he suffered from Parkinsons and did not have a good quality of life for most of his retirement. -My father-in-law died at the age of 75, and I think he worked until he was 73.  But he didn't have a lot of outside interests, and working gave him a purpose and something to do every day, so I can't say this falls into the poi...

I have continued to claim at times around my family that owning our current house is actually a bad investment that prevents us from achieving financial independence.    They point out that it has been a good investment, since it will double in value at about the 12th year that we owned it.   So we received $200K equity. However, they don't take into account that due to having a larger house, we've had large expenses, and larger insurance costs, and heating and cooling costs.   So let's say that is about $200K more in expenses than a little house would have been, cancelling out the equity.    Meanwhile, little houses are doing amazing in the housing market, and are in high demand.  Our little house would have about $150K equity right now.  So the little house is actually a better investment.  It would be paid off for several years now and all of our income could be going to retirement or college savings, or whatever we need.  I...

  I found a podcast called Choose FI, and I have been listening to a lot of the old episodes.  It is made up people who want to build enough investments so that they could retire if they wanted to, and whatever age.  It is fascinating to listen to, and it has inspired me to set my pre-paycheck retirement savings to 15% of our income.   I have even looked into a Choose FI group in my area, and I plan to go to the meetings. However, there are a couple of weaknesses of this community.  And these are reasons that I also prefer the Dave Ramsey philosophy. 1. Lack of emphasis on giving.   I have been through over 60 episodes and have not once heard someone mention that they tithed to their church, or had a significant percentage of giving.  There were some interviewees who are doing service projects in their free time, which was nice.  But there is a lack of a giving mindset, which is something that is important to me.  I have realized wh...

Trying to keep a running list of things I disapprove of in the Trump administration.  If anything is omitted, it's not necessarily because I agree.  It would probably be too long of a list to put on the blog. DOJ tells prosecutors to drop Eric Adams case, causing resignations of prosecutors.     Prosecutor quote:  Because the law does not support a dismissal, and because I am confident that Adams has committed the crimes with which he is charged, I cannot agree to seek a dismissal driven by improper considerations  Wild and vague accusations of fraud in various agencies.  I could be enthusiastic about cutting the Dept of Education and US AID, but it should be explained to Americans.  Some agencies that DOGE is investigating already has fraud detection programs like Medicare. It's pretentious to think in a matter of days they can find fraud better than these programs. At a high level, I agree with federal workforce cuts, because by definition ...

  Came in prepared and with a plan Banned biological men from women's sports Stopped production of the penny Making America Healthy Again  - "The order calls for a national focus on reducing chronic disease rates in the United States, pointing to rising rates of cancer, obesity, diabetes, asthma and autism spectrum disorder." (Aria Bendix, NBC News) Care about cutting costs...maybe?  Or is it all for show?  I wouldn't be surprised if costs balloon, for example, military costs, or costs of failed wall & deportations. Care about stopping illegal immigration...maybe?  Or is it all for show?  I see headlines that deportations have actually slowed down since the previous administration I am working on just writing and posting, rather than waiting until a post is perfect.  So I may update this as we go.