Twenty-one years ago, around today (March 17th, 2005), I started this bold experiment in Personal Finance and publishing. Has it been a raving success? Not really, but it has mostly been fun and educational (for me). I started off hoping to make skads of ca$h and become a big-sho money dude. Not an epic fail, but not really a rousing success either. The whole influencer phenomenon has really taken the shine off the whole thing as well. I think the only title I would take from this is either “Lucky Man” or “Kibitzer“.
I did start on St. Patty’s day. Wasn’t an actual choice, just happened that way.
I met a lot of “A Lister” financial folks, and slightly inspired someone to start their own financial site. I think Michael started it because he read my stuff and figured someone should write about real things, and not just silly rants (that I was doing a lot). Most of my “A-List” acquaintances still speak to me on occasion, which I view as a lovely side effect of these writings.
In my early days, I wrote about whatever came to mind that day. I wrote pretty much every weekday. Don’t believe me, have a look through the archives of my 4th year, 2008. A year that saw me get laid off from Nortel, and the entire economy collapsed. A few of the posts are a bit raw; I have tried to clean them up a little.
I write a great deal less now, and only about things that matter to me. Those things are:
- Family and Finances, which should be for you as well.
- Disabilities, and the RDSP, which I am a talented user of (for lack of a better term). I wouldn’t call myself an expert, more of a grizzled veteran. My focus had been for my son, but now I am also looking at myself and my wife as well. More to be learned, I suppose.
- I suspect I will write more about getting old, being old, retirement and pension, which may have me appear to be more like Grandpa Simpson
It is a version of me yelling at AI, mind-bending, ain’t it?
I thank you for stopping by when you do. This ended up being mostly an open letter to my family and me about money. If I have helped folks, that is great.
What comes next?
I am about to retire from my real job. You know the one that lets me claim I am a 6-figure financial influencer. I have maxed out my pension, and I have frayed as many nerves as I could safely do, so it is time to march out the front door (before they throw me out).
What will I do now I have all this spare time? Sleep. For the past few years, I have had to rise at 5:20 AM to get across Ottawa in a timely fashion. I plan on breaking that habit as quickly as possible.
I need to work on my health a great deal. Remembering Sea Sick Steve's thoughts in "What a Way to Go", getting the Gold Watch and dropping dead the next day is not my goal. My knee is recovering, but there is still plenty to do.
I could easily spend 6 months cleaning up this site and fixing all the broken bits. That may happen, but my plans are quite loose right now.
Previous Reflections
- Twenty Years of this? Really, hard to believe.
- Nineteen Years Ago, This Started Take a trip down memory lane and reflect on the past 19 years. Join me as I revisit my early works and share valuable lessons learned along the way.
- Reflections on 15 Years My reflections on the past 15 years of writing on this and other blogs. It has been an interesting few years. #Blogging #Writting
- Still Financially Crazy after 13 Years
- Saint Patrick and Many Years of Financial Writing Not only was it Saint Patrick day. It was also the anniversary of me starting this important personal finance thome. (ok, poetic license on that).
- Ten Years and Still Going. After ten years of writing here, what have I learned? Not that much, really, but it has been fun, and that is the main reason.
- Eight Years Later (and a Happy St. Patty’s Too) Celebrate the 8th anniversary of my blog with me. Join me on this journey that started 8 years ago, and discover the evolution of my writing and thoughts.
