Reply #6: hey mark!

[shanti]

it's been three months, and i seem to be settling into my retirement pretty well now. maybe it's the season too, who knows, but spring always has that feeling of promise. i feel really blessed that i am able to enjoy a relatively young retirement too, as well as decent health.

i retired early, not because i hated my job, on the contrary. i just couldn't stand my micromanaging, asshole boss, and the furlough/pay cuts that california state workers had been subjected to, a moment longer than was necessary. i had a good salary, but at the risk of seeming trite, money can't buy happiness.

last week, i got some sad news about a former co-worker who passed in her sleep from a heart attack. she was only 60, hated her job, and soooooo wanted to retire, but had two years to go. she never made it :( it's something that i hear about fairly often, people dying before they can collect a penny of their pension. some stats say 11 years of pension is the average. i'm hoping to beat that :)

glad that retirement is going well for you!