Category Archives: retirement

How Do You Pack for Months Away from Home?

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3 Feb 2026 This post was written last fall. We are now preparing to do it again this week when we move to Myrtle Beach!

When we started planning this nomadic adventure, the question came up: How on earth do you pack for months away from home?

Surprisingly, it’s not that different from how I pack for a week-long business trip… at least in some categories. After all, laundry and Amazon delivery still exist in other states. And, if I’m honest, even when I’m home for months at a time, I usually catch myself wearing the same rotation of clothes over and over… the ones that are rewashed and put back on the top of the pile.  Here’s how it breaks down.

The Almost-the-Same Stuff

Clothes
 My “packing for months” wardrobe looks a lot like my “packing for a week” wardrobe, just with a few extras to account for different weather. If it works in July, I throw in a hoodie for October. Done.  (In some places those of us who are 6’7” and 270 lbs have to be careful because there isn’t a ready market for extended size clothes if we need to buy something in a pinch, but in Omaha? I think I will be OK) 

Katie says: I bring my big pink suitcase, Bertha, that I usually bring to Hawaii. It holds my clothes, swimsuits, snorkels, water shoes, sunscreen and the like. I also bring the medium and small pink suitcases and a blue one as well. Also some duffle bags. I have to have SOME variety in my clothes!

Technology
 I’ve already got my go-to travel tech bag: laptop, chargers, cables, noise-canceling headphones (for planes), bone conduction headphones (for everything else). The one new addition for this trip? A green screen backdrop. I bought it during COVID for working from home, and it’s been a lifesaver for quick, professional-looking Zoom calls, no matter what shenanigans are happening behind me.

Katie says: I pretty much do the same thing. I have a travel monitor as well as some tech stuff for my cameras.

Entertainment
Sure, most of our fun will come from exploring new places, but I’m also bringing a hard drive full of movies to go along with our subscription services.  Over the years, I have converted most of my books to digital, so my library lives on my phone already. It was a little sad selling my physical fiction collection to Half Price Books for pennies on the dollar, but at least my professional library found a good home.

Katie says: I brought coloring stuff to Nebraska but did not use it. I found myself taking pictures all the time and then editing those so I could share them with the world. I also had lunch with my cousin Scott if Eric was working. One thing about Omaha was that the entertainment was RIGHT THERE!

The Pretty-Different Stuff

Recreation
Katie and I love stand-up paddle boarding, so earlier this year we swapped our DFW paddle club membership (which we loved) for a couple of inflatable boards. They’re coming with us. We also swim for workouts, so our swim bags—goggles, suits, fins—are on the list. Omaha has a few good lap-swimming spots I’ve already scoped out.

Home Comforts
We’re renting furnished places, so we don’t need to bring much, but a few things made the cut: pillows (Katie is picky, and I like extras), our own sheets (because why not?), and our refrigerator magnet collection. We’ve been collecting these on road trips for years, they pack easily, and they’ll make any kitchen feel like ours. One splurge item: our countertop ice machine. I’ve gotten way too used to having perfect ice for my daily diet sodas.

Katie says: This really made us feel like we had a little bit of home with us. Plus we used our Roku and all of the Backdrops on there are the ones we had at home so that made my heart happy.

Consumables
We’re not loading up the car like a Costco delivery truck, but we will bring a box of some bulk items we already own and don’t want to rebuy immediately, plus some brands that might be harder to find.

Final Thoughts

Packing for months of nomadic travel sounds intimidating, but when you break it down, it’s not much different from a long vacation. Clothes, tech, and a few comforts from home—plus the paddle boards. Always the paddle boards.

Something’s Got to Give

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HNL–LAS–OMA–DAL–BNA–MYR. Six airports. Four days.

Yes, some of those were just connections, but I still ended up sleeping in a different bed four nights out of five. Right now we’re in Dallas for a bridal shower, which meant my presence wasn’t exactly required. So I slipped away to my old pool for a swim, trying to shake off the travel rust.

That’s where I ran into an old friend who looked at me like I’d dropped out of the sky (and I guess I kind of did) “I thought you guys were in a different state! Don’t you get tired of traveling so much?”

I gave her a non-committal answer and turned the conversation back to her and the things that she has going on, but I thought about her question while I was working out. The answer is, unsurprisingly, both yes and no.

Travel is incredible. It brings professional opportunities, new places, and connections with people all over the country. But the instability that comes with it? That part can be exhausting. And yes, I fully recognize the privilege in saying that. Complaining about working in Hawaii and Myrtle Beach, or about driving our old car or having to borrow goggles because my new things is stashed in another state? These are very much first-world problems. Still, when you’re navigating early retirement, these are the kinds of challenges you eventually face.  Even for people not on the FIRE path, there’s a universal question here: how do we choose between competing priorities?

Work. The work of “adulting” we all have to do (Bills, Doctor’s appointments, maintenance of our possessions, etc.). Family and friends. Hobbies. There’s never enough time for everything. And too often, the culture in the U.S. pushes us to put our careers first, no matter what it costs the rest of our lives.

I assumed things would feel different once Katie and I retired. But the truth? We still have to make choices, and we still wrestle with whether they’re the right ones. I’m not immune to “one more year syndrome” — the temptation to take on another contract, another job, another project, especially when the offer comes from a cool place or an organization I’d love to help.

Katie and I are slowly learning how to say no. This year, I stepped away from my adjunct professor role, and she gave up her virtual teaching gig. Those were steps in the right direction. But is it enough? We’ve already talked about limiting how much contract work I take in the future even further, so we can actually enjoy all the fun places we’re trying on for size instead of rushing through them.

So here’s the question I’ll leave you with (whether you’re retired or still deep in the 9-to-5): How do you decide between competing priorities? Do you use a system? A rule of thumb? Gut instinct? I’d love to hear how everyone else navigates the trade-offs in their own lives. Drop a comment below or send me a message.  Your strategies might be exactly what I need or what someone else in this community needs to hear.

Why Finding a Good Financial Planner Is So Hard

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At a meetup today, several people were sharing how frustrating it has been to find a good financial planner. And I totally get it. Finding good professional help is tough in any industry, but it is especially challenging in personal finance where many people lack confidence, the terminology is intentionally confusing, and the incentives are often stacked against the client. The fundamental dichotomy is this: if you know enough to find the right professional and ask the right questions, you probably don’t need them. After all, for most people, personal finance isn’t actually all that complicated.

How Planners Get Paid

At its core, financial planning is a service business. The planner wants to make money, and the client wants to pay as little as possible. That tension has created a whole menu of compensation models and, sadly, some of them are far better for the planner than for you.

Commission-Based “Advisors.” These are the people who only get paid when they sell you something and, on first glance, they look the cheapest because they don’t charge you anything!  Their incentive is to earn the biggest possible commission, not to grow your wealth. Teachers have been especially vulnerable here, with high-fee annuities shoved into 403(b) plans. Early in my career, I fell for this. A commission-based advisor showed up at school and filled my portfolio with variable annuity products that sounded great but were really designed to pay him. It cost me years of growth and some expensive surrender fees to get out. I learned quickly: if someone is being paid to sell you something, expect them to sell you something, whether you need it or not.

Assets Under Management (AUM). – Another common model that is slightly less problematic is charging a percentage of your portfolio, usually around one percent. That sounds small, but on a $500,000 portfolio it’s $5,000 every year — $100,000 over twenty years, not even counting the lost growth. I ran the math once and realized that one percent shaved off my returns was the equivalent of buying a luxury vacation every year, but for the planner instead of me and my family.

Subscription Services. – A newer option is paying a flat monthly or annual subscription for access and advice. This makes costs predictable and avoids the commission/AUM conflict. The downside is inconsistency.  Not all services are equally strong, and if you don’t use them often, you end up paying for more than you need. Still, for busy seasons of life, it can be a good fit.

Fee-Only, Project-Based. – My favorite option is hiring planners for specific projects. I’ve done this myself (once for retirement withdrawal strategies, another time to check my work on tax optimization strategies). It felt good to pay for exactly what I needed, get an expert’s input, and move on without strings attached. An added bonus is the “checks and balances” inherent in having different professionals review my situation rather than relying on, and trusting, a single generalist.

One important detail: always ask if the planner is a fiduciary. Fiduciaries are legally required to put your interests first. Advisors working under the weaker “suitability” standard can recommend products that are “good enough” for you but excellent for their paycheck.

My Takeaway

I sat down and learned a lot of this stuff on my own before I discovered the financial independence movement, but this is where the FI community has really helped me.  FI encourages people to educate themselves and provides resources and a community to do so.   The more you know, the less you have to rely on expensive intermediaries and the less vulnerable you are to being taken advantage of.  I still DIY most of my finances but occasionally bring in experts for a second opinion. The peace of mind is worth it for me (and even more so for Katie).

I do worry about friends and relatives who aren’t interested in personal finance and don’t take the time to learn. The hard truth is that finding a good planner is difficult, not because ethical professionals don’t exist, but because the ones who profit most can afford to have the biggest marketing budgets, fanciest offices, and show up on the first page of Google searches. If you’re impressed by a sharp suit, a fancy lobby, or free swag, stop and ask yourself how it’s being paid for. Spoiler: it comes from clients.

The more you educate yourself, the easier it is to cut through the noise. A few simple questions can help: How do you get paid? Are you a fiduciary at all times? What services do you provide, and what will they cost in total? If someone can’t answer clearly, don’t just walk away.  Run!  After all, whether you manage things yourself, lean on community resources, or hire fee-only experts for targeted needs, the goal is the same: make sure your money is working for you, not for your planner’s commission check.

Has anyone found a good solution to financial planning?

Winding Down to FIRE

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If you spend any time in the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) community, you’ll hear a ton of acronyms and categories: Lean FI, Coast FI, Barista FI, Fat FI, and more. In case you’re not fluent in FI-ese yet:

  • Lean FI – Reaching financial independence with a minimalist lifestyle and relatively low expenses.
  • Coast FI – Saving enough early on so that, without adding more to investments, compounding alone will carry you to full retirement age. You can “coast” by working only to cover current expenses.
  • Barista FI – Hitting a point where you can cover most expenses from investments but still choose to work part-time (often in lower-stress or more enjoyable jobs) for extra income and benefits.
  • Fat FI – Achieving financial independence with plenty of cushion—enough to maintain (or even upgrade) your lifestyle without worrying about expenses.

A lot of FI talk focuses on hitting a specific number and then leaving work entirely. But there’s a catch: studies show a high failure rate for people who go from full-time careers to nothing overnight. It’s like slamming on the brakes at highway speed—it’s jarring, and it doesn’t always end well.  High powered, type A personalities can only sit on the beach or play golf for so long.

Personally, I think the ideal career trajectory looks more like a bell curve: ramping up in intensity to a peak, then gradually declining as you learn how to relax and explore what retirement can be.  So, even though I left my last W2 job at 50, for me, the RE stands for “recreational employment” rather than “retire early.”

My career path ended up looking pretty close to that:

  • I spent years working multiple jobs, including high-stress school administration roles where 80-hour weeks weren’t uncommon.  During a lot of this time I was working other jobs on the side to sock away more money in investment accounts or going to school to give me more career options.
  • Eventually, I moved back into the classroom, but at the University level instead of in K-12.  Thai was still busy, but far less stressful (Committee work was tedious, but not difficult).  A lot more flexibility in my schedule offered me the chance to explore additional side hustles and types of travel.
  • Next I left the University and shifted to full-time consulting.  I was traveling almost weekly to visit schools and work with teachers and administrators around the country.  Lots of fun, plenty of opportunities for travel (and travel rewards), but time consuming and tough on the family.
  • Over the last few years, as I’ve approached FI, I’ve tried to scale back my consulting work—aiming for just two weeks a month and combining it with more fun travel that Katie and/or the boys can join in on.

I’ll admit I’m still vulnerable to “one more year syndrome” or the lure of an interesting contract in a fun location. But looking ahead, I want to shrink my workload even more—maybe one consulting gig a month, and eventually none at all, so I can focus on overseas exploration and our slow travel.

The lesson? Financial Independence, and retirement in general, shouldn’t be a cliff you jump off. It should be a slope you walk down—at whatever pace feels right to you.

How Much Did the First 24 Hours in Omaha Cost?

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We’re one full day into our first “slomad” journey and are settling into our new home in Omaha, Nebraska. I get a lot of questions about costs, and, even though we’re renting furnished places, I’ve also been curious about what unexpected expenses might pop up during these moves. So here’s a breakdown of everything we spent in our first 24 hours in Omaha:

Lodging

We pulled into town around noon and moved into our place. It’s a fully furnished, utilities-included two-bedroom apartment right on the edge of the Old Market neighborhood in downtown Omaha. At $1,500 a month, that comes out to about $50 per day of lodging.

Exercise

A couple of blocks away, we checked out the neighborhood YMCA. Our building has a decent workout room, but Katie and I swim a lot and we wanted access to a pool, plus classes and the chance to be social. I bargained away the joining fee by agreeing to pay the first month up front. For both of us, with full access to every YMCA in the region, it’s $75/month—or $2.50 for the first day.

Library

On the way back, we ducked into Omaha’s downtown public library. It was spacious, modern, and definitely a place we’ll return to when we want a work spot outside the apartment. We signed up for cards for $0 and now have access to meeting rooms, printers, copiers, and, of course, endless digital and physical media.

Household Goods & Groceries

Our next trip was to grab some household essentials and groceries. Honestly, I was worried we’d need a lot, but the apartment was remarkably well equipped.  They even gave us starter sets of consumables like paper towels, soap, and laundry detergent. That said, we still picked up a Brita filter, a laundry basket, a drying rack, and a few other upgrades, most of which will stay behind when we move out.

  • Groceries: $52
  • Household odds and ends: $121 → amortized over our stay: $1.15 for day one

Dinner Out

By the time we finished shopping (and skipped lunch), we were starving. Friends had suggested Pizza Ranch, a buffet I was skeptical of until we tried it. Yes, it’s family-friendly, but the food was solid: salad bar, pizza, fried chicken, dessert, the works. Maybe more than we should have eaten, but worth it 🙂  $37 for the two of us.

Free Fun

The next morning, I used the new gym membership, then Katie and I took a long walk around downtown, hung out at a park, and even tried out the public hammocks. Cost? $0

Day One Total: $152.15

So, what did we learn?

  • Furnished rentals can save big money. Filling a place from scratch adds up fast; Furnished Finder has already proven cheaper and easier.
  • Hidden costs still pop up. Even with a well-stocked apartment, there are always “little” things you want—like a water filter or a laundry basket—that need to be budgeted for.
  • Entertainment doesn’t have to cost much. Libraries, parks, and neighborhood walks are free, and they’re going to be a bigger part of our lifestyle as we check out different locations.
  • Life has a baseline cost. A chunk of this spending—food, exercise, even some household items—would have happened whether we were home or traveling.  Too often we look at all travel expenses as additional money out of pocket, but if I am buying groceries here, I am not buying them in Texas.  Even the monthly YMCA expense just replaces a gym membership that we cancelled last week.

When you look at it that way, traveling isn’t necessarily more expensive than staying put. In fact, with the right planning, it can be cheaper and a lot more fun.

Of course this was just day one in Omaha. We’re curious to see how the averages shake out as the days and weeks go on, but so far, the experiment looks promising 🙂

Don’t Let Your State Tell You When You Can Retire

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The Three-Legged Stool of Retirement: Why Teachers Need to Build Their Own Leg

It is the start of the school year, which means a typical conversation I have with teacher friends involves the phrase,

“I can retire in X years.”

For many, it’s even a countdown:

“Only nine years left until I can retire!”

It always bothers me that my friends are allowing the arbitrary formulas adopted by state pension systems to control their lives. Putting aside for a minute the limitations of most teacher pensions, what really gets me is the quiet surrender of personal autonomy.  Katie and I believe that retirement should be about your goals, your timeline, and your freedom and not about waiting for a bureaucratic clock to hit zero. This is especially true as state legislatures increasingly work against the interests of public school teachers.

Katie and I left our W-2 jobs before the state said that we “could” retire.  Sure, it slowed down the date before we hit the “rule of 80” and start drawing a pension, but these years are too valuable to us to be trapped by the bronze handcuffs of our retirement system (because let’s be real, a teacher pension isn’t good enough to even be called golden handcuffs 🙂   

The Three-Legged Stool — and Why Yours Might Be Wobbly

You’ve probably seen the “three-legged stool” model of retirement: Pension, Social Security, and Private Savings. For many teachers, that stool is already missing a leg or two.

  • Social Security?
    In many states, teachers won’t qualify at all unless they’ve worked 40 quarters outside the school district. Even if they do, their benefit is often low because only their non-school earnings are counted.
  • Pension?
    Teacher pensions can be valuable, but they often replace far less of your working income than expected. Without regular cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), purchasing power declines every year.

That leaves the third leg — Private Savings — as the one you have full control over. Building it strong is essential if you want choices and flexibility in your life.

Where to Start

1. Roth IRA – Make this your first priority. Contributions are made with after-tax dollars, and withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. For teachers, whose salaries will be relatively modest to start with, the up-front tax deduction of a 403(b) or 457 is often less valuable than the long-term benefit of tax-free income.

2. After-Tax Brokerage Account – No tax break now, but maximum flexibility later. Perfect for early retirement or bridging the gap before pensions or Social Security begin.

3. 457 or 403(b) – After maxing your Roth, look at your district’s tax-advantaged plans. Be cautious: many 403(b) options are laden with high fees and sold by aggressive insurance reps. A 457 plan is often a better choice because it allows penalty-free withdrawals if you leave your job before 59½.

Personally, Katie and I invested in a mix of all three account types. This gives us flexibility in early retirement and allows us to control our taxable income year-by-year, optimizing for taxes, health care subsidies, and college financial aid opportunities.For teachers, retirement security means taking ownership of that third leg of the stool. The earlier you start, and the more intentional you are, the steadier your retirement seat will be — and the more it will be your decision when to step away from the classroom and reclaim your freedom.

Zero-Based Thinking: What’s Right for Today?

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I was recently listening to a ChooseFI podcast where Alan and Katie Donnegan talk about a concept they call zero-based thinking—the idea of asking yourself:  “Knowing what I know now, would I make the same decision today?”  It’s a powerful way to fight the sunk cost fallacy—the tendency to hold on to something just because of the time, money, or energy you’ve already put into it. Instead, zero-based thinking challenges us to re-evaluate our choices based on current circumstances, not past ones.  It got me thinking about how Katie and I have tried to transition our mindset in this way as we move into our “slomad” stage of life.

Not long ago, Katie was really surprised when I mentioned trading in the Camry she thought I “loved.” And to be fair, when I bought it, it was the perfect fit for me: reliable, fuel-efficient, comfortable, and spacious enough for long solo commutes through downtown Dallas.  Same for her minivan.  A van with third row seating, leather seats and built in DVD player?  Perfect for young kids and road trips… ten years ago.  But today? Our lifestyle has changed. What once felt essential now feels excessive. Zero-based thinking forced me to ask: If I didn’t already own these cars, would I buy them today? The answer was no, so we made changes.

Our house is another example of this principle. When we purchased it, we had young kids and jobs in the local schools. The location was perfect—between the elementary and junior high, right next to the neighborhood pool, and just a few miles from work. The four bedrooms and converted playroom suited our family perfectly.  Fast forward to today, and our needs aren’t the same. The house still holds memories, but practically speaking, it’s way larger than we need and tied to a location and a lifestyle that no longer reflects who we are.  Zero-based thinking asks: If we were house shopping today, would this be the right fit for us?

This mindset also applies to finances. The way we invested during the accumulation phase of life was appropriate at the time—maximizing growth, taking on risk, and planning for the long haul. But as we enter the drawdown phase, the question changes. If I had our net worth in cash right now, would I buy the same investments? Probably not. My risk tolerance and goals have shifted and my investments should follow.

Zero-based thinking doesn’t mean abandoning every past decision. It just means holding your choices up to the light of your current reality. The car, the house, the investments—they all made sense once, but the people we were then aren’t the people we are today (and definitely not the people we’ll be tomorrow).

Maybe the best philosophy is this:  Strong convictions, loosely held. Believe deeply in your choices when you make them, but be willing to release them when you have new data or they no longer serve you in other ways.

So what about you—what’s one area of your life that could use some zero-based thinking?

Why Omaha? Did You Lose a Bet?

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When we told friends and family that our first “test drive” city for our slow-travel experiment was Omaha, Nebraska, we got a lot of raised eyebrows. Some people laughed. One person even asked me if we had lost a bet.  But the truth is, there are a lot of reasons to like Nebraska, and Omaha in particular.

First, although Katie has some family here and I have worked in the area off and on over the past couple of years, this corner of the country is still fairly new territory for us.  We’ve been to all 50 states on short trips, but we’ve never really dug into this part of the Midwest. That makes Omaha a perfect launchpad for road trips to underexplored places like Kansas City (hello, BBQ), the quirky roadside attractions of Iowa, and even the wide-open spaces of western Nebraska and South Dakota.

Second, the cost of living here is refreshingly low compared to what we’re used to in the Dallas area. For less than the monthly cost of our paid off suburban home, we can rent a two-story, furnished apartment in the heart of Omaha’s Old Market district—utilities included. This historic neighborhood is a mix of brick streets, art galleries, and local restaurants.  For our Texas friends, the best comparison I can think of is the Stockyards area in Fort Worth.   Plus it’s walkable to parks, shops, and even riverfront trails. That walkability matters, especially since we’re going to be sharing one car during our stay.

Third, Omaha has some surprises up its sleeve. There’s a thriving restaurant scene, one of the top-ranked zoos in the country, and because it is the largest city in hundreds of miles in any direction, a pretty  impressive live music and theater lineup.  Add in friendly Midwestern hospitality, and you’ve got a place that we think will be easy to settle into, even for just the fall semester.

Of course, the real reason we’re here is that this is just stop number one in our search for a “forever home.” We don’t know yet if Omaha will be the winner, but that’s the fun of slow travel.  We get to try on different lifestyles and locations for size. For now, we’re keeping an open mind and enjoying the adventure.