I have begun transitioning to retirement. Just as I was about to formalize a new 2 year contract that would take me to 79---I blinked.
My wife continues to suffer increasingly with her back and arthritis issues and I am increasingly uncomfortable leaving her alone for extended periods of time.
We took a 9 day vacation to the Eastern Shore of Md. and I did a lot of thinking while there and decided my time to change direction was now.

So---I am working, in a limited capacity, from home and doing what I can to make my wife more comfortable while I work at reorganizing our finances. I just did something I have never done before----I know this might be hard to believe, but I paid off our first mortgage That mortgage can be traced back to our first home that we bought in 1969.

We have bought a number of properties and houses that did not have mortgages but we did have two with mortgages---and are now down to one. I might get tired with that but it really does not make financial sense to pay it off.

So far retirement feels good. Yesterday I spent the day with two former associates from Knoll and we went to a wildlife sanctuary on the Jersey shore---I think our tally for the day was 29 distinct species of mostly water birds. I hope to post a few pictures of that latter.


A quick history on our now satisfied 1st mortgage: We bought that house for $43,500. I'm not sure how much the original mortgage was for. In 1978 when my business failed, because I was unable to collect accounts payable, I opted not to take the advise of my accountant et al and claim bankruptcy. I remortgaged and paid off all my debts---and I am glad to this day I took that route. That business failure carried over into the mortgage on this house which we bought in 1983. That mortgage was at an interest rate of 14.5% (my father thought I was committable). There were a few remortgages along the way to take advantage of falling interest rates and I think this might have had another 5 years at required payment terms to have been satisfied. So---there you have it---one down and one to go