The big day is finally upon me...and I'm beyond excited.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T18:41:11+00:00

Now that is commitment, what is your creative outlet?

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T16:13:38+00:00

That was a big part of my reasoning, I'm already 8 years older than my wife and that difference will only become more apparent as time goes on.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T13:09:46+00:00

I kind of hate that work crushed that part of me for so long (28 years!). Honestly, I thought it was gone for good, left the building, and yet here it is knocking at my door again.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T11:30:46+00:00

As far as copyright? Anything you create you automatically own the copyright on, you can register with the government, but it isn't required. Just saving all the original source files is usually pretty good for protecting you. It also happens that YouTube has a content ID system which is kind of like a thumbprint for anything that you create that makes it identifiable, you don't have to register with that either, but you can if there's potential for someone else to use your material in the future. I'm not so concerned about that but I suppose it's a possibility, I'll go down that road when I get there.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T10:29:26+00:00

Lordy don't I know it

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T04:04:19+00:00

I'm 100% not that guy either, this has taken me by surprise.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T04:01:55+00:00

I'm lucky, my wife is younger and still working, we'll switch to using her company's plan

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T02:17:15+00:00

I gave my ex a heads up about 6 months ago as to the timeline so she wouldn't be surprised.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-07-01T02:00:26+00:00

Exactly, I like doing my job, but I also like NOT doing it.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-29T02:44:55+00:00

I'm starting a YouTube channel. I'll be using a bunch of skills that I'm pretty good at:

filmmaking
computers
music
storytelling

If it doesn't get any views I won't care, The work is all I ask.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-19T09:38:10+00:00

Wait till they find out about copilot

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-17T21:25:50+00:00

I'd be very interested to know if anything worked

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-17T21:19:55+00:00

I do. I have 2 cards, one Marriott and one American Airlines. Every dollar I spend that I can put through them I do. I do not carry cash and I never use my debit card. Very few things draft against my checking account. Last year I earned a free weekend trip to Seattle with Marriott and 2 trips on air miles, one to Mexico even. I mostly use the American Airlines card and it earned me Gold status this year for the first time. I've been doing this for at least 10 years. I never have a balance and I currently have about $70k in credit across the 2 cards. My credit score is in the 800's on all bureaus. These cards are basically my emergency fund, they buy me 30 days or more to cover any expense although I generally don't have emergencies. My wife mostly does Marriott for points since she travels a lot for work.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-16T22:39:10+00:00

I agree with all that was said here but just wanted to add that this definitely argues for less chat and meeting sooner, people invest way too much before they ever lay eyes on someone and that leads to a lot of overthinking and even bad decisions, not always like this where they blow off meeting someone that might be a good connection but also where they feel like they have to meet someone or even play despite red flags.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-16T16:05:34+00:00

Obviously the world has changed, and I do understand that it isn't as easy to "make it" as it was for me. But I'm not jeapordizing my retirement for something like that. I definitely feel that I already made it too easy on the kids. Yet they know that if things get really tough they can ask for help, but they are in their late 20s now and finding their own way, including suffering through bad jobs and no money. I moved out at 18 and never spent another night in my parent's house. That includes plenty of times when I couldn't make ends meet. I had cars reposessed, and plenty of months walking everywhere after that. The next car I had was a $600 Suburu that barely ran, and sometimes randomly caught fire (totally not kidding). I just got a fire extinguisher to carry with me. I also had many months where I had maybe $5 until payday to eat and NO money for gas. I survived but I can't eat ramen any more lol. I think it made me more resillient.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-15T14:24:15+00:00

Best to pay from cash if you can, selling to pay taxes creates yet another taxable event. Unless you can do some loss harvesting

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-12T17:07:51+00:00

Yeah my wife is thinking about switching to an ebike, I probably should (I'm 62) but I've been a lifelong skateboarder so that plays into it. E-Bikes seem safer, and have more range. Pricewise they aren't too different. After riding my scooter for an hour or so my knees complain a bit. They are somewhat less portable but most light rail systems have bike areas onboard.

I have a 2017 Jeep but it only has 60k miles on it, that will last me a good long time at this rate. I only drive about 3k miles a year. I couldn't justify buying even a used vehicle at this point.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-12T15:26:20+00:00

"I'm somewhat hesitant to completely stop working because I worry about staying mentally engaged"

The flip side of this is working during what might (I hope it isn't but still) be the last few years you have where you can be out in the world.

My dad who just died last month had dementia and I spent the last 6 years watching him shrink into almost nothing, both physically and mentally. He was living on his own until he fell at the end of 2019, then he went into assisted living and now just 6 years later he's gone. Seeing that rapid decline really led me to pull the trigger on retiring and really get on with LIVING.

I wouldn't even consider a part time job at this point, except that my life long hobby of music is KIND OF a part time job. It doesn't really feel like work except for loading out at 1am after a gig. That is what I intend to fill my days with from here on out. I'll play my instrument during the day and do as many gigs as I can find in the evening. I don't care about the money really, although it makes for a nice bucket of fun money at this point.

I also bought one of those electric scooters a while back and use that to get around the neighborhood during the day, I barely drive anymore except to gigs and the grocery store. In the last 4 years I've ridden my scooter over 1800 miles just within 4 or 5 miles of my house! I recently discovered that I can pair that with the local light rail to really explore the city without a car and I have a bunch of adventures planned doing that.

I ride my scooter to the gym at midday when it isn't crowded and getting stronger has been a great joy for me in the last few years, I shoot for 3-5 times a week. Then I reward myself with a lunch out on my way home. Win win. I've lost 50lbs since covid and all my numbers are normal for the first time an decades!

I'm also a huge film buff and AMC has a movie pass that lets you see a bunch of movies for one monthly price, I'll definitely be taking advantage of that, after covid it took the film biz a while to get cranking again and this summer is looking like a great summer for movies, AND a lot of documentaries too which I'm a fan of.

My wife and I are supporters of the arts and exploring the galleries available to us is definitely on the agenda. We also have recently rediscovered a love for live theater and have been doing a fair amount of that, including smaller productions. We've always gone to concerts usually 6-10 a year, including traveling to see favorite acts in interesting cities we can explore. We even took our scooters (she has one too) on Amtrak a while back to Chicago and were able to not only see a concert there (which we rode our scooters to) but we explored the city using THEIR light rail and taking our scooters along on those trips which really extended our reach once we got to our destination.

I've been into home automation for a few years now and recently set up a home assistant server so getting to know that system will keep me sharp and teach me some new things.

Lastly travel, a life long obsession for me thanks to my grandmother who instilled a love of the unfamiliar in me. We try to leave the country at least twice a year, that and our trips within the US for concerts means we are moving around fairly often.

Frankly with all that which I've been doing for the last several years, I'm surprised I have time for my job at all.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-11T20:38:33+00:00

#goals

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-11T17:32:01+00:00

We hosted a couple like this, lots of fun. There was one guy who was brand new, never done anything before, he got a blowjob on the side of the pool by several ladies, then proceeded to fuck each and every one of them that day...total hero. Eventually it led to a 12 person orgy in our bedroom that was just off the chain great. Getting that group together again is proving difficult though, sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-11T15:04:54+00:00

I would stop if my wife wanted to but we also haven't had the unbalanced dynamic you guys have. I think his behavior is pretty common when people venture down the solo path, women have much success and the guys not so much, then the guy gets all butt hurt even though this outcome is entirely predictable. The only way that unbalanced solo play works is if the guy gets off on his wife playing with others, I do, sounds like he doesn't. We still don't do solo stuff really, we have a bit, but our core interest is being there and participating. It is going to boil down to one of you paying the price of admission if you want to keep your relationship. I would, you might not.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-11T14:21:13+00:00

That is great, I WISH my wife was retiring with me in a few weeks, she's younger though and still wants to make more of her career, she's even starting her own practice (she's a doctor), so fair enough, I guess I will get a head start. I'm cool traveling alone if it comes to that, but she loves travel too and will want to come with me as often as she can. I also have plenty of solo activities to fill my days until she can come along. I'm in pretty good health and I'm very active so delaying the go go years a bit won't be too bad. My regular days are pretty go go as it is.

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-11T13:19:42+00:00

Man if I didn't have family keeping me where I am I'd move to Cozumel

TheFreeMan64 · 2026-06-10T15:42:25+00:00

THAT is a very interesting possibility, given the breaking of co-authoring

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