To nurture a blog and post every week, for two years… that’s not nothing…
Where Am I
You won’t find me on social media. I’m too busy living life to expend time and energy on social media.
I want to bring you my unvarnished viewpoint. Someone who is actually retired. Someone who made it through to their late 60’s before jumping into the retirement frying pan.
Unvarnished
That’s why (so far) there was been no advertising on Smile If You Dare. That is why I am (so far) not an affiliate of anything. And I don’t (so far) make any income from Smile If You Dare. Maybe things will change, and maybe not.
Probably I would have more readers if I promoted myself and my opinion on social media. In fact, I think it would be likely. But for me spending time on social media would be counter-productive. Yes, social media connects people in some ways. But in other ways it is divisive and depressing. So I stick to living my life and doing what I do. And keeping this blog going.
Blog
One thing I find interesting is the process of coming up with topics for posts. Sometimes things just flow one after another in a happy cornucopia of topics, and at other times it is like pulling my own mental teeth to produce a single post.
Still Retired
As mentioned, I am an actual retired person. (As mentioned in some previous posts, I sometimes work two days a month.) Of all the blogs on money and personal finance, I see very few are by a retired person. Many blogs are by working-age people on the journey of clearing up their financial messes, or edging towards getting their monetary house in order. But here you get the view of a real retired guy.
It’s been very interesting, to say the least. Here are some of the more interesting posts from this last year:
Changes
Climate change and global warming are upon us. How to think about it? How to prepare? Preparing For Climate Change and Global Warming and Who Owns The Land When Sea Levels Rise?
Guest Post
I has honored that Robert Reich, former Secrtary of Labor during the Clinton administration, provided a guest post. “America’s Biggest Economic Problem Isn’t China”.
Frugality
Of course, this being a blog about (mostly) money and retirement, there were numerous posts on those subjects. Some notable ones were:
Frugality Is A Many-Splendored Thing
Don’t Only Save in Tax Deferred Accounts
Should Retirees Continue To Invest?
and the ever-popular I Must Remember To Not Rob A Bank Today
And about that smile thing…
Never let it be said I don’t have a sense of humor. Four Fun Things.
Of course my one-year post from a year ago summarizes that first year, in: One Year!
Do you have a favorite Smile If You Dare post? Let me know here.
Illustrations from “Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc. Dedicated to Hieronymus Ruffault, Abbot of St. Vaast”, in Latin, by Battista Agnese in 1544.
The post Two Years Now. Smile If You Dare is Two Years Old appeared first in Smile If You Dare.