Dave Carlson tells his tale of retirement

Dave Carlson
Originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

By Dave Carlson

At the risk of turning some of you green with envy (who cares),
let me tell you I'm already retired! I left IBM at 55 with a tidy
investment and a modest pension.

How did I do it? The Swedish way: My wife and I had good jobs with IBM, we lived beneath our means, saved a lot, and invested it. Oh, and a little luck in the stock market, too.

All is not entirely roses, however as my ex-wife ran off with her college sweetheart (maybe that's a plus). But we had already accumulated enough to comfortably split our assets w.o. letting divorce lawyers taking half!

I'm now looking for someone to explore the world with and am "interviewing" lots of interesting ladies (one at a time, line forms to the left, please, and puh-lease, I'm kidding, maybe...). I'm not living large, that's not my style, but I get on the water most weeks and take a couple of interesting vacations every year (planning to kayak in British Columbia or Belize, next year, and Africa is on the near horizon). And that trip this summer paddling down the Colorado River was a hoot!

MIke, I like your idea of living on a boat. No room for inlaws. LOL!

But how do you take a dog for a constitutional in the middle of the ocean? My Akita is too big to be a deckhand! I’m not buying any coastal property, either, cause I don't want to leave it to a marine sanctuary in my will!



I've got a "happy" job, now, as a literacy instructor in grade school to keep me busy and to repay the community for the blessings I've received. Pay is great, more high fives and gap-toothed smiles than you can count! The hours are great and no hassles, either.

And now that I'm retired, what would I change? Well, I wish this rich nation would make health care available to all and would stop killing so many innocent people. How does anyone expect the world to love us when we're bombing the crap out of them??? BTW, what have the rest of you done to help fulfill JFK's, RFK's, and MLK's dreams? Your accomplishments and endeavors would be a wonderful topic for another day/blog!

Peace, y'all,

Dave Carlson
Holly Springs, NC