Retire by Degrees

  • Dan McDermott

    Retirement – Go Find your Magic

    I’ve been writing about retirement – specifically a phased approach to retirement – for quite a while. Even though I think of this as a somewhat novel approach, compared to a traditional ‘retirement day,’ I’d still been thinking of it as happening at the end of a long-ish career where you or I slowly exit […]

  • Dan McDermott

    Living in Uncertain Times

    Recently I’ve seen a lot published about the challenges we’re facing as we live “…in these uncertain times.” But here’s the thing; they’re always uncertain times. Yes, we’ve experienced a pandemic that forced us all into a ‘new normal.’  There’s a war in Ukraine, unsettling economic times…and the list goes on. But no one ever […]

  • Dan McDermott

    Don’t Ruin Your Average

    I’ve seen several posts lately where the author encourages us to “Show up every day!” Similar refrains can be worded like, “No matter what your day looks like, get up, dress up and show up.” And I’m no Woody Allen fan, but he got a lot of mileage out of his quote that, “80% of […]

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement: Tap the Historians

    And everyone in your life – including you – is a historian. In terms of thinking about and preparing for your eventual retirement it’s helpful to read and do research. It’s helpful to work with professionals to plan for your financial needs, insurance, etc. All of that is certainly prudent. But you have riches all […]

  • Dan McDermott

    How Much is Enough?

    Today’s post originally appeared in the Humble Dollar blog:

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement: Throwback Thursday

    I started writing about phased retirement over one year ago. One of my first posts was on LinkedIn and was titled, “Retire Slowly: Land the Plane.”  I hadn’t yet surveyed people – both informally and on platforms like LinkedIn – for what the best term to describe a gradual retirement might be.  ‘Phased Retirement’ was […]

  • Dan McDermott

    Retirement is Not the Finish Line

    Many people dream about their retirement day.  During especially challenging weeks at work they may even start counting down the years, or months, or even the days. Others either don’t have a specific timeframe in mind, or can’t understand why someone would want to ‘check out’ and be idle when they have a vibrant career […]

  • Dan McDermott

    Prelude to Thanksgiving

    Today’s post is a slight departure from my typical focus on career, retirement, networking and related opportunities.  But I think you’ll agree that it’s somewhat connected. With pilgrims, turkeys, and pumpkin pie advertisements and images all around, I’ve been thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday. Since this is a US-based article, I’m pondering Thanksgiving on November […]