Retire by Degrees

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement: Savor the Journey

    Recently I wrote about anticipating retirement (link) and the joy that the mere expectation can bring.  It conjures up happy emotions similar to the time you might spend planning for a vacation.  Spending time visualizing what you’ll be doing, planning out trips you may take or hobbies to pursue. But as I was reflecting on that article I realized that…

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement and Deliberate Practice

    Today’s post was first published earlier this week on the Humble Dollar blog and suggests ways for your best performance in many domains of life. From retirement planning to golf! https://humbledollar.com/2022/08/deliberate-practice/

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement: Anticipation

    This classic 1979 ketchup commercial lauded the anticipation of waiting for a good thing – especially made memorable by leveraging Carly Simon’s catchy hit song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoLoyg3JKRQ The excitement of anticipation before a big event can really boost your mood. For example, the early stages of vacation planning and the anticipation of your trip have been shown to provide as much…

  • Dan McDermott

    Reporting on Your Retirement

    Today’s post (link below) appeared in the Humble Dollar blog on August 4th, 2022: https://humbledollar.com/2022/08/ask-around/

  • Dan McDermott

    It’s Not ‘What You Know…’

    And, no, it’s not necessarily who you know either. Don’t get me wrong, both are important! If you don’t have the requisite ideas, skills, and experience – what you know – you probably won’t get too far. You also must have a strong network – who you know – that you can contact for a variety of reasons. These people…

  • Dan McDermott

    Phased Retirement: Simple Questions?

    The whole notion of retirement should be simple.  You work for many years, you live your life and hopefully save some money along the way.  Then you choose a time to step away from full-time work using your savings and retirement benefits (like Social Security) for living expenses. It seems like there could be a formula that tells you when…