Monday, October 12, 2015

Bucket list? Mid-life crisis? Nope, a reverse mortgage on my body....

Greetings,

Sorry for the silence.  I was busy losing weight.  Yep.  Got back from the UK after some nice swims in Dover harbor followed by an outstanding wedding in France.  Very happy to have such great friends.  Now that I am back, I wanted to post a few ideas over the next few weeks - ideas that remain stuck in my head and need to come out lest I forget them and move onto other ideas.  So here goes....Idea #1 for this series....Reverse Mortgaging my Body.

Reverse Mortgage:  Huh?

In the US, we have this (relatively) new way of keeping your head financially above water when you retire.  The banks encourage seniors to reverse mortgage their homes.  Instead of paying for your house, the bank pays you monthly installments to eventually own your house.  The trick is to start your reverse mortgage in time so that by the time you expire, you no longer need your house and you have collected every payment from the bank.  Timing becomes a key determinant for the payoff.

Reverse mortgaging my body

I realize I have only so many years to be vital.  Between sickness, accidents, and such, I figure I can remain active until I am in my early 70's.  Some of my friends are very active well beyond their 70's.  My dad, for instance, ran a 5K this past weekend at youthful age of 79 even though he battles pancreatic cancer and just underwent another round of chemotherapy a few months ago.  There are many exceptions but a conservative estimate of early 70's at least gives me some idea of my time left to wear this body out.

Every year and perhaps even more frequent than yearly, I plan to pay myself in installments of adventure.  Those adventures - both big and small - help me live my life as much as possible.  I enjoy the outdoors and aim to do whatever I can to enjoy life to the fullest.  So, when asked if I am checking off my bucket list, my new reply is...."no, I am taking advantage of my body's reverse mortgage."  Every adventure is a great payment.  Come join me.

If I spend my energy now enduring all sorts of fun adventures, I can retire from adventure in my mid-70's and take up a musical instrument, learn a foreign language, or read even more books than I already consume.  Heck, I might even enjoy golf.  Nah.....

Thanks for following.  Will post something else shortly.  I have some exciting news about next summer.  Should be a huge withdrawal from my body's reverse mortgage.  Stay tuned.....