When I was 17 I dreamed of what life could be. Then, I spent most of my life trying to make it happen. And, it happened. However, most of my dreams were about building a family, home and business that could accommodate the best life it could be.

My dad provided for us, as well as his grandchildren. My daughters Victoria and Nicole have long ago moved on with their lives and families. Son John has also now gotten his life underway and is assuming our remaining family business as well as his own, new endeavors. He, too, sees the time, effort and expense with maintaining our current lifestyle as too costly in terms of time, effort and expense. So, it's time to divest ourselves of all the unnecessary items that were so important until now.

Now, we realize that we just don't need what we thought we did. So, we have become determined to re-think and re-do it all.

We've almost totally gotten out of our real estate endeavors .. with only a few investments remaining. And now, we're selling our home in Tucson, my beloved Mercedes, as well as most of our personal belongings. With all of the proceeds going back into our bond investments.

The only real remaining other item is my Dad's home. However, since my nephew Rod is using it, we won't be doing anything about it. Simply put, son John will either live in it or consider selling it when the time comes. While my old home in Forest Hills Gardens, NY holds lots of memories, it no longer serves any real purpose.

Simply put, we're putting as much of our assets into the family trust for son John and his decedents.

Paulina and I realized that we not only found a "Summer Place", but that we especially enjoyed the layback, simple life and time filled with the great outdoors.  We especially realized that it already has what we need, with some minimum work/improvements yet to be done. We're considering the possibility of upgrading our house #1 and/or in building a log cabin, but even those are now viewed as "nice to haves" rather than real needs.

It's amazing, even to us, just how little we really need. Our taxes are $8,000/yr and our now greatly reduced living expenses will allow us to maximize our income/savings potential. Having worked and substantially increased our net worth, we are now about "wealth management" rather than "wealth building". We're reducing our income/growth potential but actually doing better because of our simple needs vs grand lifestyle. This lesson was also a theme of my Dad's. He built his home, family and finally had most of his assets invested in bonds (having divested his real estate holdings back in '96).

And so, we've become focused on using our 2nd home and property as our home base .. with about 3 months on the road. Frankly, we'll be using our timeshare to travel and see the USA as well as plan some special vacations. Each year, we have about 1 month of vacation using our timeshare. In addition, we now have about 4 months of unused time in the bank, which we can use either for a very special vacation or as part of our ongoing 3 months "away from the cold".

Having been away from NY for 18 years, we're also looking forward to spending more time with family and friends. However, that too, will be more "home BBQ" than days of old. We're just more into the simple life .. and low cost lifestyle.

Slowly, we've been withdrawing from our more extravagant life style even thou we're doing much less home cooking. But, I'm still hoping to continue my home cooking (just less than I might have done in younger days). Our main interest is in enjoying our Golden Years with Mr Lucky enjoying nature. Nights and rainy days will include more movie watching, home 

​Checkout some memories of my last enjoyable visit with Dad. I took the train cross country and spent time just talking, eating and catching up with life. Bitter/sweet times, eh.

So many memories over the years, and tomorrow we'll be "doing it again". Updates will be posted after our family celebration. 

As I've seen old people do, they try to give advice. We'll with little now to do or be concerned with, I'm (like the Godfather movie) sitting in the garden sipping wine and thinking often about life. So, take some free advice or don't .. it won't effect me or mine. But, regardless of what you do, think .. plan .. and, most important, act in your own best interests.

For those that value my advise, pass it on .. Loving others is common to all religions, and even those that are atheists. It doesn't cost anything to help, but it can cost you and yours lots by not helping. So, be happy and best wishes always. Now, on with my thoughts ...

This isn't original, but I now believe them because of life .. not realizing these along the way.

• You have to make your own way, let family and friends offer advice and any assistance, but you need to create your own life. My mom (and family) had to make their own way after my grandfather passed in '36. And, boy did they! Once interesting family story was my mom's sister and her husband who made and lost $100 million as well as most of their celebrity friends who moved on.
• Help others, including and especially family, and don't expect to be repaid. As you may have observed, we have always hosted family and friends, and tried to share our blessings. Yet, I can count on one hand those that ever even tried to share with us, I most certainly want to acknowledge Peter Farkas, Jack Carlson, as well as our family and friends (Eve, Juniora & Eddie, Kathy and Wayne). Pay it forward, most likely those that help you don't need to be repaid and their are so many real needs to be fulfilled. Give to charity, but do good on a more immediate basis. As a Christian, we see Jesus leaving his then family to go into the world and to show/tell it like it is. While we have certainly done both, it's only when you do good (praying is nice) that we can fulfill our destiny. Truly, it's harder for a rich man to gain access to heaven (lol). All those distractions and greedy needs to be met!
• Create a Life Worth Living, set your goals and work towards fulfilling them. Now, in our Golden Years, with business behind us and basically "empty nesters" Paulina and I want to lead a simple, but enjoyable life. Despite our successes and wealth, we now see just how easy and better life is without all the trimmings. Today, our goal is to enjoy nature, eat healthy and love our family (and Mr Lucky, of course). Frankly, we have the means and will live beyond the basics as well as leave our legacy to son John.
• Setup a Trust, else plan on sharing your legacy with the state (lol). My dad and uncle didn't bother with setting up a trust. So, the government got 46% of a fortune? You decide, just a thought. Think of your kids and future heirs too.
• Invest in Bonds/Real Estate. While both the stock market and bonds have basically done about the same (market wise). It's only bonds that yield a return while your money is invested. All of our bonds and real estate earn between 6-7.5%, and we've changed direction now to invest in rehabs the rate of return is astounding, but so is the work. Son John is working on our bonds, real estate investments as well as his own endeavors (together with his associates). Despite it all, we've increased our net worth since Dad passed by 2/5th (40%), but the work, strains and need now have caused us to retiree. WE also realized we were spending a fortune in time, effort an money just to work. Incidentally, real estate allows you to earn "tax free" while your working it and moving forward. I can do the full explain, but the basic rule is that your investment is considered a contribution (with depreciation as the cherry on the cake), and your income isn't considered income .. it's considered a withdrawal for tax purposes. Ask me for more details if you need to, else think about it. I always give the example of someone buying a 3 bedroom/2 bath property for $150,000 (with $30k or 20% down). The rental income is $500/month per bedroom or $1,5oo/month x 12 months or $18k/yr. Then, they rent it out (deducting the expenses. Even with a monty mortgage of $800/month, with the net profit being $$8,400/yr or a ROI of about 25%. ... The trick is picking a good location near the University.  Despite my ultra progressive views politically, I know that the Republicans will take care of business for themselves as well as us investors.
• Do What You Do Best and Enjoy for Income/Work. Think about what makes you happy and do it. My family, out of necessity, worked in plumbing for many years, and then invested/redirected their efforts towards real estate. Today, son John is 5th generation real estate and even my daughters Vicki and Nikki are doing it too. I have been fortunate with both real estate and my 25 year career and earnings/pension/social security in Information Technology (IT) as well. While I still believe it's better with your own business, there are many opportunities in the world for corporate employees. Think, shop and just do it.
• Establish your Financial Goals Around Needs, not wants. It's interesting to see just how simply one can live. Whether you're newly on the job market, doing well in life, or now retired, the financial needs are minimum and can be met by everyone (excepting possibly the handicapped and elderly). Our pension/social security provides $36,000/yr. Now, with our home in Warrensburg ($220k), we can pay our annual taxes ($8k/yr) and use the rest to live with our basic needs. Net of our taxes, we have $28k for food and necessities (especially considering we're covered by Medicare for our health issues). The point is you don't need a lot, just enough to cover your needs.

I was taught several lessons that I now value more then ever. First, love one another. Second, do your best and do it every day. Third, know what you can change and what you can't (and wisdom is the difference).

So, when I was very young, I thought I knew it all (sound familiar?).  Being a child of 1, my first goal was to have a "family, a home and the means to pay for it all".

I really believed I could create life (a family) that would love and support us all for our lifetime. So, I got married early (at 22), then I bought my 1st home (putting down my 20% on a then $50k house) and had 2 daughters by age 32. I loved it all, but spent my time on the "paying for it all". Then, I discovered my life (marriage) ended. It now seems we were both seeking different goals. But, that's another story. Despite having loved it all, it ended in 1981.

For many years, life was good. But, for the last 7 years of my marriage, it wan't so good. Although I thought back then staying for the sake of the kids was a must, but I couldn't make it work.

Incidentally, I was determined (despite being heir to a fortune) to do it on my own. Now, realize my dad believed that each of us had to carry our own way. Dad always thought that you did what you could (all the time) for the family, and you earned your own living. So, I being determined to live up to his expectations, always worked. Before I was in my teens, I earned money from odd jobs and some shows as an entertainer. Then, I got my first full-time job at 22, and believed I was on my way. I was earning $6,500/yr even after graduating with my MBA and an IT certification.

My passion for business and IT would allow me to earn $63k/yr by 1985 in the corporate world. During one chat, I was advised to "settle down" as I was being paid in the top 2%. So, I settled down, but also did work on a consulting basis and worked with my dad's real estate. This would supplement our income and allow life to evolve again.

There were so many, but I kept missing them.

First, blood is thicker than water .. but not real friendships. Family believed and more important were firm in that I make my own way. This is not to say they didn't provide when I was young and growing up, but later (when I needed help during hard times, they looked the other way). I know this is hard to believe, and they did periodically help in certain ways, but frankly I had to make it on my own.

My dad, being wise and having learned the hard way (divorce) advised me to get my life setup before trying to make a family and pick up all the hardships. But, I didn't follow his advice, paying for it for many years .. financially and worse, emotionally. I now see it completely his way. Marriage is great, but you need to be set before you invite trouble (lol). If you get set, and have a prenup in place, then parting of the ways can be made easier .. considering the high rate of failure today.

Both Paulina and I worked, earning and spending (us, ex-family, etc) about $10k/month .. and, we only had son John when Paulina was 40. This is not to say we had it easy, but looking back we did what we had to do, and paid for it all.

Considering it all, I was lucky, and thank God and Paulina for our "Happy Days".

When my first marriage ended, I thought it best to leave it all to my wife and girls. So, I lived with my then best friend Peter, and a few months later in a family owned, rent free unit. But, when I got serious with Paulina, I was literally turned out. This too would prove to be a blessing (and that's been an ongoing story).

Both Paulina and I had been married, and after a 2 year living together situation, got married, had son John and were working harder than ever.​ Hopefully, many will survive and thrive, but this doesn't happen without making it happen .. and can fail over and over.

My life, and my family's life has been an open book. And, I'm still excited about today and even more about tomorrow. Thanks for viewing, and being part of our world.

John
​

We finally got it all together, it's been an interesting experience thinking about our future. On the surface, so many factors. But, underneath it all, we've known what we've wanted for many years.

We just celebrated Paulina's and my birthdays, and have been getting focused on our real dreams, and now, our plans.

Our plan is simple, enjoy both of our homes (Tucson and Warrensburg), until our home in Tucson sells. And if it doesn't sell, we'll be renting it out .. until it sells. We'll be commuting between the 2, with Winter months spent in pursuit of "Endless Summer" in Tucson. Hopefully, we can enjoy up to 8-9 months at Schroon River, with our time away limited to 3-4 months.

Paulina, Lucky and I will be commuting between our 2 homes while our home is for sale. And if and when it sells, we still plan to live our Winters in the Southeast for 3-5 months. This will allow us to enjoy the weather, and limit our time on the road. Currently, we're thinking "Hot Springs, AK" so that our trip from Schroon River is only about 1,000 miles, and our trip from there to see son John is only about 1,600 miles. We stayed at various hotels, but really enjoyed the "Holiday Inn", see some memories of our 3 day stay in Hot Springs, AK.

We've been a Timeshare Owner since November '99. Meaning we bought 1 week back then, and then in 2015, we bought another week. Our Timeshare (SPG) is merging with Marriott and now the places all around the world are almost endless.

We pay for maintenance fees, which give us about 1 month on the road to enjoy our hotels amenities. This year, we're staying for 2 weeks in the Berkshire Mountains, MA beginning on May 13th. Then, we'll be staying at Myrtle Beach, NC on the way back to Tucson.

We're also now planning on doing something special for Paulina's 75th Birthday, which is 2 years away. Just a thought, we've got 190,000 points in the bank which we can use to do something special.

So, what to do .. that's the question. Paulina and I have always wanted to see Barcelona, and perhaps Tuscany or other parts of Europe. Both of us have our very early roots in Spain, with mine dating back to 1522 .. Spain to Italy, eh.

Dad, and my step mother Lisa, enjoyed cruising to Europe, and we may too. The We 3, may do the trip via a cruise to allow us to be together and enjoy our Golden Years.

We've always talked about living for 3 months in different parts of the country. So, I checked out the price and found lots of fun places. I used $700/month for 3 months and found lots and lots of nice places.

And, while we're on the road, using our timeshare points for Sheraton, Marriott, etc to see the USA.

Frankly, there's really not much to post .. and, that's wonderful. During the past month we've been busy with everything i.e., getting our house ready to sell, seeing the doctors for our annual physicals, and closing out the last of our real estate investments, working with our Tax Accountant for our '16 filings,  as well as doing lots and lots of personal and home interests.

I also included a photo video of our family celebration of Paulina's 73 birthday, which was on April 4th in my last post. You can view all of 'em since we returned in Feb.

We made reservations for a vacation in the Berkshire Mountains, beginning on May 13th for 2 weeks, as well as a 2nd vacation at Myrtle Beach for 12 days beginning on November 11th. We've also given some thought to a special trip for us and our beloved Mr Lucky to tour Europe in anticipation of Paulina's 75th Birthday, .. a cruise to Spain, then a month seeing the sights of Barcelona and Tuscany.

The only real event left, before we leave, is for a return to Hacienda Del Sol for Easter, and I've included last year's family fun. We'll be the same group, with much of the same food and fanfare, but we're always ready for Easter, the top Christian holiday times.

I'm also suspending most of my hobby business activities to try and update our movie database. My priority is on the movies as we plan to leave as much of the home staging as possible, and I want to use our library for the new Plex Server.

Naturally, we're excited about our upcoming six months, which will allow us to fully enjoy our Summer Place in the Adirondacks. We're also expecting lots of family and friends to visit (as we've held back due to the work, etc).

There's lots of side activities also happening, i.e., shopping for a more trip friendly car, thinking about what to do if and when our house sells (Holiday Inn for sure) until we decide on our future.

Short term it's the best alternative in that for about $3,ooo/month, we don't have to do anything more than pack light. We now believe, we can enjoy Schroon River from May thru November or later .. and, may only need a place for 3-4 months.

Long term, we may want more property and/or a house for enjoying a more personal lifestyle and the great outdoors. Considering we now know we want "Endless Summer", we're currently thinking about property and a home somewhere in the South .. i.e., Hot Springs, AK and Bowling Green, KY. But, since we haven't begun our search yet, that's very tentative.

I don't expect another update until we have something to show for it, that is in May during our vacation in the Berkshires. And then, again in June after we've arrived at Schroon River.

So, I hope your life and vacation plans are going well. Also, Happy Easter for you and yours,

​John