That would be Buckaroo Bonsai
But neither is Buckaroo Banzai, the true original. No matter where he goes, there he is.
Re: checks. I used to write a ton of checks, both for paying bills, and for paying at retail stores, before debit cards were a thing. I’d probably go through a book of 25 checks a month.
At this point, I’m writing a couple of checks a year, at the most, and only on those rare occasions when paying online or with a debit card isn’t an option. I get two or three checks a year, mostly when my parents, or my mother-in-law, includes a “cash” gift in a birthday card. One of our financial accounts generates a small payment each year, which they still send to us as a paper check.
I guess I’m one of the younger posters here (in my early 40s) and I never really wrote checks all that often. When I signed up for my first checking account at age 18 it came with a debit card, and that’s what I’ve always used to pay for groceries and other everyday purchases. And when I started having bills to pay, I pretty much always paid them online. I think the only thing I regularly used checks for when I was younger was the monthly rent check. Then the last apartment complex I lived in started accepting credit card payments (I racked up a lot of reward points that way).
Nowadays the only things I use checks for are to pay tradespeople (plumbers, electricians, etc.). Even many of them accept credit cards now, but some of the smaller ones still prefer checks to avoid the processing fees. Other than that there’s the lady who petsits my cat when I’m away (she’d old enough that she doesn’t use Venmo). Maybe the odd bill that didn’t accept online payments, although I don’t think there are any of those anymore. I think the last one of those was my earthquake insurance, and they finally started accepting EFTs last year.
As for receiving checks, I enter Publishers Clearinghouse often enough that on a few occasions I’ve won a few $5 and $10 prizes from them. It’s kind of funny when you get an envelope from PCH that says “Prize check enclosed!” in big letters, and it turns out it’s for $5. Other than that, just stuff like the odd refund check from my car insurance when they reduced my rate because I wasn’t driving to work anymore due to the pandemic, rebate checks from the utility company, and stuff like that.
I’m old enough that i used to use checks all the time, but pretty much
Plus anything i pay to the town i live in (like property taxes) are paid by check.
I pay my house cleaner by check. She comes every two weeks. Besides that, I don’t write many checks. A few gifts. A few bills that only come once a year, so I’m too lazy to set up online payment for such a rare thing.
Regarding “should I retire,” that’s a good question. Obviously we don’t have enough data to advise you in the abstract.
For me, I could retire now and be “okay.” I have reason to believe, however, if I wait another year or two, I’ll be much more than “okay.” Very much more. So, I’m waiting.
@squeegee I selected you should wait, but I’m not saying wait until you are 68. Just start planning on what you’d like to do in retirement and consider if any of those things cost more money.
Given your health issues consider whether or not you might face major surgery before Medicare kicks in, if Medicare is still around to kick in. The inflation over the last couple of years punched a hole in my plans because I need to finish the interior of this condo and replace the leaky windows. So yeah, be sure to take that stuff into consideration before to tell the job to p*ss off. Note: I am 62.
Some months I get no checks. Some months I might get half a dozen, or even more. I voted “several a month”.
On the more general retirement poll, I didn’t vote. It depends on a whole mess of factors; one of the major ones being “Do you want to?” Some people love the work they’re doing and don’t want to stop. Others hate it and want to quit as soon as they can. Some are in the middle and it would depend on all those other factors – health being among them.
On the health one, I was presuming that the financial planner was taking health issues into consideration when saying that you could afford it. And I voted retire – but even that ought to have a caveat: if you really love what you’re doing and want to keep doing it till the last possible minute, then do that.
ETA: I haven’t read the minute rice thread, and have no idea why the OP started it.
I’ve gamed all that out. I can afford to spend at my current levels plus add $20k/year for vacations. Obamacare premiums will hurt but only for 4 years then Medicare. We’ve done the monte carlo thing and my plan has a 95+% chance of success through me living to 80s and leaving behind like a million dollars for my only heir (who will be in his mid 40s and unlikely to need it anyway). My parents both passed not long after 80, and I have health issues so this seems realistic.
Work is a hellhole. Well, not really. I like my boss, but I hate the work. I used to make software things and it was big fun; now I just shuffle virtual paper and go to meetings. It is supremely non fun. If I were retired I’d do/learn/make software stuff that I enjoy. Maybe get into some consulting if I can dig up some gigs. I’ve worked in software since 1983 (and learned to program in 1973), I know stuff.
My house is in decent shape and worth about double what I paid for it. It needs a roof, doing that in the spring but it won’t kill me. At some point I’ll cash out and sell and downsize.
I just got a check today! We get remuneration from the church for costs we front, every couple of months.
I pay taxes at Town Hall with a check.
Yeah, I just got a check today! First time in a quite a while. Some settlement check from my broker for an SEC violation. $1371 free bux, woo!
You’re my sister?
I only unpack in a hotel room, if I have something I want the wrinkles to hang out of. For example, I’m going to a nice dinner/banquet and brought a “fancy” dress. Otherwise, I just dress out of my suitcase.
Do people live out of their suitcase because of hotel grossness factor (e.g., my wife’s position) or to avoid packing and unpacking efforts?
This.
As of now, my “I like Minute Rice” thread (which got moved to Cafe Society) is handily beating the “Jeff Beck RIP” thread, both posted within six minutes of each other.
Not a value judgement, just an observation.
I travel often enough that unpacking and repacking is about 5 minutes for an overnight trip. I just automatically unpack everything when I arrive and then repack the next morning. I don’t even think about it anymore.
I was going to say I live out of my suitcase if it’s only a couple days, but the last time I traveled I put some stuff in a drawer, so I guess I sometimes do that.
The suitcase is pretty easy, though. I always pack stuff the same in it, so it’s easy to find/get to the socks, clean shirts, etc. I really don’t know why I decided to put the clothes I planned to wear in the drawer. I guess because it was in a convenient place, and there wasn’t a great place to put the little stand that holds up my suitcase. (you know, those folding things every hotel has that you rest your suitcase on. That’s what I usually use.)
I do “unpack” my toiletries into the bathroom and my bed clothes onto the bed.
That all sounds pretty good then. Off you go. My concern was that you hadn’t done the homework on things changing, because I have had a number of friends in that situation. The '08 recession sent several of my older friends back to work and Covid did so with a couple more… Life always costs more money than we plan on.
For anything more than a one-night stay, I empty my suitcase into whatever drawers and/or hangers are available. The suitcase then becomes a hamper; I just stuff the clothes back in after I’ve worn them, and then I’m automatically packed to go home at the end of the trip.