The Ride

The only thing worse than outliving your retirement fund is...

I spent last Christmas season on deadline and swore I would never let that happen again. But I have one child in college and another who will start next fall. And so here I am. And so work I must. 

After I get my kids through school maybe I'll have just enough energy left to actually save some money for retirement (as long as I don't live too long).

Conventional wisdom says outliving your retirement fund is...

• A fate worse than death 
• Likely since the demise of the defined benefit pension 
• An illusion even with a million-dollar retirement fund 
• Inevitable since we are living longer 
• Likely since none of us can do the withdrawal rate math properly 
• A question of dignity versus survival 

So much for conventional wisdom. Here at PhilosFX, we offer unconventional wisdom.

"The only thing worse than outliving your retirement fund is... not outliving your retirement fund." 

I just made that up. 

Money is just little bits of paper. 

Connect to what matters! 

Remembering Rumi

Ahmad Wali - Dost (Sufi Music)

I love my friends neither with my heart nor with my mind. 

Just in case…

Heart might stop. Mind can forget.

I love them with my soul.

Soul never stops or forgets.

Rumi

Three countries, all part of the former Persian Empire, claim Rumi as their poet: Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. Though he died 742 years ago, his wisdom continues to enlighten and inspire. Along with being a wonderful poet, Rumi was also a proponent of dance as a means of connecting with the Divine.

I lived in Turkey for a year in the mid-80s and heard a lot about Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes he inspired. Later, I became even more aware of Rumi's poetry through my reading of Mark Nepo. Nepo cites Rumi and many other mystics and poets in his book, Awakening. 

The Mevlâna Festival takes place annually from December 10th to the 17th in the Anatolian city of Konya, where Rumi died at the age of 66 on December 17, 1273. 

Some say Rumi was a Sufi but I believe that Rumi himself would have resisted any such labels. To read Rumi's poems is to recognize a beautiful soul.

May this post inspire you to welcome a little Rumi into your life!