My 2025 Wish List

Last year was as Queen Elizabeth ll famously put it “Annus Horribilis” for me. 

Early in the year I was diagnosed with skin cancer thankfully not the bad kind. 

That was followed by my near suicide experience while on a weight loss drug. 

And if that wasn’t enough I ended up giving away all my salmon fly fishing gear while suffering from brain fog. That one really hurt. 

But like they say it’s water under the bridge and I think 2025 is going to be a special year for me - at least I hope so. 

So without any further adieu here is my 2025 wish list. 

I want to; 

Spend more time with my family and friends having fun 

My near suicide experience reminded me of what is important in life and what isn’t. What saved me from going over the cliff was love for my family and I plan on spending more time enjoying that love while I still can.  

Spend more freely on things worth spending on 

I have trouble spending money unlike the Contessa (my wife) who has no problem at all. I don’t want to end up on my death bed regretting not going on a special trip or adventure because I was to scared (cheap/frugal?) to spend the money. On a positive note I struggled with buying new fishing equipment but managed to push through and get it done.  

Help as many people as I can 

A lot of retirees will suffer from retirement shock and I feel for them having experienced it myself. My near suicide experience served a purpose by reminding me how horrible feelings of depression and high anxiety are. I feel an obligation to educate as many people as I can about what causes retirement shock and how it can be avoided so they don’t end up in Retirement Hell like I did.    

With that objective in mind I have decided to make all my retirement books available for free download right here on Booming Encore. 

Make someone laugh/smile every day 

Making someone smile makes me happy and being happy for me is what life is all about. I plan on doing a lot more happy things every chance I get. 

Earn a medal at Ironman Ottawa  

I failed at Ironman Cozumel two years ago and it didn’t sit well with me. To be honest I don’t do failure well. So I decided to give it a try one last time at Ironman Ottawa in August. It’s going to be hard but that is what makes life interesting – will he or won’t he make the 17 hour cut off? 

Learn to Spey cast 

I love fishing it’s my Zen moment and because it makes me happy I plan on doing a lot more of it. One thing I need to do is improve my fly casting - I just can’t seem to cast far enough.  I’m going to invest some money into fly casting lessons which will only make something I love more enjoyable.   

Stop buying any more retirement books 

Over the last 10 years I’ve bought a ton of retirement books trying to figure this retirement thing out. I’ve spent so much time researching I feel like I’ve earned a PHD in retirementology. I don’t think there is anything else new I can learn so it’s time to spend the money on other things.  

Write more interesting articles 

I’m getting a little bored writing the same articles over and over again. To alleviate my pain I plan on writing more articles on happiness, retirement lifestyle, late bloomers and longevity going forward because those are the subjects that interest me. 

My brush with suicide served as an important wake up call and from now on I just want to focus my time on the things that will make me happy.   

At age 70 I still have dreams and aspirations that I want to achieve, things that get me excited and give me a good reason to get out of bed in the morning. 

I want to experience life to it’s fullest with the time I have left.  

It’s the only way to grow old if you ask me.    

Be sure to get you free download copy of Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose? here!