Steven From Torrance

[Mike Farrell]

Hello Mike,This is Steven from Torrance, California and this is my first entry here at this site. Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your post as it gave me some good insight into that 'murky future' called retirement. I started working in the school library during 7th grade and have worked continously to this day, so I guess I will have some very big adjustments to make.While I still have a few years to go (maybe 4?), I really enjoyed my five visits to the Philippines, so I am viewing it as a good potential location for retirement. But I have not been there for more than 3 weeks at a time and that was on vacation in some nice locations and comfy hotels. The lesser of those being the Alejandro in Tacloban, wich I actually enjoyed very much. I know this is very different from actually living there, but I still can't fully grasp that yet. Your musings gave me some good food for thought, which is exactly what I am searching for.Thanks for some good insight about some retirement considerations. I hope to read more from your postings.Regards,Steve CobbTorrance, CA

Steve, In my fourteen plus years here, there is one thing I have observed about successful marriages. Husband and wife both have an independent and a shared social life, particularly if there is a significant age difference, which is usually the case. There is a Yahoo group for the ex-pats in Cagayan de Oro. We have weekly get-togethers. Many wive's attend and have their own "chat" gathering. The wives have two Yahoo groups, mostly dormant now that they each have FaceBook pages and also communicate by cell-phone texting. They also have a "Girls Night Out" at least twice a month where they dance together (as a group) at various kareoke clubs in town.