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Mike, Joe, Celia, Jenni, Colin, Melisa, Jill, Kath, Laura, Tom, Dave, Linda, Gerry, Julie, Lenny, Nancy, Dave, Roberto, Joan and Katherine, welcomed Marty, Tom, Maggie, Mark, Chris and Gretchen to their first meeting.

Mike opened the space with a brief round of introductions. The group then created the following list of discussion topics:

• Investing: Step 9/General (Kath)
• Time Well Spent (Laura)
• Cohousing (Marty)
• Approaching Retirement (Mike)
• Your Relationship With Money (Joe)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Announcements <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Name Tags...
If you have a name tag, please begin bringing it to the meetings. Thank you.

Free Tax Consulting for Low Income & Elderly...
Celia mentioned the Center for Economic Progress is sponsoring free tax consulting/preparation for low income and elderly folks. For a listing of sites; go to www.centerforprogress.org/programs_free.html, call 312-252-0280, or contact J. C. Craig at jccraig@centerforprogress.org.

Discovery Channel and Fitness...
The Discovery Channel is sponsoring a Fitness Challenge (as if fitness isn't challenging enough). Go to any of the Discovery Channel stores in your area to sign up. Free health club memberships and opportunities to be on an upcoming Discovery Channel program are incentives additional to getting into great shape.

TIME WELL SPENT (Laura)...
Laura convened a great topic on spending your time well. Discussion included the observation folks tend to do the "little things" first. Big things like health, family, well being... then get pushed aside. Suggestions included prioritizing the little things so they get done, but also so that they leave room for "the big things". Ask yourself, "Is what I'm doing really something I want to do?" Pause and reflection -- always a powerful tool.

Staying with decisions you've made can sometimes be difficult, as they may at first cause initial discomfort (ie, out of your comfort zone). Give yourself time, especially if after reflecting on your feelings, you determine your initial decision was right for you.

To get beyond someone's decisions "for you" (we've all had those - doing something because someone else thought they were important), set the stage for yourself. Set a better stage for how folks perceive you. Set a stage of competence, great expectation and integrity. If you're getting results/interactions with folks you don't want, think about how you are "teaching" them to treat you. Be aware, conscious and connected to your emotions. It's "ok" to go there -- to ask yourself what you REALLY want AND to listen to your responses. When you do, saying "no thank you" can be a ultimately become win-win for everyone.

INVESTING: STEP 9/GENERAL (Kath)...
This topic centered on Chapter 9/Step 9 of the book, Your Money Or Your Life (YMOYL). Having been written in 1993, is Step 9 outdated, especially with the US Treasury no longer issuing 30 Year Bonds?

Existing 30 Year T-Bonds are readily available from brokerage firms and banks. Mike believes the principles of YMOYL and of Step 9 are still valid and not outdated. He and Linda continue to practice all nine YMOYL steps since they began in 1992. The YMOYL program (transforming your relationship with money and achieving financial independence [FI]) relies on steady sources of income. The longer the warranty of this income, the better one's plan of FI. Basic criteria for investing your capital are listed in YMOYL on pps 306 & 307. Colin mentioned "Step 9 - Revisited" is available at the Simple Living Network (www.simpleliving.net). This is a recent committee report led by YMOYL co-author Vicki Robin. It consists of a matrix of the Basic Criteria compared to investments other than 30 year bonds.

What about the safety of 30 year bonds? YMOYL co-author Joe Dominguez said the US economic system is based on 30 year bonds. The dollar bills in our wallets are just short term variations of the 30 year bond. If the 30 year bond gets in trouble, we've got bigger problems as a country than where did my money go.

What about other higher yielding investments? There are many other types of interest bearing investments - corporate and municipal bonds to mention a few (see "Step 9 Revisited" as mentioned above). Higher yields roughly equate to "higher risks" associated with your capital/nest egg. Are corporations stable - will they warranty their return? Will a municipality be overburdened by security alerts, or perhaps financial troubles like Orange County a few years back? Mike said in 1992, he was getting overburdened by all these possibilities. He found 30 year bonds to not only best fit the Basic Criteria, but they are also a lot easier to do AND he doesn't have to worry about them. Had he not done so, Mike said he'd still be distracted by all possibilities, and would have missed out on FI in 1999.

What about the social responsibility of investing in US 30 year bonds? Check out page 2 of the 2003 1040 IRS tax booklet. 50% of Federal Income is from personal income taxes, and 35% from social security, medicare and unemployment taxes. Mike believes becoming FI and thus reducing your income taxes goes a lot further to not paying for bombs, than does not buying US Bonds.

How do you buy 30 year bonds today? The can be purchased on line via a brokerage account from firms like Charles Schwaab, Fidelity, or Vanguard (and often at no fees/commissions). Local banks are also a source, but are getting increasingly hard to find due to low commissions/fees involved. Mike knows of MB Financial Bank in South Holland (if you're interested, contact Yvonne Jones at 708-333-2600).

Can I buy 30 year bonds in my IRA? Yes. Mike has been able to buy them in his 401k rollover IRA account. He specifically inquired about this at the time of setting up the rollover account, and was directed by the brokerage agent to the type of rollover that would allow this kind of transaction.

The group talked about getting higher interest rates from daily savings accounts. Tom mentioned on-line banking and ING Direct. Be sure on-line companies are legitimate and FDIC Insured => check out the company's status with the FDIC and country of origin (ie, are they in an unstable country).

Is it really possible today to save enough for retirement/FI? Of course! When pondering this question, folks tend to miss the composition of compounding interest. Mike & Linda saw their interest income increase exponentially as they got closer to FI. Why? They were using their 30 year bond interest to buy more 30 year bonds. That's one of the ways money accumulates to numbers you might never think possible.

COHOUSING (Marty)...
Marty is coordinating cohousing endeavors in Chicago. Among his many skills are city planning and facilitation. Marty began the discussion with history of cohousing (idea started in Denmark, then came to the US), what's going on in Chicago, and practicalities of co and shared -housing opportunities. Marty noted for anyone interested in cohousing, it takes about four years to go from interest to actually living in a cohousing development. There will be cohousing meetings on January 22nd at the Lake Street Church in Evanston (7:30pm), and again on January 25th (from 2-4pm). Feel free to contact Marty at mbecklen@earthlink.net with any cohousing questions and/or to attend the upcoming meetings in Evanston.

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY (Joe)...
Joe led a very lively discussion on looking into your relationship with money. Topics included the book, "Return To Love", the guilt we sometimes feel over buying something and/or not buying something, and how much stuff IS really enough. The group concluded wealth is much more than money. Practical actions included shifting your thinking from scarcity to abundance. How best do you handle "values conflicts" (a need for "pampering" while trying to live to your value of frugality)? There are times for pampering and times for frugality. Nothing wrong with either when done consciously, directly. Perhaps pegging the extremes of either is not the best solution. A little pampering here and there could go a long way in helping your overall frugality. The group also talked about trading skills/exchanging services, => trading some of your plumbing skills for someone's income tax preparation expertise.

APPROACHING RETIREMENT (Mike)...
Mike noted some very interesting things began to happen as they approached financial independence (FI). In spite of all the planning, work and data, when it came time to sign resignation papers in 1999, Mike literally had an "anxiety" attack.

The New Road Map Foundation and the Boston area Your Money Or Your Life group have noted similar experiences. Seems when some folks approach the real opportunity of leaving paid employment, they subconsciously begin to sabotage themselves. They might rationalize a need to continue working at their jobs => "If we really want that house on the lake, I'll just put in a few more years and..." (then I won't have to leave work now). "We want to travel a lot, so I'll just put in a few more years and..." (then I won't have to leave work, leave my known existence/reason for living). Interesting...

Mike said it seems the plans he made WHILE he was still working, for life after work, were seriously flawed.

Having never experienced life without needing a paycheck, he had no idea at all what that lifestyle would be like. What he did know was that while working for pay, he needed to "vacate" his life for awhile (ie, vacation).

And so it follows that as we leave our lives for a few days or weeks of vacation, we might conclude, "Wouldn't a house on that lake be a nice place to retire to?" Or, "We want to go on cruises and visit exotic places when we retire, so we'll need lots of money." "Ah... wouldn't a home up in the mountains, away from everything, be nice?" While chained to a career, yes away from "everything" would be nice.

Mike and Linda found once they reached FI though, there was no need to vacate their lives. They travel and visit great places, but travel doesn't need to be exotic, nor filled with nonstop tours. Living where they have lived is great. There is no need to own a house on a lake - they can visit/rent/vacation when it fits their needs.

Dave suggested perhaps slowing the pace of retirement by phasing out work, might be a great way to ease into this unexperienced type of life.

"How much do you need to retire?" Celia was asked this once and replied that conventional wisdom says $1-2 million. The folks responded, "Oh no, we'll need at least $5-6 million". Perhaps... But what is this based on - actual personal relationships with money and resulting financial data, or a guess of what life would be like at retirement?

Either way, life is definitely different post career. Just be aware of things you might be feeling or doing if you're approaching retirement/FI.

We adjourned and closed the meeting space at 12:05pm. No lemons were harmed in any way...
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(Recorded by Mike Lenich)