The four phases of retirement described by Dr. Riley Moynes are psychological, not financial. When I eventually retire I know I’ll need to find meaning and purpose for whatever years are left.
Random Thoughts on Retirement – 01.26.25
Take a Break 01.22.25
An unexpected event in which an individual comes to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level
A fall is defined as an unexpected event in which an individual comes to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level.1 Falls are a leading global health challenge, ranking as the second cause of death from unintentional injuries.2 Over 80% of these fatalities occur in low-income and middle-income countries, with the highest mortality rates observed among individuals aged 60 years and older.3 WHO emphasises environmental and health-related gaps contributing to fall-related mortality, such as limited access to the health-care system and inadequate infrastructure.2 However, the implementation of fall prevention strategies in low-income countries (LICs) and some middle-income countries (MICs) is often hindered by challenges such as data scarcity, inadequate health-care infrastructure, and limited resources.2 In contrast, several high-income countries (HICs) such as Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria found persistently low or even declining rates of fall-related mortality, despite an ageing population.4 Investigating the underlying factors contributing to these trends in HICs is crucial, as it not only provides valuable insights into effective prevention strategies but also serves as a basis for adapting such approaches to resource-constrained settings like LICs and MICs. – Temporal trends and patterns in mortality from falls across 59 high-income and upper-middle-income countries, 1990–2021, with projections up to 2040: a global time-series analysis and modelling study – https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(24)00198-3/
Second cause of death from unintentional injuries.
Remember this the next time you underwrite a case where the applicant is my age. Yikes.
Nutrition, Drugs, or Bariatric Surgery?
The key to healthy and sustained weight loss is to “become attuned to the body’s signals, learn how to honor hunger, stop eating when satisfied, and eat more healthful foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins — especially plant-based proteins — and the body gives signals that this is what it wants.” Supatra Tovar, PsyD, RD — Nutrition, Drugs, or Bariatric Surgery: What’s the Best Approach for Sustained Weight Loss? – Medscape – January 10, 2025 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/nutrition-drugs-or-bariatric-surgery-whats-best-approach-2025a10000kj?src
Lifestyle changes worked for me.
My Cryptocurrency Investment
My cryptocurrency investment was taking the time to learn and understand the bubble. Charles Mackay’s bestseller Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds discussed many historical bubbles and was published in 1841. The book sits on the shelf and remains a reminder not to get caught up and swept away by the madness of crowds. THERE ARE IDIOTS: Seven pillars of market bubbles is a good article and much more recent than 1841 https://www.acadian-asset.com/investment-insights/owenomics/there-are-idiots-seven-pillars-of-market-bubbles.
Greg Hunter’s https://usawatchdog.com/ is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal nor Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows. The following is an edited excerpt from an interview with Catherine Austin Fitts.
Bailout of the Big Boys. Be careful out there. Don’t get screwed.
“This is literally a Bitcoin for land-grab swap. . . . So, they take our retirement savings, what’s left of it, and they take our taxes and use it to buy Bitcoin. The Bitcoin billionaires sell their Bitcoin into that at the same time they are taking advantage of the monetization of all the land and minerals. They sell their Bitcoin at the top, and what can they do? They can buy the land. . . . They want out of digital assets, and they want real assets. Right now, the whole race on the planet is to grab the real assets such as land, mineral resources, water resources, etcetera, etcetera. . . . The land ownership of the top 100 landowners of America doubled. They are not buying Bitcoin. They are buying land. Bill Gates is buying farm land. The Harvard Endowment is buying farm land. What you are really seeing is a discussion to sell the unreal assets to the taxpayer and the real assets to private parties. If this succeeds, it will be the biggest robbery and financial scam in the history of the country. . . The smart money is trying to control the real assets.” Catherine Austin Fitts former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Administration) https://usawatchdog.com/smart-money-buying-up-real-assets-not-bitcoin-catherine-austin-fitts/
Catherine Austin Fitts is the founder of Solari, a private company. Link to her company website is https://home.solari.com/ where I found the absolute best summary of the history of Bitcoin and what Fitts calls the BITCOIN BAILOUT: Why a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Is a Bailout of the Big Boys https://home.solari.com/bitcoin-bailout-why-a-bitcoin-strategic-reserve-is-a-bailout-of-the-big-boys/
It’s 8:00 AM…yes, I’m Thinking About Drinking
Alcohol use is ubiquitous in the United States, with 84% of adults reporting use at some point. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious and persistent disease at the extreme end of alcohol use that contributes heavily to the burden on the healthcare system, with more than 200,000 hospitalizations each year due to the condition. About 6% of people in the United States have AUD. However, only 7.6% of patients with AUD seek treatment, although several pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options are available. Stephen Soreff. Rapid Rx Quiz: Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments – Medscape – Dec 30, 2024. https://reference.medscape.com/viewarticle/1002119
- Overall mortality rates increased from 10.7 (95% CI, 10.6-10.8) per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 (95% CI, 21.4-21.8) per 100,000 in 2020, representing a significant twofold increase.
- Adults aged 55-64 years demonstrated both the steepest increase and highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020.
- American Indian and Alaska Native individuals experienced the steepest increase and highest absolute rates among all racial groups.
- The West region maintained the highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020, despite the Midwest showing the largest increase. Edited by Lora McGlade. US Alcohol-Related Deaths Double Over Two Decades, With Notable Age and Gender Disparities – Medscape – November 21, 2024. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/us-alcohol-related-deaths-double-over-two-decades-notable-2024a1000l98?
Nearly 500 years ago, Swiss physician and chemist Paracelsus expressed the basic principle of toxicology: “All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison.” This is often condensed to: “The dose makes the poison.” It means that a substance that contains toxic properties can cause harm only if it occurs in a high enough concentration. https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/health-and-safety/the-dose-makes-the-poison/
Dry January? If you’re doing this trendy behavior you know you drank too much this past holiday season.
Cancer warnings on alcohol? No one will read them.
Trust your intuition. If you’ve ever felt like you drink too much alcohol then you do.
1-800-662-HELP or text 988 for SAMHSA’s National Helpline.
The Rise in Early-Onset Cancers
A lot of interesting food for thought.
Link to article – https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/01/the-rise-in-early-onset-cancers-their-origins-and-what-to-do-about-them.html
Take a Break – 12.30.24
Smartphones, Ultra-Processed Foods, Diminished Family Bonds and Mental Wellness
As mental well-being has remained largely static across the world since 2021, so too have the rankings of countries. At the top of the rankings are many Latin American and African countries while much of the core Anglosphere ranks in the bottom quartile. With national wealth indicators such as per capita GDP negatively correlated with average mental well-being scores (see our 2021 report), this year we have made substantial progress in our understanding of why this is so. Two key findings published in Rapid Reports in 2023 show that younger age of first smartphone ownership and ultra-processed food consumption are two major contributors to our mental health challenges. In wealthier countries, the age of first smartphone ownership is much younger and ultra-processed food consumption much higher. Other contributing factors are the relatively diminished family relationships in wealthier countries that are highlighted in our 2022 annual report. The Mental State of the World in 2023 – https://mentalstateoftheworld.report/2023_read/
Another Sunday morning, just reading and connecting the dots.
I’ve downloaded several of these reports and plan to do a deep dive later.
Read these reports and think about it.
Now do something about it.
No Champagne Required
Writing memoir is a way to extend the amount of time we spend looking back, stretching out our review of the past throughout the year and giving it the attention it deserves. The insights we discover as nonfiction writers are precisely the kind that can ripple into the future, leading us to make real, lasting changes in our lives.
No New Year’s resolutions for me. OK, maybe just one. Write more. Keep writing.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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