u/Expensive_End8369 — reddlx

Hi all,

I just thought I would post on here in case anyone is in a similar situation and also to keep track of my goals and progress.

I am 57 and recently hit $1 million in my retirement plus I have about $340 K in equity in my house. I have two kids with one getting ready to go to college, I have almost $200 K saved for that child and I have another child who is not quite a teenager and have $58k that should grow quite a bit by their graduation. I’m just getting ready to graduate after going back to a masters program and will have about $55K in student loans. The reason I decided to go back for another masters is because I was in marketing and business for over two decades and I was concerned about the viability of that industry as I saw AI coming onto the scene.

I’m planning on working full-time for the next two years because I work in a healthcare field in a rural area and should be able to get most of my loans forgiven. I’ll also be able to contribute more into my retirement and, ideally, my employer will have a 401(k) plan that has matching. After I hit the two-year mark, my plan is to scale back to about 20 to 25 hours a week and coast. So I’m feeling pretty excited.

Yesterday, I came home and the neighbors who live nearby had completely torn up their front yard, and, unfortunately, the landscaping crew ripped everything out. If I had known they were going do it, I would’ve gone and dug up the this Japanese Maple. But, I saw it sitting in the trailer that they were going to haul to the dump. I asked the landscapers if I could have it and they pulled it out for me.

It is in horrible shape. Unfortunately, they use an excavator and some machines to just rip it out of the ground. So, I am going to attempt to save it. I have a friend who has bonsai meatballs for years and years, she assures me it’s possible. So I did everything she said. This poor tree is so sad and ugly right now.

But, it is planted in my backyard and, I hope by this time next year, it will start to be beautiful.