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Holy crap! I’m retiring in three weeks.

And I’ve been so busy documenting my job duties for my replacement, I’ve haven’t had time this week to pen another post on my twisted financial musings. But rather than lament work’s unrelenting war on my time, and my sangfroid, I decided to end this week on a lighthearted note.

I didn’t read nearly as many financial blogs as I normally do, but of the twelve or so I visited, three posts brought a smile to my face. Here they are.

1. Penny over at She Picks Up Pennies can’t get a break. She goes out, gets a dramatic new hairstyle, looks great, but still catches crap from her co-workers. And all because she decided to be frugal and get a haircut at one of “those” places. The post is both hysterical and sad.

2. ZJ over at ZJThorne decided to give AirBnB a try. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go well. Do you know what “420 friendly” means? I didn’t. But if you read ZJ’s hilarious take on sleeping in a weird stranger’s house, you’ll learn.

3. Finally, Julie over at ChooseBetterLife is pissing me off. But in a good way. She and her husband are doing right now in pre-retirement exactly what Mrs. Groovy and I hope to be doing in retirement. Her post on hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail is both informative and inspiring. And the pictures are pretty groovy too. Definitely worth a look-see.

What’s Our Retirement Theme Song Going To Be?

D-Day for Team Groovy is October 14. And I would like to begin this next phase of my life with an epic post. But how epic would such a post be if it didn’t include a retirement theme song? After all, the yoke of mandatory work is being lifted from my weary neck forever. Doesn’t such an occasion require some musical accompaniment?

Well, not really. But I got inspired to fuse the world of retirement with the world of music by Mr. PIE. Mr. PIE blogs over at Plan.Invest.Escape, and he just wrote a wonderful post about the music that fortifies his financial mindset. And I figured if he could come up with songs that speak to personal finance in general, I could come up with one song that speaks to retirement in particular. Thank you, Mr. PIE.

So without further ado, here are the nominees for Team Groovy’s retirement theme song. These are the songs that, to me, best say goodbye to the world of work and hello to freedom.

And I would love your feedback. Or better yet, I would love your vote. Which song best captures the meaning of retirement? The winner will be announced on October 14.

Okay, groovy freedomists, that’s all I got. Enjoy the music. And have a groovy freakin’ weekend.

The Nominees

1. It’s My Life, The Animals

Special note: I love this song. But I especially love it since our dear friend Carl D’Errico co-wrote it with Roger Atkins for The Animals.

2. Already Gone, Eagles

3. Born To Be Alive, Patrick Hernandez

4. It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett

5. How Do You Like Me Now, Toby Keith

6. You Can Take This Job And Shove It, Johnny Paycheck

7. Bang The Drum All Day, Todd Rundgren

8. Goodbye To You, Scandal

9. Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen

10. I’m Free, The Who

40 thoughts on “The Lighthearted Side of Personal Finance

  1. Three weeks until the big ‘R.’ I have no doubt you will enjoy it. The detailed design and execution of your retirement plan is just about to pay dividends … nice!

    1. Thanks, James. I really appreciate your kind words. Hard to believe the big ‘R’ is only three weeks away. Mrs. G and I really lucked out. We stumbled upon the FIRE community about four years ago. If we hadn’t, we would have worked much longer than necessary. But fortunately, “someone up there” likes us and everything worked out. Talk to you soon, my friend. Cheers.

    1. Fourteen workdays to go! Unbelievable. Thanks for chiming in AT. Nice to see a song from my college days getting a little love.

  2. Thanks for sharing my post. This is a hard choice. So many good selections. I’m leaning towards “I’m Free” because even non-coordinated people can dance to it. Retirement is for dancing. Definitely.

    1. “At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines.” Who would have guessed that a song with “suicide” in it would be the perfect retirement song. Thanks for stopping by, MSM.

    1. Yes, write-ins are permitted. Listening to “The Weather is Here” right now. It makes work look so unappealing–at least compared to an umbrella drink on the beach. Thanks for reminding me of it. Great freakin’ song!

    1. Another “Already Gone” vote! I have a weak spot in my heart for the 60s, so I was hoping “It’s My Life” would get some more love. Give Suzanne my regards. She has excellent taste.

  3. So close, that’s exciting!

    My vote is #7, Bang on the Drums All Day! A great song growing up and what else would be more fun than that. Way more fun than work, that’s for sure 🙂

  4. Woohoooo! How are you going to celebrate?

    Yea I didn’t know what 420 meant until my early 20’s, someone had to explain it to me! LOL. 😛

    I prefer hotels though. I’ve never done AirBnB, I’ve heard both good and bad experiences, yet to me it seems awkward.

    I like the ability to call customer service if I have any issues in a hotel. Also I like the personal space of hotels and it’s just you and whomever you’re vacationing with.

    P.S. I like the Cash song.

    1. Mrs. Groovy and I are definitely out of the loop socially. Never heard of 420 until ZJ’s post. And her post killed AirBnB for us. Mrs. Groovy was on the fence to begin with. But ZJ confirmed her fears. Oh, well. Hotels will always be there.

    1. Thank you, Farmgirl. It does capture the spirit of retirement. Sorry it’s haunting you right now. But fear not. It won’t last.

    1. Haven’t listened to the Who in about 20 years. But I’ve always had the “I’m Free” song in the back of my brain. Ah, the lure of freedom. Can’t believe I’m on the cusp of it.

  5. Hey thanks for sharing my crazy post with the rest of the interweb folks. I see your music favorites also contains no Katy Perry, T Swizzle or Demi Lovato. That is indeed a very good thing. I will crank up some of your chosen tunes later with a glass of milk or perhaps go rogue with something a tad stronger.

    “Oh-oh, some day girl,I don’t know when
    We are gonna get to that place
    Where we really wanna go
    And we’ll walk in the sun”

    Born to Run. Bruce belts it out the best for me and those lyrics above are what I had in mind for you both.

    Isn’t it all about moving to this next phase in your life together with the one you love?
    Walking…. running,….in the sun. Together.

    Mr. PIE.

    1. I love it, Mr. P. You can not go wrong with Bruce. And thanks for inspiring me. By the way, your financial mindset music post was awesome.

    1. Mrs. Groovy came up with that one. Wasn’t on my radar, but it’s perfect–especially since I mentally checked out from work about three months ago.

  6. OCTOBER 14!! So excited for you, Mrs G! GREAT idea to have a runoff for the retirement song. Here’s a suggestion: repost on 10/10 with the Top 3 vote getters. Memorize every word of your favorite (I suspect you already have), then sing your heart out w Mr G on a 10/14 video. I’ve always loved Jimmy Buffett, and it’lol be 5 O’clock everywhere for you after the 14th! Congrats on a great post (maybe even epic?).

    1. Fritz! I love the way your mind works. Mrs. Groovy’s getting the Twitter poll ready for the 10th. Should be fun. Thanks for the brilliant suggestion.

  7. 3 weeks! This is getting real! I’m soooo excited for you and Mrs. G.
    My vote is for #10, though there’s probably a musically-gifted reader who could write you your own theme song. Or you could do it, with all your free time now 🙂

    1. We’re getting there. I have 14 workdays to go and Mrs. Groovy has 13. It’s scary, exciting, and surreal. Is that possible?

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