# I Want My 2nd Quarter DCA !...



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

... To paraphrase Dire Straits' Money for Nothing from my early days as I started saving for my 25 years away early retirement in my financial young Turk phase during my 20s where I planned to retire , buying my own gold watch if needed, on my own after 25 years as my grandfather did as my peers were spending all their paychecks on new cars and eating out.

I invested as much as I could during my 20s in high risk / high return streams as if I was playing the craps tables in Las Vegas or betting on long shot horses figuring if I did good I was closer to my dream and if I lost my butt on the markets, I was still young enough to start over with added caution and changes in the percentages I put in high risk.

Lucky for me my long goal held up and some of the guys I worked with kicked in together to give me the gold pocket watch with engraved sentiment that they always smiled at hearing me describe as great as the brass ring on the merry go round for the free ride we all tried for as kids at the carnival.

Of course as I worked my way to my goal, I adjusted my savings investment percentages to fit my life era.

Now in my retirement , my life is slower and instead of traveling 100 miles a day up to a few thousand to do my job and earn my paycheck and build my savings, I now sometimes spend a couple weeks watching the world go by from my place, live off my savings and horse trade income but still invest in conservative style to keep my bucket from running dry.

While working , I put dollar cost averaging money into my savings every pay day. Now I dollar cost average once a quarter from my horse trading deals or hobbies.

Since my retirement my favorite for the 2nd quarter with Mothers Day and cemetery decoration day is to grow flowers in two pound butter tubs that me, GF and some of my friends help me collect and store for use in my micro nursery.

To cover the spread logo I use a $2 a can of brown paint to paint the tubs, then I use cheap masking tape to give the tubs a latticework texture. Then I use different colors of $2 a can paint to color and topcoat the tape and have light to dark blending to where the tape lines overlap.

Then I fill the 20 or so pots with vermicast top soil and use cans of flower seeds that cost a couple bucks each to seed the pots in my greenhouse.

The weekend before Mother's Day / cemetery decoration day, I go with a friend to the flea market where he sells his stuff to sell my potted flowers as he and I play chess or checkers as we sit in the shade drinking iced tea and selling our stock.

The following week, what money I make off my S1 a butter dish planter overhead I put in my savings fund as dollar cost averaging.

As my favorite band of my 20s said " Yea man. That's the way to do it. Money for nothing... " , but my paraphrase is my flowers are almost free as I tinker around in the greenhouse to make sure my retirement bucket doesn't run dry 

When you retire, you don't stop working and saving. You just don't punch the time clock anymore, don't freak out over deadlines ,work on your own schedule, cherish the small gains more and most of all relax sometimes with a cool beverage as you polish your gold pocket watch with a soft rag before putting it in the watch pocket of your blue jeans


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