A letter to myself in 10 years

I saw a similar post when I was reading through the archives of Punch Debt In the Face. Loved this post & thought it was a great idea.

Fastforward to 2020
Dear Blondie-
How the heck are you? I sincerely hope you are healthy and committed to your fitness. You're in your mid-40s by now, & you can't afford to not appreciate & take advantage of your good health. Similarly, I hope you and M are having ample opportunities for date nights these days, because the boys are 13 & 14! I'm sure they barely want to hang out with you at this point in time, & spend hours roaming the neighborhood with their friends, and at sports practice.

I'm hoping we've traveled as a family, used the beach house regularly and built tons of amazing memories there - sandcastles in the sand, s'mores, bike rides, walks to the ice cream shop, & all of the amazing times that we (and the kids) will look back on and appreciate.

I hope that you are still treating your marriage as your first priority in your life, and treating M with all of the respect & love that he deserves. He's a wonderful guy - take good care of him!

I know you are not still working at the same place, slaving away for "the man", because if you are, I'll be disappointed. I hope you've taken all of that drive & ambition & either made a move to non-profit, or you're working for yourself. And, I hope the same for M.

In terms of finances, I hope in 10 years that you have the flexibility to retire early (now that M is in his mid-50s), and both of you can consider a more relaxed schedule with ample vacation time. I assume we have the boys college accounts fully funded, the vacation house paid off, 75% of our main property paid off, no debt, an extremely generous savings & investment fund, & 401Ks fully loaded.

But most importantly, I hope you've figured out how to balance your responsibilities between family & work, and that family always prevails. I hope you manage your stress well, have hobbies and friends that you love, & that you're making time for "you". And, that maybe you're a little less type A. ;-)

Love,
The much younger blondie