I popped over to J.D. Roth's blog today and I found the latest post interesting. George Kinder sounds like a pretty cool financial planner. The note at the end about Lakein with the similar questions are also thought-provoking.
http://www.jdroth.com/figure-want-life/What would your answers to the questions be? For me:
1) (What would you do if you are FI and money is no object)
I'd quit my job to spend more time with family and friends, to travel, and to work on my own personal hobbies and projects.
2) (What would you do if you know you have only 5 - 10 years to live)
Same as above, I think. Also definitely sort out the end-of-life-stuff like making a will, etc., which I've not done yet.
3) (How would you feel and what would you regret if you find out you have only 24 hours to live)
Absolutely devastated, as I'm still young, I've had a good and happy life with the potential for much more to come, I'm not ready to go yet. I would wish I had spent more time with family and friends. I would wish I had downshifted or quit my job earlier, as even though I'm not FI yet, I do have enough savings to chug along for quite a while. However, I would say that, considering all the unknowns, I had tried my best to strike a balance between living for the moment and planning for the future, so hopefully in such an awful situation I am still able to accept that I'd done okay and be at peace, at least.
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Coincidentally, I'm actually planning to take a sort of sabbatical to travel, spend more time with family, and hopefully get some ideas and projects happening as well. I wouldn't say I have figured out what I want for the rest of my life - but it is what I want in my life, right now, and I'm glad I'll be doing it soon.