My Birthday

Today, September 10th 2016 is my 57th birthday. I mentioned at only to 2 people at work and left right at quitting time.
Once home I went through my normal daily routine of caring for my (non human) kids, checking the gardens, etc. I plan to spend my day in quiet reflection of my past and looking forward to my future. If I'm not mistaken I'm of the generation that reaches retirement age at 62. Retirement is the last thing on my mind however. I do plan on a career change to one more suited to my happiness and away from the daily grind of just doing something 8 hours a day/5 days a week to pay my bills.

The only debt I owe is my home mortgage. Robert and I often talk about ways to make/save money. Last night I told him that once I have my Realtor's license I plan on putting 30% of every sales commission in a savings account dedicated to taxes. I'm now in the bracket where of every dollar I earn I bring home 76 cents. That's a loss of 24% to taxes et cetera so putting 30% in savings should a little more than cover taxes. The other 70% is going to a principal only payment on my mortgage.
Robert told me that by making 13 payments per year vs 12 will cut a 30 year mortgage down to 22 years.
I think I've mentioned I already send in a little extra each month which adds up to around a 13th payment so if I can make enough selling real estate to make a 14th or 15th payment I will be beating this debt down PDQ. Once that debt is eliminated I will owe nobody any damn thing so (after taxes) I can either keep or spend my money as I see fit.

I'm exploring multiple venues to make side money as well as a couple to be able to leave my present employer. All will require time, some money and faith on my part but I can't depend on PCH showing up at my front door with a $10 million check!