Living The Semi-Retired Life: We Have Hit 200 Paid Subscribers

And thoughts on combining finances - or not - as a couple

A few items to cover today.

First, we have hit and passed 200 paid subscribers to the Never Retire: Living The Semi-Retired Life newsletter.

I made good on the promotion I started earlier this month on the way to 200. If you’re interested in subscribing, see the following two recent installments for a taste of what we do and plan to do going forward.

Part 16: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, Where We Are Going

Living The Semi-Retired Life: I'd Love Your Help With Something

The thing I requested your help with worked well.

Thanks to

Kevin Alexander

, who writes the excellent music publication,

On Repeat by Kevin Alexander

, for offering a great thought I interspersed into my most recent Medium article.

Paid subscribers to the newsletter got to read that Medium article before it hit Medium. From time to time, I will do what I describe in the above-linked installment: Put my next Medium article behind the paywall here before it hits Medium, giving you the opportunity to help shape that article by offering insights I will edit into the article before it goes live on Medium.

I came up with this idea because I consider Medium and Substack complementary platforms. Rather than pit one against the other, I prefer to take advantage of the obvious synergy between the two.

My initial experiment with previewing a Medium article and asking paid subscribers to help shape it went like this:

• I included the article behind the Substack paywall on Friday.

• I received insights over the weekend and picked Kevin’s to include.

• The Medium article went live on Medium on Monday.

• On Tuesday, Medium boosted the article. Meaning they thought it was good enough to amplify and put in front of a larger audience. So I can only assume they liked my idea.

That said, while I think I write insightful and personal content on Medium, I tend to get much more personal and deeper in the weeds on Substack (like I will today).

That said, a paid subscription here is as much about supporting my work as a freelance writer and following the journey I’m chronicling as my partner and I lay the groundwork to move to Spain in the next few years as anything else. So, again, I appreciate the support.

Speaking of my partner, I have had a few people ask me some variation of this question in recent weeks:

With the implication that, because I live with my girlfriend, we split everything.

I plan on finding a way to respond to this comment on Medium—since it came from a reader on Medium—but let me address it briefly here.