Azure Water around the Isle of Capri

My wife and I were blessed to be able to visit Italy this past summer.

We had never been there before but heard many good things about it.

We were able to visit Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi, Positano, Florence, Lucca and Siena.

The food was great… everywhere we went.

The views were incredible.

I think this is in Florence…might be Siena though

The memories…

It was like a “retirement” trip of a lifetime, although we aren’t yet retired.

I hope that when we do finally retire we can take more trips like this.

Positano Italy on the Amalfi Coast

Where would you like to go visit either now or when you are retired?

Let me know by commenting below.

OK so this isn’t really “retirement” related… but I felt like posting

about today being NATIONAL DOG DAY.

Hi, I’m Yodel!

Yep, that’s right.  One of America’s most popular holidays is today August 26th.

In honor of National Dog Day, I thought I’d share a picture of our mascot

here at Torrid Technologies.  His name is “Yodel” and he is a full bred

Siberian Husky.  On many a hot summer day he wonders why he can’t

live in Alaska or some place cooler!

Are you celebrating National Dog Day?

Click on “Comment” to post a pic of your dog if you like and tell us why YOUR DOG should be honored on “National Dog Day”.

(OR a link to a photo on the internet somewhere if the system does not let you post it.)

And be sure to note whether your dog is “still working” or “already retired”.  🙂

In one of my last emails I mentioned the Tulips in the Spring.  I showed a picture of flowers at the Biltmore but it did not include the “tulips”.

To remedy the situation here is my picture of the tulips at the Biltmore (from 2013):

Outdoor picture frame for the lovely tulips at the Biltmore gardens in Asheville NC

Well while we are at it here is a photo of the Biltmore from the hill out front… which is a great place to have a picnic by the way.  And another picture that shows you some of the variations of color in the azaleas when they come into bloom.

The Biltmore from the hill out front

When the Azaleas are in bloom it is pink flowery bliss

Hope you enjoy these pics!

HAPPY PLANNING so you can enjoy visiting places you love… like The Biltmore in Asheville NC!

Phoenix Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix Arizona

Jan 13-15 I visited the Phoenix Biltmore Hotel for a conference for the NPH Broker/Dealers of SII, INVEST Financial, Investment Centers of America and NPC National Planning Corp. While we were there, they were bringing in a lot of classic cars that were going to be auctioned off that weekend.

1966 Porsche 906 Carrera

We got to see a lot of really cool cars as the photographer was bringing them out of the parking deck one by one to take pictures of each one of them. This white one is a 1966 Porsche 906 Carrera 6 racing car.  Bet you can’t guess how much this sweet baby is worth. Try $1.2 million smackers.

I think that the high bid did not meet the minimum and thus it was not sold.  But that high bid was for $1,180,000.

Here is a car you don’t see very often, or at least I don’t. It’s a red Ford GT.  It sold at the auction for a mere $225,500!  Note that we saw the keys on the seat and it was a regular ordinary Ford key fob, just like the one we use for our Ford Expedition.  Nothing fancy… I guess the GT owner’s key fob will eventually break just like mine has (if they lock and unlock this baby thousands of times).  On second thought, they will probably let this one sit in a garage most of the time.

2005 Ford GT

Now this green dream boat is one sweet ride! But I must admit I didn’t know what it is. I looked at the auction website and found out it was a

1940 Mercury ‘Custom’ Coupe by Charles Marr and Gerry Huth

It sold for $107,250!

1940 Mercury Custom Coupe

!

This Lemon beauty is no lemon! It’s just lemon color, as you can tell.
This sun soaked baby is a 1954 Kaiser-Darrin Roadster and it sold for $126,500 at the auction.

Bill Walton was one of the speakers at the conference. He told great stories about John Wooden and numerous other basketball personalities. He talked about his 36 surgeries including his severe spinal problem that was finally fixed a couple of years ago after much agony. Bill was a great guy and stayed for pictures and autographs afterwards.

Bill Walton and Tim Turner

Thanks for reading… hope you enjoy these cool pics.

If you want to see the final results from the auction, and browse these sweet babies you can visit the RM Auctions website.  Note all of the car pictures on this Torrid-Tech blog were taken by me personally…

And for those that did not get our RetirementView software at the NPH Conference.  You can check out the special packages that end this week at DoubleYourAUM.com

Thanks for reading and… HAPPY PLANNING!

Regards,
-Tim Turner