When my financial avatar, Mimi, was a finicky baby with more student loan debt than sense, I checked her pulse hourly. Before I retired, I popped my head in monthly. Since retirement, I’ve been poking her to make sure she’s still breathing three times a year.
Mimi is getting annoyed with my poking, though. She doesn’t need me to hover. She’s fine.
Here’s my chart from December 2017.
October 2010 through December 2017
Since that last update, for 2018, I transferred about a year’s worth of my projected passive income from my VTSAX to my Vanguard Money Market Fund. I consider it my “2018 Life Account” and it’s what I can spend this year without tracking or thinking or looking at the market.
Occasionally, I transfer some money from my 2018 Life Account to my regular checking account that pays for my regular credit card bill. I do this because Vanguard gives me a few dollars in interest while my regular checking account only offers a smile.
That’s enough accounting for me right now and, after this, I only plan to update my chart at the beginning of each year. I don’t need to constantly calculate my net worth. I think once a year might be enough. Maybe.
I’m reclaiming those brain cells.
But here’s the updated chart with the rather useless added data point of January through April 2018.
My expenses were comically low nomading. Ho hum.
My net worth stayed steady, down a few thousand dollars from my last are-you-still-breathing-poke. The market is simmering away. I’ve sold a couple of additional copies of my book in the last four months, but it’s nothing to brag about. My plan, my tentative plan, is for my seventh book to be a major motion picture and my eleventh book to be a Netflix series. I’m okay with my first book just being my baby, not really contributing anything to the household, but still making me smile.
Here’s the chart with just the retirement years.
October 2015 – April 2018
My version of retirement is affordable. To say the least. I’ve been living way below my means. A rich man enjoys his wealth. Someone told me this and it’s been living in my brain for a bit.
With those reclaimed brain cells and my 2018 Life Account and that pithy saying, I set about trying to cure some of the malaise that’s plagued me lately.
You may have noticed me moping a bit earlier.* Sorry about that.
Because you know what? I’ve had a think about it and I’ve decided that I’m not wrong about everything.
Gratuitous ab photo. April 2018
I mean, look at my abs. I am most certainly doing something right.
Freedom is sumptuous and I don’t care if it makes me a weirdo. I love, love, love not having a traditional job. I love that I get to decide how I start my day. It’s so luxurious.
And, for the most part, I love how I fill my days. I love being a writer. Reading more than you is heaven. Walking in sunshine is as fun as it sounds.
I’ve grown rather fond of the baby, but I need to refresh some of the bath water. There’s no need to burn the house down just to fix some of the electrical in the basement.
You’re so wise, Jim. Money just gives you flexibility. If you use it sensibly, you should be fine. More than fine.
So, with my 2018 Life Account in my pocket and the realization that I was craving community, I started Operation Make a Home. I made a lot of lists and wrote a lot of words, enumerating on the pros and cons of different places and creating hypothetical average days. I fiddled with my chart and added up expenses, consulting Craigslist daily. Many brain cells rallied.
Too many brain cells if I’m being honest. Sometimes, having a plethora of options is actually a curse. So many sister lives that would be excellent.
I could buy a house in Detroit for $50,000. Maybe volunteer and help make the city less sad. That would give me some purpose.
Or Chicago. I bet I could be settled in Chicago in three days flat.
My Life Bucket List suggested New York City or Northern California. Two special places, indeed. I could find a job or rent a tiny broom closet or something. They are kind of expensive areas, but I could find a way to make it work.
Baby, not bath water. Right, right. I don’t want a real job right now.
I’ll spare you the rest of my words on this decision. I went round and round like this for a while. Long story still kind of long, I’m trying on Denver again.
So the next chart update won’t be so comically low. Now I have rent and utilities to pay. I am acquiring stuff to make the place feel less barren.
And this approach seems to be curing that malaise. Humans crave novelty. And what’s true at one point in your life won’t be true at another point.
A part of me wishes I had given this last realization more thought when working as a lawyer. Wouldn’t it be swell to have enough money to retire in New York City? But the more sensible part of me can’t handle any more options of sister lives. I have enough. I have so much.
*Thanks for all the excellent comments to my, and it seems many folks’, doldrums. I’m sorry I got overwhelmed and hid.
Very nice results!
What happened to your expenses in September 2015 ? Seems like a very heavy drop. I wish I could do the same 😉
My lease in Sydney ended and I stopped paying $700 Australian Dollars a week for an apartment. That explains the crazy, happy drop.
Can your expenses go even lower to get to that next line on the chart? Ha, just kidding. I’m sure they’re low enough, you’re still doing great. Looking great too, glad to hear you’re in a better mood and positive on retirement again – you were making me reconsider 😉
Yeah, I think the good outweighs the bad most of the time! You’ll see when you’re on the other side of it. 🙂
Nice abs Anita and thanks again for a great post .
Semper FI,
Luis
Thanks! I still have a ways to go, but I do touch them and giggle like a narcissistic lunatic more than I’ll admit to in public. 🙂
Nice work on the abs !!
Thanks! I’m ridiculously proud of them. 🙂
Bravo on the abs and relo to Denver. I aspire to have your freedom, but, am padding my retirement funds and supporting children thru college first. I enjoyed your post a lot. Thank you.
Your kids will (hopefully!) appreciate you letting them graduate college without debt. What a generous gift!
I’m excited to hear about your adventures in Denver! Are you planning to remain car free? Thank you for sharing the ups and downs of your experience.
As someone who lived in Detroit for a few years not that long ago, you made the right choice not buying a house there. The city really isn’t that sad these days, and $50,000 would buy you a house that needs a lot of work (e.g. one that has no electrical wiring) or a livable house in a pretty unsafe neighborhood. It can be a fun and exciting place to live, but Detroit can also be very frustrating. I loved my time as a Detroiter, but I’m glad it’s over (and that’s why I would recommend renting over buying in Detroit).
Yes! Thanks for putting my mind at ease. 🙂
I’m borrowing a car for the moment and am trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. I have to admit, it makes life so much easier!
Cars are so expensive…and bad for the world. I say this as a member of a couple that owns two cars–so, no judgment. The US was built for personal autos, which is why having one makes life easier (in my opinion). If car freedom is important to you, it’s so critical to choose a city conducive to that priority. Does Denver have some sort of car sharing, like zipcar? Albeit somewhat less convenient, car shares, traditional car rental (especially a company that picks you up), and of course lyft / uber might be cheaper options than personal auto ownership.
Nice blog! Its like i am reading a site about me, except female version based in the US!
I’m 35 and am in a very similar position to you based in London. I calculate your net worth to be around 750k USD? Mine is around 900k but in pounds, so pretty close to yours. It includes my property i live in as well.
I had been working for 10 or so years and quit over a year ago. Completely understand where you are coming from in your previous blog post. I also do wonder if i should be going back to work…
I am also single and am yet to find the one. I am also gay so makes things a bit more difficult due to the number of potentials and i find even big cities like London still feel lonely. When working i found my time and energy was on work 5 days out of the week – not just office time but also travel, getting ready, preparing meals etc etc. Now i spend my time learning online courses and going to the gym – i much enjoy this lifestyle then working!
Anyway i just think you are doing perfectly fine. I am not sure if this is your problem or not but my problem has been to over think things way too much. Best to enjoy the present and be slightly mindful of the future. But never think about the past – no matter how good or bad it has been.
Yup, my problem has definitely been overthinking. Action is sometimes preferable to thinking. At a certain point, the only wrong answer was not making a decision and to keep contemplating. Thanks for this comment!
As a fellow attorney I can appreciate the allure of forever flexibility. Of removing yourself from any semblance of corporate responsibility and using math and “thrift” to design the life you want to live. You are an anomaly in that way, and people like to stare at things that are different. As some of the comments have pointed out, not everyone has a family circumstance (kids) that allow for this type of nomadic lifestyle. It is however refreshing, I am almost embarrassed to admit, to see that even your level of daily flexibility has not lead you to desire more flexibility but to put down some roots and purchase, what the rest of us 9 to 5rs live in, namely a house. And even more shocking…a job (gasp!). Some people live lives of desperate frustration, bounded by the 9-5 cubicle to which they themselves have sentenced themselves to. I have known people whose highlight of the work day is being able to leave their cubicle and go to the bathroom stall for a few moments of privacy. When they read about the anomaly of being you they surely picture themselves galavanting about European countries, free to schedule their day as they wish. But I would also submit there are people who enjoy their “job” and the stability and the things that you are now beginning to desire. Like you, I am an attorney. But I don’t bill in 15 minute increments. I choose public service. I really enjoy working with a team of smart people helping to investigate and bring to justice those people who choose to corrupt public service and hurt the rest of us. Public service feels good, being part of a team feels good, seeing a child protected from trafficking feels good. Would I like to wake every day in Paris with no responsibility or schedule. Sure. But not forever. I have lived on Maui for 5 years. Paradise for 5 years. But while I was there I helped design legislation that will help the people of Maui for a long, long time. That “work” felt good. My wife is a reconstructive surgeon. She helps people and gets paid. People see her and have tears of gratitude and joy for what she has done for them and their lives. This responsibility (while time consuming and requiring a tight schedule at times) brings with it a certain meaning in life. Of course having the right job matters in the grand scheme of your happiness. I was interested to see if all of this time off, to wander, to read, to fulfill your own bucket list created some grand wisdom that the rest of us were missing. Everyone is different (and the same) but it seems you are gravitating to the things that are associated with the “nom”. A house, stability, a boyfriend, perhaps even children. You have even included a thinly veiled plea by including the “gratuitous” look-at-me selfie utilizing your platform for your own personal match up website. Any enlightenment that one might hope to have gained from years of not serving the public or a community but rather as a nomadic visitor free to live an endless “vacation” seems to have not transpired. There is a more common overarching human experience that persists and perhaps, due to your flexibility, given even more time to be considered. Serving the public, healing people, having a sense of community and roots and a beautiful baby…and getting paid well for it, gives rise to a responsibility and commitment that gives meaning, at least to my life. I still go to Maui for months at a time. But as I learned when I lived there. It’s the people in your life that matter, and responsibility to a cause is not a burden, and commitment is a discipline that is worth it’s effort.
Mike, her ab pic isn’t nearly as braggy as your self-righteous comment. Maybe you should start your own blog to talk about all of your accomplishments, and how everyone should live their life just like you. “Thinly veiled plea” for a match up….are you serious??
I didn’t actually read his comment because there were no paragraph breaks and who has time for that? But I LOVE your comment! Thanks!!
Rachel, I never said everyone should live their life like mine. And yup totally serious. Presenting another side of an issue as a possibility is not the definition of self righteous. The definition is more along the lines of “presenting with feigned certainty an unfounded statement that purports a moral superiority”. For instance – your short angry comment. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the different philosophy of living as does the owner of this blog when she brought up the very issue for comment. But your claim for moral superiority is duly noted. I am, however, unmoved by your evidence. Thank you for your suggestion to start my own blog, I will consider it – although it would not be in my nature to write about my life so openly – that would feel “braggy”. Plus, someone might feel compelled to attack a legitimately, solicited comment which happens to hold a different point of view,. Those kind of morally self righteous, troll-like comments tend to dumb down the conversation. The blogger was actually contemplating different philosophies of living (of the type I mentioned) and solicited comments. Thank you for the few minutes of fun I experienced responding to you. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a blog to consider starting where I post my financial status and abs.
Yay Rachel!! I’m so mad I read it!!! A completely UNVEILED show of jealousy and mansplaining!!! LOL
Thank you for the update. So glad that you are pulling yourself out of the doldrums. I would not have picked Denver as a destination so I challenge you to convince me of its merits 😉
Sunshine! Vitamin D! Lots of fit, happy, smiling people! I spent six months in the area last year and have a lot of friends here! Cheaper than San Francisco, NY and Chicago! Should I go on? 🙂
Not now. I’ll wait for subsequent blog posts – a sort of slow reveal. 😉
Give Pittsburgh a shot 🙂
Glad you’re finding a home! I feel like if I had to make such a choice it would be around whether any family or close friends live there that I could see on weekends as well as a vibrant outdoor community of citizens that focus on lifestyle rather than that live to work.
Enjoy the new place.
You understand my thinking! Chicago was on the list because of family. Denver was on the list because of the outdoors.
I hear you about deciding where to live, It would be nice to retire early in California here near my family but it adds so many years of working 🙁 It’s refreshing in a way to see your last post as well. Online the focus is mostly on the happy or good parts, but reality is not that way. Thanks for the update! ps sorry if this is a duplicate comment, something’s up with my iPhone.
I think the solution is to convince your family to move somewhere else. 🙂
Great update. Glad you’re happy!
P.S. Is Northern CA really that expensive? I had no idea… Maybe I looked at a different part of N CA…
I guess I was just looking at San Francisco, which is super expensive. But maybe there are other parts that are more tolerable? Argh, maybe I should have looked into that? No. Definitely not.
I’m so happy you’ve moved to Denver! In part because my sister lives there so I have higher chances of meeting you in person now 🙂
I love the “Updating My Chart” series and am sad to hear that you won’t be posting updates quite so often, but it’s great that you’re thinking about you mental health, so-to-speak, and doing what’s in your control to optimize it. You were the inspiration behind me starting my own chart, but I also have become more lax on tracking my finances, because I was becoming too obsessive and it stressed me out too much. Now, I have the mentality that I’m in the habit of only spending money on things that are worth it to me, so I need to stop questioning every little purchase all the time — if I bought it, by default because of the way I’ve trained myself to spend money, it was worth it to me. Much like you, I know just do much less frequent check-ins.
I really enjoyed your moping in your last post – it was something I’ve often feared of earlier retirement, and I appreciated that someone in the FIRE world of blogging was upfront about the fact that early retirement doesn’t solve all of your problems, and in fact may exacerbate or create a few of them. That said, this post was even better than that one – great job taking a negative emotion, embracing it, and then turning it around! Thanks so much for making us privy to your process of mind over matter.
Yes! It’s wonderful to be in the mindset that you buy what you want and not think about money. You know what will make you happy and you don’t constantly obsess and question the worth. You’ve trained yourself. 🙂
I’m in NYC and pursuing FI. There’s a pretty good group of us here chasing the dream. Let me know if you ever want to discuss it.
I will email you. 🙂
Would you be able to point me in the direction of some NYC FIRE resources? Thank you, Lady Jane!
I’m glad you decided on a path that keeps you writing and look forward to your future works. I’d like to petition you to hold back on the cliff hangers until the netflix series comes out.
If you need some practice writing movie dialogue, I could use some help writing the female characters part in the sequel to my movie. I’m picturing a rom com stoner adventure. Cheers
I have fun reading your blog! Thank you for writing. I appreciate your simple, worry free approach to money and living. You are inspiring! I saw you are going to stay in Denver. In effort to keep our expenses low and begin our path to retirement early, my husband and I rent out our (nice) basement with completely separate entrance, laundry room, kitchen, etc. Our tenant is moving out mid August. We are a 5 – 7 minute walk to the light rail and walking / biking distance to restaurants, a park, grocery store, workout facilities, etc. If you need a place to rent starting mid-August (or around there) let me know. We currently charge $1200/month including utilities.
Thanks for the offer!
If you ever want to propose a meet up in in Denver with any of your fans (I.e. potential friends), please let us know. We live in Denver, when we aren’t traveling. I totally agree with you about Denver. It’s a well-educated city with 4 distinct seasons and a world-class airport.
I know someone who just started an FI club website for this type of thing. It’s on my list of things to do – attend and explore how to set up low-key meetups.
Hi, wow all that work on the diet and exercising has paid off on the abs! That is amazing progress.
Glad to hear you are feeling more positive, and it’s cool to see you easily continue to live under your means.
Enjoy the next stage in life, and trying out a new location to live.
Thank you! My abs are currently my favorite thing about life. 😀
Great looking Abs! Looks like you found some muscles.
I am chugging away at my early retirement goals, I am 34 years old. I plan to end my engineering career in a year or so. I got my MBA this month and next year the company reimbursement is no longer hanging over my head, the car will be paid off, and I will have good lot of money saved for retirement.
No clue what I want to do in regards to next career. Ready for the change and maybe a sabbatical is just what I need to figure out what i want to be when I grow up. But it will be nice to do something I have a passion for, rather than something that pays the bills.
Congratulations! And I love that you got an MBA even though you are thinking of retirement so soon. It’s life growth mindset and not short-term thinking . 🙂
Hot abs!
Oh, and congrats;s on the next step decision.
Many thanks!
Glad you’re back in Denver! Let’s hike a 14er this summer ! And snowboard this winter!
Denver for the win! FTW is my new favorite expression.
Welcome back to Denver! My husband and I moved here almost 9 years ago now, out of the Midwest where all of our family is still located, to be in a more weather-tolerable place that aligns with our lifestyle. We are working towards early retirement, albeit not quite as early as yours as we are already 35/36. We look forward to being able to spend summers at the lake cabin in the Midwest and the rest of the year in Denver, outside of hopefully frequent travels. We’re both at the place where we’re not quite ready to be fully-retired, but definitely desire the flexibility that retirement, or even semi-retirement would bring. Having a job at this point seems to bring a bit of purpose and routine into our lives, along with affordable healthcare! So, for now, we keep plugging away to reach our goal while also contemplating purpose and how to still feel fulfilled by life in retirement. I look forward to your continued thoughts on that process as well!
I second the comment about a meet-up. Would love to meet some more like-minded people here in Denver!
Okay, I put “meetup” in my to-do list for the summer. Huzzah!
Hey, i found this tutorial on youtube for a simple wood working project i think you might like. https://youtu.be/X0UKqCNkDGA
Awesome to hear that you’ve reconciled some issues from last post. I’m a few months in my gap year and do miss community as well as other things, haven’t decided what I’ll return to but I am going through the process of looking at a place to settle in.
Can you elaborate more on your thought process in choosing the location. What would you choose if finances weren’t a factor. What were your priorities and where did the candidate cities fall in those?
I’ve written so many words on this subject of Where I Should Live. I didn’t publish any of it because I think it’s kind of boring and too specific for the rest of the world. My pro/con lists have people’s names in droves. Do you really care about sample budgets and what made me happy in previous apartments and what I didn’t like? But maybe I’ll try to edit it some more and elaborate and get rid of the nitty gritty too-specific nonsense.
I think it comes down to knowing yourself and knowing what makes you happy. I need sunshine. Vitamin D is a real thing. Long walks, outside, in the sunshine is an easy happiness boost even when I’m at my lowest.
But if finances weren’t an issue, I probably would have picked New York or San Diego.
Yes!
A pros/cons list would be very interesting to me! But if it’s boring for you to write, I’ll just divine what you currently have. Very neat, I’m a big city person myself (most recently out of San Francisco), but like being close to nature and so it’s really hard to find something that fits it exactly.
I’d lean toward NYC if finances weren’t a factor too, but since that would mean I would need to return to a grown up job as well, I’m leaning toward Chicago. Tough choices!
Oh, it’s not just a pro/cons list, it’s weighted, meaning each pro and con gets a different amount of consideration. Yes, I know I’m crazy.
Not crazy at all, I assumed the list would at least be ranked!
Also, if you really want to consider NYC, you should look into affordable housing units. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/hdfc_att/40.73916,-73.923827,40.690888,-73.996697_rect/13_zm/0_mmm/
I believe they just look at income and not assets, cheapest you’ll find is around 300k-400k for a 1-2 bedroom and you only pay around $700 a month which includes utilities and taxes. It’s not an investment method however.
A friend of mine mentioned this to me, but I couldn’t get excited about it.
The newer ones definitely look at assets held in non-retirement accounts, unfortunately. As usual, penalized for thrift! There are older units that don’t consider assets, but they are really hard to get.
That’s a fantastic idea! At some point of lots of travel, it gets boring and one craves for roots – FI or not. The feelings of familiarity, consistency, habit, simply hosting a dinner in your own nicely furnished abode, and an actual permanent address provide the sense of community and belongingness as referenced here
http://financialorchid.com/what-happens-after-the-1st-million/
This seems to be a super common issue.
I so so so identify with your feeling that sometimes too many options can be a curse. My husband and I are recently retired military and we are having trouble figuring out where to live. Neither of us have a hometown with family so we basically just have to pick a place, any place… I guess this is more common than I thought. I figured we were rootless because of our nomadic military lifestyle and our far flung families but I guess these days, many people find themselves without a home or community to return to. We have been living in Spain for the last year and are finding that we crave a “homebase” from which to wander. A place with our “stuff” and a garden that we can return to after an adventure. My husband is from Colorado and has been lobbying heavily for a move there.
Thanks for your posts and for sharing your wise and witty mind with us!!! I just became a thriftygal fan!!!
Yay! High-five! A garden sounds really fun.
You still not getting enough….need to get laid! Oh, nice abs.
My NY dreams keep me working. I miss home. And it seems nearly impossible to FIRE there, sadly. Even if you own, or inherit, the taxes and carrying costs are insanely high.
Apparently some people do it! They meet up frequently and discuss in various forums.
Oh, cool. I wonder how they do it? Subsidized rentals, maybe? So hard to FIRE with rents of 3k or carrying costs of the same. Impressive. Would love to know which forums.
MMM and Bogleheads forums. I haven’t checked it out and am too lazy to google, so can’t offer a link.
Thank you so much! I will Google away.
I think you can cross 6-pack-abs off your bucket list.
Really? I still think I need a bit of horizontal definition. I feel like I can do better.
Nice six-pack…i would love to…….
Also work out consistently for several months and develop your own six-pack? I’m happy I motivated you!
What have you been up to recently ?