6 months out
Retirement prep/mindset
Time flies, and now it's just 6 months from when I get on a plane and fly to Spain to start the round-the-world trip. Hopefully things are a bit calmer there
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I'm afraid it's not very exciting here. I keep chugging along and my mindset has been pretty stable. I really need a break, I feel burned out at work. The closer I get to retirement, the more grateful I am for this opportunity... and the more I feel spoiled by my work opportunities and ability to save. I guess it's the Protestant work ethic. Maybe reading other round-the-world travel accounts, where commenters jump on people and shout how impossible it is, and how lucky people are, is getting me down.
A few concrete steps I've taken in the past month:
1. I'm really plotting out my expected income for 2018. Here's what I'm looking at: normal salary (3 months), 2017 annual bonus (paid 2018), bonus for being oncall, 401k match, HSA match (my company incentivizes 401ks), payment for unused vacation (probably around 16 days), stock vesting. All of this adds up to something substantial enough that I don't think I'll regret staying until next April.
2. Substantial travel prep. Found pretty much all the physical things I want to buy prior to my trip, and added them to a camelcamelcamel watchlist, for when they go on sale.
3. Large asset reallocation. Over the next few months I'm going to move to a more conservative portfolio, to balance out sequence of return risk for the next year or two. I'm also revisiting some old fund decisions to see if I can move to comparable funds with lower fees.
In the next two weeks
1. Re-list and sell additional another round of stuff at work.
2. Box up a few shelves of books that I will be holding onto for sentimental value.
3. Read the entire 20-part "Ultimate Guide to Safe Withdrawal Rates" on Early Retirement Now.
4. Set up Google Voice account.