Hi from Spain

Say hello!!
Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Hi all ;)

I'm a 32 years old spaniard who knew this community thanks to Jacob and his fantastic ERE book. I've been an anonymous read of the forum since months ago, but now I want to break these chains and be a more active part of it.

A little more about me:

I recently did my first MBTI test and discovered that my personality type is INTP (very high IN). Since them I can't stop reading about it and now I have more clear why I was considered a strange person. Although it seems to be only a mere classification, +90% of the INTP characteristics (fortunately and unfortunately) resonate in me.

I don't know what I want to do at this moment of my life: I love learning, but abhor formal studies. I like reading, but I forget what I read. I'm a constant planner, but a never doer. I have dozens of life goals, but don't know where to begin. Fortunately, last months I'm learning more about myself, and knowing better how my mind works.

Our ERE path is on its way, although the implementation of a proper investment plan to make it grow still makes me nervous and my frugal mind always thinks that we could spend less than we do. I try to find the perfect plan, and I am always changing it, instead of staying the course and letting it flow. I like investing, but maybe the stress it causes me doesn't worth it and I should just use a plain index strategy. ERE concepts are slowly resonating in my wife, although more time will be necessary to sail both at the same pace. I try not to explain the concept of early retirement to friends or family. They would never understand it (already tried).

I would consider myself a prospective Seneca-style stoic, but I should practice more often its principles.

It's nice to be part of this superb ERE-world inhabited by like-minded people ;)

Cheers,
Dunkelheit
Last edited by Dunkelheit on Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Josué
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:48 pm

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Josué »

Bienvenido!

I resonate with your self description, as I've turned out to be an INTP several times.

I'm always sceptic of following career advice based on MBTI though, because I feel like the results can be very biased by what you want your personality to be like instead of what it really is. Sometimes I think the result should come from an average of the test results of several people that know you well instead of you answering by yourself.

Regarding the investments you seem to be a well informed person but someone here recommended me a introductory book on index investing so check out my journal if you're interested.

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Josué wrote:Bienvenido!

I resonate with your self description, as I've turned out to be an INTP several times.

I'm always sceptic of following career advice based on MBTI though, because I feel like the results can be very biased by what you want your personality to be like instead of what it really is. Sometimes I think the result should come from an average of the test results of several people that know you well instead of you answering by yourself.

Regarding the investments you seem to be a well informed person but someone here recommended me a introductory book on index investing so check out my journal if you're interested.
Hola Josué!

Thanks for your reply. As an INTP maybe we understand better each other, since no one else will do :P. I don't give much importance to the MBTI type, but its strengths and weaknesses seem to be very certain in many cases. I use it as a way to know mine's and other people's way of thinking and acting.

I have been reading your journal and your saving path. Where are you living now? Regarding investing, I also recommend you to read some introductory investing books, but there are so many that it is not easy to choose where to start. IMHO, index investing is a good and straightforward place to begin your financial education. The first book I read explaining indexing was " The Four Pillars of Investing" of William Bernstein. It is quite rough to start with but very explanatory. After it, he wrote a very short introductory doc (16 pages) with almost everything you need to know about index investing, plus recommended bibliography. You can find it here (maybe you find a pdf version online ;) ):

https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Can-Mille ... +bernstein

Good luck in your path to ERE!

Dunkelheit

CS
Posts: 709
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:24 pm

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by CS »

Hello,

Another INTP here... many into INTJ's around here, so pretty close. :D

This is a good place to learn lots of stuff.

Glad you starting posting.
Last edited by CS on Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Cornerman
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 1:46 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Cornerman »

Welcome, my very first retirement location plan was Tenerife , the Northern part. Investing is fun I have noticed, not just the financial benefits but also the reading and understanding of money, value and most importantly Time, and the value of time. Explaining my ERE I limit to close friends who have a notion of life goals as not merely limited to possessions and bigger is better.

As far as beginning on working on your life goals , make a list , give the goals list priorities and start with very small steps towards that goal. Make them manageable and make sure to enjoy every step, celebrate a completed step make it fun.

Josué
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:48 pm

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Josué »

Hi Dunkelheit,

Thanks for the book suggestion! I prefer not to say where I'm living now. I may be a bit paranoid but I'm afraid I might be spotted by people I know if I give too much info :P sorry about that. But I can tell you that I'm fluent in Spanish, even though it's not my native language :)

Good luck in your path to ERE

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

CS wrote:Hello,

Another INTP here... many into INTJ's around here, so pretty close. :D

This is a good place to learn lots of stuff.

Glad you starting posting.
Hi CS,

Thanks for the welcoming. It's nice to find so many like-minded people with multiple different situations each one, all of them in the same place. I can't imagine how many more will be there outside.

Let's learn and share, then ;)

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Cornerman wrote:Welcome, my very first retirement location plan was Tenerife , the Northern part. Investing is fun I have noticed, not just the financial benefits but also the reading and understanding of money, value and most importantly Time, and the value of time. Explaining my ERE I limit to close friends who have a notion of life goals as not merely limited to possessions and bigger is better.

As far as beginning on working on your life goals , make a list , give the goals list priorities and start with very small steps towards that goal. Make them manageable and make sure to enjoy every step, celebrate a completed step make it fun.
Hi Cornerman,

The Canary Islands seem an optimal place for ERE: nice weather, idyllic landscape, quietness, affordable prices...the only disadvantage (although for many will be an advantage) is that you will be in the middle of nothing: Africa on one side and the continent at 2-3 hours by plane. That's why I'd rather prefer some of the Balearic Islands to retire in Spain.

IMO, investing is also fun once you understand the basics. The problem is once you read too much investing can be each time more complex, and the infinite investment universe can cause some short-circuits in your brain when you have to decide between simplicity and efficiency among the multiple strategies.

Thinking small is my great challenge at this precise moment ;)

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Josué wrote:Hi Dunkelheit,

Thanks for the book suggestion! I prefer not to say where I'm living now. I may be a bit paranoid but I'm afraid I might be spotted by people I know if I give too much info :P sorry about that. But I can tell you that I'm fluent in Spanish, even though it's not my native language :)

Good luck in your path to ERE
Hi again Josué,

"If you don't want to reveal a secret, don't tell it anybody." Great decision!

Buena suerte!
Dunkelheit

Stahlmann
Posts: 1121
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 6:05 pm

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Stahlmann »

Dunkelheit wrote: I like reading, but I forget what I read. I'm a constant planner, but a never doer. I have dozens of life goals, but don't know where to begin.
Hello, my fellow INTP friend. I suffer from the same conditions.
How was your stay in Germany?

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Stahlmann wrote:
Dunkelheit wrote: I like reading, but I forget what I read. I'm a constant planner, but a never doer. I have dozens of life goals, but don't know where to begin.
Hello, my fellow INTP friend. I suffer from the same conditions.
How was your stay in Germany?
Hi Steelman, it's nice to find einen Deutscher (?) hier ;) maybe an INTP living in Germany? Another man in search of meaning? Suffering from these highs and lows, this sense of planning a new life one day and changing it completely the next one...oh, what a f* sensation. However, I am realising that it is at the same time the most interesting stage of my life, starting to know my real self as never before.

The time in Germany was really bimodal, many good things and also some bad ones. In general, a great experience, but emotionally quite exhausting after several years. I think that now I value many things which I took as granted (waking up each day and watching the sun shining can't be paid high enough). In contrast, I miss the sense of independence living abroad and the german burocracy (spanish one is chaotic).

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

Cornerman
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 1:46 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Cornerman »

Dunkelheit wrote:
Cornerman wrote:Welcome, my very first retirement location plan was Tenerife , the Northern part. Investing is fun I have noticed, not just the financial benefits but also the reading and understanding of money, value and most importantly Time, and the value of time. Explaining my ERE I limit to close friends who have a notion of life goals as not merely limited to possessions and bigger is better.

As far as beginning on working on your life goals , make a list , give the goals list priorities and start with very small steps towards that goal. Make them manageable and make sure to enjoy every step, celebrate a completed step make it fun.
Hi Cornerman,

The Canary Islands seem an optimal place for ERE: nice weather, idyllic landscape, quietness, affordable prices...the only disadvantage (although for many will be an advantage) is that you will be in the middle of nothing: Africa on one side and the continent at 2-3 hours by plane. That's why I'd rather prefer some of the Balearic Islands to retire in Spain.

IMO, investing is also fun once you understand the basics. The problem is once you read too much investing can be each time more complex, and the infinite investment universe can cause some short-circuits in your brain when you have to decide between simplicity and efficiency among the multiple strategies.

Thinking small is my great challenge at this precise moment ;)

Cheers,
Dunkelheit
Yes that's exactly what I experienced being there, weather the people affordable. I have never been to the Balearic Islands , thanks for the tip.

On investing I have noticed that deciding on a strategy and stick with it is hard in the beginning. Especially staying inactive when there is nothing that meets your criteria. I started out with an active portfolio and a more passive longer term portfolio. For what I have seen is that the active portfolio performs worse, just because I tend to trade too much.

Thinking small is very hard, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. Lot's of luck :)

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Cornerman wrote: Yes that's exactly what I experienced being there, weather the people affordable. I have never been to the Balearic Islands , thanks for the tip.

On investing I have noticed that deciding on a strategy and stick with it is hard in the beginning. Especially staying inactive when there is nothing that meets your criteria. I started out with an active portfolio and a more passive longer term portfolio. For what I have seen is that the active portfolio performs worse, just because I tend to trade too much.

Thinking small is very hard, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. Lot's of luck :)
Balearic Islands are full of german (Mallorca is commonly known as a "german colony") and english tourists in summer, so the prices go to the sky during those months. However, the rest of the year is a quiet place, the weather is perfect for most seasons (summer can be really warm sometimes, and in winters there's eventually snow on the mountains). We are thinking about buying some place there in a distant future and maybe rent a room through AirBnB, who knows...

Investing can be as complex as we wish. I use a small part of my portfolio to buy individual stocks, but hope to keep the sanity if the market goes strongly down in order buy some total market index funds. Until then I will follow tinkering buying good companies at a "reasonable price" and creating my own index fund.

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

Stahlmann
Posts: 1121
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 6:05 pm

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Stahlmann »

Dunkelheit wrote:
Stahlmann wrote:
Dunkelheit wrote: I like reading, but I forget what I read. I'm a constant planner, but a never doer. I have dozens of life goals, but don't know where to begin.
Hello, my fellow INTP friend. I suffer from the same conditions.
How was your stay in Germany?
Hi Steelman, it's nice to find einen Deutscher (?) hier ;) maybe an INTP living in Germany? Another man in search of meaning? Suffering from these highs and lows, this sense of planning a new life one day and changing it completely the next one...oh, what a f* sensation. However, I am realising that it is at the same time the most interesting stage of my life, starting to know my real self as never before.
I have never lived in Germany (maybe only for students exchange). :mrgreen:
I hope to emigrate there.
I just wanted to check stereotypes (or how much they are true from your point of view).
And how about working conditions in Germany? (I mean respecting the 40h workweek and so on)
And how about jobs in Spain? Is it really so bad?

Why can not be there place with Universal Basic Income and sunny weather? :lol:

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

Stahlmann wrote:
Dunkelheit wrote:
Stahlmann wrote:
Hello, my fellow INTP friend. I suffer from the same conditions.
How was your stay in Germany?
Hi Steelman, it's nice to find einen Deutscher (?) hier ;) maybe an INTP living in Germany? Another man in search of meaning? Suffering from these highs and lows, this sense of planning a new life one day and changing it completely the next one...oh, what a f* sensation. However, I am realising that it is at the same time the most interesting stage of my life, starting to know my real self as never before.
I have never lived in Germany (maybe only for students exchange). :mrgreen:
I hope to emigrate there.
I just wanted to check stereotypes (or how much they are true from your point of view).
And how about working conditions in Germany? (I mean respecting the 40h workweek and so on)
And how about jobs in Spain? Is it really so bad?

Why can not be there place with Universal Basic Income and sunny weather? :lol:
Hi again Stahlmann,

Well, many german stereotypes were true (at least in my experience), but you always get surprises in the daily life. I'm only sure that all germans hate german weather :mrgreen: . Regarding the working conditions the medium salaries are quite high, and the good ones are really higher. It also has to be taken into account that the social system and subsidies are very extended (I would say too much) helped by large taxation. You can't compare the job market to the spanish one, which is a whole mess in most of the country (except northern Spain, maybe). For example, an engineer will earn in Spain half the salary than in Germany for the same position (if he is lucky to get a job in Spain). It happens the same for non-qualified jobs, because many people in Spain are nowadays fighting in order to get a low-mid job, the employers can pay as little as they wish.

Ww will follow looking for that Utopia country, but I think that good weather + good job conditions may be found, but they don't last many years until we destroy the place again :roll:

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

TheRedHare
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 4:40 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by TheRedHare »

@Dunkelheit

Hi from Charleston!

When I read Jacob's book, I notice that he came off as an INTP and figured that most of his followers would be INTPs.
As an INFJ, I hold INTPs in high esteem. Although I'm not as big into MBTI as I used to, I do find a lot of the strengths and weaknesses as helpful guides.
Most of the time I find INTPs to be the most fun to listen to because they have very interesting ideas.
I can relate to your too many ideas and not enough doing. My last roommate I had in college really set me on the path of action, and I have really changed the way I do things now because of his help.

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

TheRedHare wrote:@Dunkelheit

Hi from Charleston!

When I read Jacob's book, I notice that he came off as an INTP and figured that most of his followers would be INTPs.
As an INFJ, I hold INTPs in high esteem. Although I'm not as big into MBTI as I used to, I do find a lot of the strengths and weaknesses as helpful guides.
Most of the time I find INTPs to be the most fun to listen to because they have very interesting ideas.
I can relate to your too many ideas and not enough doing. My last roommate I had in college really set me on the path of action, and I have really changed the way I do things now because of his help.
Hi Redhare!

I think that Jacob has mentioned that he is a INTJ (but with a high P score), and it's true, this forum is full of N, J and Ps ;) Yesterday I listened to an interview to Derek Sivers (a very famous INTJ and altruist entrepeneur), where someone asked him, how important was the MBTI classification on his life, and he gave the best answer I have ever heard. He didn't gave much importance to it, but it was useful to connect similar personality types as if there were 16 different clubs in your city, and you could join yours and establish bonds with the same kind of people.

The interview is short (<40 min) and very recommended:
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/12/28/ ... rfect-abs/

It's nice to find a guide as you did, but what if you can't find one? Struggling alone sometimes works, but it's not the panacea.

Cheers,
Dunkelheit

TheRedHare
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 4:40 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by TheRedHare »

@Dunkelheit
I would have to agree with him on that one, and thanks for the link. I'll be sure to check him out.
It's nice to find a guide as you did, but what if you can't find one? Struggling alone sometimes works, but it's not the panacea.
Yeah I understand that being by yourself and trying to find motivation are very difficult; however, this is when you need to think to yourself: "what do I want to happen?" Because when it comes down to it, you are the only person responsible for what happens in your life; therefore, if you want something to happen in your life that you desire, then you must act on it.
Probably one of the best strategies I use in order to do something is to do it for 5-10 min. I usually find that within those few minutes of me doing something, I get hooked. It's the weirdest thing, and I think you should give it a shot.

Another thing I would suggest, is that you save this and keep it on your computer, or phone or whatever. When I read it when I'm bored or don't feel like doing anything, I get that needed motivation. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/10/0 ... om-action/
They are short readings, so it's quite nice and you can just read a few lines each time.

Hope this helps

Dunkelheit
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Somewhere in Spain

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by Dunkelheit »

TheRedHare wrote:@Dunkelheit
I would have to agree with him on that one, and thanks for the link. I'll be sure to check him out.
It's nice to find a guide as you did, but what if you can't find one? Struggling alone sometimes works, but it's not the panacea.
Yeah I understand that being by yourself and trying to find motivation are very difficult; however, this is when you need to think to yourself: "what do I want to happen?" Because when it comes down to it, you are the only person responsible for what happens in your life; therefore, if you want something to happen in your life that you desire, then you must act on it.
Probably one of the best strategies I use in order to do something is to do it for 5-10 min. I usually find that within those few minutes of me doing something, I get hooked. It's the weirdest thing, and I think you should give it a shot.

Another thing I would suggest, is that you save this and keep it on your computer, or phone or whatever. When I read it when I'm bored or don't feel like doing anything, I get that needed motivation. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/10/0 ... om-action/
They are short readings, so it's quite nice and you can just read a few lines each time.

Hope this helps
Thanks for the (huge) link! I like very much most of the content of sebastianmarshall.com Many good advices to increase productivity and self-control. Also, I have always in my mind one paragraph he wrote: REMEMBER YOU ARE GOING TO F****** DIE, DO SOMETHING GREAT BEFORE!!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Hi from Spain

Post by wolf »

Hola Dunkelheit. Que tal? ;-)

welcome here in this forum. I also recently joined the forum.
If you can team up with your wife, I think the possibilities for ER are even greater.
If you want to know more about Germany, you could ask, because I liver there.

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