Thought I'd throw in a little update as I sip on my hot black West Coast Dark Roast Coffee..
Our lives have changed very little since my last post. My wife and I are still hoping to have one more child, hopefully in 2019. We are still renting a 2 bedroom apartment in what I think is a great location in our city. Our daughter is approaching 3 years old and she is a joy to be around. We enjoy simple low cost activities like going to parks & splash parks (free), going to "play group" at the community centre twice a month, playing out in the neighborhood with the other kids (there are a lot of immigrant families in our neighborhood and they are outside almost every night with their parents or grandparents. They are all really friendly and kind and it makes for a great place to spend time outdoors and play). Also going to the mall to walk around, and visiting our family once in a while a couple hours away by car. People often ask if we are going to put our child in "swimming, dance, gymnastics" etc. We don't currently have plans to, we prefer the unstructured play she gets from just being around us and other kids and there are pretty much no costs for choosing the unstructured activites. Isn' that what boomer kids did anyways when they grew up?
Our child care benefit from the governement has gone up as well, and we invest that money for our daughter.
I completed my second full marathon in June and my wife ran a PR in the half marathon event. I did injure my knee in training and during the race, but am recovering now and running short distances again. I am not sure if I will take on the full marathon again but it was great to achieve a second marathon finish. I will likely focus on more half marathons in the future.
In terms of Net worth, basic expenses are 2.52% of liquid net worth (not including our pensions, retirement account, our daughter's account) which works out to be just shy of 40 years of sustainability. I also like to do a second calculation, basic expenses plus an extra $1,000 a month for miscellaneous (food, gas, other) -- it never works out to be that much but I like to run the calculation anyways. And with that calculation we are at 4.83% of liquid net worth and just under 21 years of sustainability. So we are FI and have been for a few years. I continue to work at my job, I don't mind it and I work on my feet all day and have quite a bit of autonomy so I like it. Plus I get three days off a week.
I like to look at properties for sale in our city but nothing comes close to the value we get from renting our apartment. We have a nice greenspace out our door, the street is not close to our apartment either, there is a parking lot and green space that gives us a nice buffer, hard to find a buffer like that. Plus it is great to be around other people in an apartment setting, it makes you feel less isolated, there are always people to say hello to. I think I would feel more isolated in a house.
Anyways, there is the update. Things are pretty much on cruise control. Life is fairly simple and going well. Thanks for reading!
stand@desk journal
Re: stand@desk journal
Do you mind sharing the finish time of your full marathon in June? I remember from earlier we were pretty close in our ambitions, would be interesting to see how you've done. Also, did you continue your running regimen after completing the marathon? I've noticed (in myself and others) that crossing the 42K line somehow makes you entitled to laziness for a while:)
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stand@desk
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:40 pm
Re: stand@desk journal
Hi Henrik,
I Finished in 4:10. I had to take a lot of time off after the race due to injury. I have been running a modest 100km per month lately and I plan to run a 10km race next year. To train for that distance I won't run as much mileage but I can still enjoy competing in an event which is a thrill for me. I may entertain working back up to a half marathon again but right now I am content to run less mileage and race a shorter distance. My brother in law ran a 3:44 in his first full marathon a few months ago so he has the family bragging rights. I also have been doing more strength training in the mornings instead of running. I was not doing nearly enough when running 300-400km per month while marathon training.
I Finished in 4:10. I had to take a lot of time off after the race due to injury. I have been running a modest 100km per month lately and I plan to run a 10km race next year. To train for that distance I won't run as much mileage but I can still enjoy competing in an event which is a thrill for me. I may entertain working back up to a half marathon again but right now I am content to run less mileage and race a shorter distance. My brother in law ran a 3:44 in his first full marathon a few months ago so he has the family bragging rights. I also have been doing more strength training in the mornings instead of running. I was not doing nearly enough when running 300-400km per month while marathon training.
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stand@desk
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:40 pm
Re: stand@desk journal
Been wanting to do an update for quite a while and I have a bit of a chance to put one in here.
Current FI based on basic expenses 2.21% safe withdrawal rate. With the 300 rule, 180.92% Funded
Basic Expenses plus $1,000 per month 4.25%. With 300 rule, 94.10% funded.
Our investments dropped so far down in March I was wondering if all our hard work at this was for nothing. One of the stocks we are holding dropped ~80% in one day. Amazingly, most of the holdings have rallied back to much higher levels and we are back on track again.
My wife has re-entered the workforce and I have worked steadily through the pandemic. Our daughter is in school now and is doing quite well there. I'm still running and have logged over 2,000km this year which I'm on track for my second best year ever for running mileage. My knee injury from two years ago has fully healed, and at my current level of fitness, I know doing runs over say 25km could affect my knee again. With our daughter in school, it has allowed my to run a bit more on my days off which has been great.
I have taken a liking to reading through the obituaries on a weekly basis in the newspaper. Seeing people you have known that have passed away give you a lot of perspective and meaning to what time we have left. I am also reading a book called "Case for a Creator" which is a book from the early 2000's stating the case for intelligent design. I think the older I will be, the more faithful I will become. With more experience and meaning in life, it allows an older mind to believe in things in a more spiritual context. But getting back to the book, which is a great read, it highlights interviews of some of the most advanced scientific minds of the era stating how impossible the world is and it could have never just happened over time on its own. It needed to be designed by something. The strongest evidence is the precambrian fossil era, where suddenly all these new fossils come into existence with no fossils that evolved into the mass of creatures that are found from that era. Also, from the physics realm, the chance of the "dials" being perfectly attuned to what they are in terms of gravity and physical forces are so accurately made, that a tiny change here and there and our world could not exist. Also, in terms of astronomy, there are so many factors attuned to our existence, including the moon and sun and beyond. It's like trillions of trillions of trillions of things have to be so absolutely perfect for our lives to happen. The chances are so remote we couldn't have been here by accident.
Also this year, I have found some neat objects in the neighborhood, including a free large, sturdy and heavy desk, which I carted home on a shopping cart from 2km away. I also needed help from several people on the way to get it home. At one point the desk fell off the cart and I thought it was busted but the thing is so solid it only had a couple scratches on it. A guy helped me prop it back on the cart and I eventually got it home. A neighbor helped me get it inside on a dolly which was not easy! I absolutely love it and am so excited to have it for the rest of my life. I also found a computer monitor by a dumpster and I brought it in, (during a rain shower) and wiped it off, plugged it in and it works just fine! It's actually my best working monitor of the three I have going right now. Recently, I also found a vacuum which was completely clogged and I fixed it up and it's working well now, as well as a standing fan which I have been wanting for a few years now but I have been too frugal to buy at full price at the big box store. Had to really clean up the fan as it was woefully dirty but it's in good shape now.
Another neat development is our love from the local thrift stores. Going to these places and finding good items gives you the free option to use them for nearly no cost, you can always return them or give them away. Free options are basically one of the best things in life. If you can find them, they are a gift for days going forward to the end of your life. I've found drinking glasses, hats, clothing, all good quality for meager dollars.
Anyways, daughter is up now. I have been eating a lot of steel cut oats lately. One of my favorite things to eat. I have also been experimenting with intermittent fasting. I rarely eat at work now. I have done 16 hour, 24 hour fasts. It's something I will keep doing and experimenting with.
Current FI based on basic expenses 2.21% safe withdrawal rate. With the 300 rule, 180.92% Funded
Basic Expenses plus $1,000 per month 4.25%. With 300 rule, 94.10% funded.
Our investments dropped so far down in March I was wondering if all our hard work at this was for nothing. One of the stocks we are holding dropped ~80% in one day. Amazingly, most of the holdings have rallied back to much higher levels and we are back on track again.
My wife has re-entered the workforce and I have worked steadily through the pandemic. Our daughter is in school now and is doing quite well there. I'm still running and have logged over 2,000km this year which I'm on track for my second best year ever for running mileage. My knee injury from two years ago has fully healed, and at my current level of fitness, I know doing runs over say 25km could affect my knee again. With our daughter in school, it has allowed my to run a bit more on my days off which has been great.
I have taken a liking to reading through the obituaries on a weekly basis in the newspaper. Seeing people you have known that have passed away give you a lot of perspective and meaning to what time we have left. I am also reading a book called "Case for a Creator" which is a book from the early 2000's stating the case for intelligent design. I think the older I will be, the more faithful I will become. With more experience and meaning in life, it allows an older mind to believe in things in a more spiritual context. But getting back to the book, which is a great read, it highlights interviews of some of the most advanced scientific minds of the era stating how impossible the world is and it could have never just happened over time on its own. It needed to be designed by something. The strongest evidence is the precambrian fossil era, where suddenly all these new fossils come into existence with no fossils that evolved into the mass of creatures that are found from that era. Also, from the physics realm, the chance of the "dials" being perfectly attuned to what they are in terms of gravity and physical forces are so accurately made, that a tiny change here and there and our world could not exist. Also, in terms of astronomy, there are so many factors attuned to our existence, including the moon and sun and beyond. It's like trillions of trillions of trillions of things have to be so absolutely perfect for our lives to happen. The chances are so remote we couldn't have been here by accident.
Also this year, I have found some neat objects in the neighborhood, including a free large, sturdy and heavy desk, which I carted home on a shopping cart from 2km away. I also needed help from several people on the way to get it home. At one point the desk fell off the cart and I thought it was busted but the thing is so solid it only had a couple scratches on it. A guy helped me prop it back on the cart and I eventually got it home. A neighbor helped me get it inside on a dolly which was not easy! I absolutely love it and am so excited to have it for the rest of my life. I also found a computer monitor by a dumpster and I brought it in, (during a rain shower) and wiped it off, plugged it in and it works just fine! It's actually my best working monitor of the three I have going right now. Recently, I also found a vacuum which was completely clogged and I fixed it up and it's working well now, as well as a standing fan which I have been wanting for a few years now but I have been too frugal to buy at full price at the big box store. Had to really clean up the fan as it was woefully dirty but it's in good shape now.
Another neat development is our love from the local thrift stores. Going to these places and finding good items gives you the free option to use them for nearly no cost, you can always return them or give them away. Free options are basically one of the best things in life. If you can find them, they are a gift for days going forward to the end of your life. I've found drinking glasses, hats, clothing, all good quality for meager dollars.
Anyways, daughter is up now. I have been eating a lot of steel cut oats lately. One of my favorite things to eat. I have also been experimenting with intermittent fasting. I rarely eat at work now. I have done 16 hour, 24 hour fasts. It's something I will keep doing and experimenting with.
Re: stand@desk journal
You might like God - Being, Consciousness, Bliss by David Bentley Hart. It's a polemic against the new atheists, from a somewhat non-dual perspective. Are you in Canada btw ?
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stand@desk
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:40 pm
Re: stand@desk journal
Quick update here for the members..
Finally hit 2.0% safe withdraw rate for basic expenses, 3.78% for basic expenses + 1000k per month for extras.
Wife and I still working our jobs and enjoying our hobbies in our free time.
One note, a few of my co-workers have started trading or investing in stocks on their phones. Buying trendy investments like bitcoin miners, cannabis, tech etc. I'll be really interested to see how they handle and trade with this new investing for the masses theme for "newbie" investors.
Gotta run!
Finally hit 2.0% safe withdraw rate for basic expenses, 3.78% for basic expenses + 1000k per month for extras.
Wife and I still working our jobs and enjoying our hobbies in our free time.
One note, a few of my co-workers have started trading or investing in stocks on their phones. Buying trendy investments like bitcoin miners, cannabis, tech etc. I'll be really interested to see how they handle and trade with this new investing for the masses theme for "newbie" investors.
Gotta run!