Henk's journey thru life

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Interesting that you mention the internal of self-motivation aspect. I automatically assume that people have this internal driver, but you are right, that is not always the case. One Comedian in the Netherlands once described it very clearly, he said "Most of the people just want a little bit of fun", in other words, no major drivers or desires or dreams, just little pleasures. Personally I feel like "Darwin", i would love to step on a boat, have a great team around me, and start exploring the beauty of the world, analyze it as well, and come to greater ideas. Luckily my wife brings me sometimes back with both feet on the ground, I am not Darwin, but this internal drive to explore will not fade away.

[jacob]

I think a lot of people operate from a perspective of observing other people and copying their choices and then proceed to set up a structure that limits the choices they would subsequently have to make. I believe this is deliberately done to make life predictable and cognitively easier.

From the perspective of minimizing thinking-effort, this is the optimal effort and it's understandble why it's so popular.

For example, getting in debt is financially detrimental, but in terms of mental energy, it's the easiest option, because the person doesn't need to spend energy delaying gratification, and also there's no need to spend energy considering what the interest money could have been spent on... much easier to say that "That's nice but I can't because I have this mortgage, student loan, career, ... "

Knowing only the lifestyle they copied and having restricted themselves to this lifestyle also explains the severe cognitive dissonance they experience when they're confronted with anyone (e.g. ERE person) who made different choices. Notice how objections to ERE are practically never framed in terms of "ERE lacks this particular internal consistency" but rather "ERE does not match up with the only world I know, therefore it's wrong".

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Thanks Jacob, true, the "Mind is lazy" (nicely described in the book of Daniel Kahneman -thinking fast and slow), so it is indeed easier to copy a lifestyle then to find your own unique way.

It triggered some thinking about ERE, mainly related to "is this something for everyone, or is it more "elite" thinking"?
* Is ERE easy to understand, and can it be easily implemented? Well, the FI type thinking, yes, but the trouble is the transition, the willingness to change. It is like with losing weight, which basically means, change to a more healthy lifestyle. Many people can temporarily lose weight, but face troubles changing their lifestyle more permanently. I see the same with ERE, easy to understand, more difficult to execute & transition.
* Is ERE for everyone? Well, 2.5 Billion people live on 1 or 2 USD / day, they are in survival mode. Do not think they have ERE on mind (they hardly online either). I have lived in Africa, and I do see people being happy with 100 Euro / Month and supporting their families, so not necessarily bad, and they might be better in survival than "western" people if the world goes to shambles. But can we call that ERE methodology or mindset? Frugal for sure but they do not save money (do not even have bank accounts). At least, they do not make debts, just living from day to day within the means they have.
* How would the world look like if everyone goes ERE? For sure, Mother Earth will be happy (because we use the Earth resources more carefully), also, we can see it as the World Operations Model being very efficient. Business models would change to creating value to support ERE lifestyles, a lot more co-operation and sharing models between people. I am not a Macro Economist, but I can imagine that we have to re-invent Economic models, how we rate "progress", etc..quite a Transformation, and I wonder how long that will take, and how much the suffering will be during the transition.
* Advantages if ERE movement remains "small"? I do see value that ERE minded people can take advantage because others do not follow. For instance, if we invest money into stocks (index funds), then we can be happy if the old Economic models will prosper (growth, more margin, better stock prices), and this requires that people continue spending like consumers, create debt, etc... As said, I am not an Economist, but I can imagine the correlation between ERE FI thinking and Investing.

Some of my thoughts of today

[Aus_E_Expat]

Henk,

I will be interested to read where you end up / do next.

I have also been a long time expat and wonder about returning home (to Australia in my case) after 27 years in the expat life. It will be a culture shock.

I agree with your comments about first world kids etc, although in Asia now I see so many kids/people with smart phones, on social media etc.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Hi all, some thoughts of the moment.

(A) I am on a previsit to the Country related to the potential 2-year Contract that the Company proposed. Not easy, my wife is not fond of this Country .... so all the basic reasons for ERE/ERM pop up, and it will be a tough decision we together need to make. Lucky we also have an offer for a 1-year extension in the existing location that we are, but that job is not the best. All in all, not an easy decision, so starting ERE/ERM right now, is still on the table, instead of delaying 1-2 years.

(B) I am reading into "meditation", not an easy subject for me, I am a very rational guy, but I realize that "living in the moment" is important, and that meditation can be a technique to realize this

(C) Some other thoughts of today, more like a confession, in the location that we are, there is not much in getting access to Media, which is partially fine. We already ditched TV in 2005, and still happy about that, but sometimes you want to see some Movies or TV series, or read latest book, or listen to latest music, and here comes the confession: even tough I sometimes buy a book online (eBook), I do download a lot of Movies and TV series via Torrent, for instance, "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones". I know all the pro's and con's of free downloading, but I still cannot get my head around, why I justify that it is okay. I now think that it has to do with the situation that many people face: "being a wage slave in a cubicle", somehow you think that the suffering justifies to take a few things for free by downloading. Or is it only the easiness of getting access to Content. Like I said, even as a well educated person with enough empathy and moral values, why is it that I am okay with this?

Anyway, some sharing of my thoughts today

[leeholsen]

Hi all, some thoughts of the moment.

(B) I am reading into "meditation", not an easy subject for me, I am a very rational guy, but I realize that "living in the moment" is important, and that meditation can be a technique to realize this

Anyway, some sharing of my thoughts today

dont know if you have heard of the silva method, its a meditation type deal. i read the book after hearing neal boortz say it changed his life.

there's also seminars you can go to and i keep meaning to go to see if i'm going to totally buy in; but its supposedly really famously effective if you master it.

you can buy the book used.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Will look into it and try, thanks leeholsen! (has it changed your life as well?)

[mxlr650]

(C) Some other thoughts of today, more like a confession, in the location that we are, there is not much in getting access to Media, which is partially fine. We already ditched TV in 2005, and still happy about that, but sometimes you want to see some Movies or TV series, or read latest book, or listen to latest music, and here comes the confession: even tough I sometimes buy a book online (eBook), I do download a lot of Movies and TV series via Torrent, for instance, "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones". I know all the pro's and con's of free downloading, but I still cannot get my head around, why I justify that it is okay. I now think that it has to do with the situation that many people face: "being a wage slave in a cubicle", somehow you think that the suffering justifies to take a few things for free by downloading. Or is it only the easiness of getting access to Content. Like I said, even as a well educated person with enough empathy and moral values, why is it that I am okay with this?

It is a well acknowledged fact that many who would not steal a book from the bookstore/library have no problem downloading things off the net. While mp3 for 0.99c has changed things, movies industry is still in stone ages. I would suggest you have two wifi routers at home, one with password, and another without password for plausible deniability. If the routers are behind a DSL/Cable modem, they are NATed so unique identity might be hard to determine unless you use a unique operating system like OSX or Linux (using generic W7 with IE will make it harder to detect)

There are few more options you can consider: Netflix is not expensive ($8 per month), and if your company has office in the USA you can login to USA VPN server to skirt geolocation restriction.

You may also want to consider: https://plex.tv/

[theanimal]

One of my current law professors has scared me out of downloading anything illegal ever again. I haven't downloaded anything illegal for a few years now but the risk far outweighs the benefit. He told us of a story of a woman who got caught downloading music files illegally. She was fined $600,000 dollars. The amount of songs she downloaded? Only 9..

Just think..would you want someone stealing your writing, images, music etc.? The lack of ethical values that many display in my generation is quite alarming..I don't think it will bode well for the business culture in the future.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Hi, thanks for the reaction, not to dwell to long on the downloading subject, but I think there is something more fundamental going on. I do not believe that a whole generation has become suddenly low on ethical values. It seems we have started to look different at digital content versus the physical package that it used to have. However, even when I was young, we shared music (via tapes) and felt good about that, the only thing is, that it is now accelerated via Internet and sharing possibilities, and even expanded to Movies/TV and Books.

Anyway, lets get back to ERE/ERM topic. Have been reading some other Journals, and I am really impressed how some people are really determined and reach success early in their lives (from ERE point of view). Even though I never followed this methodology and also never had this mindset, I am still inspired by it, hence that I like to be on this forum. I am currently on the edge of accepting the 2 year contract, the coming week will be the decision moment. It would delay my ERM moment to age of 50, and I am reasonable content with this. It is in a new Country, new Adventure, new People you meet, perhaps new Ideas, and to some extent I like the Job content (but not always the job life), so I see this as acceptable value to spend more life-energy this way. I discussed with my wife that I will use these 2 years as well to prepare for life after ERM deadline, I want to learn some new skills the coming 2 years (like meditation, try online business, better investing, etc..).

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Kind of depressed today, several reasons, some old stupid investment went further down after being suspended for trading more than 7 years (via "free" advice from "financial Experts", yes, I know, how stupid can I be....). Also my company who is trying to rip me off from my bonus because of system issues !!! And actually more shit going on at this company .... Oh my, how I want to say goodbye to this company, but I need to get my bonus first, I will not give up the fight. All in all, I look forward to the ERE break, and the 1st year I only want to relax and get myself back in shape, mentally and physically ...

Keep fighting for that bonus. My company does the same thing. They stretch out the payment date, reduce it by arguing that there isn't inflation, change it so you get shares in the company instead of money(non-voting shares of course), etc. Make them pay!

Small update: I won the battle on the Bonus, just received ....
No decision yet on my next step, but enough choice, but any Offer takes long in this company

[Hankaroundtheworld]

While at the (Indian) Dentist in my town, I read a magazine with some Indian "wisdom" inside. It was more or less to the point with my situation, basically the focus was on "CHANGE, how the mind is trying to avoid it". I have made my own translation of the 10 mind-tricks of resisting "change", and my own (short) reflection on it regarding ERE/ERM. Just to remember this for myself, but feel free to respond as well

the 10 mind-tricks that would resist change:

(1) I do not know what I really want
Situation: As long as you do not see the real goal, your mind is hesitated to make a step. You get stuck, not moving. Try to look at mini-steps, the Mind normally shows smaller steps to take without revealing or the capability to see the long-term goal. Take those mini-steps and trust that the next step will show up after that.

(2) I need more time to make a decision (or courage or money, etc...)
Situation: most common excuse to change. You are again stuck, too many excuses to make a move, and before you know, the rat chasing the cheese in the cage is exhausted

(3) I cannot let them win (blame)
Situation: you do not want to commit to change, because it shows that the other has won. This typical happens in relationships (and related changes)

(4) What will people say? (fear judgement)
Situation: in fact, this typically means that we are afraid to show our own thoughts and feelings, because they reveal something we do not want to see of ourselves (or show to others).

(5) What is the point of Change? (pessimism)
Fear for change can crystallize into cynicism and denial (I do not want change)

(6) I never get it better than this (insecurity)
Typical response during recession years. The jobs sucks, but the money is good...It could lead to self-fulfilling prophecy that you get stuck on a certain job or level in your own Evolution

(7) Waiting for a sign ! (false hope)
Hoping that someone or "god" gives a signal to change. So, not taking own responsibility for change

(8) Fear of facing oneself
Basically, many project their flaws to their boss (work situation), so blame others. If you make a move, then you become fully responsible for your situation, no more excuses!, and that sometimes brings fear (and no action as result)

(9) Loss of Identity
It is not the loss of Money (regular income) but "loss of identity" that is the biggest fear. People identify themselves with their work, status and social contacts. Jumping in the dark when leaving a company, is a fear related to that identity.

(10) Fear of your own power
Part of the Ego is afraid of the next step in your own Evolution. Your Ego wants the next step, but then it has to give up existing safety, security and familiarity. The Mind is a bit lazy, and we also underestimate our own power, we can do a lot more than we think.

My own reflection on this: It is mainly "2" (I need more time and money) and partially "10", as I am not afraid for the next step nor have problems around identity, but i somehow make those excuses of time/money to delay my next step (= ERE/ERM). I also think, I will do well when I make the move, but underestimate my own power.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

I thought to analyze my Financial situation today.... with some questions

If I look at my net-Worth, then the split is roughly:
* 45% is in Mutual funds (target rate of 5-6%)
* 28% is in Cash (against 1.6% interest rates)
* 27% is in Real Estate (generating 5.7% yield in a good year, but should be corrected to 4.5% yield, to allow buffer for Rental interruptions and potential renovations)

The Real Estate should deliver 50% of ER income (as of current expectations in future ER spending), the rest should come from Mutual funds. The Cash is partially used as buffer (during tough years in Stock market)

My big question is what to do with Cash. I was thinking partially in Corporate bonds or Gov bonds, and partially in mixed low-cost ETF (index oriented), or wait till a Market correction takes place (some people expect this, partially because of Market values, partially because of tensions in the world, like with Ukraine)

Any advice is appreciated

[George the original one]

I would go with Gov bonds. You generally won't be paid enough for the risk of corporate bonds.

[Aus_E_Expat]

Henk - Where is the real estate located? The rental yield of 5.7% looks great. I am struggling to get 4% yield on real estate.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Hi "Aus_expat", may be I am not calculating yield correctly? I have no mortgage on it, so the only thing I calculate is "Net Rental Income / Value of Real Estate", and when I am conservative, then I use "(Net Rental Income - Buffer) / Value of Real Estate". I can chat offline where Real Estate is located (PM me)

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Someone suggested (cannot remember who) to read this article:http://www.bravenewlife.com/05/corporat ... +New+Life)

I responded on this:
I like the cynical tone, at least a “shock” will get through the numbness of the working dead
Personally, I think we cannot get rid of the big Corporations anytime soon, but awareness helps you to make a more conscious decision how you would like to play the game. From the 20 years that I have been part of this system, 15 years I have been living and working around the world, so had a chance to experience difficult cultures, people and great locations, and it provided at least 50% extra cash and free benefits (so quicker road to FI). It still means, you need to play the game, and sell your soul, but it was a smoother and more interesting ride than staying in my home country.
I do see changes in society, there is a “movement” coming from bottom-up, that is changing the Corporate chains, and make people more collectively responsible for a certain function in society, and stop the management nonsense (and high overhead in payments). I have now seen this happening in Elder-Care, Alternative Energy, Transport/Travel, etc.. and I think, this is going to spread further. So I am positive that we will face more alternatives. The traditional big Corporations will get minimized in the future.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Another interesting article: http://lifehacker.com/stop-trying-to-be ... socialflow

Reaching happiness is very much correlated with the ERE philosophy

[Hankaroundtheworld]

Today I have accepted a 1-year extension to my Contract, but in a new Country, max will be 2 years. It was a long process to get to this conclusion, instead of going straight to ER phase. I will use this year to prepare myself better (mentally) for ER, as Financially it is more or less okay. It might be seen as a defeat or weakness not to jump right now, but to my defense, I only recently got my head around this FI/ER concept, while if I would have planned this way back (like many are doing well on this forum), it would have been a different process. Still, my mind has changed, and I feel happy with the decision and I am looking forward to the ER phase after this extension. Of course, the extra Cash will come handy as Emergency fund and start-up costs when we start in a new Country after I finished work. It means, being 49 or 50 when starting ER, not bad, considering the history.

[Chad]

It might be seen as a defeat or weakness not to jump right now, but to my defense, I only recently got my head around this FI/ER concept, while if I would have planned this way back (like many are doing well on this forum), it would have been a different process.

I don't think you need to defend yourself. Make the decision that's right for you and don't worry about what everyone else is doing.