A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Where are you and where are you going?

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

"Thumbs up" Ego and Married2aSwabian!

So today is Phase III Day 1. A recent former colleague (who also had Friday as a last day) sent a note to say it didn't feel any different until Monday morning. We'll see on Monday, but it doesn't feel much different today. The next 5 days will be pretty mundane: sorting and packing. The movers come next Thursday.

My last two employee days (Thursday checked out of the customer site, Friday from my employer) were just a little strange, like what I imagine a day-long waking dream might be like. Time, I suppose, to look ahead, not back.

Best get busy.

RockyMtnLiving
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by RockyMtnLiving »

As a 57 year old guy who views you as a role model, I wish you only the best, Dave

Thanks for keeping us updated; I'm not as smart as you, but deem myself to be proudly following in your wake

I will go back through your posts to refresh my recollection about your new starting point (age, AA, investable assets expressed as a percentage of annual budget, etc.)

Feels like the beginning of a new journal

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

RockyMtnLiving wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:50 pm
... I wish you only the best, Dave ...
Thanks, RockyMtnLiving.

I've actually sort of lost track of exactly where I am. It appears my main drive for tracking the numbers all that time was to support the making of future decisions. Once the decisions were made and initiated, my attention went to executing them which doesn't require much of that. I'm sure I'll get back to the math once a bit of normalcy returns.

I haven't put a lot of detailed thought into how I'm going to change over my accumulation mode financial tracking process to a new post-accumulation monitoring set up. I thought about "re-baselining" now to reflect the precise state on the day I technically retired, but I've decided that waiting until I get the house transactions complete (sell then buy) will give a more meaningful snap shot. I'm also dragging my feet because I'm a little apprehensive--if the jump in inflation lasts, it takes a lot of the sunshine and rainbows out of forward-looking projections, haha.

Thinking ahead, I'm unsure now much my interests and the interests of the board will intersect as far as journaling goes, tbh. Will have to see how that evolves. At the moment I don't know what might be worth talking about.

Married2aSwabian
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Married2aSwabian »

Congrats, iDave - you’ve done it, you’ve won retirement Gold! Your picture will be on a box of Wheaties next. ;)

I also read your journal with interest as you are 11 months ahead of me, a great writer and a financial role model for semi-early retirement for old guys.

How this shitty (hopefully short lived) inflation impacts retirement and details on drawing from the nest egg are interesting topics for sure. I shall look forward to your future insights!

For now, in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh: “Don’t just do something, sit there.” :)
Last edited by Married2aSwabian on Sun Aug 01, 2021 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

7Wannabe5
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I think the further adventures of IlliniDave will be of great interest to many forum readers. It’s not necessary to share exact interests or desires with another human in order to appreciate freedom to fulfill them.

rube
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by rube »

Congrats Dave. Enjoy.
Hope to see some future updates now and then.

Scott 2
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Scott 2 »

Congratulations! I too am interested in how you solve what's next. Not working is more challenging in many ways. I might even call it the hard part. There's no script.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Thanks, everyone. I'll do my best to cast my future, hopefully quiet and peaceful, life in an interesting light.

So far I don't feel very retired. I did have my first remembered dream about work last night. In the dream I went into my office (which had been moved to a different part of the building) and started checking email during the midst of which it occurred to me I shouldn't even be in the building, and my account should have been deactivated. Then I woke up, shook off the weird feeling, and went back to sleep.

I'd estimate my packing is 80% complete, movers come the day after tomorrow and much of what's left is stuff for them to pack/prepare. Today I'll be tackling much of the garage and start in on some non-packing things like arranging to get my mail forwarded and figuring out what I need to do as far as utilities go. Just mundane stuff. The ol' house is looking pretty good as most of the updates/refurbs are winding down. Some of the choices are not ones I'd make for myself, but the strategy was more aimed at turnkey mass appeal. Hopefully it will work.

Had a local company out to the cabin to turn the water on and checkout all the plumbing (typically at least one small problem crops up going through the winter cycle, and this time there's been two). Apparently some settling has occurred and the door was wedged shut. Lat I talked to them at the end of the afternoon yesterday they were going to take a crowbar to it. So it looks like the first order of business after a stop off in Illinois will be addressing that. Always something flitting around to kill my buzz.

Scott 2
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Scott 2 »

Over the last 6 months, recurring dreams from my past have popped up, as far back as high school. Things I haven't considered in decades. It's like with the extra mental space, my brain is defragging. Super weird.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Scott 2 wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:01 am
... It's like with the extra mental space, my brain is defragging. Super weird.
I hope something like that will happen to me!

Movers were here today, so not much left in the house. 2/3 is junk to get rid of and the rest is stuff I will need prior to the big unpacking, whenever that happens.

Doubts and second-guessing have started to set in. Better now than before the movers showed up, haha. People ask me how it feels to be retired and my answer has been, "I've been too busy to notice." I'd be pleased if that was my answer a year or two down the road for other reasons. As it is, its been nonstop moving-related activities. Not exactly the things people hang around the water cooler and wish for.

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Sorry the move is stressful but I just want to say congratulations and I'm cheering you on. :D

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Gilberto de Piento wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:13 pm
:D
Thanks GdP. Certainly the worst is behind me and the move-out itself is more aggravating than stressful. On the other end all the unpacking will be at a leisurely pace (and it is a generally easier chore).

What is a bit harder to neatly compartmentalize is standing in the wake of a life-altering decision (relative to my natural tendency not to perturb things). A hazard of cashing out on a pretty decent life for a shot at a better one, or maybe just a different one, I suppose.

One of my quirks is that "home is where the heart is" isn't so cut and dried. I invested a lot into this property besides money, and even though I should come out of it with a modest financial boost, the only return I get (got) for all the energy and intangibles is the degree they improved quality of day-to-day life. By way of trivial example, I've put a lot of time and effort into trees: planting, maintaining, and cleaning up after them. They don't add much to the value of the property. And, I'm sort of attached to them. Makes for a weird stew. I can't tell you how many times in the last 10 years I wished to be rid of the place. I think in time that will reassert itself. But for now things are a bit unsettled.

With the next home my expectations going in are that it is a 2-10 year venture. The takeaways from what I'm learning now are: whatever improvements I wind up doing should be done early on so I can benefit from them longer; and they should have overlapping financial benefit. As a for instance, one thing I'm thinking about is improving the "finished" portion of the basement, which looks like it was originally done as a kids' rec room, to make it a combo man cave/music room. Chances are I'll forgo fancy acoustic treatment that would elevate it to the level of a studio like I'd originally contemplated, something I'd do if I thought there was a shot it would be my "forever home".

The worst part of it all is seeing the increasing sadness of my daughter. It's the first house she really remembers living in and I also get the sense it bothers her that I won't be close by. I've known for a while that for me being far away from them would be at the top of the regret list in the whole venture. But it tugs a little deeper knowing the feeling is reciprocated. For all that, she's put on her game face totally, and has been 100% supportive. We both agree giving the house a big makeover at the end makes it easier since it doesn't look or feel like "our house" any longer.

I don't think I'll ever have this same sense of home again. I plan for the next stop to be interim, and chances are the one after that I'll look at as a convenient place to continue growing older and eventually die.

7Wannabe5
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I think the application of resale value to what is meant to be your home is a very good example of downfall optimization level thinking. Trees add a great deal of value to daily life. There are many other “patterns” that most humans don’t think about when buying or making use of a house that can greatly improve overall lifestyle. For instance, having an east facing window in your bedroom can set the tone for your entire day, every day.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:32 am
... example of downfall optimization level thinking.
I don't even know what that is, ha. The thoughts I was riffing on grew out of, "you can't take it with you" (transposed to the context of moving) meets my having the tendency to identify "home" with, among other things, places/structures. I'm getting ready to start over in a new place, albeit likely one with an amount of family legacy attached. Applying lessons learned, it just seems pragmatic to limit my investment (financial and otherwise) to maximizing my quality of life in the short-/medium-term or enhancing the expected sale when that day comes. Sort of the same as saying I don't want to undertake projects that would pay off only in quality of life and even then not until 10 or 20 years down the road. It's a shallower swipe at the situation than I think you give me credit for. :lol:

Of course when you can find the intersection of increasing the value of a property while simultaneously enhancing its utility to you, you're in the sweet spot. I compartmentalized things a little too much via the confines of an overarching financial plan and missed some opportunities there. At least as of today, I don't have a financial plan any more. That's something I'll probably look at once winter sidles up to the front door.

I'm intrigued. What's the magic to an east window?

Other thoughts since I'm here.

It's probable "expenses" will exceed income this month. It would be only the second time since 2012 (as far back as I have reliable data). That month in 2015 I paid for some substantial house upgrades that I piggybacked onto an insurance claim. This month the lion's share of the upgrade/refurbish and listing preparation costs are coming due, as well as the balance of the relo costs. Forked out a pretty big chunk yesterday alone. Income is a little high this month because I had a week's residual pay plus a little more than a month's cashed-out vacation time hit, and might get an annuity payment later this month. So it won't be a huge deficit.

I used quotes on expenses because I'm tracking them in their own categories and once the house sells they will all be reimbursed in my mega spreadsheet. Well at least all the upgrade and directly sale-related costs. Likely the moving too. It's all money that would have gone into the stash and the first step once I have net-of-sale proceeds in hand will be to dump that amount of money into the stash then pretend I didn't spend it to begin with when analyzing what I'm spending to live.

I've also solicited some bids to take care of some deferred maintenance/repairs up at the hideout. It appears I missed a local maxima in the local real estate frenzy, as I've heard "slowed a little" and "plateaued" from independent sources. The listing agent has backed off a little in what she suggested for a range for the listing price. I'm actually a little more comfortable with that since I felt like she was a little over exuberant initially. Through connections with the workmen and consultants there's already some interest in people checking out the house pre-listing, so its not like the market went stagnant, and getting at least close to the discussed listing price seems likely, and over listing is possible still. Either way its almost assured I'll net enough after the update costs to move out on some things I planned to wait until next yer to commence.

As of midafternoon yesterday all my stuff was safely deposited at my aunt's house. For at least a couple months I'll be a house guest there so much of it will remain boxed up and stowed in the basement. Then in due time one of us will move out. All along it's been her plan to move out and sell the place to me, but she hasn't found a right place for her yet. For now I'm hangin' in the old house with an air mattress, a lamp, and an inverted cooler employed as a desk for furnshings. There are still some items for disposal I want to get taken care of this weekend and Monday, and a moderate load to haul up in the vehicle, about 1/3 of which will go all the way to the hideout with me.

I'm looking at driving away from this house for good on Thursday, then 5-10 days later continuing on to the hideout for some acclimation time. A week in, still too busy to note any how-it-feels about retirement. Just working the plan.

mooretrees
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by mooretrees »

So much is happening, I'm not surprised you don't feel much about being retired. Congrats! Really cool to hear how the plan is unfolding. Thanks for staying here and continuing to post.

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jennypenny
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by jennypenny »

Congratulations on making it to the next life, Dave.

7Wannabe5
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Busy, busy, busy! Have fun with the process.

The magic of an east facing window in the bedroom is that you can wake with the sun. The room will also be cooler and less brightly lit later in the day if you wish to take a late afternoon retirement nap or "nap." There are a lot of patterns like this that can be combined to make better environment for lifestyle. Some are more in alignment with functional ergonomics and some are more in alignment with understanding basic shared human psychology in response to such factors as light, ceiling height, colors, scale of furnishings, etc Some combine function with psychology, for instance, giving thought to the sort of object or structure in a garden a human is likely to strike a direct path towards. Most humans when house shopping make classic mistakes and overweight features that are infrequently used vs those that have daily effect.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:57 am
... The magic of an east facing window in the bedroom is that you can wake with the sun...
I'll keep that in mind if I ever get out of my habit of getting up prior to sunrise. :lol: So far without a workplace to be to I've actually been getting up a little earlier than normal. Probably that's because of my subconscious worrywart side stewing over the (thankfully dwindling) list of things I need to get done before I can hit the road.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

I'm calling today Phase III day 1. Hard to believe I'll be officially retired for 2 weeks in about 4 hours and 15 minutes. So far the days are proceeding like weekends, holidays, and vacations: gone in the blink of an eye.

I spent yesterday driving up to Illinois. Aside from an empty house I don't have any physical left possessions left in Alabama, and I'm expecting to have it sold within 30-45 days. I'll still be in limbo for a while with most of my stuff in storage in my aunt's basement. By my estimation I jettisoned close to 50% of my things by volume in the last three months.

So far I'm emotionally numb. That's not a bad thing. One of my little friends from grade school owns/operates a bar here in town, and either tonight or tomorrow night I'm going to go by there for a couple of hours. Even though it seems pretty cliche and I'm not much of a drinker, it seems like having a distinct moment to celebrate my new occupation (private family wealth fund manager?) is in order.

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