Early Retirement Extreme Forums

brute wishes TopHatFox fun at his new job

Glad to hear good news!

However, regarding this:

TopHatFox wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:31 pm

One idea I've finally come to terms with is that life is hard

This is certainly true today in many parts of the world where people deal with war, famine, hunger, lack of medical care etc. But in US? This is surely the best time in the history of our species to be alive and US is one of the best places to live. Life in the West is pretty much on an easy mode nowadays - basically any job pays enough to cover basic needs and then some, and one still has 60h a week left to pursue one's interests (or other activities to satisfy higher order needs from Maslov's pyramid).

@Bankai - there's a difference between hard and impossible

TopHatFox wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:31 pm

Congratulations Fox! This sounds like a perfect setup for you. I visited NYC once, and it struck me as somewhere that is stressful as hell for young people trying to save tons of money and enjoy the ERE life. Epecially if they're not stocking away big bucks in finance or tech. You'll probably feel like a completely different person in 3-5 months.

As for the importance of the grind, I agree with you completely. Do you have any kind of intense & early-morning exercise regime? I ask because Jocko Willink & Joe Rogan inspired me to weightlift early in the morning, and it has made all the difference in my life. I'm not sure if it's the testosterone boost, or that your mind gets calloused and you can deal with more suffering in general, or a combination of things, but I swear, waking up before 5 AM to lift heavy weights makes you feel like you can do anything. You get a massive mental victory before everyone else is even awake. This is all coming from someone who used to HATE waking up early, too. It's just helped an indescribable amount with embracing life's suck.

good.

Good evening

Congrats THF.

+1 to RFS

Started lifting weights and running every day as opposed to whenever I feel like it. Getting tons more sun too, and drinking a 1/2 gallon of water a day. Cut my hair like George Clooney, except mine is still brown. I think I'm done being your stereotypical sensitive millenial hipster. Let's start a new phase LOL: well-built, well-travelled, masculine capitalist Fox. Still need a job, hoping this college job at @20-25/hr 3 mi from home works out. Let's play the entertain myself with other job apps game for now.

I think it will turn out well for you.

Maybe stating the obvious, but if you want to really get something out of the lifting, you'll need to prioritize eating a lot.

The transition from sensitive hipster to well-built masculine man entails giving up the veganism. Yes.

Or just more rice and beans~

Join the dark side. Have a bite of flesh. It's so good. Power!!!!

MARCH 2018

Living Situation: Moved the hell out of NY. Feeling great! Haven't felt suicidal in a week and a half. LOL. It's incredible what living close to family, sunlight, and warmth can do. Fuuuuuuck NY.

Family Mortgage Sub-Lease: I've been helping out the parents with renting out two large rooms with a large shared bathroom in the house. There's about 160K left on the mortgage as of now. With an annual renting income of 12-14K (~1K/mo) and whatever my parents can throw at the mortgage every year, we should be able to pay it off in 10 years, right around when my parents are 65-70. This means that SS will only have to account for food, taxes, one car, and misc. expenses. They can get more there if they defer SS until 70. If they want more income, they can continue renting the place. Now it's just a matter of clearing the sub-lease through the home association's hoops and finding some tenants.

Family 401K and IRA: Convinced my parents to create a 401K in their workplace w/ a 6% match and an IRA. It'll start teaching them a bit about investing as well eliminate any of the (low) taxes they might pay. I looked through some of the options in their 401K, and the expense ratios are a lot higher than Vanguard's. Unfortunately, the options don't include VTSAX, only Vanguard's Mid-Cap and Small-Cap funds. They also don't have any Vanguard bond funds. It looks like the best bet is a Retirement Date Fund at .53% expense ratio, which seems multiple times higher compared to Vanguard. I imagine this is how the investment industry takes their keep from clueless workers throwing money at their retirement accounts? I can only imagine the fees were worse before Vanguard stepped in. As far as the 401K is concerned, we may need to make due with whatever funds are available, or maybe ask if we can invest in other vehicles. I may also be able to just make them a Three-Fund portfolio and have the 401K be the VTIAX portion of the total allocation (since VTIAX is offered as an option).

Family Citizenship: Parents could use help with transitioning from permanent residents to full citizens. I've started helping them with the application process and quizzing them on US history haha.

Job Prospects and Grad School: I found many job leads at 3 local colleges, one of which I went to. They pay around 35-45k, and only require a BA with some years of experience. Knowing Miami, the competition here is SO much lower than NY, holy hell. I may be able to get tuition reimbursement for a Masters. I think I'm going to bail on the STEM path, since who am I kidding, if I can get a job in the non-technical side of things, my career trajectory will be a downhill ride.

Relationships: C and I cut it off due to distance, though we still talk occasionally. Talking to a girl in Atlanta I use to be close with and seeing if that goes anywhere since I applied to a few jobs there for other reasons. Talking to a girl G here in Miami that I think would be a good fit for the short-term and who the hell knows, maybe for the long-term. We think similarly, are above average in attractiveness, are good communicators, and hate the rat race about equally. Could be good. I don't really care as much about polyamory or not nowadays. Women just know how to act more smoothly in a courting to monogamous arrangement, or at max open-relationship arrangement. I think what tends to work best is either a primary with a few flings every now and again, or a committed relationship with two people where they both like each other. Keep tuned in~

Diet, Exercise, Hobbies, Sunlight: I've now realized just how important drinking 8 cups+ of water is, as well as weight lifting or running everyday. Having a list of things to do where bored as hell is also crucial. Sunlight is like heaven. I can't see myself living in a cold, dark place for half the year ever again. Eating plenty of greens and fruits is key too, and enough calories.

Taxes: Got a book on 2018 taxes. Need to get on that ASAP.

Orthodontia/Surgery: Planning on visiting NY once a month for orthodontia appointments. May consider switching the orthodontist to here in Miami or wherever I end up. I won't switch the insurance address from NY that way I can keep the same service providers. Got a sports mouthguard since there aren't many night guards that work with braces. It'll have to do. I'll probably get some teeth and gum contouring after my bite is fixed, then protect it all with a night guard. Talk about effort!

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Networth 60K

APRIL 2018 UPDATES:

1. Working on getting the top-half of parent's house in leasing order with their help
2. Identified a large tool shed in the back yard I can convert into a tiny house w/ garden. Dad is eager to help
3. Got my mom an interview at a better job, but turns out the pay is lower. Considering negotiating
4. Completed 30 long-form apps for roles at two local colleges, and reached out to AC alumni working there
5. Flew to NY for orthodontia. Final tooth gap is closing nicely. Looks like 4-6 mo before surgery(!)
6. Trying to only think positive thoughts and mostly present happily from now on. Depression sucks and I'm through with it!
7. Went on a couple dates. Actively seeking another partner to form a long-term relationship with. #bringintheoptimism

TopHatFox wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:55 pm

Taxes: Got a book on 2018 taxes. Need to get on that ASAP.

Did you do your taxes by hand this year?

I'm doing them righttttt - now. I'll have them checked by a tax preparation person tomorrow at 1 PM.~

Got around 2.1K in a refund. Learned lots about the 1040 and state forms, not to mention the w-4 haha. This $ will be awesome to help me finish up surgery!

TopHatFox wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:02 pm

I'm going to replace internet forums and articles with Meetups, dialogue with in-person or video calling people, mentors, books, and audiobooks/podcasts. Let's see what happens.~ Thank you all for your time over the years! I may be back in a day, a week, or years. Who knows!

Haven't heard from you in a while Fox. Hope all is going well. Drop us a note when you feel like it.

didn't he leave?

FALL 2018

Transition from NYC to Miami:

A success. I've been working as the anthropology department's manager at a local university @50k/yr for about 3 months now. Not paying state or local taxes and not paying rent since my parents are here. All I'm due for is $15 Mint Mobile, chip-in for food, public transit, and the occasional night out. Double-Jaw surgery is scheduled for next month using my new role's health insurance, with paid vacation to recover. Started my (free) masters in public administration with a concentration in environmental and higher ed management. Build a separation to rent out my parents' house and that's been helping them. Working on the tiny house out back. Miami is so easy career wise compared to NYC. I feel like the people here aren't very...smart, to be honest. Pretty, yes, but not very smart. Only thing I've really been struggling with is finding a gf. It was much easier in Massachusetts for me to get attention, but awell, I'll keep hitting up the environmentalist hipsters in Wynwood and go from there. There's always Colorado after the Masters is done in around 2 years.

I found out that I do better when I read and listen to podcasts than use forums (unless if it's for something really specific like asking about Roth Conversions or something), so I'll check in much more infrequently now knowing that.

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Networth: 65K