classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Where are you and where are you going?
MidsizeLebowski
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:58 pm

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by MidsizeLebowski »

Congrats C_L! Looking forward to hearing hoe semi-ere treats you. On the off chance you do end up in Santa Barbara for a bit, I've got lentils on the stove if you're hungry! :lol:

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

...
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

2Birds1Stone
Posts: 1596
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:20 am
Location: Earth

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

This post was super interesting, especially since I'll have an almost identical situation of SO who works while I am pulling the plug. Winter also scares me, darkness by 4:30-5 PM can such, especially for those of us with SAD. It's great that you are able to entertain yourself on the cheap, and probably helps that you have friends who are also free during weekdays/daytime to do activities with. I've been trying to convince people to play hooky from work and do shit during the week, but mostly met with strong resistance. Keep us updated on the relationship dynamics of this thing.

Cheepnis
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 11:52 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Cheepnis »

Sleep is so important. I'm lucky that my job meshes nicely with natural sleep cycle because if it didn't I don't know if I could do it. Prioritizing my sleep has been one of the few things I think that's kept me sane throughout some of the tougher times. Good for you for attaining the ability to sleep as your body needs.

And getting out of the run-run-run mentality is something I struggle with. I'm envious of your current position! Sometimes my self selected goals, such as "read a book a week", is just a means to make sure I allocate my time not working around something productive or inline with some preconceived notion of "worthwhile". A goal such as that would be easy and happen naturally if there wasn't 9 hours every weekday that inhibited the activity. I constantly have to remind myself that sometimes just stopping and smelling the roses is a perfectly acceptable form of spending my time, even if I "should" be reading my book. I even stop and smell the roses literally on my bike rides home from work every now and then. This past week in particular has been an instance of a nice and tranquil home life. Workin' on making these stretches longer and longer and the gaps between them shorter and shorter.

Jin+Guice
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:15 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Jin+Guice »

classical_Liberal wrote:
Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:13 pm
The first week was a bit weird with the GF, particularly the weekend. She was distant and seemed to lack energy. In fairness she was dealing with some work related contract issues for her next contract too. We had a conversation about what I was seeing and it turns out there was a bit of jealousy on her end, but more so concerns about how our daily life was changing. For one, she was worried about getting some alone time for herself now that I didn't disappear to work/sleep mode for days on end.
This is huge and cannot be overstated.
classical_Liberal wrote:
Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:13 pm
She brought it to my attention that it was not her who had changed, rather it was me who suddenly had much more vigor to pursue these activities.
I'm telling you full-time work is not a way to live! Especially in the medical 12+ hour shift 60+ hour work week medical world. Before I found ERE I was always a bit embarrassed not to be working unless I as "doing something really awesome." Once you allow yourself not to work, you realize how terrible working actually is.



I'm really excited to see how this period unfolds for you.

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

...
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Jean
Posts: 1890
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:49 am
Location: Switzterland

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Jean »

Try to start some mean of artistically expressing yourself. I suggest B A S S cause you can S L A P it.

2Birds1Stone
Posts: 1596
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:20 am
Location: Earth

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Funny suggestion Jean, I just picked up an acoustic guitar last night for the first time in nearly two decades! It's one of my ERE goals to become proficient.

User avatar
Jean
Posts: 1890
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:49 am
Location: Switzterland

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Jean »

It could be painting or bronze casting, but music is easier to store or move around

horsewoman
Posts: 659
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:11 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by horsewoman »

Jean wrote:
Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:48 pm
Try to start some mean of artistically expressing yourself. I suggest B A S S cause you can S L A P it.
this sounds like someone is a davie504 fan ;) If so - OMG!

sorry c_l for the totally unrelated comment that won't make sense to anybody but the fans of a certain youtuber :) Just ignore it! I couldn't resist.

suomalainen
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:49 pm

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by suomalainen »

Very impressed with how quickly you and the gf saw the issue, identified the issue, owned your respective emotions, took responsibility for your own contributions and were able to address the issue, in what appears to be a very efficient and mature-like manner. So not at all what happens in my neck of the woods. You should apparently run some couples-therapy workshops in your newly-found spare time.

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

...
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jin+Guice
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:15 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Jin+Guice »

Ah, yes. Welcome to the dark side.
classical_Liberal wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:58 pm
I’m having a hard time with all this free time and being stuck mostly indoors.
This part sucks. The summer is the worst time here and it just ended about a week ago. I'm hoping to have some location independence in my future life, although this is hard with work/ band obligations. Getting so screwed by the weather made me feel weirdly more in-tune with nature. Like I always new the summer sucked, but actually owning my time and having it suck is different than just not being able to go outside on weekends. Let me know if you find a solution to what to do in the awful 6 months of the year.

classical_Liberal wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:58 pm
The extra time with her and the ability focus a bit more energy into our relationship has me noticing a few things about her, I hadn’t previously. She really needs time with other people, specifically her girlfriends, to be the most happy and energetic. This intern makes life better in the time we spend together.
Wow man, you are good at this, like probably only for a dude, but still, wow. I only recently realized that people could be different than me and that I should pay attention to it. I also only recently realized that this was a skill I could work to improve. The best thing I picked up from my recent reading of Scott Adams' book (read kind of at your recommendation) was paying attention to my "energy" levels throughout the day. I thought anything with "energy" in it was hippie bullshit before this, but paying attention to energy levels has helped a lot, especially with all of the free time.

classical_Liberal wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:58 pm
Despite increased activity I have not been able to shed any of this extra 20-30lbs of fat that I’ve allowed to build up over the past 4-5 years
I initially had trouble with this too. My only success has been switching to intermittent fasting and the ability to actually do my exercise routine more with more time off... so not much help from me.

I've been reading C40s journal recently and man, those fucking INTJs! They always know what they want, never seem to waste time and they all seem to control their body weight like they're just turning a knob. OTOH, I really think I'd get bored/ not have enough social interaction without working a little bit, which doesn't seem to be a problem for them. This is an advantage for semi-ERE though.


Re: Money

Do you need to save more money at some point to cover 1) basics and 2) your pre-FIRE spending? If you didn't save another dime, how many years of full-retirement would you have before SS kicks in (I'm assuming with 50% SS you are good at old age)? It seems like it'd be easy to earn just your yearly expenses if you didn't have to save. Although, I do think another advantage of semi-ERE is the ability to start making withdrawals before you totally retire (it seems like most people freak out a little bit when they switch from saving to withdrawing).

Colibri
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 1:26 am
Location: Northern Canada

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Colibri »

Thanks for sharing your experiences classical_Liberal. I really appreciate reading your semi-ERE journal.

I have been semi-ERE for 2 years now with ups and downs. Boredom, lack of motivation and feeling like I am waisting my life have all been on my mind but I also did some very cool stuff that I would never have imagined doing. Sleeping as much as my body feels like is the biggest plus for me, beyond everything else. I can't imagine going back to work full-time, working about 5-10 hours a week is what makes me happy right now. I can see myself fully ERE within 5 years but not sure if this is what I really want.
Keep sharing please, give me the sense that I am not the only weird animal.

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

...
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

2Birds1Stone
Posts: 1596
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:20 am
Location: Earth

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Awesome update, c_L.

It's been fun reading your journal, as you're just a bit ahead of me in the whole "ripping the band-aid off" process. I see a lot of my own concerns being echo'd here, primarily around weather/winter and having so much free time. I've yet to hit a day where I'm bored and have nothing to do, but as the days get shorter, and colder, it's bound to happen.

I'm sure the weight will come off with time. Going from all of the NEAT of nursing to being more sedentary + some exercise like biking probably equaled out. I also noticed myself snacking more because food is only 10' away in my tiny apartment, and I tend to eat out of boredom. Curious how the fasting goes for you, please do keep us posted on that!

Financially I think you're set. Is that $1,100/month figure your highest initial spend with 100% success rate, using 50% of PIA? I should figure that one out too, but pretty sure I'm around $1,300, which is crazy to think about. We never really have to work career jobs again to bridge the gap. I hope you realize how awesome it is that you can go back to work for a short stint and earn some serious coin. I've been scratching my hear trying to figure out what I could do for 20-30 hours a month that would pay even $20+ an hour after taxes. That would be the dream. I could use that to fund the discretionary portion of my spending and use a <3% withdrawal rate for the necessities. Time will tell.

Jin+Guice
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:15 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by Jin+Guice »

The weather shit is serious, I'm surprised they're aren't more people talking about this on here. I give up all hope by the end of September. The gulf coast is what's up in the winter. It still gets cold occasionally but it's kind of fun, especially if you don't have to worry about getting to work. It's not uncommon for 2-3 days around 40 (this is cold af due to the humidity) to be followed by a few days in the mid-70s.

@c_L: Snowbirding is one of the down sides of wanting to be somewhat established somewhere and still have work. It's definitely in my web of goals though.


What I was trying to ask is, at your current spend rate (IIRC, ~18,000/ year?), how many solid years could you take off, assuming 50% SS? This is kind of a tricky question since it will depend on how you estimate investment returns. Interesting to think about, though maybe not if you're prone to over-worrying (I'm prone to coercing the numbers to tell me I should quit earlier).


@2b1s: I spend a lot of time on this problem too. Especially for someone in you or c_L's position, I think it makes more sense to focus on what you might what to do rather than a certain dollar amount. If you need $10k a year and you can do your dream job from home, but it only pays $2/ hour, then you're back to where you started. OTOH, setting the floor at $20/ hour is pretty limiting. In my experience the world of low-impact but kind of o.k. jobs exist largely in the $10-$20/ hour range. Y'all have bought the time to do this very slowly. Take a year or 2 off of work to dick around and travel and decompress, then another year or two to figure out what you like and then another year or two to figure out how to do it. I bet the real challenge will be lasting 6 years without making any money.

FWIW, I've found the cutoff in lifestyle between working around your job and just having work be an annoying errand you do is around 20 hr/ week. I also don't like working less than 8. If I was going for ideal I'd say somewhere around 15 with some weeks having 0 or little and some weeks having almost 30. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the ennui and just go somewhere and do something immediately gratifying.

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

,,,
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15907
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by jacob »

There's a FIRE community setting up in Lake Geneva, WI. A few people are already there. It's 6 month seasonal/former "campground". Units are 30-60k and carrying costs (taxes+HOA) are $2-3k. It's a bit rich for my taste unless the exact same arrangement would be possible in the south.

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: classical_Liberal's Semi-ERE

Post by classical_Liberal »

...
Last edited by classical_Liberal on Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply