Rube's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
DutchGirl
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

Hi Rube, enjoy your holiday! And come back safe & sound...

I hope you celebrated your wife's retirement with a nice...pizza I guess.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thnx DG.
I guess we didn't celebrated officially, though we had pizza (and ice cream) recently. Perhaps next time we will do it in honour of this "break" in employment.
DW sees this more as a break then early retirement, she might do some consulting/work assignments in the future in her profession, or do something completely different. Either way, she expects to do some paid work again. But we will see.

I did amost nothing today. Just the basics liike eating, showering, a monthly update of my financial excel file (just for fun) and a few posts here. Perhaps tomorrow more activity, perhaps not. It is holiday time...

Fun fact (for me): total cashflow from the 6 apartments since the start is expected to reach this month the same amount as the original purchase price of appartement 1 + 2.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

July 2019: Rube 40 hrs/wk + DW 32 hrs/wk = 72 hrs/wk
August 2020: Rube 20 hrs/wk + DW 32 hrs/wk = 52 hrs/wk
August 2021: Rube 20 hrs/wk + DW 0 hrs/wk = 20 hrs/wk
July 2022: Rube 0 hrs/wk + DW 0 hrs/wk = 0 hrs/wk

July 2019 I announced my target to quit or at least reduce my hours 12 months later and had a countdown in my journal.
We did kind of the same for DW, at least 6 month prior she did quit.
Now I am 85% sure I will quit also with my 20 hrs/week end is June/July 2022. Probably still be employed in July but largely off by using up my holidays.
At times the work is fun, but together with the renovation in our house I am still busy the whole time. And no time or energy for the things I planned to do, i.e. learning about food, health, reading learning to play guitar (?) etc. While the renovation should be ready July next year, so that I have this time really available for "other things", I still think I want more time for myself. Besides, if our current plan continues to travel/live elsewhere with the family for ~8 months, I don't want to combine that with work.

So I guess that means
New goal: 47.4 weeks, 332 days, 143 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work/week.

Work
Currently I have 3 persons reporting into me and I am working to get the budget approved for a 4th person. I don't think anyone in our company with direct reports and my title or higher is working less than 32 hours/week. So 20 hrs/week is already unusual but seems to be accepted well and after 12 months it seems to work out also for the company, i.e. no complaints or issues because of this setup. When I started at this company I didn't had any reports but due to expansion it has grown the way it did. I like to help and guide my direct reports (and others in our department), but I don't really like the official administration and responsibility which comes with it. Also, due to Covid I haven't travelled for the last 17 months, which was something I particularly liked. Not sure what I want to say with all this rambling about work.

Holiday Today it is much cooler as the previous two days (37 degrees Celsius) so I expect to be a bit more active and do some hiking and sight seeing

Finances it is difficult to calculate the exact withdrawal rate percentage:
-6 appartements plus own house give a large spread on estimated value
-we know expenses of previous years, but this does not include coming years of (studying) teenagers
-we have built up some pension, but this is untouchable till we're67/68 years old.
So making some rough estimations the bandwidth between best case and worst case is around 2.4% to 4.3%, average 3.35%. Even with no real yield, i.e. after inflation and taxes, that means about 30 years of expenses. We're then 76 years. And with a small real yield or making some money through side hustles this should be pretty safe I guess.

House renovation
More about this next time.
Last edited by rube on Tue Aug 17, 2021 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DutchGirl
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

As for the finances, Rube, it sounds like your chances of bankruptcy are very very small given your likely withdrawal rate, the fact that your wife and you will probably make some money again now and then, and the fact that you will probably have some amount of social security plus pension waiting for you at age 67 or so.

How does your wife feel about being retired after a couple of weeks of freedom?

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

@DG: recently somebody asked her, "do you miss your job or your previous co-workers?" and her immediate response without hesitation was "no". So far on that part.
When you asked a few weeks ago we were still a bit in a holiday mode. But now the kids are going to school and their sports and jobs again and me working (part-time) again. Currently she's doing a lot on the house renovation, painting, arranging things etc. and she started to some some voluntary work for a few hours a week. it's not like retired - retired, but just doing other things at the moment, in a way she likes and it is much more relaxed for all of us. But she might pick up a contract for a few weeks or months for a few days a week in the (near) future. She has done already a bit of this, but just a few hours here and there.

House renovation after a lot of preparations and work ourselves we're now on our way to have some things finalized by different contractors in the next couple of weeks. I will still be busy after that for some time but at least we're going somewhere now.

Goal 0 hrs/work: 43.1 weeks, 302 days, 130 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work/week.

finances First month since a long time with a payment of only 1 job. Everything okay in this field, housing market still crazy. I'll make another bridge loan next week to earn some additional money from some cash we have. Bought some tools and a "gift" (electronic item) for myself. Some of this could have been done "cheaper", i.e. not buying a 200 euro powertool and instead ask around to lend some hand tools to do the same....but we have the money, I wanted some of this already for a long time, it helps me with the renovation, to enjoy live. So why not...I am probably a bit between MMM and ERE I guess and I think I am okay with that. Basically we're just continuing what we have done before.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Anniversary
Two days days shy of the 9 year anniversary of this journal. A lot has happened in those 9 years and time certainly flies!
Our DS and DD are now (really!) become teenagers and we're guiding them towards adolescence as good as we can. We had a couple of very nice holidays, we became landlords, we moved, changed jobs (DW), quit job - RE for now (DW) and I started to work part-time, did many DIY projects. This among many other things which happened and changed our lives. Financially we're at a position I didn't dare to dream about when we started this journey. The ERE philosophy and these forums have been tremendously helpful in these years in many ways.

Back to today...

House renovation many things were done by several contractors and ourselves since early September. Unfortunately one of them made a mistake. As it seems now they will fix it, but it will cause some delays in other things and it creating a hassle in organizing certain things. But most important is they fix it and hopefully without any discussions.

Work due to change at my company I would have perhaps an opportunity to move up the ladder. And I might have considered it and see it as an adventure, as it would involve moving to another continent, if this happened a couple of years ago. But at this moment it would interfere too much with some things going on at our personal life and the plans we have, such that I decided not go for it.
I am still doubting if I will offer to the employer to provide interim support in leading the team overseas. At this point in our journey I wouldn't do it at all for the money, but purely for the kind of adventure, proving to myself what I can do etc. Well, of course I want to be fairly compensated also, but it's not about chasing money. So one hand on one hand I would be excited about it and this might be the only opportunity I will have. On the other hand it would be a burden on our family life to travel every couple of weeks back and forth and being home very little for several months. And after the first couple of weeks I might already be thinking, why the heck am I doing this....so no decision taken yet.

Goal 0 hrs/work: 36.3 weeks, 254 days, 110 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work/week. Even with the above, the date for this goal has not changed (for now).

Enjoy the journey, live well and till the next update.

DutchGirl
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

A tough decision with work... Luckily you still have some time to make the decision, I think.

You've accomplished a lot in less than a decade; that's awesome!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Wow- 9 years! It is amazing what one can accomplish over larger chunks of time with good habits and vision. Congratulations on your success!

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thanks DG and WRC

Work: the position got posted last week. Some of my colleagues said I would be a good fit. But I decided not to show any interest for the position. It's not worth it for me/us. Instead I decided to move the goalposts and have my last work day a month earlier, end of May.

Today one of my previous managers has asked me (again) if I would have interest to work together in the near future. I said I might be interested if it would be like a consultancy gig for a few hours per week. I believe that's not the expectation. Will find out more in the next few days.

House: The error the contractor made is even worse as expected earlier. It is planned to be fixed over the next 5 weeks. It is a hassle, stressfull and requiring us to leave the house 2 times for a full week and living on a bare concrete floor for another 2 weeks. Hopefully they won't damage too many of the things that we have so carefully finished, but due to the type of work I would actuay be surprised there won't be any damages at all.

Goal 0 hrs/work: 29.3 weeks, 205 days, 88 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work.

Finances: I used to post the real numbers for the NW, but I don't feel so comfortable to do this any longer. I think it is suffice to say that the real estate and stocks are going strong.

I never included my pensions in my net worth. But it has grown to a sizeable amount lately, even though there are quite some restrictions when and how you can access these funds. Anyway, good to see these.

The world: will there be any good, serious outcome of Glasgow :?:

Slow traveling we had a first brainstorm session as a family to find out what we as individuals would want to get out of our slow traveling plans for 2022-2023. More sessions will follow before creating a more detailed plan.

DutchGirl
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

rube wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:39 pm
House: The error the contractor made is even worse than expected earlier. It is planned to be fixed over the next 5 weeks. It is a hassle, stressfull and requiring us to leave the house 2 times for a full week and living on a bare concrete floor for another 2 weeks. Hopefully they won't damage too many of the things that we have so carefully finished, but due to the type of work I would actually be surprised there won't be any damages at all.
Oh wow, that sucks! I'd be totally annoyed and bummed out. Hopefully this time they will do it correctly and you will be able to enjoy a finished house, soon!

I love how you're thinking and dreaming about your future together and where to go for travel and stuff like that. I'm also a bit selfish because that'll probably mean lots of adventures to read about here.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

End of month. Healtwise and Financially all ok.
Re. the house, sigh. Lots of "challenges" with the contractor. In the end I expect it will be okay(ish), but sooo many difficulties which is very, very annoying. I don't want to elobarate further as it is only negative energy. Trying to stay positive and hopefully we're in a different situation in 3-6(?) weeks.

J_
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by J_ »

I wish you patience and the acceptance that sometimes things go (very) wrong in builders land. Sigh and let it pass. Say to yourself: I only pay attention to these problems x hours a day. All other hours are for more pleasant things, go kayaking on the lakes nearby or walking or cycling or such.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Thanks J_ I'm trying to do that, but sometimes it's challenging when you're inside the house and constantly be reminded about the situation.

Some positive notes:
A few weeks ago I walked to the small thrift store in the next village. It's a small walk of 20 one way minutes, the path goes along water and shortly through an old town, so it's a nice walk. At the thrift store I went through their vinyl record collection and I bought two records from pretty famous old bands for just 0.75 euro each. I doubted about a 3rd record but the name was a bit unclear/different as I expected. When I came home I played the records (several times) and looked up the name of that 3rd record. Turns out it was the band I expected, but for their first record they used a slightly different name they are now known for. Also those other records are selling roughly for around 20 euro each.

So yesterday I walked again to the thrift store and had found that 3rd record in less than a minute - nobody bought it in those weeks and it was exactly in the same spot. I can't play it until things turn back to normal in the house, but I am happy with my "treasure", looking forward to be able to play it soon and adding it to my vinyl collection.
It's nice to be able to enjoy a nice walk and being able to pick up something nice for just a few cents on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

The energy prices went up drastically in the last couple of weeks. Normally this ain't positive, but because we're year round a net producer and are no longer using natural gas, we're actually getting more back with these higher prices. End of this month our current contract will end so I started to compare prices for a new contract. Looks like we will be getting back around 145 euro a month, a good outcome for the pay-back time for the heatpump, solar panels, floor heating we installed (though, I realize that "the rich" are again able to turn this in something positive for them where the less fortunate are not able to do so).

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Work: I got a splendid review from my manager. I am good in my work, but in this case I got too much credit imo. I need to be careful I won't become too arrogant and stay humble.
I have holiday for another week.

House: The contractor fixed most of it just before Christmas. So the stress around this has gone and we were able to enjoy the holidays at home in a good way, even though he still needs to finalize some things.
Still many things to do ourselves, but at least that is much more in our own hands.

Goal 0 hrs/work: 21.3 weeks, 149 days, 64 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work. Goal is approaching fast now, a bit scarry.

Finances: 2021 was the 4th year the net cashflow of our rentals plus interest we received from loans, covered our expenses. Cashflow /expenses = 1.9.
Value of real estate increased a lot and stocks as wel. All too much if you ask me.
Expenses were still in line with previous years.
Income from work was the lowest since a long time due to me working pt and dw worked only untill august.
All in all 2021 was financially the best year so far.

Slow traveling 2022-2023. Started to look into this again and concluded will have to do more detailed research in order to decide about the places, activities, etc. while being able to maintain a reasonable budget. Our wishes vary wildly, resulting in many different countries and activities and thus high costs. This seems not realistic, so we will need to limit the number of countries, flights and think how we can keep cost of accomodations acceptable.
We have experience in traveling as a couple for longer periods, up to 6 months, and we travelled with kids for shorter periods. But not long periods with kids, teenagers now really, so this is really different from what we did before.
Most persons on this board who are traveling do this alone or as a couple, not with two teenagers as far as I remember?
In any case, it is an interesting puzzle that needs to come together in this first half of 2022.
Oh, and come up with a plan B and C and perhaps D of course due to COVID or any other unforeseen situation.

2022: A happy 2022 for everyone on the forum!

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

DS caught Covid earlier this month but doesn't seem to have any symptoms anymore. DW and DS and myself were tested several times negative.
Apart from that, nothing major happened, we made some progress with the new Kitchen, insulating the garage etc.
In short: all okay and living our live.

Finances: Stocks and gold lower, resulting in a small decrease in NW. Has been a while we hadn't a monthly increase. No worries - all fine.

Improvement I'm too addicted to my smartphone and need to do something about this. No specific plan yet, but I read tiny habits so should be able to make a plan based on these learnings and seriously reduce my phone-screen time. While typing this post I decided to set (gain) a timer and daily limit per app under "Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls.". I know this will not be sufficient but it's a small first step.

Work DW is now "retired" for 6 months, but she's thinking to pick up between now and our traveling later this year some part time work or project when something interesting comes around.

Goal 0 hrs/work: 17.1 weeks, 120 days, 51 working days.

DutchGirl
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by DutchGirl »

I recently read an article about taking trains to travel - the person writing this article in the NRC newspaper travelled to Barcelona or Madrid, I believe, and did so via Bruxelles and Paris. They really did slow-travel, because every time they had to switch trains they would actually take a few days at that location. So Amsterdam to Bruxelles, stay a few days in Bruxelles as a tourist. Then Bruxelles to Paris - stay a few days in Paris. Then Paris to ... err, Madrid I believe - stay a few days in Madrid. And then on to Barcelona where they stayed a couple of weeks. To me it did sound like fun. Perhaps this can be something for your family as well, now that you're not in a rush to travel?

My boyfriend and I went to Portugal by car a few years ago, I also thought that that was fun. We had two overnight stops in France and in North-Spain both on the way to and from Portugal. On the way back, first plan was to just have one stop, but it sounded too exhausting to me so we did do two again, like on the way to Portugal.

Finally I am considering to one day travel by RV. It's not as common in Europe as it is in America, I think (and I definitely can think of some villages to just avoid with such a wide vehicle), but I think I'd love to meander south in autumn and back north in early summer with such a vehicle.

I'm curious what you guys will come up with; and I hope you have a lot of fun planning and even more fun doing it.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Hi Dutch girl, according our current plans we want to visit a couple of countries in South America and the same in (south east) Asia. So we'll have (unfortunately) to fly. But at place of destination the idea is to stay 1-4 weeks before moving further by bus/train to the next destination. There might be a couple of times that we only stay 1-2 days in a place but we know from experience that if you travel like that for a longer time it is really tiring and soon not so much fun anymore.
We would love to just live (for example) in a small fishers village in Columbia for a couple of weeks, have a "home", be a regular visitor the local market, try to participate in some local activities etc. and then head to the next destination in another province or neighboring country. Probably we will throw in some volunteering work somewhere for a month or so and a language course of a couple of weeks also (Spanish).

We did rent an RV a couple of years back. It was fun, but with the four of us it was also pretty small. But maybe we're spoiled, it was still much more comfortable than having only a tent....
My parents in law used to travel with their sailboat and later on with their motorboat, but with getting older it all became more difficult. So they traded it for a luxurious and large RV. They really use it a lot to travel (very) slowly and they like it very much. So, perhaps one day for you also!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

rube wrote:
Fri Mar 11, 2022 12:48 pm
Hi Dutch girl, according our current plans we want to visit a couple of countries in South America and the same in (south east) Asia. So we'll have (unfortunately) to fly. But at place of destination the idea is to stay 1-4 weeks before moving further by bus/train to the next destination. There might be a couple of times that we only stay 1-2 days in a place but we know from experience that if you travel like that for a longer time it is really tiring and soon not so much fun anymore.
We would love to just live (for example) in a small fishers village in Columbia for a couple of weeks, have a "home", be a regular visitor the local market, try to participate in some local activities etc. and then head to the next destination in another province or neighboring country. Probably we will throw in some volunteering work somewhere for a month or so and a language course of a couple of weeks also (Spanish).
The great thing about this approach is that it is generally much cheaper. The big three expenses tend to apply to travel as well - food, accommodation, and transportation. I really like the idea of finding a region that looks appealing and taking at least 3 months (possibly much longer) to explore and appreciate that area.

If you are planning to head to Spanish speaking countries, I'd encourage you to front load the Spanish lessons early in the trip. This will pay dividends for the remainder of the trip. I've plugged Guatemala elsewhere on the forum as a great place to learn Spanish at really affordable prices. It is a beautiful country with really friendly people. The Spanish accent is relatively neutral, the indigenous cultures are dynamic, and the natural environment is stunning.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

Hi WRC, thank you and totally agree with the expenses for slow travel. The plan is also to rent apartments for longer periods, so way cheaper, more comfortable, the possibility to cook own food, compared to most other short stay places.

Regarding learning Spanish, DW and I took actually Spanish lessons in Guatemala many, many years (22!!) ago. I really, really loved Guatemala. It was may favorite country of the 6 countries we did visit in central America back than. While our level is not as good as it used to be, we will be able to manage for traveling and simple conversations. DD knows a little and DS hardly any Spanish. But they're young and I expect they will pick it up quickly. And yes, the idea is that we will take the Spanish lessons early in the trip to all learn/refresh/improve.

February update: DD also caught Covid, but it was just like a cold. It looked like Covid infections didn't caused any major issues anymore. Spring was coming, I finished almost installing the new kitchen, everything was okay and looking bright.
Then I woke up Feb. 24th and my stomach turned around when I read the headlines. Call me naïve, but I didn't expect Putin to really attack and invade Ukraine. A big and serious war in Europe, at a distance which is just a day driving by car. So many useless violence, death, injured, traumatized persons, ugh. Really, why?! I watched too much news and details and it made me feel....bad. Nuclear threat like in the cold war, will the NATO get involved, should we do anything....
Two weeks further and the war is slowly turning to something that is "normal". We're getting used to seeing the updates on the news, the refugees coming to other European countries etc. Again, sigh, how bad it sounds that this is already becoming part of the daily live and news, but that is how it works. We gave (so far) two donations (my employer matches the donations) for the refugees. Maybe we will give some more later this month.

After the initial shock and concern about all the affected people, I tought about what/if we should do anything for our own family, safety wise, potential financial impact, protection? I don't think this is needed at this moment. Probably when it turns out it is needed, we’re too late… in any case, so far the conclusion is that we continue with all we did and the plans we had.

Other things: I am playing now and then with the idea to sell some or all the rentals, the direct rental income yield has decreased because the value has gone up sharply the last couple of years. So maybe it is time to change it for other investments. And, no more messages about things to fix, to arrange etc. But, well, what other investments aren’t expensive. Besides, if there will be inflation, the rents will likely go up, so it is a good protection. On the other hand, there are talks the rental income will be taxed heavier in the future. But maybe also need to invest more to make them more energy efficient in the next 10-15 years? Can’t look into the future, so, I don’t know. Yet.

Since I was a very little boy I have had glasses, so I am used to this and lately I had new glasses every 4-5 years. I’m currently on 4.5 year point and I noticed a few months ago I really need new glasses as I am getting more trouble with reading. I do like good quality glasses as I wear them always and for several years, but they’re also relatively expensive. So I checked and found out that getting eyes lasered isn’t that expensive. It would also be great if I can be in the ocean and actually see the fish and coral well, even if they are further away than 50 cm…… So I made an appointment with a clinic to check and see what is possible. Either new glasses or lased eyes in the next couple of months.

I planned to inform my manager this month that I will resign in the summer. With everything that is going on I shortly thought if any of this would influence our plans, but I don’t think so. So I’m still planning to inform my manager in 1-2 weeks’ time. I wrote elsewhere that many people probably would call me crazy, working only 20 hrs/week, completely homebased, getting extremely well paid and quit this easy and nice paid job. But it’s simply time for a change. Funny thing, as part of a new incentive plan to stay with the company, they announced they will give RSU’s to VP’s and up. These RSU’s can be vested (company stocks) after a certain time, as long as you work with the company. I’m below the VP level, so wasn’t part of that plan. Nevertheless, I did get this months also RSU’s as being recognized as a high performer/potential. Maybe my manager feels something is coming… Goal 0 hrs/work: 11.6 weeks, 81 days, 34 working days to reach 0 hrs of employer work.
DW might become a self-employed, home based, part time consultant. She did in the past few months a few small assignments and it looks more is coming. She seems to like this setup, as long as it isn’t too many hours it’s probably a good way to work a little. Oh, I did also get some business through a very old customer of mine, nothing major, but will also take just a few hours of my time so per hour it will be well paid.

Till the next update.

rube
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Re: Rube's journal

Post by rube »

I gave notice to my employer.

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