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

[basuragomi]

Sounds like you saw a Starlink/smallsat satellite train.

Auroras can be quite strongly coloured, I've seen mostly green but occasional purples. You can check the NOAA aurora forecast for particularly good times to watch.

[IlliniDave]

Sounds like you saw a Starlink/smallsat satellite train.
...

Ah, I looked up some images and yes, that was almost certainly what I saw. Cool.

I'm only at about 48 deg N latitude here, dunno if that makes a difference. But the 4 we had visible this summer, none were intense enough for a naked human eye to see color. I only saw the last one, but various neighbors saw them all. Folks here in the enclave use some sort of phone app to track them. I'm headed south Sunday for the winter, but I'll look up and bookmark the NOAA site for next year. Thanks.

[theanimal]

For the first time in my adult life I witnessed the aurora borealis a few nights ago. In hindsight I feel foolish--I hadn't realized how much of the spectacular images we see are aided by digital camera trickery. To the naked eye the images are normally more/less black-and-white. This occurrence caused the northern horizon over the lake to look like it was wearing a crown--the display was very symmetrical. To my eye it looked slightly orangish, similar in color to the glow of a distant city's halogen street lamps. My neighbor with his cell phone was able to get some long exposure images as we stood there and when intensified the light was the usual pale green.

Yes and no. The small and very small displays are cool but not very spectacular when seen by the naked eye. However, those are the weak displays, which it sounds like yours fit the bill. On the strongest of displays, the aurora will light up and fill the whole sky (depending on how far north you are) and you can see an array of greens, pinks, yellows, oranges and for some people red. This can go on for hours, with just minutes of lull in activity. Red is always picked up by the camera but can only be seen by about 5% of humans. Most people, myself included, do not have the right rods in their eyes.

This picture is an example of what I am talking about. This is a stronger display from a couple years ago, all the colors, volume and illumination here possible to see by the naked eye. A stronger display would be more violent movement, longer duration and more of the sky. At your latitude you will only see something like 10% of all aurora activity with it occurring close to the horizon, the rest is occurring beyond the horizon. Where I am at it is 80% and just north of the Arctic Circle it is 100%. In other words, at my old place in the Arctic, if there were clear skies I would see 100% of all auroral activity if I was out looking for the night. Since we are so close to the auroral oval, we are more often looking straight up (and even occasionally south) to see the lights than north. The solar cycles, sun spots and solar storms determine the strength of the display. Some years are stronger than others. During the year, a month on either side of the equinox (March/Sept 20/21) has the strongest displays, with the strongest on average occurring an hour on either side of solar midnight (1 or 2 am depending on daylight savings time). But it happens all the time, so darkness and clear skies are really the only necessary ingredients.

[IlliniDave]

Yes and no. ...

Thanks, quite a lot of good information there--something I need to study up on over the winter. What I saw some days ago was constrained to an elevation angle of 10-20 degrees, so it probably was a realtively weak display. I've seen photos taken nearby where the visuals extended to ~40 degrees or so, which must correspond to "whole sky" events in the arctic. If nothing else I'm excited to know that if make the effort I'll have a chance to to see the colors I always envisioned.

[IlliniDave]

Wrapping up September.

Spending came in 31.1% below annuity income which isn't stellar but I'm happy with it. Withdrawal rate remains 0%.

If I can tighten my belt a little over the next 3 months 2021 spending can come in below $40K which was the first level of "dialed-back" spending I used in the now mothballed iDaveSim3.0 to test viability under unfavorable long-term conditions. What's encouraging is that I've made no special effort to do that, it's just my natural behavior. Of course $40K probably seems extravagant and inefficient here, and I can't really defend it. The main criteria to me is "can I get away with it?" and the answer appears to be, "yes." I'll take a look at spending in more detail, break it down into categories, when the full year 2022 numbers are in.

Stash is now below 12/31/20 levels, down 16.2% since retirement and 17.8% YTD, both in nominal terms. That's obviously a bit of a concern, but at this point it's in the something-to-watch category rather than the SHTF panic category. Just giving back an amount of the high returns of the prior 5 years. However, when I do my 2022 spending analysis I'll be looking to identify both opportunities to trim back a little in the short term and steps to take should I find myself in SHTF territory.

One of my October chores is to figure out what I can do regarding HSA contributions. As a retiree I'm not able to contribute directly through the annuity, but I think I can still contribute to my old HSA at fidelity. That should at least boost my tax refund.

Later this morning I need to go by the kayak shop to get a new bottle of UV protection juice for the yak. Likely that will result in a renewal of the discussion of my taking a job there. I've decided that if they offer it I'll take it on a trial basis. Can't say I necessarily need the money but it is aligned with one of my new interests (kayak fishing) so could be reasonably pleasant and getting a small drip from the spigot probably won't hurt my peace of mind. Back when I was looking at a much leaner retirement one of the options I looked at was taking a series of part-time ~minimum wage jobs that I thought might be fun/interesting to try, both for pure giggles and to offset the burn down rate of the stash a little. The latter is OBE for now, so I would probably just create a slush fund of sorts in case (in truth, when) I have an unplanned drunken sailor moment so I could/can indulge without directly affecting The Plan that I so painstakingly laid out.

I amuse myself with the games I play with accounting. I've mentioned before that I set aside a good chunk of money outside the stash for some "capital spending" I wanted to do, but didn't want it to distort the data I use for my ongoing assessment of The Plan's viability. But at the same time I'm sort of using that segregation to feel better about my behavior than I probably should. Not sure what to think about that. At least I'm aware that it's going on.

[ffj]

I would recommend an occasional job every now and then.

It gives you an excuse to remember why you left the rat race but more importantly it gives you extra money with no constraints.

Having to account for every cent and weigh every purchase can become draining and sometimes it's nice to pull some money out of a cigar box (my preferred method for keeping funds ) and just spend the damn money without a thought.

I would be wary of accepting employment somewhere just to leave them a month later however. I circumvented that by just doing one-off odd jobs and was made sure to be paid in cash. It's a nice feeling to work a few hours and go home with a hundred dollars in your pocket knowing that is enough pocket change to last for a long time.

[IlliniDave]

...
I would be wary of accepting employment somewhere just to leave them a month later however. I circumvented that by just doing one-off odd jobs and was made sure to be paid in cash. It's a nice feeling to work a few hours and go home with a hundred dollars in your pocket knowing that is enough pocket change to last for a long time.

Well, so far it's not an issue. I went by the shop yesterday to get a bottle of the UV stuff, and this time no mention was made about me working there. So maybe the idea is OBE or maybe despite the manager's prior denials, it was all a jest prompted by how often I was going by there with questions and getting my yak outfitted the way I wanted.

But I get what you're saying about having some "mad money" as my mother used to call it. That's kind of what I did with part of the proceeds from selling my house, although there were specific things it was earmarked for. I'm one of those people for whom drawing down the stash will be nontrivial, and I don't want retirement to be characterized by restraint--for me it's always been about freedom to chart my own course which will include whims as well as thought-out actions. Right now tax refunds and "farm income" are my ongoing mad money sources. But getting a little from "work" that dovetails with personal interests has always been something my plan allows for.

[ffj]

If you are willing to do some manual labor sprinkled with some skill, there are a ton of small job opportunities out there.

Someone with your background could easily learn HVAC diagnostic skills and make plenty of money for instance. There is a huge gap currently for small needs: the large companies don't want to fool with it and there aren't enough handymen out there, especially highly skilled ones, to fully cover that market. I get approached all the time but unlucky for them I have no financial needs.

[IlliniDave]

If you are willing to do some manual labor sprinkled with some skill, there are a ton of small job opportunities out there.

Someone with your background could easily learn HVAC diagnostic skills and make plenty of money for instance. There is a huge gap currently for small needs: the large companies don't want to fool with it and there aren't enough handymen out there, especially highly skilled ones, to fully cover that market. I get approached all the time but unlucky for them I have no financial needs.

Unfortunately my self-imposed requirement to limit any optional paid ventures to those that are closely aligned to my contemporary personal interests sort of precludes anything having to do with my academic background and prior work experience. I no longer have any interest in that kind of stuff. I'd relax that requirement quickly if I felt a financial pinch, but fattening up the slush fund above having some walkin'-around money isn't enough of a need. That was the beauty of the kayak shop thought--it's a current interest of mine, and learning more about modifying boats and maybe even helping guide local early- and late-season trips have a good chance of being outright fun for me. What I'd really like to do is get on their "kayak fishing team" but most of the events associated with it take place during the time of year when I'd rather be up at the hideout doing my thing. At some point guiding up there and or picking up some early-/late-season work (when their summer help returns to school) with the local outfitters is a possibility but I haven't looked into that too much.

[IlliniDave]

A random number I'd automatically been computing each month for some time is what you might call an instantaneous equivalent withdrawal rate. It's basically spending for month N times 12 over stash balance at the end of month N-1. A proper withdrawal rate is calculated as total spending for a given year over stash balance at retirement. My average instantaneous equivalent withdrawal rate since retirement is 2.41% with a range of 1.95% - 3.11%. That's a meaningless number for me since I have external retirement income that exceeds my ongoing spending (so my total withdrawals from the stash for the last year plus have been $0). But I like to keep tabs of the calculation and was reminded of it in another thread where the viability of defined benefit retirement benefits was called into question. So it represents where I'd be if the annuity simply vaporized. Given my age 2.4% seems okay to survive such an eventuality.

I've started thinking about my annual for-the-holidays music recording project. Spent too much time last week downloading/installing software updates for all the various audio programs and plugins I have as part of my little studio. It was actually a little jarring diving into computer drudgery like that after spending some months in my northwoods mindset. Gearing up to tackle such a project is a little intimidating after 10 months of not doing anything more than making a few quick sketches. I should probably do a couple other projects throughout the year so I at least remember how to operate everything.

I've readjusted to life in the real world fairly easily--while wallowing in the woods I had moments where I was concerned that I would be miserable coming back. But I have an overarching project to keep me occupied for the next 2.5 months and all the creature comforts still have their allure.

[steelerfan]

I would second FFJ to get an occasional gig job. Not for the money, but for emotional and psychological reasons. I have read your journal for as long as you have been here and it is obvious the engineer/worrier in you is heavily ingrained and will never be resolved even with therapy.

You have done a fantastic job in setting yourself up. And you should be justifiably proud. At thirty one percent below your annuity proceeds, if things got to the point where YOU were struggling, you would need to worry more about the horde (basically 99 percent of the rest of us) coming to kill you. Maybe time to build the bunker and weapons. There could come a point in SHTF scenarios where money is erased. Or nuclear war which in the north woods you would likely survive LOL. In my case I would drive about 5 miles to the Fed center in Denver and bring a bottle of single malt and wait to be vaporized.

As far as the stash being depleted. Everybody in the market is facing this. Unless you made bad bets against the margin, nothing to worry about. I am down more than 17% and I am going shopping. I invested until it hurt in 2008/9 and it paid off. If it doesn’t recover (it will) I will be just like everybody else. Absolute worst case for you is you draw SS in a few years instead of at 70 in your optimization exercise to augment the annuity and carry on. You will never likely touch a dime of the mythical stash. Maybe you may have to tap the buffer to the buffer of the stash but not the golden egg. You heirs will be rich someday.

There are people that go into retirement with next to nothing (not this group obviously) and don’t fret as much as you. Relax. You are existing while operating on the easiest of easy modes. I enjoy your journal by the way. You are very smart and disciplined so please don’t take offense. Enjoy yourself out there and keep having fun.

[7Wannabe5]

What Steelerfan said. Also, those of us who just read their way through a small stack of Jane Austen knock-offs while isolating with Covid are still waiting for this journal to act upon the fact that “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in need of a wife.”*

*Obviously, JK, but I am noticing how some of the “problems”of the idle aristocracy of previous eras are also experienced by some of the early retirees on this forum.

[classical_Liberal]

+1 to 7WB5

Not a wife, per se, but at least lover? Sounds fun to me!! That's a part time job in itself.

[IlliniDave]

... Also, those of us who just read their way through a small stack of Jane Austen knock-offs while isolating with Covid are still waiting for this journal to act upon the fact that “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in need of a wife.”*

*Obviously, JK, but I am noticing how some of the “problems”of the idle aristocracy of previous eras are also experienced by some of the early retirees on this forum.

+1 to 7WB5

Not a wife, per se, but at least lover? Sounds fun to me!! That's a part time job in itself.

If my mom were still around she would add a "+1" as well.

[IlliniDave]

I would second FFJ to get an occasional gig job. Not for the money, but for emotional and psychological reasons. I have read your journal for as long as you have been here and it is obvious the engineer/worrier in you is heavily ingrained and will never be resolved even with therapy.

...

There are people that go into retirement with next to nothing (not this group obviously) and don’t fret as much as you. Relax. You are existing while operating on the easiest of easy modes. ... Enjoy yourself out there and keep having fun.

Thanks for the thoughtful/complimentary thoughts steelerfan. I'm okay with a dash of the worrier engineer in me--it sort of balances the lounging in the woods/chasing fish half of my nature. At the same time I don't have much desire to exploit that half of my nature any more when it comes to making money. I don't get much in the way of contributions to well being through that path, and I went all in on it for so long I'm still pretty burned out in that realm. That's why I'm more inclined to combine any sort of gainful activity with my leisure side (e.g., working at the kayak shop had that materialized).

I think my fretting is mostly superficial at this stage since as you observed I'm operating in easy mode insofar as meeting the basic requirements of life is concerned. I guess I have some loyalty to my inner fretter since he played a big role getting to the Big Exhale stage of life. It's also not lost on me that fretting is a big part of guitar playing--I suppose that might be why it appealed to me, a means to let a fretter fret harmlessly.

[Western Red Cedar]

I guess I have some loyalty to my inner fretter since he played a big role getting to the Big Exhale stage of life. It's also not lost on me that fretting is a big part of guitar playing--I suppose that might be why it appealed to me, a means to let a fretter fret harmlessly.

Well played

[IlliniDave]

October '22 wrap up.

As year 2 post-career progresses things continue to go okay. October spending was slightly higher than recent months but I still under spent my "income" by about 26%. I started the month at the hideout and finished back in the real world and in part that transition resulted in slightly higher expenses. My ongoing cumulative equivalent instantaneous withdrawal rate is 2.44%, October itself was 2.50%, and my literal/actual withdrawal rate remains 0%.

Dead cats were falling so the stash bounced back a little bit, but I'm still way down for the year. Fortunately that situation is not urgent (although at this stage I still see it as important). I don't think we've seen the bottom yet.

I've had a couple of long "hikes" in recent weeks. Autumn this year was a little more showy than last year, and we had some pretty nice weather that coincided with the fall peak. It's always nice to roam the forests with cool weather and dry trails. Those little ventures gave me a lot of time to think about things with an eye towards evaluating where I'm at with living as a professional leisure-ist. I may have more thoughts on that topic in the coming months. I'm certainly content, but am not sure I've completely made it to the trailhead of "my path".

Haven't done any fishing since leaving Minnesota. I miss the rhythm of it, but for now when I have some other things demanding attention. I did manage to get some bed tracks laid down for what might turn into part of my annual 2022 holiday recording project. I'm not 100% certain I'll follow through this year. But I tried to out clever myself by starting something that is short and simple, meaning it's more challenging to cobble together excuses not to finish than to actually finish. Coming off of last year's project I had something more ambitious I wanted to do this year, but the injury last spring set me back in terms of actually learning to play what I'd dreamed up. I'm still working on it so who knows, might give it a go anyway.

My tedious mundane task in the short-term is navigating health insurance as 2023 enrollment time starts next week for me. Due to the timing of my retirement my COBRA continuation of employee heath insurance runs until the end of January, at which point I'll be transitioning to the retiree plan (same insurance, just different risk pool so more expensive). I have to get that right because I will lose the dental and vision portion if there is any sort of gap. I also have to sort out what to do about my 2022 HSA contribution and figure out what's the best thing to do with a little "earned income" I had from a prorated 2021 performance bonus I received. Seems like with my lower income sticking it in my Roth IRA might be what the maths suggest, but eat-the-damn-marshmallow-now iDave is tempted to put in my regular IRA and take the tax break now. I'll also be doing some TLH so I might be looking at a pretty nice refund next April.

One of the reasons I haven't done much fishing is that I'm ill-prepared. There's a rule of thumb that says when the air temp and water temp added together is less than 120F, kayakers should be concerned with mitigating hypothermia. Here in Northern Illinois we've been below that threshold for a while now. I've been looking at so-called "dry suits" and have been suffering from sticker shock. The one I want to get retails for over $900! So even though it's sort of silly given the fungibility of money, I'm looking at TLH proceeds as a vehicle to pay for it. And just to be a nerd, I'm wondering if I do that, even though no money will actually leave my stash accounts, whether that should technically count as a withdrawal and ruin my 0% withdrawal streak. I crack myself up sometimes.

[Igotgoals]

Sounds like you're doing well Dave. It's certainly been a rough year in the market and who knows when things will level out. Along with being disciplined, you have a nice retirement nest egg that you've worked hard to amass so I'm thinking you're going to be A-OK. And like others have said, if it gets to the point where you're in trouble, well then we all better batten the hatches.
Why not do the HSA contribution instead of the Traditional IRA? With appropriate expenses, it works like a Roth but you get the tax break now. Just a thought.

[theanimal]

In AK we are almost always beneath that 120 mark. I had a dry suit for a while but didn't feel i used it enough to justify the expense and sold it. If you have enough exposure in a drysuit you will still get cold. The lower level workaround is to wear whatever insulating layers underneath a rain jacket and rain pants with neoprene socks. That should keep you plenty warm, especially if you are just on lakes. If you want to get a little more fancy you could get a paddling jacket with wrist gaskets.

[IlliniDave]

...
Why not do the HSA contribution instead of the Traditional IRA? With appropriate expenses, it works like a Roth but you get the tax break now. Just a thought.

Hey, Igot. Nice to hear from you. Sorry it took so long to circle back to the journal. Leisure=many distractions for me.

Thanks for the encouraging words! I should have maybe given a bit more context while talking about the TIRA versus Roth (RIRA?). I've been significantly underrunning my annuity income on average so I have a little pool of money that's accumulated in the 14 months or so since being in steady-state retirement (first couple months were a bit wonky). My intent has been to fund my HSA from those funds since HSAs do not require earned income the way an IRA (T or R) does. The only W-2 income I'll have for 2022 is the little prorated bonus I received this year based on last year's performance. Of the two piles of money I have sitting around, it is the only one for which an IRA is an option, and since my 1099R underrun more than covers my full allowable HSA contribution my thinking is to throw the W-2 income into an IRA. That still leaves me with a pretty good chunk of the 1099 underrun to disposition, and as a matter of fact that was going to be the hand-wringing segment of my next monthly check-in, which will be appearing shortly.