Greetings from the western Pacific Ocean

[frugaldoc]

Hello forum members. I am writing this from my office on a US Navy ship off the coast of Australia. I assumed the role of Senior Medical Officer of this ship approximately six weeks ago and am still learning the ropes of my new position.  Having little to do at night, I thought it time I start participating in these forums so I can learn from the collective intelligence that resides here.

I chose the username "frugaldoc" because amongst my friends and colleagues I am considered very frugal. However, I don't feel very frugal by ERE standards. I tend to save 50-60% of my net income each year but that is on a salary of over $200k. So, I am spending more than many people make in a year. But the nature of my expenditures does not make me feel like a profligate spender. I spend more money on professional development each year than Jacob's entire budget. Being a military physician, this skill investment does not translate into more income. But it does make me a better doctor.

I thought being on a ship would be a good chance to adopt some ultra frugal habits but I am learning there are many unexpected expenses I had not anticipated. Port calls tend to be pricey because all you want to do is sleep in a nice hotel room (by yourself), and have leisurely meals at nice restaurants.

Even though I feel as if I am failing at my quest for financial independence, I must recognize that I have come a long way. Since discovering ERE (as well as MMM) in 2016, I have been able to increase my net worth by $940K. But during that time I spent way too much time focusing on the intricacies of investment strategy and asset allocation when I would have been better served by just throwing everything into a passive global index portfolio.

My goal for joining this forum is to increase my collection of skills in order to make my life more robust and focus less on trying to find the optimum investment portfolio. I have a dream of finding a nice property in Vermont where I can garden, practice medicine part time, and enjoy leisurely days of reading. Of course I would throw all those dreams out the window if I met a future Mrs. Frugaldoc, but at 49, the odds of that seem small. I am looking forward to participating in some robust discussions in these forum pages.

[DutchGirl]

Hello forum members. I am writing this from my office on a US Navy ship off the coast of Australia.

Can I just say that I love how this forum has all kinds of people?

Hello, welcome

Do you like your profession? You will still like to do it "in retirement"?

I am trying to do coast-FIRE currently. I built up assets in the past working more hours per week, and now I continue to work parttime, covering most or all of my expenses, while my assets are left in peace to keep growing. This way, I will coast to being fully FIRE in a couple of years. (The 'trying' part is in having a co-worker who unfortunately got into a severe skiing accident in March, meaning that I'm left working almost fulltime after all while she recovers. I should get more free time again over the next couple of months while she recovers more and starts working again.)

It seems like your dream of living somewhere and working parttime should also be easily possible to do with your finances. The parttime work will provide enough income to live on, and in the meantime your assets can continue to grow until they can fully support your lifestyle. And maybe even then you will keep working because it's rewarding in its own way.

[ertyu]

+1, cool af

welcome

[Western Red Cedar]

Welcome aboard!

[frugaldoc]

+1, cool af

Yes, things can be "cool AF'. Yesterday I went up on the flight deck to watch the F-35s take off. Stood behind an APU (auxiliary power unit) about 30 feet away from the jet as it throttled up its engine and released its brake. Then you feel the blast of hot air as the plane accelerates off the deck. So while the medicine I am practicing can be boring, I have experiences that few others get .

[frugaldoc]

Do you like your profession? You will still like to do it "in retirement"?

I love medicine, especially inpatient medicine, and love teaching residents how to be good hospitalists. However, I am ready to work more on my terms. My ideal would be working one week out of four. That is half time for a hospitalist. Our schedules are typically a seven day stretch of 12 hour days followed by seven days off. That is enough to keep me intellectually stimulated yet give me time for other activities. My current job is nothing like that now.


I suppose I have enough money to do an ERE style retirement if I actually owned my own property. However I don't. I move every few years so buying never seems to make sense. So I still need significantly more assets so I can find my ideal place. Another issue is that I sort of have some golden handcuffs. When this assignment is over in 2025 I will have spent 16 years active duty (I was enlisted in the Air Force when younger). Spending another 4 years in the Navy would provide me with a significant inflation adjusted pension and I wouldn't have to worry about health insurance. It is hard to walk away from that even if it delays me having the life I want.

Good luck on your coast-FIRE journey. I'll need to investigate the particulars of that strategy to see if it something I should consider.

[DutchGirl]

Yes, things can be "cool AF'. Yesterday I went up on the flight deck to watch the F-35s take off. Stood behind an APU (auxiliary power unit) about 30 feet away from the jet as it throttled up its engine and released its brake. Then you feel the blast of hot air as the plane accelerates off the deck. So while the medicine I am practicing can be boring, I have experiences that few others get .

Ah, Top Gun style The original opening scene.

So I understand that if you continue to work until 2029 you will get a very decent, inflation adjusted, pension plus medical costs mostly covered forever.

But can I ask, because I don't understand fully, what would you (still) get if you quit in 2025?

Some people do manage to get out of handcuffs, even if they're golden. Imagine that you actually have and will have all the money that you need, then why would you continue to let Uncle Sam dictate your whereabouts (quite literally) for 4 more years if it's not what you want out of life? If you will be happy to practice medicine for some hours per week in an area that you are happy to live in, that's quite the golden life, perhaps. If it's possible to do that at age 51 or 52, then that beats waiting four more years. Maybe you have the potential for EU citizenship and can thus get healthcare for cheaper if you choose to live somewhere in Europe? Or maybe you can acquire a job in, oh, say, New Zealand as a doctor, and you're also quite nicely covered for any potential healthcare costs while you work there? Maybe you can find a job in the US that also covers healthcare costs for at least the next decade or so? And so in the end, maybe you find that it's worth giving up some rewards in return for getting other rewards (both monetary and lifestyle upgrades)?

But I can imagine that after careful deliberation and some calculations you feel like giving up too much if you quit before your 20 years are up. So then you would still want to work in the navy until 2029. If so, then maybe some of your time over the next couple of years could be spend on trying to make those 4 extra years as nice as possible. Maybe in the upcoming years you can try to get the best possible assignment. Maybe during those four remaining years you can start creating your after-navy life, working on things like where you'll live, what you'll do work-wise and how you'll spend your free time.

I think you have pretty good options all around, so while you have choices to make, they would probably all lead to good things. I'm curious how it'll go. Good luck

[midnightembers]

Hey frugaldoc cool job (setting). To add slightly to what @dutchgirl posted, as the years passed I often worried that my back or my knees or X would go before I managed to power down. And as global events kept reminding me that issues beyond physical fitness might be even more pressing, I started thinking about a sort of 'one year left to live' scenario. What would I do with such news? Thinking about that accelerated my transition. Thankfully my knees and back are still a-ok, since I'm putting them to a lot more use now.

[frugaldoc]

@DutchGirl

If I were to exit the military before 20 years I would receive no pension benefits. If I stay until 20 I would get a pension that has a net present value of $1.5mil or more.That's not counting the value of the healthcare. Part of me sees it as, "if you stay an additional four years we will pay you an extra $400k per year to be received as a pension benefit."

I see your point about not letting Uncle Sam dictate my whereabouts for four more years if I don't need the money. But need and want are too different things....and I want to build out a nice homestead that will cost some money, especially with the acreage I want. I like your idea of trying to make the last four years as enjoyable as possible. I could stop trying to take assignments that advance my career (like my current assignment) and take a more enjoyable assignment in a desirable location. The Navy has assignments in Spain and Italy that could be nice.

I have many options, perhaps too many, and am suffering from the paradox of choice.

[Ego]

I have many options, perhaps too many, and am suffering from the paradox of choice.

At this point is there really much choice? Now that you've made it this far, giving up the full amount of that massive pension and rest-of-life medical care would be an outrageous opportunity cost to exchange for a few years of freedom. But what do I know? I am not the one who has to put in those years.

[chenda]

At this point is there really much choice? Now that you've made it this far, giving up the full amount of that massive pension and rest-of-life medical care would be an outrageous opportunity cost to exchange for a few years of freedom. But what do I know? I am not the one who has to put in those years.

I was thinking the same.