anomie's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
UrbanHermit
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:39 am

Re: anomie's journal

Post by UrbanHermit »

You should probably include 4% of your home equity in the "just to have a home category" to account for the opportunity cost.

If it makes you feel any better I'm paying close to 15k/y (inclusive of utilities, etc) just to have a small, hot, noisy, one bedroom apartment in the city. Your numbers look pretty good to me at this point :)

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

I am not really going to talk to other folks about exiting the work force until closer to time, in about a year.

To keep me focused i came up with a simple little countdown calculator. Thought others may be interested. Image below Links to a google sheet

Image


a 3x2 sheet of happiness! :D :D :D

m741
Posts: 1187
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:31 am
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: anomie's journal

Post by m741 »

I remember looking at a few cells like that. It's great seeing the days slip away.

I'm guessing you arbitrarily chose an end date? I tried to calculate compounded monthly income (so, based on current savings rate, compounding returns at a given rate, and how much had already been saved, when to expect retirement). It's a bit finicky, but also very reassuring.

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

@UrbanHermit - a belated thank you for mentioning the opportunity cost. That is something I find hard to put a number on, because having the home - settling down in my 30's - was probably something that saved me many other costs (stability, sanity, etc.) . Locating in bumb fuck where I live, has definitely helped $ accumulations, but there are other cultural and social costs associated with living where I do. But I will take a look at opportunity costs of home ownership again in the future.

-----
Regarding the countdown calculator above, for those who don't want to click the link, the formulas were really simple in the end:

Today =TODAY()
Retirement Date your date
Remaining Days =B2-B1
(the datediff() function is apparently broken in Google Sheets atm..)

-----

@m741 - my personal Retirement Date was derived from a series of compromises with my SO, my current work situation, stock market, the usual various factors. I had to choose a date, and have chosen 1-Oct-2016; so that is my actual date. I have seen you mention how you code spreadsheets to include stock values, and price alerts. If you ever wanted to elaborate on that , I would be interested in reading it! I have toyed with using the GoogleFinance() function in Google Sheets, but have not done anything productive with it.
(Example: =GoogleFinance("MAT", "close", "01/01/2000", today(), "weekly") )

Anyhow, thanks for commenting!

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

So I want to recount some 'wins' I have experienced in recent months in terms of do it yourself repair projects in the physical world. (I spend most of my time living in abstract and computer world, and have no problem there; re-entering the physical world has taken more work):

Lawnmower
Living in middle america means lots of garage sales and such. About 7 years ago, came across a craftsman push mower that the owner gave me for free. Replaced the blade, and have had a great little mower for a total cost of about $20. The wheels became a bit of problem. Had them cotterpinned on and the pins would keep breaking. Last spring , someone else set out an old mower on the side of street (small town for 'free! take me!'). I took it home and stripped the tires off of it and put them on my craftsman, and now have rejuvenated my mower for another couple years. I have duct tape on one side of the base where rust has eaten it away. But it does the trick for our small yard! The remaining junked mower was recycled for scrap.

Dishwasher
Our little 21" dishwasher died last month. With the help of a great parts website and its troubleshooting section, I was able to borrow a friend's multi-meter, test the timer, order it and replace it myself. Lots of angst around all of this, but the final solution was pretty simple, and the total cost was about $25 for the timer switch.

Light switch in kitchen
This one was really basic. Finally realized that to verify the power was out, could just turn on the light, and then turn off power breakers until the light went out. (duh) I have had a replacement switch for over 5 years, just never used it. 1 screwdriver is all it takes to put the switch in.


A recent compromise with SO is resulting in us doing some home repairs and having to hire a carpenter. If I had more time away from work, or more youth and energy, I might insist on doing these repairs myself. I hope to at least pay attention to what they are doing and learn something in process, for the future.

Funny, these few things this year have made me feel more competent; when I write them down, they really don't seem that many, or that great an achievement.. huh. Guess that is one benefit of journalling - self-reflection. oh well, hope i didn't waste ur time!

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Personal investigation into why I chose this username .. found this video which intro's the concept ..

3 minute minute video -- " Sociology 325.01 - Anomie and Deviance "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER987vFx6EY

2:20 touches on individual anomie; lack of social integration. = yes ; the resultant tendency towards suicide, etc.. not so much applies to me ..

the alienation of work in modern world = maybe speaks to some readers ..

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Greetings and salutations fellow frugal-mongering self-sufficient beings:

I have been lurking and enjoying the fruits of many a forum-members efforts for many months now, and wanted to post something, so here is this journal type entry:


*Finances
Our finances and investments are still perking along. I count on the financial super-rich of the world to keep our current capitalist system intact until the singularity comes along and makes anyone invested in the market super-rich.. Or I at least count on the super-rich to continue to prop up the existing system and drag us simpletons along for the ride..


*-FIL investment advice
Hey-- guess what ! My Father-in-law does not give the best investment advice. And a $3,000 Zachs stock screening program is not worth the paper it is printed on, so to speak. I have had to mitigate damage, albeit perhaps short-term, to the portfolio i dedicated to use for my FIL's stock picks. I think he lets his old-fogey conservative politics infest his investment decisions (this is probably not accurate and is my bias).. I chose the Zach's screen I am using, and so have no one else to blame except myself. So anyway, moving back over to Vanguard to fund my future dreams. Leaving a small portfolio to buy-sell quarterly with the original Zach's plan. And for the (3rd?) time have have learned not to count on my otherwise intelligent (other than investments, and conservative blow-hardness) FIL (he was a top duplicate bridge player at one time).


As I near the last 18 months of full-time employment, I try to stay focused and somewhat sober and diligent towards what matters. I plan to begin serious discussion with SO this summer about my impending down-shift in terms of salaried employment.



*- Home improvements
We are spending a huge amount of money this year to do various large scale repairs. Since we paid off the mortgage, I did not really expect this all to hit, but we (SO and I ) agreed to pay to have this work done now so that we could enjoy the house for the future. (Rather than stage out the improvements over the next 5 years as I would prefer, and me do them in my spare time when no longer employed. Such is the nature of domestic compromise, I suppose.) This is more of a confession than any sort of request for input. Professional builder home improvements type of work. New bathtub and toilet. New deck in the back. Paint the house. This is not some ERE stuff, cuz I/we shelled out for it rather than let me work on during the weekends..

*-Alcohol and Cigarrettes

I now manage to keep substance consumption around $100/month thanks to newly found Natty Ice and Evan Williams and e-Cigarrettes / vaping.. Have not bought a cigarrette in 2 months, and while I started e-cig I thought their claim of quit smoking aid was bs, it has actually been a nice replacement. (Not the e-cig in the store sold by the tobacco companies, but the next level in the vape shops or cigar stores but that is another story..) I have gone days lately without a vape.


*Random musings

I most recently enjoy the 'Extreme' as you age, then what? post, and its challenges to ERE from newcomer OldPro. Very interesting from many different directions. There is one aspect raised -- the elite nature of ERE and how most are incapable for many different reasons-- that is pretty right on. I am somewhere between the elite ERE (the EERE? :) and the average joe. Not very different from many readers I am sure. I am really forutunate but not a super bad-ass like some around here that I greatly respect and appreciate reading of.

*-Probiotics and Enzymes!

These things rock and have helped me with many (work-related?) digestion issues. Amazing biology that lives in each of our bodies and is essential for healthy living. Microbes and Enzymes. Look them up.
Billions of little living things that we all need in our bodies to thrive on this planet. I really attribute these to a fundamental mind shift this year that I can not quite describe.


I continue to split my free (non-salaried and non-domestic responsibility) time between living in my Minecraft server world, lurking on ERE, and waiting for the Singularity. :)


Peace to you.

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Greetings gentle ERE'er:
Fueled on Ranger Beer and probiotics, I submit this humble post to keep my journal semi-current. I have two issues to share if I can articulate them clearly enough:

1. A friend in his late 40's / early 50's has serious interest in early retirement , and is asking questions about my plan. Or at least is prodding me to think seriously about the minutiae of my own plan a bit earlier than I planned to share with anyone. As the clock ticks towards my own, with all systems go(#2 below) I think about this recent thread "Midlife Crisis and ERE..." ... Really liked the U-Curve of happiness mentioned in this article "The Real Roots of Midlife Crisis" that was linked to in the post. I think I am on the upward curve out of this if I was ever in it.... I am concerned that my friend has not saved enough for retirement (which would be my first advice for a 'normie') before wanting to retire before the traditional trigger... For me, it brings to home the fact that when you pull the trigger to non-working stiff, you have to be prepared to lose old friends and to make new ones. Hope to keep this one, but such is life.

2. Amazed at the power of compounding interest toward the end game. Am now planning - due to detailed questions from friend in #1 above - and seeing SO's exit towards the rat race . A mix of ERE skill, good genetics and dice rolls, and ninja skill that will see us through the future. Current projections are that we die with over $2.5 mill in da bank. Not exactly ERE, hope to use some of that $ on the journey to the grave and maybe blow the rest on those without good dice rolls ...

SO's role in the next 10 years -- Basically since we mix finances, and she insists on a certain life and a certain career, have us living off her check from Oct. 2016 (my retire date) until Sep. 2022, Oct. 2025 at the latest. I would manage the household + finances + including investments. Feel free to challenge this if you like. Curious as to replies.

Learning to make dyes and stained glass in Minecraft - must get back to that, only have .5 hour before dinner date.

peace to you.

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Greetings -
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And I am afraid I have been primarily focused on my stupid job the last few months. Or actively trying to forget it.

Not much to report or journal about.

Paid a guy recently $50/hour to stucco and tuck point our 100 year old basement. $2500
Jesus I charge $50/hour to do tech work when I have interest to free-lance. This guy spreads mud in cracks of stone. I really can't wait to quit my job and have more time to deal with life around me.... To be fair to his work, the basement repair precipitated a massive basement cleaning that resulted in cleaning out and downsizing of massive proportions. Mainly trash, a little stuff to give to recycle store.; some freecycle of old windows; 1 trash dump run; multiple weeks of putting stuff out on trash curb.. We ended up with much less stuff in the basement. Though now we have a spacious and fairly clean basement to use and try to keep clean. Possible gym space, glad I saved weight bench..
Downside is now i have more space to clean and maintain. Our house just grew by 1/3 effectively. still not sure what to do about that.

My new mantra is that in 10 years we will digitize all possessions, sell the rest, so that we never have to rent a rental storage unit to store our stuff when we world travel. Course that means not having any physical sentimentals. Work in progress. I don't really want to travel, just stay married. :)


Finances are slowly accumulating I assume due to saving and earning and such. About - 4 % for the year. Weird having a month where we can lose $50,000, and then recover most of it the next month.. I assume we are just buying low, and try not to worry about it.


Been listening to hipster band popular in mid-2000's I think.
Neutral_Milk_Hotel lately. Really fun stuff, makes me feel young again.

Retirement Countdown 346 days and counting ....


peace to you

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Hello - quick journal entry attempt.

We are scheduling a meeting with a gratis financial counselor - counselor is provided by work - to reveal our plan for my October retirement from my full-time job. This meeting is mainly to get a 3rd part reaction to the plan. More for my dw than anything else.

One scenario dw and I have discussed is me negotiating part-time employment after October. I am skeptical that such an arrangement will only benefit my employer, as my work stresses &/or projects consume most of my waking hours, regardless of my employment status. I wake up in the middle of night thinking about work; I'm not the most articulate speaker, but fairly conscientious project planner and/or coder when need be.

On the one hand, I think my financial situation is not relevant to the stereotypical ere'er -- a single individual accumulator/skill builder perhaps. On the other hand, my situation is perhaps useful to lots of people who have married and share finances. Which i think is common situation, a story of compromise and negotiation where 1 person is happy to live on a smaller budget, and 1 person wants a little more conventional lifestyle ....

personal, non- directly financial stuff
This past year, we have largely limited my at home alcohol to beer and wine, and this has worked really well for my personal life at home. Also (tmi alert), really strange that smoking has totally died away with no urge / little urge ever to resume. First mid-western winter I ever had to deal with drainage and congestion issues from natural respiration; I usually just smoked and dried up my internals and dealt with that damage .. One of those odd things that no one ever told me , like the Vitamin D deficiency endemic in the mid-west. who knew? not me.

The basement situation has worked out well, i now have a working gym down there -- weight bench and such -- and actually occasionally use it. Not smoking and reducing the drinking have really helped in this arena.

258 days to go ..

peace to you.

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: anomie's journal

Post by FBeyer »

Are you following an actual exercise program?
If you own a bench a rack and a proper amount of weight I'll heartily recommend: Starting Strength by Rippetoe and Kilgore.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starting-Streng ... g+strength

They go into EXCRUCIATING detail about everything worth knowing about the 5 most useful barbell lifts. (\russian accent) Get book, do book, get strong like bear (\end Russian Accent)

theanimal
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Location: AK
Contact:

Re: anomie's journal

Post by theanimal »

I enjoy your journal anomie. On the first page you mentioned using your inheritance to undo some of what earned the wealth. Care to elaborate?

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Hello -
First , more Serious stuff, then much less serious stuff ...

Thanks for commenting!

@FBeyer - thanks for the recommendation. Will check out this mighty russian writer.

@theanimal - Thanks for the positive feedback! And ... Yes I will do so; will try to elaborate in next few days. Is a basic story of a wealth built on state-supported monopoly, historical racist oppression, chemical death due to addiction, and general protectionism in the name of 'capitalism'. hmm, actually that about sums it up. But will go into more detail as I can safely do so over more thought ...


Basement work porn --
A pic of my weight room / dungeon; note the nice stucco against the far wall. This guy did a great job all around. And the tuck-pointing in the far wall; we never ever used the basement before, and now I have my own little man-cave space! whee!!
Image


and a picture outside of my workroom window ; a typical day in small town winter midwest blah:
Image

and ...
Not serious
Below is a picture of me after exercising in the morning ...
(jk)
:D :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


warning!!!

BELOW is a gratuitous image that can't be unseen ....



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You have been warned!!

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Seriously! I warned you!


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...
Image
Ohh yeah! (I was googling for a bicep gif for FBeyer reply and found this.. lol!)
(the first animated gif embedded on the ere forum??)

thrifty++
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sat May 23, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: anomie's journal

Post by thrifty++ »

Be careful benching heavy weights on your on on bench press. Lots of people have died doing that. I generally dont use the "safety" clamps so that if I ever get stuck I can try tipping one side over so the weights fall off and the other side flies into the air!

Congrats on quitting smoking. I felt no urge to return to it when I realised shit what am I getting out of this other than an expense and loss of health. There is no pros only cons. Alcohol on the other hand can be more difficult. There is a clear euphoric high plus a nice taste.

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

@thrifty
nice tip on the bench press bar.

It reminds me of a vivid story from 20 years ago, that I am not sure worth communicating in this venue.


@bigato - Hey! How's it going?

I will try to be on the #ere channel more next few weeks just to see if anyone still there:

https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=ere

Logging in to freenode from a web browser seems to provide more anonymity than using a desktop client like pidgin which registers your ip address as part of your account. But maybe I am just very rusty with the arcane intricacies of irc.

And besides, it is just another web browser tab in this age of keeping about 20 open...


++++++++++++
For my or others reference..
some forum threads about Instant Messaging , irc, and chat rooms, aka beating a dead horse:

IRC?

Forum Instant Messaging

(since you can't search forum for 'irc' since forum does not allow 3 letter searches..) internet chat room. wow this topic has been around for years and years...

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Greetings and salutations -
It has been a long while since I have updated this journal.
First, the meeting with the financial planner went really well; we got a gratis complete plan that included FireCalc type projections from them. Guess our savings qualified us for a real wealth management type treatment. Apparently there is at least one tier above us, but we qualified for a 2 part meeting where we came away with a thorough analysis of our finances, and advisement based on our responses to a survey as to recommendations.
We told the guy my plan to leave work in October; both of us to retire in 10 years and travel, etc.
He came back with a rec that said preferred course would be that we both work for 3 more years for 100%+ success rate, but whatever ..

I am now at my retirement date, so I felt to inform.

I am pretty much FI in the context of my life now. **

However, for funsies an opportunity at work arose over the summer and now I am working in new position. Doing tech management for a bit more $, and still able to telecommute. I avoided management in the past, prefer to drink lots of caffeine, blast music, and write code. Now that I can afford to fail at it, thought to give new thing a try.

So I have committed to that for 12-24 months, as long as it is fun and interesting. This new thing is also really time consuming, so I have not been able to read or play or do much of anything I once did. Reading this kind ERE forum is one such past time lost for now.


** I live combined life. Personally, I can live on $15k yr or so; combined we are closer to $40+ / yr. Our assets have grown to over $ target amounts, plus we will not touch them for 9 more years while my sig other provides month-to month.

I hope to fight future middle age dementia by doing tech activism of some sort in my spare time. and to resume playing video games....


best wishes to you.

Image

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

Hello! been a while. Lurking a bit, but hope to be back a bit more.
So. I am retired. Done.

my stats for possible useful reference by others:
  • retired at 49
  • dw working till 55'ish, our month to month coming out of this
  • no kids or other financial obligations
  • own our home and a 15 year old car
  • we are at 4% wr now, still accumulating, and not spending it for another 10+ years
Our plan is to do a lot of traveling in about 8 years, while we still have some health about us. She gets to travel a bit with work now, and now I have time to do this with her, so that is very cool.

We are very fortunate in many ways:
  • while the markets have been good to us, the bulk of our expenses are soft and can be cut as needed.
  • we have decent health
  • have the advantage of having both good finances, and skills and frugal lifestyle that can make it through the down times.
I am now at the boring phase of life where my biggest worry is my aging parents and in-laws. I am grateful this is our biggest worry.

The future is uncertain but the end is always near.

humor
Remember the Nonconformist Oath!
https://bongomusicsearch.com/download/8 ... -Oath.html
:)

I hope to stick around the boards a bit more to encourage others.
(Maybe one of the things I can work on now that i have time is my writing skills! hah! This journal entry seemed more interesting when it was in my head..)


Gratuituous interesting image for lack of substantive content:
Image

be well

wolf
Posts: 1102
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Location: Germany

Re: anomie's journal

Post by wolf »

Congratulation. Take care and I am looking to read more about your PostFIRE phase.

anomie
Posts: 442
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: midwest, usa

Re: anomie's journal

Post by anomie »

5 Years of Retirement

So I arbitrarily chose a date for my retirement, and made it so. Announced the date at work, got a small retirement party from the employer I worked with for ten years or so, and ended working for pay in the summer of 2017. I had noticed that my vision was getting weaker, and also started encountering middle aged people with vision problems who continued working in IT. People diagnosed as legally blind who worked with enhanced monitors to even be able to see the screen. So I was glad to be out for the most part.

Though, since my life revolved around computers for the twenty years prior, they would continue to play a big role in my life after retirement. Like an auto mechanic who moves over to racing cars for a hobby, or a boxer who moves to managing a gym or training other fighters, I would not leave my chosen field completely.

My personal financial needs were pretty small, with no children or debts. Some minor substance habits, and minor medical expenses, overall ok. The stock market continued to grow, and any financial worries subsided along with it.

Soon after retirement, a good friend was diagnosed with cancer. I spent the first six months after work playing turn-based rpg computer games with him. This became an almost daily activity, playing Divinity: Original Sin I and II, among other games. Play games during the day, and hang out with spouse at night. I enjoyed the freedom from worry about work.

Initially upon retirement I dabbled with side work, and continued skill training, but gave all of that up after a few months.

Eight months after retirement my wife was diagnosed with cancer. I was able to care for her and our life in small town America. I learned to cook food that she liked, and we survived the following years of her cancer treatments playing computer games and eating meals that I learned to cook from meal kit services. (Shout out to you, Sunbasket! :) We played the same type of rpg games, but also expanded after the first year to play an mmorpg together as well. She would come home from work, and we would get lost in the game world tasks of our chosen virtual home Eorzea. It helped us get through the year of chemotherapy.

2020
Pandemic begins, no huge change of life for an mmorpg player. I spend more and more time in organizing online gaming activities, participating in the mmo community. Exercise, mmorpg, hang out with spouse. We learn to order groceries online for pick-up, and avoid going out.

2021 / 22
Sell house, move overseas for a year for wife’s work. Continue gaming with North American community - thank you internet!

Finances

Some numbers:
Actual WR
2018 4.51%
2019 3.17%
2020 2.41%
2021 1.47%

I tally things at end-of-month, but really no longer spend time worrying about money so much. The worries in that are are more how to convert financial things to more long-term and less variable investments, something I need to work on the next few years.

Future
We will be traveling more over the next year, visiting family in Europe and looking for fun low cost places for retirement. Then back to the midwest for a few years while spouse finishes work. Focus on being healthy, and living simple life.

Looking Back

Things I had no idea about during earlier years:
  • The progression of vision decline for aging appears that it can be: bifocals, progressive lens, then middle-range vision glasses for computer work. And worse.
Conclusion

Present day I am lucky to say that spouse and friend are doing ok, with their diseases in remission.

Age, coping with illness in the family, and in truth being pre-occupied with mmorpg life have changed me in ways I do not fully understand.

I am pretty satisfied with the past few years, grateful for my early retirement.

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Lemur
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Re: anomie's journal

Post by Lemur »

Neat - you had a 5 year lapse in posts....what prompted you to remember the ERE boards?

Man I have not lost my reality to MMORPG since high school...I'm 31 now. Every now and then that thought crosses my head to be once again engrossed in a MMORPG game. Maybe that will be one of the things I do when I fully retire one day - I never wanted to be invested in a game until I truly can. Growing up, I first learned to program with Game Maker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameMaker
Last edited by Lemur on Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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