spoonman's Journal

[spoonman]

#133 09/09/2015 -- We're in Paris!



I've been in a bit of radio silence lately because we've been busy moving to Paris. We've been here a few days now and we're slowly adjusting to the new time zone, which is six hours ahead of Montreal's.

This time around I made sure to book a flight during waking hours to avoid getting burned (i.e. airsick) like we did last time. The flight itself was smooth and, because it was an international flight, we got decent food. I also took the opportunity to get my money's worth and ordered several (mini) bottles of wine =). By the time we landed and took a taxi to our Airbnb apartment it was 2am Montreal time, so we were sleepy but by no means wiped out. We just went to bed right away and slept for six hours.

We are mostly settled in now, but in no hurry to hit all the touristy areas. We've been happy exploring our local arrondissement for now. We'll be here for two months and will have plenty of time to make our way to most points of interest around Paris.

Our new apartment (if you could call it that) is even smaller than the one in Montreal, about 100 sqft. That means that our new dwelling has even less floor space than your typical tiny home. This is definitely the most challenging living space either of us have ever been in, but I think we'll manage. Going forward we will be living in bigger places, and by that I mean at least 400 sqft...so yeah, a palace by comparison!

[saving-10-years]

Welcome to Europe! Hope you have a great time and send plenty of reports.

Re. airsickness this is something that I sorted by resolving only to eat a limited range of foods (basically bags of nuts/seeds) when on flights.

Chris

[cmonkey]

My office cube is larger than your apartment, ha. Granted there are 6 of us crammed in it. But on days when I'm the only one here, its nice.

They must do apartment leases differently there on a month by month basis?

[George the original one]

Just realized I missed your 1-yr retirement anniversary! It's cmonkey's fault for linking back to your journal that reminded me you were two weeks into retirement on Aug 30 last year

[spoonman]

@saving-10-years: We'll keep everyone up to date with the salient parts of our adventures!

@cmonkey: We are doing a short term lease via Airbnb. It takes the hassle out of the whole process of renting an apartment. We don't have to worry about hooking up utilities and other headaches.

@GTOO: Haha! Thanks for stopping by man. I hope all is going well near the Oregon coast, I hope to go back there someday.

[cmonkey]

Yes I was talking about work 401ks and accessing them after going ERE. I had forgotten what you did with converting to a SEPP. I might be posting a few questions when the times comes.

The first thing I see is that dividends are taxed as normal income when taken out of a traditional IRA (not at the reduced, qualified dividend rate). Doing some quick calculations, the amount that we take as a SEPP withdrawal wouldn't push us high enough to even be taxed, however. Our total income would be below taxable levels.

[spoonman]

@cmonkey: Exactly, that's why we opted for a SEPP. The regular income you get from it is still harmless from a tax perspective. I've thought about rolling the IRA to a ROTH over time, but it would take forever to that and I need my IRA income like right now =).

[cmonkey]

It looks like it is a bit complex/tricky to roll a traditional IRA to roth without incurring penalties as well. Something about a backdoor roth IRA conversion and needing to have the IRA being 'non-deductable'. Plus you can't make any distributions for 5 years from the roth. I can't find any good source on how to go about doing this and have decided that the low income from a SEPP is the simplest route to take since it is actually tax advantaged on both ends (pre-tax contributions and non-taxed on the distributions due to income being under deduction/exemption levels). I am planning to post about my decisions later this month, I am shaking things up a bit.

[C40]

I haven't read all of these, but I think this describes the Roth IRA "conversion ladder" or "back door" method:

http://retireby40.org/roth-ira-conversi ... ize-taxes/

http://rootofgood.com/roth-ira-conversi ... etirement/

http://jlcollinsnh.com/2013/12/05/stock ... -fientist/


And some more info:
http://www.madfientist.com/roth-ira-horse-race/
http://www.madfientist.com/traditional-ira-vs-roth-ira/
http://jlcollinsnh.com/2012/05/30/stock ... h-buckets/
http://jlcollinsnh.com/2013/12/05/stock ... -fientist/

[Cornerman]

Congrats on your one year. Paris is very nice, It has been a while since I been there, next year I will run the Paris marathon. Looking forward to it.
Enjoy your stay !

[J_]

I wish welcome to europe too. Yes its a good time, wheater-like and exchange-like.
I have lived for months on a boat, even less than 100 sqft, with 2. If location is good, than even that little is space enough, look for renting a motorboat with inboard heating in Holland, it is off season now. Whish you good stays.

[spoonman]

@C40: Thanks for the links man! The madfientist articles on the subject are great, I checked those out a long time ago. His methods are great for those who don't need the income right away.

@Cornerman: Thanks! I imagine the marathon will be a lot of fun in this great city.

@J_: I would love to rent a boat in the canals of Amsterdamn. Boat rentals pop up on airbnb and other online services every so often. Speaking of Holland, I would love to go back there someday, it's a great country with a lot of interesting things happening.

[Tyler9000]

A year into retirement and hanging out in Paris -- you guys are doing it right!

[rube]

If visiting Holland, please reach out. Quite some members here who might be able to help you and/or interested to meet you.

[m741]

Just stopping by - I must say that your journal is among my favorites. I'm so happy to see someone doing cool stuff after hitting their goals. I always look forward to your updates, and your method of travel, city selection, etc are all pretty much exactly what I'd like to do in a few years!

[steveo73]

This is the best journal because you are already FIRE'd and taking full advantage of it. My version of FIRE will have much less highlights at least initially. My youngest child is 4 turning 5 soon. If I FIRE in say 5 years time I will stay living where I am now. I won't be travelling all over the place.

I'm still longing for FIRE. Just having every day being like a weekend would be great.

[spoonman]

@Tyler9000: All the planning is finally paying off, it feels great!

@rube: We hope to go to Holland someday, I'll keep that in mind.

@m741: Thanks man! I have to give you credit for giving me a lot of inspiration when I was in the middle of the accumulation stage.

@steveo73: Our lives are optimized for mobility right now, so we're trying to make the most of it. Someday, after we've gotten all of the wanderlust out of system, we will settle down and lead a more low key life. I think you have plenty to look forward to!

[spoonman]

#134 09/19/2015 -- August Expense Blurb

So here we are, on the downhill side of September, and I haven't posted the expense blurb for August! We were too busy getting ourselves to Europe to remember about this post. But, as they say, better late than never.

For the month of August we received $2297 in income. The income was a bit higher than usual because we got $212 from a former employer (a belated compensation), $200 from a special dividend (see the previous expense blurb), and $25 from credit card cash rewards.

We spent a total of $2249, so just underneath our allotment for the month. As is becoming the norm in our travels abroad, we didn't shy away from a good restaurant.

[spoonman]

#135 09/28/2015 -- Paris, Here and There

We've been fully settled in Paris for some time now and enjoying the "main phase" of our stay. Needless to say there has been a tremendous volume of experience these last three weeks, and I've simply felt too overwhelmed to report every minute of it. So, I will just give you a little rundown of the highlights on our experience so far.

We visited almost all of the major tourist attractions: The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Sacre-Coeur cathedral, Notre-Dame of Paris cathedral, the Latin Quarter, and numerous gardens. We haven't been to the Louvre yet, that will come in due time, but have visited other free museums.

We enjoy hanging out at cafes, including the one where Paul Sartre and other famous intellectuals used to get together and discuss big ideas. Not all cafes are created equal, some are just tourist traps with bad service, but you can always find another one around the corner.

Experiencing Paris on foot is very enjoyable. It's difficult to go wrong with virtually any part of the city. Even the 20th Arrondissement, which is considered a gritty area, has its own unique cosmopolitan charm.

The subway network of Paris is very impressive, especially when you take into account the fact that it doesn't have a convenient geometry like Manhattan. It's a web of trains that covers the entire city. I really wish Los Angeles' subway network someday becomes as good as Paris's.

And, of course, we're living like locals: grocery shopping and doing house stuff (such as laundry). Food shopping is interesting because many of the usual brands can't be found here. All the eggs are brown and half of the supply of TP is pink. Most products are not as cheap as in the US, but they are surprisingly reasonable. The exchange rate between the Euro and the Dollar is still historically favorable, so that helps with the food budget.

[cmonkey]

#135 09/28/2015 -- Paris, Here and There
All the eggs are brown

France is home to the Cuckoo Maran, which gives dark brown eggs. So that makes sense.


Glad to hear that Paris is treating you well!