Lemur Journal!

Where are you and where are you going?
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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

@runnergirl +1 I would say 5-10 days sounds about right. Could also freeze.
@shaz - Have been lucky to see my grandmother the past few days.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

My grandmother finally passed away. We were lucky to visit the past few days. She mostly slept the past 72 hours. Was given morphine as part of end of life care to reduce pain. She was with all her kids for final breaths. We were able to say our goodbyes as well and she passed away about an hour after we had left. I had a gut feeling yesterday holding her hands - they were getting cold. No gasping for breaths. Just heart rate slowed and slowed until it stopped. A rather peaceful way to go.

Objectively and by most world standards she got to live an excellent life. Grew up during times when technology wasn't rampant in our lives and when America was booming economically for the most part. Like my Grandfather, she was rather frugal as well and when they bought their home in the 1960s, they had it paid off in 8 years or so. She was lucky to have 3 kids that grew up and made there own way and was even luckier to be able to see great grandchildren. She went to the same church for most of her life as well and had life-long friends. My grandparents had fond memories of their vacation cruise to Bermuda - something brought up occasionally. This was the only outside of U.S. vacation they made time for as my Grandmother feared airplanes. This reminds me that with my own Spouse I should make time for novel memories.

We've so many memories with our grandparents. Growing up, with 5 of us and both my parents having to work to make ends meet, we were often watched by our Grandparents. My Grandmother was always a gentle person - did not say much but was always ready to listen. From 2016-2020, we lived walking distance from our grandparents before we moved in 2021. In hindsight, this was a great decision to choose to live close by. I knew we would cherish these memories one day.

My Grandfather is rather depressed but seeing dementia slowly decay your partner of 65 years for the last 3 years - while upset, I think he was a little bit relieved as well that this experience is all over. He is 90 years old going on 91. Mentally he is still sharp but physically he is starting to have some problems. This is life though. My Grandfather often jokes he is held together by aftermarket parts and people were not meant to live this damn long. He has a very dark sense of humor.
Last edited by Lemur on Thu Feb 24, 2022 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

chenda
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by chenda »

Sorry to hear this Lemur, glad you could be with her at the end.

shaz
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by shaz »

Sorry for your loss. It's wonderful you have so many warm memories with your grandparents.

MBBboy
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by MBBboy »

I'm sorry for your loss Lemur. Happy you have many memories to cherish

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

@MBBboy, @Shaz, @Chenda

Thank you for the condolences. I consider myself lucky to have had these relationships with my grandparents.

For the monthly update...

February 28, 2022

Net-worth:
$543k (Up $2k)

Continuing my push to sell all individual stock positions and return to index funds. I sold MSFT at profit. Another one of my positions PLUG power is ITM now on a covered call position that is great to see. Just needs to hold above $25 in the coming weeks. My aim is to continue writing weekly covered calls until I'm out and all capital is re-allocated to index positions. The strike prices I am choosing are simply my cost-basis so that I break-even. Some capital I've put down on SOFI because I am so deep in the red I want to reduce the cost-basis per share. I am expecting SOFI to bounce back up though so I think if I am patient enough I can breakeven here as well. I've 6 stocks left:

AMD $130.00, JPM $165.00, MU $95.00, PLUG $25.00, SOFI $15.50, and V $230.00

End goal is 60% VTI, 30% VXUS, 5% BND, and 5% BNDX.


Physical Health / Diet: Went swimming for the first time in months. That felt good. Still in great shape. I have hit a 150 gram protein target everyday since Christmas without one miss and kept up a 3x week callisthenic routine. I am down from 192lbs to 184.6. End goal is 165 pounds. I continue to praise Atomic Habits by James Clear for making me realize the important of tiny gains.

Mental Health: Good.

Job: So finally some update here. I heard from my new employer and was given a start date to choose. They're preparing some documents and I should receive the final offer soon. Once I've that signed, it will be time to put in my 2 weeks! :D

The transition process will be interesting...oh boy (like I just hit the ice berg or something). I want to wish best of luck to the unlucky individual that will have to take over my work. Ironically the product had a good month in February because I spent so much time planning and making preparations that just the practice of getting things organized made my life a bit less stressful.

Gardening: Still cold here but may be time to start preparing some beds.

Reading / Otherr: Still reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Stopped reading Scott Adam's book and need to remember what chapter I was on...will pick this up again. Another book I'm still working on is a long fiction series; I'm on the 4th book in the series and halfway through the final. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Labyrinth_of_Spirits

Goals: Lately I don't feel like I really have any long-term goals per say but just refining the system that keeps up my physical health, mental health, and work-life. The focus has moved from more long-term to near-term for me lately. It could be the habits book or it could just be the death of a family member that has reminded me to cherish each day. A new job on the horizon. A lot of changes lately and just trying to smoothly transition.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

I signed a firm agreement with new employer and starting my position March 28. I'm aiming to give myself a week break between jobs to tie up loose ends and get a little bit of rest. I might not even have a replacement to train - this place is having a hell of a time with hiring.

Today was the day I broke the news to my colleagues and clients. I had a page list of people to call. A range of reactions - Some not surprised given my situation on the project. Some shocked with a sudden talk of offering a counteroffer (politely declined). Some with a sudden look of 'nooooo' on there face. But all understanding after a few minutes chat and wishing me best of luck in the future. Was nerve racking of course when you've known people for several years (people I will likely bump into again given my small industry) but that quickly subsided when you realize this is just business at the end of the day.

But I'm excited and looking to put consulting past me. Its been a stressful few years...but also personally profitable. It helped grow the stash and grow me professionally and personally.

Time for new adventures. I don't know if the grass will be greener for sure yet but I do know it will at least be different and spark new things for me. I'm hoping in my new position I learn that work is just work and there is a life to live. I want to get back to a focus on my personal systems and drawing energy from that.

MBBboy
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by MBBboy »

Great job Lemur, will be an exciting transition. Leaving a company is often a time of nostalgia / excitement / anxiety, but I'm glad that the conversations with the coworkers went well. It can definitely give you a little bit of a boost if you realize that people are sad to see you go and you made an impact - it's a sign that you did a good job. Take those winds into your sails when you start the new job!

shaz
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by shaz »

Congratulations on moving on to the next phase. Remember to get personal contact info for everyone you might want to get in touch with after you leave.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Will do. Counting down the days until I'm out. NGL, motivation to finish out strong has been pretty tough... Spending far too much time on YouTube lately.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Passing thoughts

- My last week at my employer of 3 years. I should have a countdown clock for when I close this laptop one last time.
- Getting back into swimming. Have gone the past 2 weekends so this year pass I bought hasn't been a total waste. My Son is finally starting to swim a little bit...just like when he was learned to ride a bike. Once he hits the "epiphany of confidence" as I like to call it you get a sudden progression.
- Can't believe it snowed here. I'm so done with Winter lol.
- Inflation has not impacted us. We simply don't buy much and don't drive much....In a strange way with how inflation impacts stock market prices, we may even come out ahead in the long run? Like you can't kill someone who is already dead - and you can't burn a hole in a person's wallet who doesn't spend much anyway.
- I really like Ran Prieur's stuff. https://ranprieur.com/essays/dropout.html
- I'm down to 181 pounds from 196 pounds or so at my highest? Since last Christmas - my system of calorie restriction, 3x weekly workouts, and 10k+ steps a day is robust. It is getting tougher though so I'm adding a one day a week caloric maintenance day.
- Looking to do more covered calls this week on my stock positions. I might be holding these for a long-time until I get the chance to breakeven and input back to the indexes. Especially SOFI...I'm down a lot.
- Another like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f-JlzBuUUU

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Viktor K
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Viktor K »

hey Lemur, good luck. Keep up the swimming dude!

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Thanks Viktor - Life is good.

Today was funny in a way. So I got this email that one of my library books was overdue - Atomic Habits by James Clear. And was accumulating a fee of $0.25 per day. I was up to $4.75. They should've sent me the notification earlier I thought lol but turns out I just been ignoring the warning emails. Anyway, interestingly enough I've come to identify myself as "a slow reader" and "someone who juggles multiple books." The latter is true, the former a self-fulfilling prophecy, an excuse, and even a false identify.

Noting I was accumulating fees but I really wanted to finish the book - I suddenly had the motivation to focus and finish. I paced around my basement with the book in hand (a trick called habit bundling - I also still want to hit my pedometer count for the day) and managed to read 200+ some pages in 3 and half hours and I knocked it out. I took a phone picture of just one piece of information from the book I wanted to maintain and turned it into the library.

Great feeling. Good book. Also comical to read the chapter on how to use negative punishments / social contracts to make yourself do something. I just discovered something about my psychology by accident in doing so. :lol:

Also just a thought and maybe something I want to dig deeper into but as I was reading this book I couldn't help but think about how with ERE being something of a graduate level text - I feel like there is a lot of books out there that could be nice precursor reading to ERE. For instance, to me systems theory always made great logical sense in terms of trying to achieve financial independence, and it is something I strive for, but a book like Atomic Habits could teach somebody more in depth about the behavioral knowledge needed to create the habits in the first place that are by default required to run any sort of life altering system like ERE.

Scott 2
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Scott 2 »

I read Atomic Habits as an accessible example of applied systems theory. Clear comes across as well read, having fully considered and integrated concepts like anti-fragility. I think it is a great synthesis of the ideas towards personal development. So much as it is mentally tolerable, I think one could find great success blindly following his model.

Having come to his work after extensive exposure to the underlying sources, it's hard for me to say how accessible his book would be as a starting point. Would it still resonate, or would it seem like a collection of tips and tricks? I'm not sure.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Interesting Scott2; if you've any sources to share along the same veins of Clear's work, I would be interested. I've been referred to The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal as one such example. It is important to note though that neuroscience seems to be in some sort of great growth stage at least according to Andrew Huberman. But Clear's model alone seems easy enough for the layman like myself to follow and understand - and that is really all the generalists need.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Just been busy. My first week in my new job. Spouse back from overseas. Things are getting set up to telework so I've had a brutal commute to work in my first week while I'm waiting on approvals so haven't had time to do anything but get up, drive, work, drive, home, eat, sleep. CRAZY how this used to be the norm and even CRAZIER that some people want to go back to this!!!

Also been getting some intro to this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer

He seems to be the precursor to Nietzsche. Whereas the former based his philosophy on "Will to Survive" the latter expanded this to "Will to Power."

I can appreciate Schopenhauer's views, though quite pessimistic and gloomy, there is a certain strength to setting expectations accordingly - FIRE is basically best used as a tool avoid worst outcomes / remove displeasures as opposed to its aims of joy. In other words, happiness and states of contentment in my mind have always been achieved by creating a life that avoids disasters as opposed to seeking joys/pleasures.

If that makes sense...basically I think of FIRE as "The more financial independence the better as the RE is never guaranteed." This helps me avoid that trap of having nothing to "retire to" at the moment and also keeps me grounded in the present.

basuragomi
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by basuragomi »

Can't go wrong with Schopenhauer. Maybe not the best guy to emulate in your personal life though.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

lol @basuragomi these are great.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Too busy lately so April update will be short and through phone.

Net worth: $560k. Still holding AMD, JPM, SOFI, MU and still selling covered calls until I break-even. Still moving forward with plans to be fully allocated to index funds VTI (60%), VXUS (30%), BND (5%), and BNDX (5%).

Job: Awesome. Very close to previous compensation. First time getting a HDHP with an HSA. Better trainings. Full telework (for now at least…), and much lower stress than my consulting position. I could not ask for a better situation here. I’m still green so getting the new person treatment that has low responsibilities so I expect things to kick up eventually but I am not stressing about anything. I have a ton of upskilling to do with analytic softwares I never used so I actually have the energy to look forward to that.

Health: Down to 177lbs. Still tracking to hit eventual goal weight of 165lbs which would put me at 22.4 BMI which is right in the middle of Victor Longo’s BMI recommendation (22-23) for health and longevity purposes (23-25 if you’re older than 65). For March I hit my 10k step goal for 18 out of the 31 days.

Reading: Still finishing up fiction book. Would like to get into some of Ernest Becker’s work. Specifically “The Denial of Death.”

Gardening: Glad to have this section back: planted spinach, peas, kale, and lettuce. Trying to get a daily salad / veggie meal going so this may pay dividends later.

Other: Really glad I read Atomic Habits. It has helped me keep to the diet and even impacted the way I operate at work and setting up my life routine. I’m glad the warm season is upon us - Lemur loves the beach…
Last edited by Lemur on Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

So first time picking the HDHP plan. Specifically this one: https://www.geha.com/plans/medical/2022/hdhp
Found the relevant ERE Link: https://earlyretirementextreme.com/my-h ... -care.html
  • Self & Family Premium is $167.00 bi-weekly. Annualized: $4,342
  • HSA Contribution Limit for a family in 2022 is: $7,300
  • Our married filing jointly income tax bracket for 2022 is: 22%
  • Because HSA contributions are tax-deductible this will result in a savings of: $1,606 in taxes
  • Not counting for investment growth, what we are really paying for annual premium cost is $4,342 minus $1,606 = $2,736
  • Or $228 a month...Not bad for a family. With investment growth overtime, I may essentially begin to acquire healthcare insurance for free?
The plan also covers basic vision (yearly checkup) & dental (2x cleanings) so I even opted out of the vision/dental insurance for the year. Just brush your teeth :D.

Unless I'm missing something, this seems like an incredibly good deal for two healthy adults and healthy kid. The cons are having the health insurance tied to an employer. The HSA also has a temporary account maintenance fee (I say temporary because once the account hits a certain dollar amount, I believe I should be able to transfer to Fidelity where there is no fees and more investment options).

It seems its best to just let the account grow (tax free growth as well....so this really is the "best" retirement account), save the receipts, and pay any medical costs with after-tax dollars. And I believe how it works is one day I will be using those receipts to reimburse. I could retain both a hardcopy folder and digitize the receipts.

If you are 65 or older at the time of withdrawal, then you are free to withdraw money from your HSA for any purpose. You will have to pay the applicable income tax but there will be no additional tax penalty. But likely there will be some medical costs in older ages so this account will serve a good long-term purpose I take it.

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