seven month update (jan 2018)
Spending: Living expenses for the month came to
$3618. This is $1054 over the 2017 monthly targeted amount of $2564. Our
spending was 41.1% over budget for the month, now 19.7% over for the
year. We generated $1227 of income this month from my wife's part-time
fun job at the library and some of my old book royalties. Our investment
withdrawal was $2665 this month, thus our pro-rated annual withdrawal
rate is 3.12% for the month and 2.19% for the year. Without the
additional income stream, our pro-rated annual withdrawal rate would
have been 4.07% for the month and 3.59% for the year.
Investments: The portfolio went from $1,098,383 to $1,111,949 (a 1.24% increase for the month), which dropped down to a new total of (drum-roll) $1,109,284 after paying the bills. This is an 8.1% increase from the original starting balance of $1,025,772, even after withdrawals of $13,992 for living expenses over seven months. Since retirement, capital income from the investment portfolio has produced the equivalent of a full-time employee generating $80.36/hr of labor income. VTSAX (61% AA) went up 0.7% this month (19.0% for the year); VFWAX (21% AA) went up 1.4% (23.7% for the year); VWLUX (18% AA) did what it was supposed to do.
Reflections: Our investments are once again at an all-time high, primarily due to passage of the tax cut for wealthy job creators like myself. /s Spending continued to be over budget in December due to the $1100 property tax, $400 six-month car insurance premium, and $200 payment for trees. This should settle back down next month. The increase in the new year-end balance from $1,025,772 to $1,109,284 means our spending budget will increase from $2564 to $2773 in 2018. I’m gonna get some extra cheese on my Whopper!
Experiences: I broke the three-hour barrier in the marathon by going 2:58:18 on 34 miles per week of running during the training cycle. I consider this to be my greatest personal accomplishment since retirement, especially considering the healthy amount of skepticism shared by the running community on being able to do so with less than 50 miles per week. I finally played all of the PS1 games that I purchased nearly a decade ago, including Chrono Cross, Dragon Warrior VII, Xenogears, and Final Fantasy V. I’m still volunteering at the natural history museum. I’ve watched a few of the new movies that are expected to compete for awards this season. I planted a lot of trees and picked up a lot of litter. I made a fairly detailed map of our property. Looking back at this partial year, it’s hard for me to comprehend how much time I’ve spent housekeeping, cooking, weightlifting, running, swimming, volunteering, writing, exploring, building, gaming, reading, studying, internetting, mapping, napping, planting, listening to music, watching movies, picking up litter, and visiting family. My life expectancy is fifty more years, but I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in just these past seven months. I would not return to retail pharmacy for triple the salary. I do not know what real stress is. I do not know what alarm clocks are. My life is so much better than it was before. I hope everyone here finds this peace.
Upcoming: The following is a rough plan for 2018: half-marathon in February (1:24?), full-marathon in April (2:55?), two-week vacation across Middle America in April, half Ironman in August (5:15?), three-week vacation across Northern Japan in September, half-marathon in October, and full-marathon in December. Other projects for 2018 without set dates: construct an astronomy exhibit for the museum (possibly opening my own small museum), become a volunteer running coach (possibly becoming certified through RRCA), regain some proficiency in Japanese before the trip, play all of the Nintendo Gamecube games that I bought ten years ago and never touched, bench press my body weight (155), bowl a 200 game or possibly a 600 series (last bowled 200 when I was in a league eighteen years ago), watch Game of Thrones, play Final Fantasy XV all the way through once it gets a PC release, and significantly improve the appearance of our driveway. I’ll also be doing whatever the fuck I want.
Investments: The portfolio went from $1,098,383 to $1,111,949 (a 1.24% increase for the month), which dropped down to a new total of (drum-roll) $1,109,284 after paying the bills. This is an 8.1% increase from the original starting balance of $1,025,772, even after withdrawals of $13,992 for living expenses over seven months. Since retirement, capital income from the investment portfolio has produced the equivalent of a full-time employee generating $80.36/hr of labor income. VTSAX (61% AA) went up 0.7% this month (19.0% for the year); VFWAX (21% AA) went up 1.4% (23.7% for the year); VWLUX (18% AA) did what it was supposed to do.
Reflections: Our investments are once again at an all-time high, primarily due to passage of the tax cut for wealthy job creators like myself. /s Spending continued to be over budget in December due to the $1100 property tax, $400 six-month car insurance premium, and $200 payment for trees. This should settle back down next month. The increase in the new year-end balance from $1,025,772 to $1,109,284 means our spending budget will increase from $2564 to $2773 in 2018. I’m gonna get some extra cheese on my Whopper!
Experiences: I broke the three-hour barrier in the marathon by going 2:58:18 on 34 miles per week of running during the training cycle. I consider this to be my greatest personal accomplishment since retirement, especially considering the healthy amount of skepticism shared by the running community on being able to do so with less than 50 miles per week. I finally played all of the PS1 games that I purchased nearly a decade ago, including Chrono Cross, Dragon Warrior VII, Xenogears, and Final Fantasy V. I’m still volunteering at the natural history museum. I’ve watched a few of the new movies that are expected to compete for awards this season. I planted a lot of trees and picked up a lot of litter. I made a fairly detailed map of our property. Looking back at this partial year, it’s hard for me to comprehend how much time I’ve spent housekeeping, cooking, weightlifting, running, swimming, volunteering, writing, exploring, building, gaming, reading, studying, internetting, mapping, napping, planting, listening to music, watching movies, picking up litter, and visiting family. My life expectancy is fifty more years, but I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in just these past seven months. I would not return to retail pharmacy for triple the salary. I do not know what real stress is. I do not know what alarm clocks are. My life is so much better than it was before. I hope everyone here finds this peace.
Upcoming: The following is a rough plan for 2018: half-marathon in February (1:24?), full-marathon in April (2:55?), two-week vacation across Middle America in April, half Ironman in August (5:15?), three-week vacation across Northern Japan in September, half-marathon in October, and full-marathon in December. Other projects for 2018 without set dates: construct an astronomy exhibit for the museum (possibly opening my own small museum), become a volunteer running coach (possibly becoming certified through RRCA), regain some proficiency in Japanese before the trip, play all of the Nintendo Gamecube games that I bought ten years ago and never touched, bench press my body weight (155), bowl a 200 game or possibly a 600 series (last bowled 200 when I was in a league eighteen years ago), watch Game of Thrones, play Final Fantasy XV all the way through once it gets a PC release, and significantly improve the appearance of our driveway. I’ll also be doing whatever the fuck I want.