two year update
Spending: Living expenses for the year came to
$39,954. This is $7,353 over the targeted amount of $32,601. Our
spending was 22.6% over budget for the year and 18.8% over since
retirement. We generated $13,263 of income this year mainly from my wife
wanting to work part time (not for money). Our investment withdrawal
was $26,691 this year, thus our pro-rated, annually-adjusted withdrawal
rate was 2.37% for the year, and 0.81% since retirement. Without the
additional income stream, our annually-adjusted withdrawal rate would
have been 3.68% for the year, and 3.56% since retirement.
Investments: The portfolio went from $1,025,772
(year zero) to $1,146,164 (year one) to $1,138,092 (year two). This is a
0.99% decrease for the year, but a 10.95% increase from the start.
Dividends included, VTSAX (60% AA) went up 1.48% this year; VFWAX (20%
AA) went down 6.18% this year; VWLUX (20% AA) went up 6.58% this year.
Overall, investments went up 0.97% this year.
Reflections: A wild year for the market, but everything seems to be going as planned. We entered year two of early retirement at $1.146M on 6/1, peaked at $1.199M on 9/20, bottomed at $1.008M on 12/24, peaked again at $1.202M on 5/3, and finished back down at $1.138M. I can’t say that I ever gave serious thought to converting stocks to a more stable form of investment, but it did often cross my mind. Sure, I wish I had temporarily jumped out near the market peak, but I’m also glad I didn’t jump out in 2008/2010/2011/2015 when dart throwing monkeys were howling just as loud as ever. I don’t know how this imbecilic and unnecessary trade war nonsense is going to work itself out, but Wall Street definitely views it as imbecilic and entirely unnecessary. What I view as entirely unnecessary is the existence of a representative democracy that allows imbeciles to have an equal say with intellectuals. What I view as intriguing is the thought of wearing an infinity gauntlet, but that’s another story for another day. On the other hand (literally), this whole process doesn’t work without imbeciles, so maybe everyone can stay and report to rehabilitation camps instead.
Experiences: I consider these to be the highlights of my second year in early retirement: ran over 2000 miles, broke three hours in a marathon for the third and fourth time (third one is my current PR at 2:48:30, fourth one was on the toughest road course in the southeast at 2:57:56 which is the course record by over 36 minutes), lowered my half-marathon PR (from 1:25:04 to 1:21:06 in October, then 1:19:57 in February, then 1:19:43 in April which was enough to win the state championship), set a personal record in the 1500m swim (finally getting under 2:00/100yd pace with the help of a wetsuit), took my first solo vacation in many years (went to New Orleans for a day and was bored to tears), played disc golf for the first time in over thirty years (better at this than normal golf), continued to write in my daily journal every single day since retirement without exception (focusing on weird dreams), took up the occasional evisceration of intellectually handicapped people who say stupid things in local facebook groups (no shortage of idiots in this part of the country), tackled all of my CE requirements (including 15 hours of article examinations in 45 minutes – broken system), became a certified volunteer ESL teacher for a semester with a nonprofit program (teaching intermediate level classes in English), volunteered in a voter registration drive at a small library branch (no one showed up), volunteered as a 1:30 pacer in a charity half marathon (always great to offer comedic relief when running at a pace that most people can only dream of), squandered hundreds of hours playing PS4 games (Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XI, Ni No Kuni 2, Spider-Man, Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, GTA V, and Persona 5 – I didn’t care much for Red Dead Redemption 2 or God of War – there were others that were quicker plays), increased my count to 650+ movies on TSPDT 1000 (including 430+ of the top 500), collected some more vintage sports cards (pictures of men with moustaches), completed and self-published my sci-fi novella (Remember I Was Vapour), interviewed for and dealt with the fallout from five media articles (more on this below), participated in an apparently abandoned 60-second doc on financial independence (not sure why it was ditched), participated in an apparently abandoned financial pharmacist podcast (perhaps I spent too much time degrading the profession instead of talking about the topic of the show – early retirement, if I recall the topic correctly), applied for and turned down a non-retail pharmacy job offer (applied on a whim and got an offer fifteen minutes later, plus a bad commute and onset of panic), helped my parents do repairs (roof, gutters, tractor, etc.), built a new mailbox (for UPS packages and such), did a lot of litter pickup (before this trendy but wonderful trashtag thing started), made preliminary but detailed itineraries for several future vacations (Japan #2, Japan #3, Denmark/Sweden/Norway, California #2, Portugal/Spain/Morocco, Uganda/Tanzania, Australia/NZ, Egypt/Greece, Finland/Russia, UK, Latin America, SE Asia), dealt with the brief emotional impact of having my best friend from ninth grade commit suicide (I’m fine, but seriously, don’t ask), and celebrated my 40th birthday by doing a blitzkrieg of stuff that I loved growing up.
Media: I was featured in two NYT articles, two Business Insider articles, and one Big Think article. I even created a blog for the sole purpose of getting some amazon click-thru revenue from those NYT articles. Three of my real-life friends saw the first NYT article (style section) without me mentioning it to anyone I know. However those articles failed to include a proper link to my blog because some idiotic web designer didn’t know what the hell he/she was doing. You would not believe the amount of incompetence and the explanations I was getting from that end. Sorry, I don’t feel like reliving it in detail. They eventually fixed their mess, but it was far too late to make a difference for traffic flow. Still, this didn’t stop a legion of people from stalking me on strava and facebook. I had to politely turn away most of the people who wanted to meet up, but I made time for most fellow marathoners, pharmacists, and redditors. Hopefully my fifteen minutes have passed. I might shut down the blog because I don’t really do anything with it. I refused pictures, and I’m glad I did since they successfully made the participants look like total douchebags. And coming from me, that’s saying something.
Routine: Comparing my daily habits in year two compared to pre-retirement, I increased my swimming (currently on hiatus), weightlifting (on hiatus), volunteering (on hiatus), hiking (several treks), movie watching, puzzle solving, family time, housework, yardwork, cooking, kayaking, stargazing, socializing, painting, bowling, videogame playing, reading (20-30 books), writing, studying astronomy, napping, and watching television (Game of Thrones, Arrested Development [new seasons], Cosmos [fifth time], Parts Unknown). Things I failed to make much progress on were learning to play an instrument (lack of talent and interest), improving my Spanish and Japanese (other than ESL class – and I pushed the second three-week Japan vacation back again to 2021), being able to bench press my body weight (tough hill to climb, and running takes all of my energy), helping fight the opiate epidemic in online discussions (dealing with imbecilic addicts who know nothing beyond anecdotes, personal attacks, and fallacious logic is wearisome), reducing internet time (tough to turn away when a particular group is responsible for the moral and intellectual erosion of the country), and deconverting religious adherents (taking a long break).
Upcoming: What lies ahead in year three? I plan on running 3000+ miles and participating in a few more races before leaving competition (including a return to the 10-miler that I placed 50th in four years ago, now with hopes of an overall victory and a nearly certain 40+ category victory). I hope to help a friend of mine earn his first sub-three marathon and subsequently accompany him to Boston in 2020 as my final competitive race, but that’s mostly up to him. I would like to break five minutes for the mile (probably will not happen) and 2:45 for the marathon (should be in the bag on the next attempt). I have indefinitely postponed plans for a triathlon due to a total lack of interest in competitive cycling and swimming (and a lack of preparedness by the guy I was going to participate with). A two week trip to Alaska/Washington/Victoria including an overnight backpack in Denali is coming up very soon. Perhaps there will be another trip somewhere in the spring. I’d like to expand the novella to a novel or convert it to a movie script. I’d like to hit 700 on TSPDT 1000. I’d like to bowl a 600 three-game series. I’d like to solve Rubik’s cube in less than one minute. I’d like to expand my understanding of relativity and quantum theories. I need to find some new things to do because it kinda feels like I’m running out of ideas. I need to get out of the house more. I need to worry about volunteering less and focus more on doing things for myself. I need to worry less in general, but I also want to continue making small improvements to the world. I want to enjoy life. I want to do whatever the fuck I want. And I shall.
Reflections: A wild year for the market, but everything seems to be going as planned. We entered year two of early retirement at $1.146M on 6/1, peaked at $1.199M on 9/20, bottomed at $1.008M on 12/24, peaked again at $1.202M on 5/3, and finished back down at $1.138M. I can’t say that I ever gave serious thought to converting stocks to a more stable form of investment, but it did often cross my mind. Sure, I wish I had temporarily jumped out near the market peak, but I’m also glad I didn’t jump out in 2008/2010/2011/2015 when dart throwing monkeys were howling just as loud as ever. I don’t know how this imbecilic and unnecessary trade war nonsense is going to work itself out, but Wall Street definitely views it as imbecilic and entirely unnecessary. What I view as entirely unnecessary is the existence of a representative democracy that allows imbeciles to have an equal say with intellectuals. What I view as intriguing is the thought of wearing an infinity gauntlet, but that’s another story for another day. On the other hand (literally), this whole process doesn’t work without imbeciles, so maybe everyone can stay and report to rehabilitation camps instead.
Experiences: I consider these to be the highlights of my second year in early retirement: ran over 2000 miles, broke three hours in a marathon for the third and fourth time (third one is my current PR at 2:48:30, fourth one was on the toughest road course in the southeast at 2:57:56 which is the course record by over 36 minutes), lowered my half-marathon PR (from 1:25:04 to 1:21:06 in October, then 1:19:57 in February, then 1:19:43 in April which was enough to win the state championship), set a personal record in the 1500m swim (finally getting under 2:00/100yd pace with the help of a wetsuit), took my first solo vacation in many years (went to New Orleans for a day and was bored to tears), played disc golf for the first time in over thirty years (better at this than normal golf), continued to write in my daily journal every single day since retirement without exception (focusing on weird dreams), took up the occasional evisceration of intellectually handicapped people who say stupid things in local facebook groups (no shortage of idiots in this part of the country), tackled all of my CE requirements (including 15 hours of article examinations in 45 minutes – broken system), became a certified volunteer ESL teacher for a semester with a nonprofit program (teaching intermediate level classes in English), volunteered in a voter registration drive at a small library branch (no one showed up), volunteered as a 1:30 pacer in a charity half marathon (always great to offer comedic relief when running at a pace that most people can only dream of), squandered hundreds of hours playing PS4 games (Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XI, Ni No Kuni 2, Spider-Man, Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, GTA V, and Persona 5 – I didn’t care much for Red Dead Redemption 2 or God of War – there were others that were quicker plays), increased my count to 650+ movies on TSPDT 1000 (including 430+ of the top 500), collected some more vintage sports cards (pictures of men with moustaches), completed and self-published my sci-fi novella (Remember I Was Vapour), interviewed for and dealt with the fallout from five media articles (more on this below), participated in an apparently abandoned 60-second doc on financial independence (not sure why it was ditched), participated in an apparently abandoned financial pharmacist podcast (perhaps I spent too much time degrading the profession instead of talking about the topic of the show – early retirement, if I recall the topic correctly), applied for and turned down a non-retail pharmacy job offer (applied on a whim and got an offer fifteen minutes later, plus a bad commute and onset of panic), helped my parents do repairs (roof, gutters, tractor, etc.), built a new mailbox (for UPS packages and such), did a lot of litter pickup (before this trendy but wonderful trashtag thing started), made preliminary but detailed itineraries for several future vacations (Japan #2, Japan #3, Denmark/Sweden/Norway, California #2, Portugal/Spain/Morocco, Uganda/Tanzania, Australia/NZ, Egypt/Greece, Finland/Russia, UK, Latin America, SE Asia), dealt with the brief emotional impact of having my best friend from ninth grade commit suicide (I’m fine, but seriously, don’t ask), and celebrated my 40th birthday by doing a blitzkrieg of stuff that I loved growing up.
Media: I was featured in two NYT articles, two Business Insider articles, and one Big Think article. I even created a blog for the sole purpose of getting some amazon click-thru revenue from those NYT articles. Three of my real-life friends saw the first NYT article (style section) without me mentioning it to anyone I know. However those articles failed to include a proper link to my blog because some idiotic web designer didn’t know what the hell he/she was doing. You would not believe the amount of incompetence and the explanations I was getting from that end. Sorry, I don’t feel like reliving it in detail. They eventually fixed their mess, but it was far too late to make a difference for traffic flow. Still, this didn’t stop a legion of people from stalking me on strava and facebook. I had to politely turn away most of the people who wanted to meet up, but I made time for most fellow marathoners, pharmacists, and redditors. Hopefully my fifteen minutes have passed. I might shut down the blog because I don’t really do anything with it. I refused pictures, and I’m glad I did since they successfully made the participants look like total douchebags. And coming from me, that’s saying something.
Routine: Comparing my daily habits in year two compared to pre-retirement, I increased my swimming (currently on hiatus), weightlifting (on hiatus), volunteering (on hiatus), hiking (several treks), movie watching, puzzle solving, family time, housework, yardwork, cooking, kayaking, stargazing, socializing, painting, bowling, videogame playing, reading (20-30 books), writing, studying astronomy, napping, and watching television (Game of Thrones, Arrested Development [new seasons], Cosmos [fifth time], Parts Unknown). Things I failed to make much progress on were learning to play an instrument (lack of talent and interest), improving my Spanish and Japanese (other than ESL class – and I pushed the second three-week Japan vacation back again to 2021), being able to bench press my body weight (tough hill to climb, and running takes all of my energy), helping fight the opiate epidemic in online discussions (dealing with imbecilic addicts who know nothing beyond anecdotes, personal attacks, and fallacious logic is wearisome), reducing internet time (tough to turn away when a particular group is responsible for the moral and intellectual erosion of the country), and deconverting religious adherents (taking a long break).
Upcoming: What lies ahead in year three? I plan on running 3000+ miles and participating in a few more races before leaving competition (including a return to the 10-miler that I placed 50th in four years ago, now with hopes of an overall victory and a nearly certain 40+ category victory). I hope to help a friend of mine earn his first sub-three marathon and subsequently accompany him to Boston in 2020 as my final competitive race, but that’s mostly up to him. I would like to break five minutes for the mile (probably will not happen) and 2:45 for the marathon (should be in the bag on the next attempt). I have indefinitely postponed plans for a triathlon due to a total lack of interest in competitive cycling and swimming (and a lack of preparedness by the guy I was going to participate with). A two week trip to Alaska/Washington/Victoria including an overnight backpack in Denali is coming up very soon. Perhaps there will be another trip somewhere in the spring. I’d like to expand the novella to a novel or convert it to a movie script. I’d like to hit 700 on TSPDT 1000. I’d like to bowl a 600 three-game series. I’d like to solve Rubik’s cube in less than one minute. I’d like to expand my understanding of relativity and quantum theories. I need to find some new things to do because it kinda feels like I’m running out of ideas. I need to get out of the house more. I need to worry about volunteering less and focus more on doing things for myself. I need to worry less in general, but I also want to continue making small improvements to the world. I want to enjoy life. I want to do whatever the fuck I want. And I shall.