four year update

 

FINANCES: I’m going to phone it in this year with the update. Check prior contributions to see more history if you don’t know what this is about. Spending “budget” was $43,866 (based on 2% of net worth at EOY 2020). Actual spending was $47,384 but with $11,133 passive income (stimulus checks and ebay sales), withdrawal was only $36,251. Our estimated net worth went from $1,333,772 (year zero) to $1,471,164 (year one) to $1,488,092 (year two) to $2,010,995 (year three) to $2,534,758 (current). Huge bump in year three was from being pre-gifted an inheritance worth $200k. Huge bump in year four was from the massive explosion in local real estate prices and strong stock performance – both are up 30% this year. I’m basically 50/50 in VTSAX and real estate at the moment. I plan to make some moves into bonds and commodities to help mitigate asteroid risk.

 

YEAR FOUR: I stayed at home a lot over the past year due to the pandemic and followed politics closely. Wife and I have been volunteering with the Cornell University nest watch and bird feeder watch programs. I got back into running but not racing (except helping to pace friends on their own races). I do about 90 miles per week @ 7:15/mi, staying tired but pain free. I cycled for a little bit but grew tired of it. I spend more time with my wife just sitting and talking on the porch while we watch the birds. Most of my non-fiction reading has been on natural selection (Darwin, Dawkins, Coyne, Gould, etc.) and quantum mechanics (Susskind, Friedman, Feynman, Einstein, etc.) My fiction reading has been heavy on classic sci-fi (Asimov, Verne, Herbert, Heinlein, etc.) I’ve spent a lot of time collecting vintage Nintendo stuff, especially Nintendo Power magazines (I’m searching for my last one – the newsstand variant of issue 152 if you have it!). As for gaming, Diablo II, Persona 5 Strikers, and Ghost of Tsushima took most of my time. I watched the new Cosmos season and re-watched the Marx Brothers filmography recently. I made my first ever trip to the ER due to a kidney stone (thought I was dying). Our dog had to be put down. She was the closest thing I’ll ever have to a child.

 

YEAR FIVE: I want to do less internet. I still want to learn to swim and move to triathlon. I want to volunteer more, listen to my multi-channel hi-res audio more, and make better use of my Criterion Channel subscription. We’re definitely making up for lost traveling. Second trip to Hawaii combined with third trip to Japan should be as soon as Japan will let us in. I’ll be picking up a Ford Transit Connect XL van (or something similar) soon for some cross-country driving, including a long-delayed three week trip thru California. I’d like to pick up some more acreage further out in the middle of nowhere and build an off-the-grid cabin with solar because the noise is starting to pick up with everyone moving to Middle TN. Just something simple to have as a getaway. I also see heavier philanthropy in the future if the market wants to stay this irrational. And yes, whatever the fuck I want. Ha ha. Okay, bye.