2020 FIRE Cohort

[bobble]

I'm not worried about the dip.

My portfolio is up around 34% over the past three years. Sure, it was about 45% a little while ago, but I am still doing very well. Quite likely it will recover and set a new record soon, as it did after the Covid tip last year. Inflation has to be counted too, so those numbers are optimistic, but I believe that I am very far ahead of the 4% per year real returns that I depend on for FIRE. So I am liking these sequence of returns so far.

It is convenient for me though that I happen to be working and earning extra money at the moment. I'm itching to get that money into the market before the recovery comes.

[lemanfan]

Hello Class of 2020, how are tings going?  Are you still FIREd?  Satisfied?

Personally, just like it said in the list, I actually have ... well sort of relapsed. Just registered a small company again in order to do limited consulting work within the areas where I have competence. So far this activity has led to three yet unpaid assignments and one quite well paid. The goal is to keep this to fun and meaningful activities, and perhaps 25% - 50% of a full time at a maximum. Without going into specifics, it's part business consulting for small or new company owners, and part using my experience in international contract negotiations in the software business.

This is not about money for me, even if I do want to make money if I take assignments (would love to donate more to e.g. Ukraine help). It's really about three tings: I want to help others to be successful (the business consulting stuff), I want to get creative challenges (the contract stuff), and finally - I really do need more social interactions that what I get in my normal FIRE life.  Single and FIRE can get ... isolated, especially in pandemic times.

We'll see how long i keep it up until I take up golf and move to Spain like people in my situation seems to do otherwise...
 

[Alternatepriorities]

Hello Class of 2020, how are tings going?  Are you still FIREd?  Satisfied?

Things are mostly going well. I'm still FIREd and DW continues to find meaning in here work. I've "relapse" a little by taking on some work for my sister in law that in theory will be well paid eventually... I only took it on because it's a fun design project and a good way to connect with her.

My father passed away a month and a half ago and while it was still hard, I must say that having time and money to deal with it made things much easier than they could have been.

Still working on figuring out what makes for satisfying use of my time while DW is working. I felt like i had made some decent progress prior to starting the short term project. It has been hard to go back to sitting at the computer even with interesting work.

[tawyer]

I'm still FIREd. I probably do more work now that a job doesn't get in the way of me doing things for myself instead of hiring someone to do it for me.

[SugarMountain]

Hello Class of 2020, how are tings going?  Are you still FIREd?  Satisfied?

Still FIREd.  We did the opposite of most retirees and have upsized to a bigger house. There were a number of reasons for doing this.  Love the new place, but it has moved a number of fixed costs higher.  I'm kind of dreading doing my year end numbers a bit, but I'm sure we're still significantly below 4%.  One of the interesting things that has happened since I left the workforce is I've gotten sucked into spending more because it's no longer, "if I buy that it will delay retirement by X days/weeks/months" it's now "well, I guess when if we make it to 95 we might have less money to spend."  I'm finding taking money from my future self is easier than taking time was.  The other thing is I spend way less time updating and tracking all of our assets and spending.  Part of it is I'm not sitting at a computer 8+ hours per day.

I still don't really know what I'm going to do when I grow up, but I know I haven't missed work a single day in the 2+ years since I left.

[Alternatepriorities]

The other thing is I spend way less time updating and tracking all of our assets and spending.  Part of it is I'm not sitting at a computer 8+ hours per day.

I've found this to be very true for me as well.

[Linea_Norway]

The other thing is I spend way less time updating and tracking all of our assets and spending.  Part of it is I'm not sitting at a computer 8+ hours per day.

I've found this to be very true for me as well.

True for me as well.

Only, yesterday I did spent 10 minutes checking my pre-tax form that was automatically generated. I could reduce the amount of tax to pay by 50%, just by checking and correcting the form.

[Linea_Norway]

I am still FIREd. I am pretty anxious about the high inflation, increased cost for electricity and food. I am not really doing anything about it, other than trying to find a modern, energy efficient home for our next house. My vegetable garden is still a bit in limbo while living in a transit rental home, so that it has not produced more than the initial investments in soil, pots and seeds. Next season I hope to reuse a lot of those materials and generate surplus.

It is indeed very good to have the time to prioritize important things. We lost FIL in September and were able to drive to his country and stay there for almost 2 weeks. We could help him and his partner with the household and the terminal care, as well as organizing the cremation.

I am pretty sure I could do a lot more per day if I got up early, something I do regularly in summer with early daylight. But I love being able to sleep and wake up naturally and take it a bit easy on a day. And then you usually don't do as much as you did on a normal 8 hour working day, followed by home work.

[lemanfan]

It is indeed very good to have the time to prioritize important things.

I was very nice not to be working during the pandemic.  I have two friends stuck in their homes for medical reasons who needed real help with some contactless shopping and deliveries they couldn't do by paid services, and with my free time I could help them.

[Dicey]

Hello Class of 2020, how are tings going?  Are you still FIREd?  Satisfied?

Things are mostly going well. I'm still FIREd and DW continues to find meaning in here work. I've "relapse" a little by taking on some work for my sister in law that in theory will be well paid eventually... I only took it on because it's a fun design project and a good way to connect with her.

My father passed away a month and a half ago and while it was still hard, I must say that having time and money to deal with it made things much easier than they could have been.

Still working on figuring out what makes for satisfying use of my time while DW is working. I felt like i had made some decent progress prior to starting the short term project. It has been hard to go back to sitting at the computer even with interesting work.

Ooh, almost missed this. My condolences on your father's death. Having time and money does make hard things easier.

[Alternatepriorities]

Ooh, almost missed this. My condolences on your father's death. Having time and money does make hard things easier.

Thanks you!

He taught the value of frugality when I was little, we were poor, but we were also free. Years later when I learned investing is how people become rich, rather than something rich people do, I taught him. The combination is how a man who lived well on 20k/year leaves his children a wealth of knowledge and more money than anyone would expect.

How does one live well on 20k a year in one of the more expensive states?
His home was simple and self built with much of is salvaged during his years work construction.
Most of his heat and all of his hot water came from his woodstove.
75% of his vegetable came from his garden and green house.
Most of his meat and all of his fish came from the Alaska wilderness.

I will likely carry on his efficient building legacy, but I wish I written down his gardening secrets. Mostly to preserve the knowledge for others trying grow things on the edge of the arctic as I'll probably never be a great gardener myself. I like to travel too often...

[LightTripper]

He sounds like an amazingly skilled person with a great legacy.
I'm very sorry for your loss.

[rab-bit]

DW and I relapsed from FIRE a bit. I was doing some freelance work, but I cut back on that a few months ago when I accepted a part-time (3 days per week) research position at a top university that was too good to pass up. DW also took a three-day-per-week part-time job at a small company nearby.

These jobs, plus rental income, more than cover our expenses, and we still have an extra 1-2 days per week free in addition to the weekends. We'll probably do this for another 1-2 years and then stop working entirely.

[achvfi]

DW and I relapsed from FIRE a bit. I was doing some freelance work, but I cut back on that a few months ago when I accepted a part-time (3 days per week) research position at a top university that was too good to pass up. DW also took a three-day-per-week part-time job at a small company nearby.

These jobs, plus rental income, more than cover our expenses, and we still have an extra 1-2 days per week free in addition to the weekends. We'll probably do this for another 1-2 years and then stop working entirely.

That sounds great!