I remember! What a relief it must be to have the business sold. You came out much better than many many people I have seen over the years who had struggling businesses. You are young and debt free, you should do just fine.
Another new guy
- Thread starter Kronk
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papadad111
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Very interesting - lots of valuable learning from your experience.
Guess I am gut-less; every time i think i can take my hard earned dollars and put it into a business, I get chicken and realize that i can probably do no better than a bank cd,- at least it has limited downside and i can sleep at night.
As i hit 40, i find i am getting more and more conservative - hanging on to what i have. not wanting to lose it. Lost most of it back in 2000 and 2001 and I don't want a repeat. has taken 7 years to "recover".
Guess I am gut-less; every time i think i can take my hard earned dollars and put it into a business, I get chicken and realize that i can probably do no better than a bank cd,- at least it has limited downside and i can sleep at night.
As i hit 40, i find i am getting more and more conservative - hanging on to what i have. not wanting to lose it. Lost most of it back in 2000 and 2001 and I don't want a repeat. has taken 7 years to "recover".
OP
OP
Kronk
Full time employment: Posting here.
Grave digging!
Okay, yes, this is Me. I started checking out the forum again a couple of weeks ago and see a number of familiar handles, so some people might be curious whatever happened to me.
DW and I are now both 39, and we decided to cheat. In 2013, we sold our house, both cars, gave away almost all of our stuff, and then moved to well-known expat haunt Cuenca, Ecuador for a low-cost FIRE. We've been here for about 10 weeks now, and I've been retired for closing in on 5 months now.
Here's what the last few years have brought:
Following the sale of the business, DW started and completed a Master's in Public Health degree. She was unable to find a full-time job in our area, and it wasn't worth it to move, so she had a part-time job in her field.
In 2010, we thought about remodeling our kitchen and decided to look at Open Houses in our area to get kitchen ideas. Fell in love with the first one we visited, and bought it. Then we installed a 10kW solar array and a geothermal heat pump for heating/cooling.
In 2012, the BMW was totaled as a guy rear-ended my car and smacked me into the SUV in front. Bought a 1999 Miata to replace it, which cost half the amount the insurance company paid me for the car.
In the summer of 2012, DW and I started joking about dumping it all and retiring to Mexico. After some internet research, we figured there were better places for us than Mexico with its drug cartels. Ecuador topped the list.
In October of 2012, I was let go as a consultant at the same place I'd been a consultant for the previous 13 years. 2 weeks later, we were on a plane to Ecuador for 3 1/2 weeks. Fell in love with Cuenca, and decided to pull the plug.
In January, 2013, we got the house on the market. In March, still not having found a buyer, I took a 6 month contract. In May, we finally found a buyer (yay!) and agreed on a price that was a significant financial loss (boo!). At the end of July, we moved in with MIL. At the end of September, my contract ended (yay!) and I retired.
In October 2013 we started traveling: 4 days in San Francisco (Government shutdown, Alcatraz closed?! boo!), then a week later flew to Geneva, Switzerland for a few days. Took a train to Venice, and hopped on a cruise ship. In order, on the cruise, we saw: Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir (Turkey), Messina, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Marseilles, Barcelona, Mallorca, Malaga, Canary Islands, Turks and Caicos, and New Orleans. It was awesome. In total, the trip was 37 days, with 28 of them on the cruise ship.
Near the beginning of December, 2013, we flew to Ecuador with everything we were going to bring with us: 2 50 pound suitcases, 2 50 pound duffel bags, a backpack suitcase, a French Horn, and 2 backpacks. It was kind of funny watching the two of us schlep this stuff around. We stayed with friends for a couple of weeks (a couple our age from back in the States who decided to do the same thing), then moved into our furnished rental in the beginning of January, 2014.
Our budget is around $1700/month, though monthly spending has been closer to $1300 so far. Travel isn't included in the budget, but we're not planning much for a while at least until we get our residency visas. The $1700 is under a 2% withdrawal rate, so we're feeling pretty comfortable about things.
And it has been awesome so far. I'm still in the early retirement decompression stage, which means I don't want to do much of anything, and I'm happy doing very little. With the Olympics on, we're spending all day watching things. We can sort of communicate in Spanish, but need a lot more time to learn. There are plenty of expats here, which makes it less intimidating. I play tennis twice a week, DW has connections that will hopefully get her in to a couple of local community orchestras, there's a community theater group just starting that I may get into, and a bunch of other expat-centric activities for those who are inclined. I haven't even gotten back into martial arts here, though I do know of a BJJ gym I'd like to go to.
Anyway, that's been my life. Kind of interesting rereading a thread 8 1/2 years old all about me.
Okay, yes, this is Me. I started checking out the forum again a couple of weeks ago and see a number of familiar handles, so some people might be curious whatever happened to me.
DW and I are now both 39, and we decided to cheat. In 2013, we sold our house, both cars, gave away almost all of our stuff, and then moved to well-known expat haunt Cuenca, Ecuador for a low-cost FIRE. We've been here for about 10 weeks now, and I've been retired for closing in on 5 months now.
Here's what the last few years have brought:
Following the sale of the business, DW started and completed a Master's in Public Health degree. She was unable to find a full-time job in our area, and it wasn't worth it to move, so she had a part-time job in her field.
In 2010, we thought about remodeling our kitchen and decided to look at Open Houses in our area to get kitchen ideas. Fell in love with the first one we visited, and bought it. Then we installed a 10kW solar array and a geothermal heat pump for heating/cooling.
In 2012, the BMW was totaled as a guy rear-ended my car and smacked me into the SUV in front. Bought a 1999 Miata to replace it, which cost half the amount the insurance company paid me for the car.
In the summer of 2012, DW and I started joking about dumping it all and retiring to Mexico. After some internet research, we figured there were better places for us than Mexico with its drug cartels. Ecuador topped the list.
In October of 2012, I was let go as a consultant at the same place I'd been a consultant for the previous 13 years. 2 weeks later, we were on a plane to Ecuador for 3 1/2 weeks. Fell in love with Cuenca, and decided to pull the plug.
In January, 2013, we got the house on the market. In March, still not having found a buyer, I took a 6 month contract. In May, we finally found a buyer (yay!) and agreed on a price that was a significant financial loss (boo!). At the end of July, we moved in with MIL. At the end of September, my contract ended (yay!) and I retired.
In October 2013 we started traveling: 4 days in San Francisco (Government shutdown, Alcatraz closed?! boo!), then a week later flew to Geneva, Switzerland for a few days. Took a train to Venice, and hopped on a cruise ship. In order, on the cruise, we saw: Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir (Turkey), Messina, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Marseilles, Barcelona, Mallorca, Malaga, Canary Islands, Turks and Caicos, and New Orleans. It was awesome. In total, the trip was 37 days, with 28 of them on the cruise ship.
Near the beginning of December, 2013, we flew to Ecuador with everything we were going to bring with us: 2 50 pound suitcases, 2 50 pound duffel bags, a backpack suitcase, a French Horn, and 2 backpacks. It was kind of funny watching the two of us schlep this stuff around. We stayed with friends for a couple of weeks (a couple our age from back in the States who decided to do the same thing), then moved into our furnished rental in the beginning of January, 2014.
Our budget is around $1700/month, though monthly spending has been closer to $1300 so far. Travel isn't included in the budget, but we're not planning much for a while at least until we get our residency visas. The $1700 is under a 2% withdrawal rate, so we're feeling pretty comfortable about things.
And it has been awesome so far. I'm still in the early retirement decompression stage, which means I don't want to do much of anything, and I'm happy doing very little. With the Olympics on, we're spending all day watching things. We can sort of communicate in Spanish, but need a lot more time to learn. There are plenty of expats here, which makes it less intimidating. I play tennis twice a week, DW has connections that will hopefully get her in to a couple of local community orchestras, there's a community theater group just starting that I may get into, and a bunch of other expat-centric activities for those who are inclined. I haven't even gotten back into martial arts here, though I do know of a BJJ gym I'd like to go to.
Anyway, that's been my life. Kind of interesting rereading a thread 8 1/2 years old all about me.
retire2020
Recycles dryer sheets
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- Sep 22, 2012
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Kronk….Wow! Despite loss on business and house, you never gave up your dreams. bravo...Very inspiring and positive story. All the best for your retirement and welcome back to forum.
TimSF
Recycles dryer sheets
Thanks for checking in and sharing. It is real helpful to get the long view. Hope you keep the board updated on your foreign adventure.n
Bestwifeever
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Really nice update. Way to move ahead.
papadad111
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- Oct 4, 2007
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Well done. Let us know How is Cuenca after 6 months - after honeymoon phase. Also interested to know how you chose that locale. How's health care and such. Again well done.
17 months and counting..... Hopefully.
17 months and counting..... Hopefully.
OP
OP
Kronk
Full time employment: Posting here.
In regards to financial losses, those were mitigated by a couple of instances of good timing. Our first house that we were in from1998 until 2010 appreciated by about $150k over that span. When we bought the second house, we went from no mortgage to a large mortgage and invested the difference. That choice may have netted us around $100k, counteracting the loss on the house itself.
We researched a number of possible retirement destinations, and quickly eliminated most of them. We were scared off from Lake Chapala, Mexico, after kidnappings/beheadings in 2012. Costa Rica seemed a bit too expensive. Belize seemed too hot. Panama a bit too expensive where it wasn't too hot or too small. Guatemala seemed too underdeveloped. We wanted to stay in the Western Hemisphere, so Ecuador seemed like our best bet, up in the mountains. After visiting, we were sold.
The city of Cuenca is around a half a million people, but it feels a lot smaller. You don't need a car here, as public transportation is good. Food and rent are cheap, and there are more restaurants than you could eat at in a year. Italian, Thai, Mexican, Argentinian, Peruvian, Japanese, American, Chinese restaurants are scattered around, in addition to local cuisine. There are several thousand English speaking expats, which means there's a bunch of activities, parties, and gatherings. My social life is more interesting here than it was back in the States.
That said, there are some downsides, but nothing that bothers us very much.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
We researched a number of possible retirement destinations, and quickly eliminated most of them. We were scared off from Lake Chapala, Mexico, after kidnappings/beheadings in 2012. Costa Rica seemed a bit too expensive. Belize seemed too hot. Panama a bit too expensive where it wasn't too hot or too small. Guatemala seemed too underdeveloped. We wanted to stay in the Western Hemisphere, so Ecuador seemed like our best bet, up in the mountains. After visiting, we were sold.
The city of Cuenca is around a half a million people, but it feels a lot smaller. You don't need a car here, as public transportation is good. Food and rent are cheap, and there are more restaurants than you could eat at in a year. Italian, Thai, Mexican, Argentinian, Peruvian, Japanese, American, Chinese restaurants are scattered around, in addition to local cuisine. There are several thousand English speaking expats, which means there's a bunch of activities, parties, and gatherings. My social life is more interesting here than it was back in the States.
That said, there are some downsides, but nothing that bothers us very much.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
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- Oct 13, 2010
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I had to laugh... sell everything you own, move to a new country, and "still in decompression stage...don't want to do much of anything" 
You've already done more than most of us here will end up doing!
You've already done more than most of us here will end up doing!readytofire
Dryer sheet aficionado
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thanks for coming back and filling us in. Congrats on your ER
