gratefuled
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2004
- Messages
- 178
Hi, folks. GratefulEd here...a voice from way back. Old-timers might remember me from this post:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/done-17029.html
Where are we now? The Cinnamon Girl & I split the corporate world in June of 2005 and have done very well since. We relocated from an inner-Boston neighborhood to the East Tennessee countryside, and we've spent our time travelling, raising our daughter, learning to become more and more self-sufficient, working for various charities, etc. I've also been writing; I've sold two novels and a textbook, and have edited four books for other people.
Man...the housing bubble was a real gut check, wasn't it? I watched the value of my holdings dip to about 60% of their 2007 peak, but I've made it a habit to keep about two years of cash on hand, so we were never forced to sell, nor did we panic sell. We stayed invested...the old "buy and hold"...and it seems to have worked out. As of today we're worth about 11% more than we were on our retirement date, and that on a budget of $48K annually. (It helps that we own our house outright and have no car payments or other debt.)
Anyway, I got curious about this place after such a long absence and decided to check in. I hope you're all well, and either making progress towards your escape, or enjoying it!
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/done-17029.html
Where are we now? The Cinnamon Girl & I split the corporate world in June of 2005 and have done very well since. We relocated from an inner-Boston neighborhood to the East Tennessee countryside, and we've spent our time travelling, raising our daughter, learning to become more and more self-sufficient, working for various charities, etc. I've also been writing; I've sold two novels and a textbook, and have edited four books for other people.
Man...the housing bubble was a real gut check, wasn't it? I watched the value of my holdings dip to about 60% of their 2007 peak, but I've made it a habit to keep about two years of cash on hand, so we were never forced to sell, nor did we panic sell. We stayed invested...the old "buy and hold"...and it seems to have worked out. As of today we're worth about 11% more than we were on our retirement date, and that on a budget of $48K annually. (It helps that we own our house outright and have no car payments or other debt.)
Anyway, I got curious about this place after such a long absence and decided to check in. I hope you're all well, and either making progress towards your escape, or enjoying it!