One year of ESR

[Katsmeow]

Keep meaning to get around to posting on this.

I went to a very part time schedule in May last year. I work about 1/4 time. Last June, my DH fully retired.

From a work standpoint, it has been great. I get to do all the enjoyable parts of working with none of the stresses or annoyances of full time work. I wasn't sure when I started it how long I would do it but so far it is going great.

Financially it was an up and down year. We bought a house in early 2010 for cash that we planned by remodel after selling our large, expensive house. Well, best laid plans and all that....

First, after I lived in the "new" house for a few months while DH was in the "old" house (I brought our pets and kids to the new house to make it easier to sell the old house) it became clear that remodeling was not a good option and would not be very cost effective. After looking at options, we decided to tear it down and then build new.

Then, we couldn't sell the old house. We priced it at what the agent said was a good price to sell quickly. In short, she was way wrong but it took months and months to work that out.

It became clear that the house was priced too high to sell quickly so all that was not great.

On the positive side --

We relisted the old house this spring and got a contract in a matter of days and sold it after reducing the price. We are currently working on plans to build the new house. One good thing about working over the past year was that it paid the carrying costs of the old house so financially it worked out OK.

We have a lot more time now than we used to have and about 6 months ago began homeschooling our daughter (9th grade). Something that has worked out great but wouldn't have reasonably possible before.

So far, everything is going great. I would like to get the new house built and then get settled in to that.

 

[Sixteen Tons]

Thanks for posting this update. It is nice to see what is happening in other "worlds". Good luck in your new home building project.

 

[chinaco]

Congrats.... The plan is working!

 

[Aiming_4_55]

Congrats on your 1st year. It just proves that retirement isn't boring! Have fun with the new home construction.

 

[WB52]

thanks for the update and congrats!

 

[flyfishnevada]

Congrats! I hear you on the bumps in the road. I always remember that going through stuff like that is easier to deal with being retired than while working.

 

[haha]

We have a lot more time now than we used to have and about 6 months ago began homeschooling our daughter (9th grade). Something that has worked out great but wouldn't have reasonably possible before.

So far, everything is going great. I would like to get the new house built and then get settled in to that.

My wife and I homeschooled both our sons. It was very nice. It does produce very self directed people though, and both of them felt ready to strike out into the world at about age 16.

As a practical matter, unless you are in a very inclusive and large church or something, at about the age 15-16 young people need sexual and social opportunities that are hard to find in the typical neighborhood, as US teen life is pretty well built around the school.

My kids went straight to Community College. It was a much better fit for them than any high school I could think of. Instead of being treated like inmates they are treated like the customers that they are. And at least where they were, there are many bright and self motivated young people from all over the world to interact with.

Ha

 

[Katsmeow]

My wife and I homeschooled both our sons. It was very nice. It does produce very self directed people though, and both of them felt ready to strike out into the world at about age 16.

As a practical matter, unless you are in a very inclusive and large church or something, at about the age 15-16 young people need sexual and social opportunities that are hard to find in the typical neighborhood, as US teen life is pretty well built around the school.

My kids went straight to Community College. It was a much better fit for them than any high school I could think of. Instead of being treated like inmates they are treated like the customers that they are. And at least where they were, there are many bright and self motivated young people from all over the world to interact with.

Ha

My daughter still has a lot of friends from public school so still has a lot of social contact. My younger son attended a very small private school for high school (think 25 students or so in the entire school) so developing social opportunities was very important for him. In his case, he got involved in martial arts as he main activity which did a lot that was very good for him.

He graduated high school early and started community college at 16 and just finished his first year (just turned 17). He absolutely loved community college during the year and was very comfortable with both the other students and his instructors. He got more interested in academics than he ever really was before and sending him there worked out great. He also been able to do well in school with no effort and it was good for him to be in a situation where more was expected of him.

 

[walkinwood]

Congratulations! It seems to me like you just posted your ER plans - and now, a whole year has passed. I am very happy for you.