Remember 2012

[utrecht]

Transferred to a different job at work. Went from a detective position in a squad that works only high profile cases to working undercover in the organized crime squad. My nieces and nephews now think I'm cool because I grew my hair long, got an earring, shave only occasionally and wear ripped jeans everyday instead of suits. (Head start on retirement )

My retirement portfolio has tripled since the end of 2008 (including contributions). In 2012 I decided to move my retirement date up. Its now exactly 2 years from now.

Wife is more beautiful than ever and nicer to me than I deserve.

Spring break 2012, my son and I went skiing alone and had great bonding time.

 

[Lisa99]

WARNING: THIS IS WORK RELATED, so enter with caution

Survived megacorp layoff and turned down an early retirement offer. The offer was so low I would have had to find another job so wasn't worth it.

Then I was made an offer to be a manager that I couldn't refuse. By refusing the odds of my having to work for a doofus in my group was greater than 50/50 so I accepted. Let work/life balance get WAY out of whack and at the end of the year I still got an "Achieves Expectations" for my annual rating...I was expecting better than that. Decided that 2013 will be about doing what I need to in order to get the job done but I won't be working the long hours I did in 2012...there is no payback, monetary or otherwise.

Spent the last two weeks of the year on vacation running retirement numbers, catching on an AA review, etc. It looks like we can move up retirement by 14 months to May 2015...it all depends on the market.

Overall a good year; lessons learned, health is good, early retirement is on track.

 

[Ally]

All of our best memories include spending time with children and grandchildren at home and on various trips.

We also spent lots of time with our 3 dogs and my cat.

 

[NW-Bound]

2012 was the year that we made the $10K annual deductible on our health insurance.

And I would have gladly paid the 6-figure cost had we not had insurance, as it saved the life of our young adult son, who was still on our insurance policy. He came down with a rare internal infection, which was misdiagnosed twice, first by an urgent care clinic, then a few days later by a hospital ER. At 3rd trial, they were able to determine the source of his high fever and pain, and admitted him immediately. In another country, or even a remote place in the US, this could have cost his life.

This happened while we were several thousand miles away in an RV trip, and had to rush home. Once proper diagnosis was made, and the proper medication and minor surgical procedure were given, he immediately recovered.

The incidence was another factor for me to stop my part-time consulting work, which I was getting close to pulling the cord anyway due to other reasons.

So, other than averting a major life disaster, nothing exceptional. Oh, and once the smoke cleared, I made another RV trip later in the summer, and made the 4th visit to Hawaii, but to a spot we had not been.

PS. We were very upset with the urgent care clinic and the hospital ER that misdiagnosed him. Later, when we recounted the story with a visiting acquaintance who was on the faculty of a medical school, this man confirmed that it would not be at all unusual for this type of infection to be misdiagnosed in a young person, as it was normally observed in elderly persons.

 

[REWahoo]

Nothing can refocus priorities like a personal or close family health scare. Glad to hear your son fully recovered.