Lagniappe
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2006
- Messages
- 406
I just realized that its been three years since I retired. I actually don’t know the exact day, but sometime around April 1, 2018 I stopped receiving a paycheck. So much has happened since then, much of it unexpected.
Overall, I am really thankful to have had the luxury of retirement through the last three years. It hasn’t all been great, but it beats working and being stressed out all the time by a long shot. I feel blessed.
• My health improved dramatically. I was recovering from a very bad flu, overweight and sluggish when I left the working world. Today, my energy levels are high, my weight is somewhere close to the healthy range, I walk in the sun every day, my stress level is low and I am feeling good.
• I travelled, till I didn’t. Shortly after quitting in 2018, I went to Barcelona for ten weeks, to Spanish Language School. This had been a lifelong dream of mine. I learned enough Spanish to pass the B1 exam, but also learned that I am exceedingly poor at languages. I learned a lot about myself, traveling alone for an extended time, and got to explore part of Spain I had only seen on a brief tour before. In the fall, I spent a week in Cambridge at the Festival of Ideas. In 2019, I started by going to a Mardi Gras Ball in New Orleans, then flew across the pond and met some friends who were hiking Hadrian’s Wall, across northern England. I then spent a few days in London, a couple of weeks in Prague, followed by a month in Paris, a month in Edinburgh for The Fringe Festival and the Book Festival, a few weeks in Venice for the Biennale, and finally home. Lots of plans for 2020 had to be scrapped, but I still have the travel bug.
• I moved. Only 25 miles, but after returning from my adventures in 2019, I realized that I didn’t want to take care of a single family home, I didn’t use the pool, and I wanted something I could lock and leave. I also wanted to live someplace where I knew my neighbors, and I could walk to restaurants, shopping, etc. So I sold the house that had been my refuge from stress when working and bought a condo in a vibrant neighborhood about 25 miles south. It was not in the best of shape, but I loved the location. I can walk to the beach and to lots of restaurants, the neighbors are (mostly) friendly, there’s a community pool, a book club, etc. I’m still building my tribe locally, and hang out with my old friends a lot.
• 2020 wore me down. The stress of the pandemic, plus everything happening in the US at the time, really got to me. I needed something to do other than sit inside and watch the news. So I decided to renovate the bathroom in my new (to me) condo. It had roman columns that annoyed me, and no door between the bedroom and bathroom. Then I added new kitchen cabinets and counters, a wine fridge and new floors throughout. Which meant I had to move out. I stayed at a friend-of-a-friends place for three months. My new home is lovely, exactly what I wanted. It ended up costing about 5 times my original budget, but I get about ten times more happiness. I took a bunch of Zoom classes – writing, cooking, history - and learned a lot. I also started exploring a Plan B for where I might live part of the year long term. I won’t get into how the political environment affects my life but having been the “only” in almost every professional environment in my life and in every neighborhood I have lived in, I wanted to have a refuge someplace where I might not have to be on the alert all the time. I did a lot of research, and finally chose Portugal and started applying for their Residency by Investment Program (Golden Visa). Still in process, hoping for approval before the year is out. If approved, I will spend about a third of the year there, a third here, and the rest traveling.
• Financially, I am performing as expected. My withdrawal rate has averaged just under 2%, even with the major renovation project. My portfolio is up 27% from April 1 2018, so its time to Blow some Dough! I expect decorating the new place and spending time in Portugal will take care of that.
• I travelled, till I didn’t. Shortly after quitting in 2018, I went to Barcelona for ten weeks, to Spanish Language School. This had been a lifelong dream of mine. I learned enough Spanish to pass the B1 exam, but also learned that I am exceedingly poor at languages. I learned a lot about myself, traveling alone for an extended time, and got to explore part of Spain I had only seen on a brief tour before. In the fall, I spent a week in Cambridge at the Festival of Ideas. In 2019, I started by going to a Mardi Gras Ball in New Orleans, then flew across the pond and met some friends who were hiking Hadrian’s Wall, across northern England. I then spent a few days in London, a couple of weeks in Prague, followed by a month in Paris, a month in Edinburgh for The Fringe Festival and the Book Festival, a few weeks in Venice for the Biennale, and finally home. Lots of plans for 2020 had to be scrapped, but I still have the travel bug.
• I moved. Only 25 miles, but after returning from my adventures in 2019, I realized that I didn’t want to take care of a single family home, I didn’t use the pool, and I wanted something I could lock and leave. I also wanted to live someplace where I knew my neighbors, and I could walk to restaurants, shopping, etc. So I sold the house that had been my refuge from stress when working and bought a condo in a vibrant neighborhood about 25 miles south. It was not in the best of shape, but I loved the location. I can walk to the beach and to lots of restaurants, the neighbors are (mostly) friendly, there’s a community pool, a book club, etc. I’m still building my tribe locally, and hang out with my old friends a lot.
• 2020 wore me down. The stress of the pandemic, plus everything happening in the US at the time, really got to me. I needed something to do other than sit inside and watch the news. So I decided to renovate the bathroom in my new (to me) condo. It had roman columns that annoyed me, and no door between the bedroom and bathroom. Then I added new kitchen cabinets and counters, a wine fridge and new floors throughout. Which meant I had to move out. I stayed at a friend-of-a-friends place for three months. My new home is lovely, exactly what I wanted. It ended up costing about 5 times my original budget, but I get about ten times more happiness. I took a bunch of Zoom classes – writing, cooking, history - and learned a lot. I also started exploring a Plan B for where I might live part of the year long term. I won’t get into how the political environment affects my life but having been the “only” in almost every professional environment in my life and in every neighborhood I have lived in, I wanted to have a refuge someplace where I might not have to be on the alert all the time. I did a lot of research, and finally chose Portugal and started applying for their Residency by Investment Program (Golden Visa). Still in process, hoping for approval before the year is out. If approved, I will spend about a third of the year there, a third here, and the rest traveling.
• Financially, I am performing as expected. My withdrawal rate has averaged just under 2%, even with the major renovation project. My portfolio is up 27% from April 1 2018, so its time to Blow some Dough! I expect decorating the new place and spending time in Portugal will take care of that.
Overall, I am really thankful to have had the luxury of retirement through the last three years. It hasn’t all been great, but it beats working and being stressed out all the time by a long shot. I feel blessed.
