The 2021 Early-Retirement Update

I’ve had a difficult time finding a way to create a new entry on a blog that has essentially been dead since 2015.  Yet, I have had a persistent feeling that I owe my readers an update.

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Posted in CurrentLife | 516 Comments

Obamacare’s Uncertain Future and The Impact on Early Retirement Planning

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Full quote:  “When we win on Nov 8 and elect a Republican Congress, we will immediately repeal and replace Obamacare. ” Made during many, many speeches, a tremendous number of huge speeches, the very best speeches, by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

You can’t always believe what candidates running for office say as they slog through their campaigns — gross exaggeration, pandering, and outright lies are to be expected by all involved — but when it comes to Obamacare, surely it is safe to believe that some real changes are in store for us.

Why?  Well, it’s because the Republican party has been actively trying to cripple and repeal this legislation since it passed back in 2010.  These attempts have been a) without a Senate majority and b) while Obama was still in office.

So it’s logical to assume that there will be some action taken here now that those blocking problems have, from their perspective, been corrected.

And to be perfectly honest, I’m a little concerned about it.  Not scared or panicked — not at all.  But it’s a situation that warrants interest, attention, and the ability to alter plans and be flexible.

This post will explore what might happen, and how we could best approach potential changes.

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Posted in CurrentLife | 108 Comments

Early Retirement Bites

Take me back!

I’ve made a terrible mistake!

I quit my job about a year ago.

My last day was April 17th, 2015, to be exact.

At this point I’ve got close to twelve full months of my new life under my belt.  That’s plenty of data, if you ask me.

And it’s become clear that, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the dream of early retirement more closely resembles a nightmare.

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Posted in CurrentLife | 43 Comments

A Return to Work

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Well, it’s not a return exactly.  Not in the ordinary sense of the word.

What I’ve actually been doing is reading some of my old anger diary entries.  This feels like entering a time warp leading back to my old life, living out days as a technology worker, even though I’m still happily living without any paycheck whatsoever.

Mental. Return. Only.

At this point you’re probably wondering what an anger diary is. Good question!

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Posted in CurrentLife | 94 Comments

Definitely Not Purpose

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Disclaimer.  Yet again, there’s no talk of finances in this one.  Instead I’m discussing some of my post-working life in a very casual, journal-y way.  Additional warning:  It’s intensely personal.  If that doesn’t sound interesting to you, well then, absolutely no worries.  That’s what the back button on your browser is for.


My mom called last Sunday night.

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Posted in CurrentLife, FutureLife | Tagged , | 98 Comments

About Blogging…

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The lobstered gauntlets come off prior to settling in at the keyboard

Fact:  Virtually everyone individual who runs a blog eventually writes meta-articles on what it’s like to author one, how things are going, why and how you might become a blogger too, and so on.

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Posted in CurrentLife | 73 Comments

2015 Spending Postmortem

I wish it were this easy to run the yearly numbers.

I wish it were this easy to run the yearly numbers.

I haven’t done one of these types of posts in a while but I feel it’s worthwhile to capture our spending picture for 2015.

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Posted in CurrentLife | 51 Comments

Home Ownership: A Retrospective and Beyond

Goodbye Castle Doom

My wife and sold our home in early 2015, and we did it mostly to enable us to comfortably quit our jobs.

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Posted in CurrentLife, Finance | Tagged , , | 55 Comments

DoomBook

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If my blogging alter-ego had a FB page, it’d look like this.

I’m not a huge fan of blogs or Facebook pages that show the rosiness of peoples’ lives and nothing else.

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Posted in CurrentLife | Tagged , | 61 Comments

Done Detoxing

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Fun Fact: No matter how appropriate it is, quoting Socrates on your blog makes you look like a total dorkmaster.

There’s this period of transition between full time employment and being settled in your post-work existence known as detox.  

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Posted in CurrentLife | Tagged , | 108 Comments