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.
Obamacare’s Uncertain Future and The Impact on Early Retirement Planning
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.
Posted in CurrentLife
108 Comments
Early Retirement Bites
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.
Posted in CurrentLife
43 Comments
A Return to Work
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!
Posted in CurrentLife
94 Comments
Definitely Not Purpose
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.
About Blogging…
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.
Posted in CurrentLife
73 Comments
2015 Spending Postmortem
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.
Posted in CurrentLife
51 Comments
Home Ownership: A Retrospective and Beyond
My wife and sold our home in early 2015, and we did it mostly to enable us to comfortably quit our jobs.
DoomBook
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.
Done Detoxing
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.
That Guy
Not me. But with a little more hair, it’d be pretty damned close.
I spent yesterday morning — a weekday, a Thursday — sitting on a chair outside a cafe enjoying the last bits of warm weather in New England, just reading and doing a bit of people-watching. Toward the end of the three or so hours of blissful me-time, I realized something startling.
I’ve become that guy.
Posted in CurrentLife
72 Comments
How to Think About Market Downturns
I’ll tell you what’s happening: We’ve got ourselves a correction, Doomie.
I was working through my personal mid-year financial evaluation this week, only to discover there’s been something close to panic in the global markets of late.
Posted in CurrentLife, Finance, FutureLife
40 Comments
Taking a Gap Year
If your employer doesn’t grant your request for a year off, follow Wally’s lead and take ‘in-cube’ paid leave. Genius!
I’ve recently realized that I should have taken significant time away from work prior to retiring instead of slogging straight through my career since graduating from university, 1999 to 2015, with hardly a letup.
Why have I come to this conclusion? What are the benefits to taking a gap year, or half-year, along the journey to financial independence? What is it about experiencing life away from the office that’s convinced me that I waited too long to take a significant reprieve — and why didn’t I do it? What does it do to the financial picture? And finally, what about the logistical challenges — how might you pull it off, if you’re so inclined?
If you’re interested in taking a non-working sabbatical within the context of FI/RE, this post is for you.
Posted in Backstory, Finance
Tagged early retirement, FI, financial independence, retirement, sabbatical
53 Comments
Three Months Of Early Retirement
If you were to boil down the multitude of reasons why I quit my job, eventually you’d be left with a single underlying hope: I thought life would be better without one.
Posted in CurrentLife
81 Comments
Becoming a Saver
Doom did not always not value the dollar
I was having dinner with an old friend from university a few nights ago and he expressed disbelief that I was able to retire early.
Posted in Backstory, CurrentLife
93 Comments
Detoxing, Part 1 of Infinity
My blogging alter-ego, Victor Von Doom, chillaxes with some light reading.
You might be wondering what it’s like to suddenly unplug from the corporate matrix. Well, it’s been about three weeks since I’ve officially stopped going to work and I’m starting to get a feel for it.
Posted in CurrentLife
79 Comments
Daylight
Kinda dark in that there subterranean lair, Doomie, dontchathink?
My last week at work flew by.
Posted in CurrentLife
82 Comments
Two Weeks’ Noticing
Doom takes off the mask and puts on his 20/10 vision glasses for incredible insight.
Too bad he doesn’t know how to hook the frame around his ear so they don’t fall off. Dumbass.
Giving your final notice at work is an amazing thing.
Posted in CurrentLife
49 Comments
Happy.
Dr. Doom — I gotta say, that smile looks… unnatural on you.
I received not one but three separate messages blasting me for my last post. The gist? Stop hating work, you crazy pessimist, you. Turn that frown upside down and be happy!
Posted in CurrentLife
39 Comments
The Litany of Office Hate
Dilbert, you look upset, bro. Have you heard of Yoga? It helps.
So I’m done with work. You know this and I know this. My last day is April 10th, 2015. By now, you probably wish I’d shut up about the whole thing.
Posted in CurrentLife
48 Comments
