I thought that I’d move from two retirement updates per year to simply one annually, but there is so much going on, I’ve been doing them quarterly the past three times!
If I don’t, my updates would often seem way out of touch.
Besides, everyone seems to like these, so for now I’ll be doing them more often.
Here’s an overview of my retirement life since the last update in February…
Life
- As you know, the tougher-than-usual Colorado winter has us thinking about spending the winters in a warmer climate. We’ll be headed down to Florida in October to do some scouting and see what we come up with. I’ve also been chatting with friends who live and/or vacation in the area we’re targeting (Tampa to anywhere south on the Gulf side.)
- Both my wife and I had birthdays since the last update, so I’m now 55 — which rounds to 60 versus 50. Ugh.
- I’m doing more volunteering at church these days — serving almost every week as an usher. I would take another volunteer position if one came available, but I’m not looking for it.
- With the Rockstar Finance sale I now have a lot more free time. Ok, it’s only a couple hours per day, but it feels like a ton more time. One of the ways I’m spending it is getting a few things done around the house. In the past few months we bought a new microwave and had it installed above our stove (which was a much bigger ordeal than I would have thought). In addition, we got our kitchen sink plumbing fixed (turns out when they remodeled the guys who did the counters probably “updated” the plumbing instead of actually hiring a plumber, so it was in kinda bad shape.) I’ve also got our grass to be the greenest on the block. Yes, I’m turning into “that guy.”
- I started a new policy regarding clothing: I can’t buy anything new unless 1) something wears out and must be replaced (tennis shoes are the best example of this as I wear them out after 9-12 months) or 2) I get rid of an item — a 1-for-1 swap. I bought a couple new shirts recently (half price Columbia fleece — my favorite — at the outlet mall) and then did a full closet review. I ended up giving away about 20 shirts, pants, and jeans, most of which I hadn’t worn since I retired, so I’m a bit ahead of my goal.
- Overall, I’m feeling very relaxed these days. It’s amazing what an extra two hours a day can do for you.
Family and Friends
- My wife is working like crazy, way more than the 15 hours a week she was supposed to commit to the church. She loves it and they love her (she’s awesome with kids) so it’s been more like 20-25 hours at times. It’s ok with me as I like alone time (only child, I know, it explains a lot) so it’s all good.
- My daughter moved out in February and into a house with two girlfriends. She didn’t have much stuff and we got it all over there (about 20 minutes from our house) by filling up three of our cars. In April we made another trip to move our keyboard to her place. She’s the one who’s played it 90% of the time the past several years, so why not?
- My wife and daughter went to San Francisco in April to see my wife’s oldest brother. They had a great time. My son and I stayed home and it was “bro week” (my son’s term) and there were lots of action movies and bad-for-you-but-good-tasting food consumed!
- My daughter got engaged at the end of April and it looks like we’re headed for a July wedding (no rush, right?) It’s going to be a small gathering as the couple wants to spend most of the money we’re giving them for a trip to Greece. As you can imagine, my wife and daughter are quite busy with the planning.
- My daughter has created a job for herself by working for a variety of websites (including ESI Money) doing social media, editing, and a few other tasks. She likes the time and freedom of the job so I’m not sure she’ll ever have a “regular” job. I introduced her to estimated quarterly tax payments which was a welcome-to-adulthood moment. 😉
- My son is working for the site as well. His skills are in the video area, so be on the lookout for some cool things coming up!
- He’s also switched jobs to something he likes better. He’ll be working at a local kids’ camp this summer (40 hours a week). He also took a side job as a soccer coach for two 11-year-old club teams.
- My son had what seemed to be a minor car accident (he ran into a curb) but it did $3,500 in damage to his wheel and a bunch of stuff under the car. We used insurance to cover it — he paid the $1,000 deductible out of his savings and AAA covered the rest. We’ll brace ourselves for an insurance increase at the next premium time. They said it would probably go up $600 a year, which still made it worth taking.
- My mom and dad are moving (still slowly) towards leaving Iowa this summer/fall to full-time RV. They are just about to put their home on the market, but they’ve been “just about” to do it for a year now, so we’ll see. They plan to drive down to Florida and vacation with us there in October.
Health
- I’m still working out (of course) and am actually upping each workout. On weight days I now add in seven sets of 30 lunges and on cardio days I add in three sets of push-ups. I also plan to add swimming now and then since I have the time and enjoy it. It might just be a summer activity as our outside lap pool opens then.
- On the advice of several ESI Money readers, my wife and I have taken up pickleball. Our gym has it available inside the basketball court area every Tuesday and Thursday, but we haven’t played there yet. We play on the outdoor courts at the park a few blocks from our house. I joined the Pikes Peak Pickleball Association and hope to get in many games this summer. We’re just having fun for now but if it’s anything like my past experiences, I’ll probably go fully crazy with gear, etc. sometime soon. Haha!
- We have also looked into buying electric bikes to make biking up the Colorado hills much more bearable. We found a bike shop close to our theater that lets you take free test rides, and we’re planning on doing so soon.
- I had a follow up doctor appointment in March and went on cholesterol-lowering medication. I’ve been fighting a 20+ year battle with borderline cholesterol. It appears I have some forming in my arteries that my doctor wants to clean out. I did lose 10 pounds like he requested and after six weeks on the medication my cholesterol is at a record-low of 145. I’ll stay on the meds for a year and have a re-scan of my neck (how they tell if arteries are clogging) in a year.
- Two days after the doctor appointment I saw my dermatologist for my six-month checkup. All was well on that front.
- Through the first four months of the year I am averaging just over 18,000 steps per day. This has been rough given our winter weather and I had several days where I made laps around the house to keep the numbers up. It should be smoother sailing from now on.
- I’ve been working a lot on ESI Money (see below) and it’s been challenging my mind (a good thing). I also do three chess puzzles a day plus a “hard” Sudoku a few times a week. Gotta keep the mind working as much as the body!
Entertainment
- Movie day on Tuesdays (discount day) is still going strong. Since my last update we’ve seen Us, Shazam, Captain Marvel, Pet Sematary, The Lego Movie 2, The Avengers, and Alita at the theater. Our theater now serves Starbucks coffee, so that’s a bonus for me. We also saw Green Book and A Star is Born at home on Red Box and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from the library. I liked Green Book but was disappointed in A Star is Born (though I liked much of the music and the acting — didn’t care for the story.) Spider-Man was great! I need to replay that video game!
- Now that I have extra time in my day I’m also reading much more. In the past few months I’ve read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big (review coming), Get What’s Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security (excerpt coming, hopefully), Pickleball Fundamentals, and Your Complete Guide to a Successful & Secure Retirement (excerpt coming). I’ve also canceled my Audible subscription and am now listening via Libby to several books on tape. Libby is “ok” as my library doesn’t have everything I want and what I do is often on hold by someone else, but I’m getting used to it.
- I’ve also started listening to podcasts again. Still having trouble finding a lot of money podcasts that tell me something I don’t know, but I enjoy Freakonomics, Laptop Empires, Planet Money, Money and Media (FinCon podcast), and ChooseFI.
- One new, interesting book I found is The Infographic Guide to Personal Finance: A Visual Reference for Everything You Need to Know. I reached out to the publisher and they allowed me to share these:
- How cool are these? Especially for teaching kids and young adults about basic money principles! I really like any book that makes understanding money simpler and this book certainly fits into that category.
- Our TV viewing plans took a big hit! The college scandal sucked in Lori Loughlin which took When Calls the Heart off the air. Thankfully it’s back now! Plus we’re still feasting on Shark Tank, the beach-related house hunting shows, Gotham, and This Old House. And Hallmark movies, of course.
- The video games have been sparse lately — at least the ones I like best. I did snag FIFA 19 for $20 in a sale and I’ve been considering getting Red Dead Redemption 2. I’ve heard such great things about it. Not sure if they let you push a button and say, “I’m Your Huckleberry”, but if they do, that would be awesome.
Totally a side note, but I have watched this video featuring the best scenes from Tombstone about 20 times in the past couple of years. It’s just so awesome!
Finances
- Things are rocking on the net worth front! The combination of the Rockstar Finance sale and a hot stock market have our net worth well over $4 million. It’s still hard to believe we’re up $800k since I retired.
- I mentioned on an earlier post that I’m investing with a friend who is buying rental places. He pays 10% and so far I have $60k there spread over three different properties. I have at least $90k more ready to allocate if he buys additional places.
- The sale of Rockstar Finance has also left me time to focus more on ESI Money. As a result, traffic has been up and so has revenue! I’m also working on a few things behind the scenes that will help with both.
- In particular, people are loving my millionaire and retirement interviews — not so much the ESI Scale Interviews, which I’ll still do but only now and then. I also have another one that will debut in a few weeks. If you want to be interviewed for any of my interviews, drop me an email and I’ll give you details.
- I’m also working on a post with a working title of “Cool Things People Do in Retirement” and I’d LOVE to include your story. If you have something interesting, fun, unique,etc. that you do in retirement, please send it to me! It could be travel, a hobby, a side business — anything!
- I moved the “30 Days to Great Finances” email series to ESI Money (from Rockstar Finance). I also added a new series, “The 52 Best Ways to Save Money.” If you want to subscribe to either or both of them (it’s free) you can do so here. I have plans to add new series every couple of months or so, so stay tuned.
- We completed our taxes in March and owed $5k to the U.S. government. We’re still paying estimated taxes quarterly, of course.
- We moved almost $80k into our donor advised fund and it’s our intention to distribute up to $100k this year. I’ve already sent out $35k and am working on a much bigger project for the fall that will involve ESI Money readers. For long-time readers you might remember I used to do a giving effort every November and December. I’m thinking of doing something similar this year. So keep some of your charitable giving handy for then if you want to challenge me in giving away a bigger sum.
- We are oh-so-close to completing the update of our wills. I’ll be writing about it sometime but the hardest parts have been: 1) deciding how to distribute everything and 2) finding a trustee to watch/mange the money as it gets distributed to our kids.
- I’m down to $11k at Lending Club and $7k at Prosper. It’s taking me forever to get rid of everything I bought.
- I’m still on Facebook and Twitter if you want to follow me there.
- It’s possible that I’ll be hosting a meet-up in Washington, DC for the evening of September 3. If I do, I’ll announce details in my next retirement update which will post in early August.
So, that’s my retirement life lately.
Any thoughts or questions?
Mimi22 says
Congratulations on the status of your retirement, and thanks for sharing an update! I just bought the same Infographic financial book! I was going to give it to my niece, but I haven’t been able to let it go yet because I’m enjoying it too much. I’ll be in interested to check out your podcast recommendations. Best wishes for continued success.
Jacqueline Miller says
Thanks for the update & good content as well (and as usual)!!
Jacqueline Miller says
Oh and looking forward to the reviews!
The Crusher says
I really have grown to enjoy the work you are doing at ESI Money. Of all the blogs that I read every day I find that I get the most consistently helpful information from ESI.
I could not agree more with your thought “It’s amazing what an extra two hours a day can do for you.” When we envision early retirement I think most folk do not see themselves as sitting around waiting for their afternoon nap. It is more about gaining back a few hours every single day to do all that you want to do (vs have to do).
Very happy to hear how well things are going for you and your family.
Minaccess says
I am a physician. Two years ago I had high cholesterol high triglycerides. My doctor wanted me to go on statins but I see a lot of side effects in my field. I started taking niacin and psyllium and started eating better and now all is normal.
ESI says
I tried various non-prescription options and none worked. As I’m sure you’re aware, each patient is different and responds differently to various options.
So far, the statins are doing well with no side effects (at least none visible and the labs show nothing wrong inside either.) I’ll stick with them for a year and see where they get us.
My doctor is a non-nonsense physician who uses meds as an absolute last resort (you should see the list of what he had me try before we took the medication option), which is the same philosophy I have.
117 says
Just curious.. how did he see cholesterol forming in your arteries? I too have started lipids as I’ve been borderline high cholesterol as well…. actually my HDLs (good cholesterol) was too low so the ratio wasn’t ideal.
117 says
LOL… I said I have started lipids… too funny. Lipitor (Atorvastatin)
ESI says
I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet, so take all of what I’m about to say with a HUGE grain of salt (perhaps some doctors reading this can correct what I get wrong).
That said, here’s how I understand it:
1. Because I have a history of high cholesterol and tested (again) high at my check up, he ordered an ultrasound of my neck.
2. From this they can see if/how much my arteries are blocked.
I found this that details the procedure:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/carotid-ultrasound/about/pac-20393399
3. Since mine showed I had some blockage AND my cholesterol was high, he recommended a statin. The idea/theory/practice here is that if you get the LDL below 100, it stops accumulating and if you get it below 75, you actually begin to eat at the blockage and reduce it.
4. The main side effects are 1) extreme flu-like symptoms (which I did not have) and 2) damage to the liver (which a blood test showed I did not have either).
5. So I remain on the statin for a year, and we’ll re-test to see how the arteries look then. I am below 75, so hopefully we’ll see less blockage (that’s the idea anyway).
Any doctors out there reading this — did I get it right or am I completely off base?
B. Johnson says
I’m also not a doctor, but this sounds inline with my experience and understanding. There are other important details a lot of doctors don’t dig into, but that level of detail is beyond this discussion.
My wife & I tackled this issue at the beginning of 2019. We are taking a staged approach each quarter and adding more actions, depending on results at the end of each Qtr.
1st Qtr – Started 48 hr continuous fast weekly, increased fiber with supplement 30 minutes prior to meals and fish oil supplement daily. Implement other various dietary changes. After 3 months my wife dropped 30 pts, but I didn’t drop any.
2nd Qtr – Do everything from Qtr 1 and add regular cardio exercise routine.
3rd Qtr – Obtain updated test results and depending on results from Q2, add further supplements. Researching plant sterols, Red Yeast Rice and other options. Although these are natural, they can have similar side effects as medical grade statins.
4th Qtr – Obtain updated test results from Q3 and depending on results, talk to doc about starting entry level statin dosage.
One thing the FI community may like to know about is online health diagnostic vendors we discovered a few years ago. You order your tests online (Blood, Urine, etc.) and prepay at significant discount. From there, you go to local vendor and have samples taken. Since they are prepaid, you don’t pay anything or provide any insurance info at the vendor. They process the samples and e-mail the results to you directly. This option is often cheaper than using my health insurance for these tests. I do this just prior to annual physical and simply bring a copy of the results to my doctor, so they review and place it in my file. Our latest favorite vendor is ultalabtests.com.
Considering the escalating healthcare costs in the US and the extremely slow progress our elected officials have made on this issue, managing your personal health seems like an important aspect of preparing for and living through early retirement.
BJ
ESI says
We use the online test method too. We have found you can 1) get a better price AND 2) generally get more info/results (i.e. their standard blood tests come with more info than the option my doctor recommended).
The entire medical field is ripe for anyone who knows the basics of how to look for a discount. we’re talking about tests here but the same things apply to doctor’s fees, prescriptions, specialists, and on and on.
117 says
I have learned something today. Thank you.
Minaccess says
It’s great you have a careful and trusted physician!
LT says
“In particular, people are loving my millionaire and retirement interviews — not so much the ESI Scale Interviews, which I’ll still do but only now and then. I also have another one that will debut in a few weeks. If you want to be interviewed for any of my interviews, drop me an email and I’ll give you details.”
I enjoy all of your interviews series, but have found that the millionaire and retirement interviews are MUCH easier to find on your site than the ESI interviews. Do you think a more direct route to the ESI interviews may help drive more traffic to them or am I missing that section of your site?
ESI says
It’s not that — it’s that they just aren’t as popular.
Each time I have a new post, I put the article on the front page in the top position. I also send out an email letting readers know the post title and a summary of it.
On days I do ESI Scale interviews I see about 25% less traffic than with the other interviews.
If you want to read them all, they are here:
https://esimoney.com/category/esi-scale/
MI#1 Jason says
I agree, I don’t really like the ESI series…
M127 says
These are great and quarterly seems like a good time frame for updates. Can you point me to more information from your past posts on this topic or can you do a full write up on how this works?
“I mentioned on an earlier post that I’m investing with a friend who is buying rental places. He pays 10% and so far I have $60k there spread over three different properties. I have at least $90k more ready to allocate if he buys additional places.”
Also, I wanted to share some of my research on statins. They are not as good for you as your doctor may think. Your body needs cholesterol at the basic cellular level. Joe Rogan podcast with Dr. Ronda Patrick or her own podcasts are wealth of information. A major cause of heart disease is inflammation from diet. For what its worth:
https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/ronald-krauss
ESI says
I haven’t written about the investing other than what I said — I have simply mentioned it, in a sentence or two, here and there.
As for an entire post, it’s not really worthy of one. The summary is:
1. He’s buying real estate.
2. He can only borrow so much from the bank, so he needs outside investors.
3. Since it’s a risky investment he’s paying 10%.
4. I think he knows what he’s doing and am willing to take the risk for 10%.
That’s the entire post. 😉
sendaiben says
Completely agree. The retirement interviews are great. The millionaire ones are sometimes interesting, but the scale ones all seem to be ‘I started saving about two months ago and write yet another personal finance blog’ 😉
ESI says
I think this is the issue as well…
Gregg says
If you move to warmer climate during the winter months, what place will get to keep the Christmas tree up year round? Tough choices ahead…
ESI says
Haha! Maybe a Christmas palm tree? 😉
Doug Massa says
I must have missed it, but what books are you recommending for kids to learn about money and finances? I dont see those titles mentioned and I have two daughters, ages 10 and 8. I want to start educating them about finances. Thanks!
ESI says
I suggested the infographic book I detailed above could be used to educate kids about money.
Cool Half Million says
Check out Hoopla for free audio books! My wife and I use it, and you don’t have to wait on other people. Hopefully your library participates in this fantastic app!
Chuck says
I believe you said in an earlier blog that you researched health insurance, and found a shared plan. Can you give an update on how that’s working? We are looking for coverage that’s not tied to a local provider network.
ESI says
Sure. Here’s our story — it’s all still going well:
https://esimoney.com/picking-right-early-retirement-health-insurance-reviewing-options/
Andrew @ Wealthy Nickel says
While I’m quite a ways behind you and not yet early retired, your daily routine sounds pretty much like what I want mine to be – volunteering, working on the blog, managing the house, exercising, etc.
Glad to hear things are going well, and you are still enjoying it after almost 3 years!
JessieG says
Include me as another one who loves the Millionaire and Retirement series. Appreciate the transparency of the update posts as well. Many of us aspire to hit FI and possibly RE. I think that has a lot to do with the popularity of those series. People who’ve done it, explaining how they got there and the mistakes they made along the way. Pure Gold!
Donna says
I just want to recommend a podcast for you called “Animal Spirits” because they discuss various things going on in the economy. They also give good book redcoat the end of their podcast.
Happy1 says
Sounds like you are doing great. I have lived in the midwest facing bitter coId and tornadoes. Florida is a beautiful state. Moving there during the winter months is a good idea to escape the cold. i however lived through hurricane Andrew which was a category 5 . I do not want another hurricane experience if I can avoid it.
fiberguyr1 says
First off thanks for the Tombstone video. That was a good use of 10 minutes of my day.
I remembered that I really do need to go through my own closet. 80% of what is in there has not been worn by me in years.
Your extra stuff that you are doing on workout days made me start to sweat. I really do need to get into a regular routine.
Pickleball Fundamentals – I don’t know why, but I found it amusing that there is a book about Pickleball.
Retirement interviews are great and quarterly taxes are not.
SB says
I actually like your ESI interviews. I forward them to my 24 year old son. Thank you so much for all the valuable information.
Ep says
Thanks for sharing this update and all the useful info, congratulations on your retirement status.
I also do not find the ESI Scale interviews as appealing as the other 2 series. This is because in my opinion the topic/info of the Scale series- although very interesting- is in a sense already covered in the Millionaire & Retirement interviews.
Best wishes to the couple for the upcoming marriage and the trip to Greece.
Wishing them “Βιον Ανθοσπαρτον!” (vion anthosparton), Greek wedding wish loosely translates to “may your life’s path be covered with flowers”
Bruce says
Not only do I not mind the quarterly updates, I appreciate them!! These retirement updates are my favorite ESI content (and that’s saying something).
Congratulations to your daughter. Great news pretty much all around.
I just retired, so in addition to helping with coffee cleanup once a month, and teaching the two-year-old Sunday School class with my wife, I am helping with VBS for the first time this year. Only additional volunteer commitment thus far – I am trying to be conservative about that. My house needs so much work…and I’m trying to conserve time for that!
By the way, I also love “Tombstone” … so many quotable lines!
ESI says
Awesome! Time to take up pickleball too! 😉
GT says
Tombstone is just about one of the best movies of all time!
Jim says
Hi – I’ve been really enjoying the interview series you’ve been doing. Keep them up. The ESI scale are interesting, so while you don’t think you’re getting as much traction as you might with them, I’m enjoying them, so please keep writing 🙂
James says
The info graph was great. Did you get the book? It looks interesting but I haven’t bought it yet. PS – I added you to my monthly reading list that I publish. Hope that’s ok!
ESI says
You mean the infographic book? Yes, I have it.