Well, it’s time for another retirement update where I share what it’s like in the retired world of ESI.
This is a very special update because it marks a half-decade in retirement for me.
Pretty cool, right?
In some ways it seems like yesterday that I retired, but mostly it feels like I’ve been retired for 15 years or so. Hahaha, that’s those retirement reverse dog years at work — so much fun, joy, and life in the past five years!
I do not miss my career AT ALL. I don’t miss dealing with an irrational boss, cranky co-workers, or demanding employees. The few times I’ve thought about working (in the sense of “I still could be working now”) I shudder at the thought.
My only regret: I should have retired 5-10 years sooner. But we all live and learn.
If you didn’t catch the last update, here it is. You may want to read it as some of the items mentioned in this post will assume you know what’s in the former piece.
Now let’s get to the details of what’s been happening the past three months…
Life
- We (me, my wife, our daughter, and our son-in-law) drove to Iowa for my mom’s funeral in late May. Her remains (the crematory called them her “cremains”) were mailed to us since we have a permanent address (my dad was living in an RV in Iowa at the time). So we drove her to Iowa and did all the burial stuff — picked out a headstone, had a ceremony at the cemetery (just for close family), and did a visitation at the funeral home (for all her friends). Everything went as well as could be expected including the weather. Iowa in late May can be very hot and very stormy. Fortunately, we had neither.
- Apart from the burial stuff, we helped my dad clean out his RV and ready it for sale. We also got in some fun times like eating out a lot and visiting a local Amish store. The drive back and forth was brutal (11 hours each way) but we got through it.
- The hotel we stayed at in Iowa served Seattle’s best coffee and I LOVED it. So I bought some from Amazon when I got back home and have been drinking it ever since.
- It was a funny experience for me selecting the clothes for my mom’s funeral. I wanted to dress up in a suit, but I literally had to wipe several years’ worth of dust off my suit coat, pants, and dress shoes. I haven’t worn them in 5+ years. They still fit and looked good once I got them cleaned up, but there was a ton of dust on them. LOL.
- My wife has spent a ton of time helping my dad get his life moving forward. She now has a handle on all his bills and has them on autopay. She even talked him into getting a smartphone (an iPhone X my daughter had) to replace his flip phone from 1980 or so! It was nothing short of a miracle to make that happen!! Dad now has a small apartment in the town I grew up in that he’ll use for his home base. He’s planning to travel in the winter (see below for details).
- My son was in Cambodia with a team to help people there, so he missed the funeral. He got home later in June and has since gotten an apartment with friends and started working again. So now both kids are out of the house! Yeah!!!!!!
- With my mom’s death and the fact that my dad is trying to sort out his life, we canceled our planned trip to Siesta Key and Marco Island in October. We have also put our potential move to Hawaii on hold (dad decided he wasn’t up for it and we’re not going to leave him on the mainland and move to Hawaii.) Instead, we happened upon a rental that we could all agree on. So we’ll be renting a friend’s home in The Villages (see below for details) from January 15 until March 31, 2022. We’ll see family, do some sightseeing, visit some nearby cities as potential stays in 2023 (Naples, Sarasota, etc.), and, of course, check out all the amenities at The Villages. It should be an adventure!
- Plans for that winter trip are still in process (I have paid for half of it, so I think we’re committed) but for now my dad will spend the entire time with us and the kids will come down for 7-10 days. And, of course, we will drive there so we can bring Zeus Le Mew. I can’t be without my cat for 2.5 months!!! LOL.
- In addition to that big trip, we have a couple smaller ones planned. Later this month we’re headed back to Iowa to celebrate my aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary. I hope to see many of my cousins during this time. In September we hope to do a fall driving tour to see the aspens change. And in October I’m headed to the Ozarks for a reunion with some college buddies.
- We made one house improvement and looked at another. We got a new tree planted in our front yard and it’s been doing very well — lots of new growth in just a month (it helped that right after we planted it the weather turned cooler and rainy — versus 90 degrees we’d had for several days.) If you’re following me on Instagram you’ve already seen the tree (as well as the photos from our time back in Iowa). The second thing we considered was an awning for our back deck. But after the guy quoted us $5k, we’ve put that on hold. Haha.
The Villages
We’ve chatted a lot about The Villages in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums since several members are either living there now or think about moving there.
However, there are probably a lot of people reading this who have never heard of them, so let me enlighten you a bit.
We’ll start with this summary from Wikipedia:
The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter County, Florida, United States. It shares its name with a broader master-planned age-restricted community that spreads into portions of Lake and Marion counties. The overall development lies in central Florida, approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Ocala and approximately 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Orlando.
The Villages consistently ranks as a very high growth area. The U.S. Census ranked The Villages as the fastest-growing U.S. city for the second year in a row (during the 12 months ending in July 2014); The Villages MSA (all of Sumter County) estimated population, as of July 1, 2018, was 128,754 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Villages development corporation estimated that the Villages planned community, which includes parts of Lake, Marion and Sumter counties, had a population of 122,460 on March 31, 2019.
The Villages is made up of 17 special purpose Community Development Districts (CDD), which are controlled by a board of supervisors (BoS), five individuals elected by the landowners of the district. H. Gary Morse, the son of the original owner, transferred most direct ownership in the company to his three children in 2006; Morse died in 2014.
Between 2010 and 2017, The Villages was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States, growing 32.8 percent, from 94,279 in 2010 to 125,165 in 2017. According to U.S. Census data released in March 2018, The Villages was the 10th in the annual list of fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States.
The community is the center of The Villages, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of all of Sumter County; Lake County is included in the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area; and Marion County is included in the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The layman’s version is that it’s a 55+ planned community that offers a wide range of activities for residents/retirees. It’s built around town squares (aka “villages”) with all sorts of shopping, restaurants, and amenities.
Some resources:
- Their About Us page details what residents get for their $164 monthly amenity fee: 3,000+ clubs and activities, 42 executive golf courses, and more (including lots of pickleball courts).
- Here’s their cost of living breakdown.
- Here are several frequently asked questions.
- Here are homes for sale as well as home styles you can build.
And if you’re more of the “I want to see it” type, here’s their introductory video:
Health
- I am working out with a trainer every three weeks now. He gives me a routine and I do those exercises (plus cardio) until our next meeting. We’re currently focused on dumbbell and bodyweight exercises — things I can take with me to Florida next winter to be sure I have a variety of workouts with equipment that is generally available.
- I have been playing a TON of pickleball (several times a week) and even completed a tournament in June (we placed second). Every time I get into a tournament I’m reminded why I hate them (they suck the fun out of the game) and I promise not to do another one ever again. We’ll see if I stick with that this time.
- I’m still walking and so far am well ahead of my 20k steps per day goal for 2021. In fact, I’m so far ahead that I only need 17k a day from here on out to hit my annual goal. 😉
- I completed my annual physical and got a clean bill of health. My doctor was pleased that I have been watching my diet and was below 200 pounds (which was his request). Now I have 300 or so days to pig out before I need to ramp it up for my next physical. Hahahahaha.
Entertainment
- I went to a movie theater for the first time in a couple years in June. I took my son and son-in-law to see F9. Yes, ridicule away, I like those movies. They are so deep and thoughtful. Hahahaha. Anyway, since we’ve seen all of them so far, we’re in too deep not to see new ones. Afterwards we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. (FYI, I still have $125 on gift cards at Cinemark, so I’ll be back there soon.)
- I stopped playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for the second time at 86 hours into it. It just seemed like it was the same old thing and now with 230 hours of play completed, I think I got my money’s worth.
- I am still waiting for Horizon Forbidden West to come out this year but I’m afraid they are going to move it to 2022 (which has already been the fate of Gotham Knights.) Why can’t these companies keep to their promised release dates? If they aren’t sure they can hit them, why announce early dates in the first place?
- I have been reading several money books (both actual reading and audio listening) the past few months which are listed below. I’m still enjoying the amount of reading time I have these days.
- It’s summer so we’re well into America’s Got Talent (we’ve watched since season 2 or 3), Holey Moley, and Lego Masters. I know. Quality TV. But still entertaining!
Finances
- Now that I’ve sold all my properties and the dust has settled, I can get a good picture of my true net worth (before, the value of the places was just estimated). We ended July with a net worth of almost $6.3 million, up almost $3 million since I retired!
- I am now up to eight real estate syndication deals which should hold me for some time. I’m looking for 100% passive income and still have $500k or so in cash to deploy, so we’ll see where that sorts out.
- After years of hounding me, Chase finally got me to sign up as a Private Client. Now I have my own, personal banker. Oooooooo, I’m big-time now! 🙂 Seriously, I did it mostly to save on the wire transfer fees they would have charged me for sending money to syndication investments.
ESI Money
- ESI Money is still on fire!!! I’m on track to net $50k from it this year. Not bad at all.
- That said, I will be moving the site to three posts per week. I’ll do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I might add in some Saturday posts if there’s “breaking news”. My goal actually is to have most posts for January – May 2022 completed before we leave for Florida in mid-January. Wish me luck — I’m already writing some posts for January!
- FYI, I have taken notes on all the books I’ve read the past several months and will be sharing thoughts from the ones worth sharing over the next several months. So expect a lot of book-related posts (mostly on retirement).
- I’ve met a few times with a social media marketing guy and we’ve started Facebook advertising for the Millionaire Money Mentors memberships. I would ultimately like to have 2-3k members which would allow me to add some really cool enhancements. It’s still a work in progress but I’m learning a lot and enjoy the process.
- My first course has taken a backseat to the rest of life, but it’s about 90% written at this point. Stay tuned as I’ll announce it on ESI Money first.
- The ESI Money Instagram account gives a glimpse into my life if you’re interested (especially in cat pictures and mountains). I’m expanding a bit by adding pickleball and tree pictures — ha! And, of course, I’ll include travel photos, so if you want to see inside our time at The Villages this winter, that’s the place for it!
- I need millionaire interviews!!!! After running so many for so long (I didn’t want to spread them out and make some people wait six months to have their posts go live), I now am within a few weeks of them running out. So if you’re interested in sharing one, please email me and I’ll send you the details.
Books
Here are the books I’ve read since my last update:
- Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life — I would say this was “ok”. I thought it was going to be about how much we each need to have “enough” in our lives. But what it’s mostly about is how terrible the American financial industry is in creating a lot of costs for relatively little value.
- We’re Talking Millions!: 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement — 12 ways to make $1 million! I’ll be doing a post on this book soon.
- Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion — Really good book. Wish I had read it 30 years ago.
- Will It Fly?: How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money — Interesting concepts and ideas. And I love Pat Flynn, so listening to him read the book was cool.
- The House of God — Wow. Just wow. Is that what becoming a doctor is really like? Yikes!!!
That’s it for this report. Any thoughts or questions?
Stan says
Is it possible to rent in The Villages? It would be interesting to spend a few months there during the winter, but any longer it seems like a place to get to old age fast. Gives me the feeling of going some place to die (but for a few months it might be like old people Disney).
ESI says
It is possible to rent. That’s what we’re doing.
MI??? says
My parents have lived (8 months a year) in The Villages for over 15 years. It is NOT a place to go “age fast”. In my numerous visits over the years I am always amazed at how active everyone is there. Most people are in great shape and amazingly active both physically and socially on a daily basis.
As far as pickle ball is concerned… it’s just like the golf courses, there’s courts everywhere!! One of my Dad’s buddies calls the constant ball to paddle sounds that you can always hear faintly in the distance “the sounds of the villages”.
Ol1970 says
Well my parents had been renting in the villages for a few years and last year they purchased a spot. I was admittedly skeptical of the place, but when we visited it was pretty awesome. My parents are more active and engaged in life than I can ever remember, I’d say that moving there would add 10 years to your lifespan because there is so much to do and everyone is so active. My parents are from Iowa as well and they have a whole group that get together for socializing if you’d be interested in getting some local friends to give you the lowdown feel free to send me a message, they even have an extra golf cart they can give you the tour on! It’s pickle ball heaven, you are going to love it.
ESI says
I’ll email you as the time gets closer — would love to meet the group!
Diogenes says
Thanks very much for the update!
I enjoy the Fast & Furious franchise, especially anything after #3. I find these films very entertaining. I haven’t seen #9 yet.
I am currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn, and loving it. Good to know there’s a sequel in the works.
My wife and I love Lego Masters.
Looking forward to reading about your experience at The Villages.
Financial Samurai says
$6.3 million is huge! Congrats on the almost double since retirement.
Got to love that. If you need more millionaire interviews, you know where to reach me.
Dang, I really need to play some pickle ball! Just softball and tennis for me.
Sam
ESI says
I’ll email you!
Donna says
You should check out Jerry and Linda, The Villages Florida Newcomers on YouTube. They have great posts about living there.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ6UhOOGU1M8hNezBwkM-yw
ESI says
I’ve seen them before…I like them. 😉
Joe says
I really like the retirement interviews l think that is more exciting than the millionaire interviews.
Hope to see some more soon!
ESI says
I’m taking those too! If anyone wants to volunteer, email me!
Dragon Gal says
Congrats to you!!! So excited to hear about your clean bill of health and that you’re staying so active both physically and mentally. What an inspiration.
I’m so sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. Sending big hugs.
All the best,
Dragon Gal
Cheers! says
Congrats on everything!
Sorry if I missed this in another post, but how did you decide to sell your real estate in favor of syndications? Did you have a big tax hit? And would you do it all over again in the same order, or would you have just stayed in equities and real estate syndications?
Asking because I have two duplexes that I self manage on top of a full time job and young children. They have really strong cash flow and provide some tax benefits, but sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. I like the illiquidity of owning actual, physical real estate because my spouse is a bit of a spendthrift and the money would be gone if it weren’t tied up (but love him anyway)….
ESI says
Here’s the first post:
https://esimoney.com/why-and-how-i-sold-most-of-my-rental-properties/
An update is coming on the last place next week.
Ellen says
Just a comment on awning- $5,000 is very reasonable – we live in western ny and our awning costs about $ 7,000 for a 15 X 15 area many many years ago. That includes the metal framing and actual canvas awning. We are now on our 3rd awning ( metal framing has held up well over 25 years!) the replacement awning was about 2,500 3 years ago. Love it- without our awning we could not sit outside in the heat. Plus it adds dimension to the back of the house- it’s almost like a room- and we can keep a rug and furniture out all summer without worrying about the rain. Just my 2 cents.
ESI says
A few thoughts:
1. We have other options for shading that area we’re considering.
2. If we were to spend that much on the house, there are other places with higher priority/impact.
3. Not sure how long we’re going to live here so not looking for costly improvements that won’t translate into higher selling prices.
happyCAD says
Really different situations in different places on reno work I would not be able to get anyone to show up to provide an estimate of anything at the $5-10K level. There is negative capacity in the reno and trades space and they control the customer at the moment, here anyway.
ESI says
My son-in-law does it so I have an inside track. 🙂
MI-226 says
Congrats on Five years! I’ve been following since the early days at FMF and just under a year behind you in retirement (4+ now for us). My condolences about your mom. I lost my mom last October at 90 YO. It’s really hard saying goodbye, and the probate process in our state has been a royal “pain”, but I’m (finally) nearly done with her estate )ten months later).
We have been visiting the Villages for a couple of years now. Two of our closest “friend” couples moved down there two years ago. Both couples love it there. We really enjoy visiting and it’s a nice stop over on our way to the Keys each Winter. We went down to the Villages three times last year! It is definitely Pickle ball heaven! Lol! It’s amazingly price effective based on our conversations with our friends. The amenities are hard to beat, and it’s absolutely beautiful inside the “Bubble”. But once you step out of the “Bubble”, you definitely know you are in central Florida!
Congrats on being up nearly 100% since retiring. That is amazing! We are up almost 50% in four years of retirement. (…and I thought we were killing it!) 😜
And I absolutely LOVE Seattle’s Best! I first tasted it on a business trip to Seattle in the early 2000’s. Loved it so much that I asked the hotel what kind it was and where I could buy it! I ordered a whole case before I left the hotel, and it was waiting for me at home when I got back to the East Coast!
Enjoy year number six! There’s nothing like it! Congrats again!
ESI says
Thanks! Do you think you’ll be down at the Villages next winter?
ThomH says
Very likely! We are headed to the Keys in late January (third week), so it’s very likely we will stop in the Villages on the way down or back to visit our friends. Would love to connect! Shoot me an email and we can make it happen!
Fatboy says
I cannot believe that it has been 5 years and from the sounds of it you are not slowing down!
When we escape the brutal Midwest winter this year we will have to see if we can connect with you guys in Florida.
I would be interested in participating in a millionaire interview.
ESI says
Would love to see you! Hope it can happen!!!!
Jules says
Congratulations on 5 years of rocking retirement! I wish I could get to 20k steps daily like you. I must’ve missed the posts where you were considering moving to Hawaii. Can you please direct me to those? Can’t wait to here your thoughts on The Villages. Keep up the great posts and here’s to even more retirement fun in the upcoming years!
Caren says
We live in the West Villages/Wellen Park in Venice, Florida. It is on the Gulf Coast of west Florida. We are just South of Sarasota and Siesta Key. Check it out for a future winter escape! We love it there! I just retired a month ago and so far love it. We are currently visiting friends in Denver and heading to Colorado Springs tomorrow. I am loving the cooler weather here, but miss my Florida home!
Mike H says
Great update, ESI. Since your net worth has grown by more than $3 million since retiring, are you looking to increase your level of spending further in areas where you think you will get more enjoyment out of it? I understand that the awning is not one of those areas…
ESI says
I’m open to it but I have one problem — I’m content.
I have literally asked myself, “What could I buy to make myself happier?”
So far, I have very few answers and they are mostly pretty inexpensive (eating breakfast each morning at my gym, renting pickleball court time, etc.)
Mike H says
That’s a good problem to have. Although I’m sure there will be more opportunities to spend and add happiness in the future. Maybe you can get into VR and AR gaming and take it up to the next level?
ESI says
Maybe. But as we look at developing a more mobile lifestyle, the ownership of any more “stuff” is unappealing.
JayCeezy says
Awesome! Although I kinda miss your ‘rant Saturdays’, it is great to hear how happy you are and how removed you are from that work life. Continued success to you and yours, ESI!
ESI says
Haha. I’ll still rant now and then!!!
Kraig says
We have a place in a Del Webb community right down the road from the Villages, it’s call Spruce Creek. Currently we rent it but may use it in retirement. Very similar development to Villages just much smaller. I think one of the advantages is that everyone else there is in the same boat as you, they’re retired.
CB says
Thank you for your 5 year update. I appreciate your honesty and details. We retired 6 years ago and it is great seeing our net worth go up even though we aren’t working. We both still wake up thankful that we aren’t working. Sounds like your travel plans are picking up again. I will be interested to read up on The Villages. I have a friend traveling to FL to check out several retirement communities next week and will share with her. I am always looking for a location to rent for 2-4 weeks at a time so will check out the Villages for us. We are traveling to the Big Island of Hawaii next week for 1 month and so ready to hike and snorkel. Plus I am scheduling trips again, so happy about that.
Thank you for sharing that you play video games in addition to being healthy with sports and eating. Some times I feel guilty when I play games on my ipad and iphone. I set aside times at night to play.
Robert - MI35 says
Congrats on Year 5. It’s amazing how quickly this all goes by, I remember reading ESI right after you left to figure out what life looked like after saying goodbye.
Sorry to hear about your mom, I lost my dad eight months ago and FIRE at least gave us the space/time to do what’s necessary without outside pressure.
JulkasnegAdventures says
Congratulations on 5 years of retirement!! I’ve been following your blog for the last two years (in fact it was your article in BI that alerted me to FIRE movement), read all your articles, and now my husband and I plan to retire early in less than 2 years. I would like to volunteer for a millionaire interview.