Some of you may understand that your left foot used to do something while driving.  Mostly only the older people really understand this phenomenon.  It’s true younger people who love sporty cars have manual stick shifts by choice, but it used the be the main option unless you had a fancy automatic transmission (or live outside the US).

The above history lesson is mostly irrelevant except the fact that my mind thinks in “gears.”  Not spinning gears as much as performance gears.

The reason I’ve been thinking about gears (frequently) lately is that I feel as though I’m stuck in 3^rd gear.  I’m just moving along in my days and weeks and all is well.  However, I just can’t seem to punch it and get into 4^th, never mind 5^th gear.

Let me explain my gearing definitions:

1. Creeping
2. Putzing
3. Moving
4. Cruising
5. Flying

So, using the scale above, I seem to be in the moving speed.  I’m not putzing along, nor am I cruising.  I’m just moving along day-to-day doing what I need to do, adding a few extra tasks, and quite often taking it pretty easy.  If it weren’t for my extremely consistent workouts (which are at basic standard effort), I would probably be nearing 2^nd gear putzing speed much of the time.

I’ve written about the Covid forced SloGo and how interesting it was (is again?) to see what the slow-life may look like.  A FIRE friend said it’s “like they are living as 80 year-olds right now.” 

I’ve seen articles from some writers about their levels of depression increasing somewhat.  They are somewhat in the doldrums and just feel life’s dragging a little.  I don’t feel depressed (I guess?).  But I do feel as if there is no GoGo happening in me right now, or at least that I am not jumping into all kinds of activities.

We re-entered the world around us in late April after our 2^nd vaccines doses kicked in.  We did a road trip and have been to multiple states and explored.  I’ve been to the actual gym and even stores without concern.  As I write this I’m preparing my hockey gear for my first skate in 17 months.  It should have occurred after 13 months, but I was traveling the past few months.

So, I’m wondering, will things feel a little more GoGo this afternoon at/after hockey?  Will I inherently increase from a planned easy going get re-introduced to the ice game?  Will I, as usual, skate as hard as I can on every rush (and backcheck hard too-I’m not lazy) and push for 5^th gear?  And, if so, will those 5^th gear efforts kick start my engine and motivation drive to push into 4^th and 5^th gear more often now? 

I sure hope so.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I was thinking about my life as I sat on my patio looking at the desert (right next to my spa).  For once, I was thinking “outside the spa.”

When I think of the mainstream media sharing the “good life” stories, I think of their portrayal of mansions and 100k cars.  But, could there be another “good life” picture?  Could others be living in a manner that enriches their soul every day?  So far over the past seven years, I can say, yes.

We own a pretty small (main) home.  It’s 1026 sq ft.  It’s probably one of the smallest starter homes available.  We’ve owned it since 1991.  I considered the options of moving to a larger home in the late 90s as our careers (incomes) progressed and most everyone we knew upgraded their homes.

Luckily, location, location, location mattered more to me than size.  We live three houses from a 10,000-acre desert mountain preserve with a wash behind us.  We get privacy as well as access to a giant recreation/exercise area that I use throughout the week.

I’ve written about “same spouse, same house, and same cars” before, and we live(d) that lifestyle to the core.  Yet, as we’ve progressed in our lives together (grown older) we’ve been able to expand somewhat for strategic or qualitative purposes.

Let’s start with using timing.  We own the little house next to us—another 1026 sq ft of “space.”  When the housing market was in disaster in 2009 we worked with our realtor to grab the house when it went into foreclosure (REO).  The plan was to have a place for my mom to live if she was no longer safe in her home (1 mile away).

Over the years we have let a family member live there at a low-rent amount to help them get more financially sound.  We have used the garage for storage.  We have used the inside for storage.  We even use the yard/shed for some storage.  Sounds dumb, but our 1000 sq ft house or small yard doesn’t have much space for “stuff.”

Here’s where the story takes a sharp left turn…Covid-19.  With the onset of the pandemic coming, we staged the extra house as a quarantine home for emergencies.  We bought a fridge, freezer, set up the nice blow-up bed, set up a wifi extension (next door is close enough to share our service), put an older TV with a roku in the living room, and stocked some extra food and household supplies for the family if needed.  Not like a warehouse, but just some cushion of supplies. 

But wait, it gets even better.  The true amazingness, especially during a pandemic, was that we already had some exercise equipment and weights that we collected over the years as people and businesses were getting rid of it.  They were nice enough items at LOW prices.  Turned out to be lucky purchases as it was almost impossible to buy home exercise equipment once the gyms were closed.

Side note: the neighbors found it strange when they watched us walk out our front gate and into the opening garage door next door…  (perceptions?  not stealth wealth?)

Now, after 10+ years of owning the house next door, we decided to spend a chunk of money (only $1100) to remove a  small section of our block fence and install a gate between the backyards.  This 1) eliminated the side note above, and 2) allowed super easy access to the spare house.  It was SO nice not to have to open an old garage door and listen to the squealing as it went up to access the 2^nd home.  We actually use the extra/spare house two to three times more than we used to because of the gate.  It’s like having an east wing to our small home.  Now we kind of have a 2100 sq foot home—crazy.

The smart money option is that we can always sell the other house if we need an influx of money.  Just as we can sell the extra cars we own.  We can sell one asset at a time without impacting our main home or main vehicles.

There’s a saying that if you are house-rich and your home is your main asset, that you cannot sell some roof shingles or one of the rooms to buy food. 

In our case, owning a few extra (small) assets (small living) allows options for incremental sales and plenty of life flexibility.  In a way, we live a HUGE life on a small scale.  (is that a “big fish” or “small fish” in what sized pond?)

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

Retire Early!  I’ve seen so many articles and podcasts popping up lately all being over sensitive toward the “not Retire Early” web trolls.  I guess it’s pretentious (?) enough to say you are “Financially Independent,” but you seem to cross the line when you say “Retire Early.”

Career Control

I know that I wasn’t working for a MegaCorp because my job changed the course of humanity or bettered the huge rock we’re floating around the universe on.  I worked because it was a great job that I enjoyed, that I was technically good at, and I was able to help other employees complete their assigned tasks so they could go home and enjoy their lives. 

I know MegaCorp didn’t care about my family or that much about me.  I know my employee ID number was listed as a cost center (“head count”) and as long as I performed enough tasks to get results that delivered enough value that it was worth keeping me over other employees.  I know this because I went through at least 5 or 6 rounds of RIFs over my 18 years.  It’s a shitty feeling knowing someone (or more than one) in a cube of 4 will not be there next Monday…or worse, 2-3 Mondays from now…the waiting sucked.

Acceptance

So, why isn’t it culturally acceptable to take my educated, skilled self and remove my presence from the working machine?  Or even a more enlightened position, why is it socially frowned upon that I take my limited time on the planet and not dedicate that time to myself?  What if I am working on mastering some out-of-body, positive energy for the universe?  Wouldn’t that be more socially acceptable than 9 to 5 to 65 at a laptop?

Hmm, this now makes me wonder if I should consider using more of my 168 hours per week for tasks other than “it would be cool if I XYZ today.”  That would at least give me an honest retort to “what do you do all day?”

When asked what I do, if you must know (my wife was right), I say “I’m a consultant” or “I teach technical courses.”  Those two answers help explain the flexible time/location schedule I maintain.  They are also technically true, but the hours required per month/semester are minuscule.  Yet, both of those activities are 100% helping others.

Academia

Today I saw a posting for an article where the author (is he even 30 yet, or spent 5-10 years in the labor market?) proudly states he’s not focusing on ‘retirement’ because ” I love my job. It motivates, inspires, and challenges me.”  That’s fantastic…for now.  How long have you been grinding in the corp machine?  Those attributes he loves can come from so many places, not just a job.

I think it comes down to: don’t knock RE until you’ve tried it.  It’s extremely possible that someone who’d driven enough to save/spend wisely and put themselves into FI status, that they will do something more exciting and gratifying outside of their previous “job.”

The author is wise and spot on with his personal logic of wanting Financial Independence to allow control and flexibility in his situation.  Yes, absolutely perfect.

Hard RE

Recently I spent some time with a physician who was a conscious saver and planner.  They worked long hours for probably 20+ years and were planning on leaving the medical field in the summer of 2020.  Well, their plan got thrown aside when it was all-hands-on-deck to treat thousands of people over the next year, year-in-a-half.

To make things worse, as they were looking to leave the pressure of the medical field, the pressure instead multiplied, and even worse, the patient deaths grew enormously.  It just gutted the physician, and as I’m told so many of their colleagues.  Most of the colleagues are not in a position to take control of their lives related to lack of Financial Independence.

The other consideration is that physicians often have their overall being wrapped up in being a physician and giving that up is very, very hard.  It’s 1) unimaginable to many that they could retire in their early 50s, and 2) that leaving the field is fair to society somehow.  I don’t think any of us non-physicians could ever understand the feeling of that pressure.  I know the ex-physician will find a great path forward and make a difference in the way that works for them.

Concerns

So, in closing, I say “REally?”  Is anyone out there REally going to question why I or anyone leaves a career and what we chose to do with ourselves, our savings, our families, and our self-sufficiency.  Shouldn’t people spend more time worrying about those who are not preparing for their financial future?

The number of people who leave a career in their 40s, or 30s to “retire” is minuscule.  But it’s intriguing, and it gets clicks and downloads.  Fewer clicks or downloads from me because I’m way too busy to sit and read/listen too much.  It’s like learning the rules to a game you’ve won, or at least a few rounds that you’ve won.

Just Better Yourself

I choose to challenge myself to learn, help, and prepare for my future more now than I ever did when I was working.  To me, that is what makes life important.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

This post is all about how to increase the satisfaction in your days, and in your life.  If not satisfaction, then at least increase your optimization and decrease your level of annoyance.  Or is that just my strategy?

I constantly hear about “keeping up with the Joneses.”  I used to wonder who would spend their time wondering what other people were doing and most significantly, how the purchases of others would somehow affect me.

Do you keep score on the items of others in comparison to your own life (I mean possessions)?

[Insert thought}  I should say that I don’t use social media to view or highlight life (purchase) milestones.  I know I’m old, but I see those as a tool to share event/life happenings with “friends.”  I guess I’m the exact opposite of a social media influencer, whew, I’m damn happy about that.

Anyway, back to the masses.

So I was thinking about my LifeInFIRE.  I was thinking about the masses.  I was thinking about common daily activities and how I see those tasks/events.

• So, one of the (pre-pandemic) dreaded daily activities was the rush hour traffic jam.  Thousands or millions of people/cars packed together at the same time, heading in the same direction, all for the same purpose—to clock in at work.  You are literally following the masses, car after car.  LifeInFIRE has the option of avoiding the highways at rush hour.  It’s mostly possible to perform daily tasks off-peak (Mon-Fri: 9a-3p)

• Another example is the simple task of buying food.  I’ve seen the parking lots with cars swirling around at 5p.  If the parking lot looks like a hassle, I can’t imagine what the lines are like inside the grocery (food) store.    
• What about the screaming media force-feeding us information?  This can be “news” delivered from all sides with overtly opinionated positions.  What are the masses following here?  What are the sources, not the outlets, but the source of the news?  Even worse, are the masses consuming just the (click-bait) headline and not reading the full story, or checking the facts, or other opinions…or even another of their social media sites.  I didn’t realize news could be delivered accurately in 140 characters.  Maybe that’s why it was doubled to allow for the full story?

What if the media—and Hollywood blockbuster movies for that matter—provided “good news” say just 65-75% of the time?  Why does the first few minutes of the news designed to agitate the viewers?  Is that to keep them tuned in?  Is that the click-bait of television?

Take a trip to ANY other country in the world and then decide how horrible you think our country is.  Yes, we do have some of the same problems as elsewhere, yet we seem to be much, much…MUCH better off than most of the world.  Seriously how many types of cereal do we need to choose from?  Or go to a mall, how many different shirt options are required for our attire?

Of course, we have problems and there is room for improvement.  I agree in many ways, with lots of room for improvement.  The good news is that we have options from education from our youngest years through our entire lifetimes.  We have options to build skills and abilities our entire lifetime.  We have the option to use this knowledge, skills, and abilities to generate income and stability…even though it may be hard at the time.  Life is hard, everything is hard, that why the word “perseverance” was created.

I believe in being positive and driving the change within yourself, your family, those around you, and helping others.  Maybe that’s the power of thinking differently and not (always) following the masses.

Maybe it’s time to follow the FIRE. 

Being different is a great thing if you are comfortable with yourself.  Being better than average and making things better is amazing.

Step out of the line and do something(s) good.  When you’re FIREd, you have a clear path ahead of you.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I have an example of a dumb decision/life lesson learned.  It wasn’t a problem, or cause any negative effects on our lives, but it was there was a loss. 

This is a lesson to enjoy life.

My wife at one time had an old car that worked fine.  It was a pleasure car, a “classic.”  It was a special save-up-extra-money-for-a-long-time-and-buy that classic car.   It was a 69 Mach 1 Mustang.  It had a V8 with headers that shook the house when it was started in the garage. 

She drove it fully accepting its imperfections, kinks, and slight hassles—after all, it was almost 50 years old.  The issues included, but were not limited to, carburetor strangeness, speedometer that jumped up and down 10-15mph at random, wiggly steering wheel, etc, etc.  The issues were nothing that caused safety concerns, but were inconveniences when operating this motor vehicle.

So, when we were preparing to sell the car, we had $600 of work completed to help the sale.  We wanted the car to start and idle great, display the speed smoothly, and basically, feel solid. 

Turns out this repair work made the car drive so much better.  So much so that the car sold to the first couple that came to look at it.

After selling the mustang it became obvious that we should have performed the work at the beginning of our ownership cycle so that we could have enjoyed the car much more through the years.  It’s even possible that if the car ran so well all along, we may not have even sold it.

I now think about what actions I can take in my life now in order to optimize/maximize our enjoyment.

Are there things (yes “things or experiences”) that can make life better, more enjoyable?  Are the associated costs worthwhile?

Examples:

During covid quarantine, we found we were outside our home a lot more.  We decided to put a second gate in our block wall.  This thought never occurred in the past 10 years when it may have been applicable.  This was a great $1000 spend.  We now use the gate multiple times per day, every day.

We purchased some new umbrellas and stands for our yard.  A few hundred dollars made the AZ yard move enjoyable when the sun started over-pumping heat.  $200

We added LED string lighting across our yard.  It gives us a party feel, much like a cruise ship Lido deck every night. $145

We upgraded a spare spinning bike that was used once in a while pre-covid to a nicer model since the spinning studios are closed, and some sadly went out of business.

We needed to replace our 15-year-old SUV.  Yes, we could have repaired some things but after being stranded in the middle of the AZ desert (luckily, with 1 bar of cell service), I just didn’t trust it.  For the first time ever, I didn’t buy used (buy 3 years old, keep 10 years) because I felt the safety features on new Toyotas were so significant that I wanted pedestrian/bike recognition, cross-traffic alerts/stopping, front stopping, lane keep/tracing, cameras, etc. etc.  It made sense to spend the extra on safety features we will use every single time we drive the vehicle.  In the past 3 months, I can say those features are wonderful.

We even plan to fly Premium Economy (or maybe business class) on our overseas trips to make check-in, airport security, boarding, and onboard comfort better on our travels.  It seems (as of right now) that we probably don’t need to crunch in the back of the plane.  This is a hard one for me to implement, but I’m going to try.  ……GLOBAL ENTRY as well…

Our Plan for the Future:

I’ve written about our Mojo decade and that too ties into this spend-it-when-we-can-enjoy-it mentality.  I am going to be very careful making sure we still track to our/a plan.  Alas, if I only knew when our “end of plan was” it would be easy.

I’m using some of our decades of “deferred spending” now when we can enjoy it.  Why use that money later, at the end of our time when it’s not enjoyed over our time.

Do you have any of those “I wish I would have spent on ABC earlier” thoughts in your life?

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I talk to people about my favorite/most important activity—10 Favorite Things—all the time.

Surprisingly, I searched on myself—actually in my posted LifeInFIRE thoughts—and I cannot find where I clearly describe this process and its importance to me.

Important Activities

Here’s what I learned from the Playing With Fire movie. 

I learned about creating a list in my electronic notepad of my 10 Favorite Things to do each day or week.

I brainstormed about my very favorite things to do.  These include activities, environments, thinking, etc.

I then sorted my very favorite items to the top and my less favorite down the list.

The Goal

The goal is to try and do a couple/some of those activities each day, and especially each week.  My thinking is what good are our days if we’re just grinding away— as a cog in the machine— and not enjoying our life.

The Process

I found the action of just creating the list to be of immense value.  Thinking through, and writing down, your most treasured life activities must be one of the more core elements of who we are, or at least of our deepest internal happiness.

I don’t often look at my list of 10 Favorite Things, but I definitely know what my top 3-5 are at any given time.  Oh, that makes me realize that the list can shift and change depending on life, on the seasons, even based on a pandemic with lockdown/quarantine/everything-being-closed situations.

Actually, if your list of favorite things did not change during the pandemic craziness, is that a clear sign that you are living true to yourself already?  True to your very core?  Possibly, a good SloGo? 

Hmmm, now I have even more to think about.  (sometimes that’s dangerous, “too much Kevin”)

New Idea – Dislikes

It just occurred to me that maybe I should have a list of things that I don’t like, or cannot stand to do.  Then I could rank those and possibly “outsource” those tasks to someone else.  Maybe there are people out there who like those activities.  I’ve read about valuing your time, say $20 or $50 per hour.  Then you can get a value for these outsourcing activities.  It may even make sense to just understand how the cost of these activities are just a part of making your life better, and possibly doing one or more of your favorite activities at that same time.

What are your favorite activities?  And now, after that last paragraph, what is their value to you?

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.