retirement

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It’s that time of year again. Time to look back on 2017 and what a year it has been. Our budget was blown but what made up for it was a spectacular return on my investments. It was a mixed bag but I must admit, I think I must land on a positive note for us personally. The blown budget Let’s begin with the not so successful feature of 2017. When I retired, our budget was set at $65,000 a year. Due to extremely high and continuously high medical costs, I upped the budget to $71,000 going forward (increasing each […]

2017 in Review

 in finances / financial independence / retirement by
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With all the support and extra traffic coming from my friends at FreedomIsGroovy.com, I feel compelled to put down some thoughts. I tend to not write about politics, but never has politics hit home as hard as this year. The first effects are already felt and potential upcoming changes may hit even harder. ACA Renewal It’s ObamaCare renewal time. Last year, I received probably 50 timely emails/messages letting us know it was coming up. This year I received a single text. I’m personally aware of what’s happening but it makes you wonder, how many will miss this year’s enrollment due […]

The month of unknowns

 in finances / healthcare / retirement / Taxes by
Earlier this year, I wrote about getting started on the Roth IRA conversion ladder. The first rung has been taken. This week, I completed the first of 7 conversions. For those of you not in the know, I have some money, but it’s in all the wrong places. I’m 47 years young, 3 years retired with a modest income from various investments. The problem is, that the bigger chunk of these investments are tied up in my 401(k) (Luxury problem, I admit). Based on today’s budget, five years prior to the age of 59 (and a half), my after tax […]

Roth IRA Conversion Ladder update

 in 401(k) / FIRE / retirement by
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I realize retirement isn’t for everybody. We all know the stories of “Bob” retiring and him withering away, sitting in front of the window only to die 5 years later. Some people live to work and when you love your work, kudos to you. Some people will flourish in retirement. I think I belong to the latter. Busy in Retirement I’m over three years into retirement, keeping busy doing the things I really love. Prior to retirement I built my own CNC machine. It wasn’t a success but I loved doing it nonetheless. Since then I’ve been building my own […]

Keeping Busy by Giving Back using 3D Printing

 in 3D Printing / retirement by
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Looking on my calendar on June 21st I realized, my third retirement anniversary on June 18th had come an gone. As a Financial blogger and early successful retiree that date should have been marked prominently, instead it just past by. Maybe it’s because after a while it looses it’s significance. Maybe, its because the 18th was father’s day and my mind was occupied with lovely, meaningful crafts from my children. Maybe it was because I was equally occupied, chewing on the left side of my mouth because of a filling place the day prior had gone wrong. It now turns […]

Happy Third Anniversary on Retirement, Oh and more Healthcare

 in FIRE / healthcare / retirement / Uncategorized by
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I’ve put it off long enough now. I need to get started on the Roth IRA Conversion Ladder. It seems to be the only solution to my western world problem. The problem of having too much in my 401(k). The Roth IRA Conversion Ladder will allow me to gradually convert funds from my 401(k) to a Roth IRA, in turn, allowing me to withdraw WITHOUT PENALTY when I really need it. The catch: You need to start this at least 5 years prior to the first withdrawal. Is there such a thing as too much in a 401(k)? For most of […]

Roth IRA Conversion Ladder

 in 401(k) / FIRE / investing / retirement by
How I made 200K doing nothing 12
Sounds like a get rich quick scam, right? It’s not, it took a lot of work, sweat, patience and time before I got here, but I’m doing it nonetheless. I retired two and half years ago, haven’t worked for a single penny and today I have more money than I had the day I retired. It’s like magic (but it’s not). Doing nothing I lied, I’ve been doing something, I’ve been enjoying early retirement. I’ve found something I’m passionate about and it keeps be busy most day. What I’m not doing, and haven’t done for two and a half years, […]

How I made 200K Doing Nothing

 in Building Wealth / financial independence / FIRE / investing / millionaire / retirement by
screw-ups on my way to a million 6
Let’s put it out there, making assumptions is making an ass out of u and me. Mostly though, making an ass of out myself. On my way to wealth, I’ve made a few of them. Today in the series on Screw-ups on My Way to a Million: Making Assumptions. As you can guess, most of them wrong. Is making assumptions bad? That is a tough question. I’ve made several wrong ones but at the same time my entire path to wealth and my continued growth/stability of my wealth is premised on the biggest assumption of them all: The stock market will go up […]

Screw-ups on My Way to a Million: Making Assumptions

 in Building Wealth / emergency fund / finances / millionaire / retirement by
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That’s right, I’m 45 and June 18th will mark the second anniversary of retirement. 2 years into retirement and the funny thing is, this never started out to be retirement. I figured I would take some time off and figure out what’s next. Why retire at 45? For, as much as my job had brought me, in experience, joy and money, in the end stress was starting to physically affect me. After 20 years of Business Rules Management technology it was time for a break. It was maybe 2 weeks into my break that my neighbor came to me and […]

2 years into retirement, what’s next?

 in retirement by