Hey hey all!<\/p>\n
It’s been awhile since I hit the keyboard. \u00a0Not going to lie, I am 100% over blogging. \u00a0It was a fun ride while we were on the journey to reaching our FI number. \u00a0But now that we are here on the other side of the pasture, there’s really not much to write about in regards to personal finances.<\/p>\n
It’s not that things are doom and gloom or that early retirement = depressed Court. \u00a0It’s really the opposite. \u00a0I used to type these posts up in the middle of a night shift at work at 2am to kill time. \u00a0Now that I’m no longer working, I don’t want to be in front of a computer. \u00a0It’s as simple as that. \u00a0I want to be out living life. \u00a0Spending time with my family. \u00a0Hanging out with friends. \u00a0Trying out new foods. \u00a0Exploring new places. \u00a0Building relationships. \u00a0And when it’s time to relax, I want to actually relax and not be typing. \u00a0Life has been good – really good – and I highly encourage everyone reading to pursue financial independence.<\/p>\n
For those who think you will be bored, you need to figure out your WHY. \u00a0Is it to travel? \u00a0Spend time with your kids? \u00a0Take care of your aging parents? \u00a0Give back in ways you can’t while stuck in a day job? \u00a0Whatever it is, you gotta figure that out. And if it means incorporating some sort of side gig, great. \u00a0You do you. \u00a0You have the flexibility to design your days how it best suits you and that’s what matters most.<\/p>\n
The whole entire concept of FI is quite simple when you boil it down: spend less than you earn, invest the difference in a low fee diversified ETF\/index, and wait (while enjoying life along the way). \u00a0It’s really the mindset shift that’s required to make this possible as that spend less than you earn piece is hard to do. \u00a0Once you’ve figured out that we don’t need to spend spend spend in the consumeristic culture we live in, your spending on things you value becomes pretty streamlined that you can guesstimate what you’re overall spending for the year will look like. \u00a0Of course there will be one-off hiccups to account for but in general most things are in check. That’s the beauty to it. \u00a0It’s quite a stress free way to live.<\/p>\n
Stop worrying about hyper optimizing your portfolio, chasing the latest high interest savings rate promo, or uber focusing on a tax strategy that has minimal output. \u00a0The biggest thing to focus on is your savings rate. \u00a0Then select a low fee index and max out your registered accounts. \u00a0Then go after your non-reg. \u00a0Chug chug chug along. Calm down and go live your life.<\/p>\n
Ok ok back to an update. Our portfolio continues to plough up and to the right. \u00a0We are now multi millionaires which is sweet but honestly all we did was give each other high-fives once we realized our net worth now starts with a 2 in the front. \u00a0We’re still spending ~2% of our portfolio not because we are worried but because this seems to be our baseline happiness number. \u00a0Sure we could spend more on some discretionary spending categories, and we are, but it’s really not swinging the needle much. \u00a0I’m sure as the kiddos get older, our yearning for travel will continue to grow, but for now as much time at the cabin in the summer + 1-3 week trips sprinkled throughout the year is working out well for us.<\/p>\n
We are loving being present parents. \u00a0It’s extremely exhausting but worth it. \u00a0I’m volunteering a lot at Kindergarten and Girl Guides and taking some art classes, Nic has joined a soccer team, Finn is starting to confidently read (hallelujah!), and Parker is definitely turning into a little man with his personality starting to shine through.<\/p>\n
I like to say I’m not really retired. \u00a0Instead, we’ve taken on the following rolls:<\/p>\n
All while obtaining our Master’s & PhD in Patience while still remaining CEO of the Department of Make Believe.<\/p>\n
All jokes aside, we are extremely privileged to be living this life and we don’t take that lightly. \u00a0We try to help out other families around town as we are always saying to each other “can you imagine if one of us was still working?!” (recognizing having a 2 parent household is a luxury and then having one of those parents be a stay a home parent is an even greater luxury). \u00a0We are wiped when one of us heads out for a few hours and we’re left to solo parent. \u00a0We are extremely extremely grateful for our set up.<\/p>\n
We all get to go skating together on Monday mornings, go to a play class Tuesday mornings, head to a STEAM class at the library Wednesday afternoons (when most parents are normally still working), head to a kids class out of town Thursday mornings, go swimming together Friday mornings. \u00a0Gah typing all this up is giving me anxiety for next year when grade 1 is 8am-2pm.<\/p>\n
That’s another thing. \u00a0Kindergarten in Alberta is half days (2.5 hours) and I LOVE this set up. \u00a0I SO wish all of school through grade 12 was like this. \u00a0But of course, what other family wishes this?! \u00a0Most families struggle with an 8am-2pm type set up and need to find after school care.\u00a0Yet here we are complaining about not getting to see our kids for 6 hours a day.<\/p>\n
What it’s ultimately come down to is that we are officially unrelateable (thank you Ryan for this concept).<\/p>\n
We are in this enviable position to most people. \u00a0But we can’t relate to most of society and how it’s set up. \u00a0It’s a bit of a Catch22. \u00a0Our ultimate goal is time freedom but it’s hard to talk about it to others as they simply cannot comprehend how we got to where we are. \u00a0It’s hard to talk about our day\/week\/month to others when they are in the grind mentality. \u00a0It’s not a bad thing per se, it’s just hard to have small talk with some people when our lives are literally a complete 180 to theirs. \u00a0We never would want to come off as “braggy” to others, so it’s a fine line of trying to help motivate others while keeping our lips zipped up too.<\/p>\n
That’s why I love the community of like minded FI folks we have in town and I like this little pocket of the internet where those reading do get it. \u00a0So, I don’t think I’ll be giving up this ole blog tomorrow but don’t expect much from me in the future. I might pop in every once in awhile, but no promises.<\/p>\n
Hope you all are living life on your own terms and enjoying it along the way. \u00a0I’ll end this post with one of my favourite quotes that I have tattooed: “Let Life Take You”. \u00a0I’m curious to see how our life continues to evolve over the years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey hey all! It’s been awhile since I hit the keyboard. \u00a0Not going to lie, I am 100% over blogging. \u00a0It was a fun ride …<\/p>\n