Wandering Money Pig - A journey of early retirement and FIRE (financial independence retire early)

  Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park, NY Oscar Wilde:  “Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.” Recently, I was reading an article from the Money section of MSN , where I came upon an article about the sanctity of needing 70-80% of retiree’s pre-retirement income to maintain his/her lifestyle into retirement. This is something I’ve always read about and known about, since my wife and I decided on our journey of FIRE (financial independence retire early). The 70-80% rule kind of makes sense as most retirees generally tend to spend about the same (or a bit less) amount of money each month on expenses in retirement vs pre-retirement.  Generally speaking, retirees won’t need to spend money on work related things (think work wardrobe, daily commute in a car for most Americans, eating lunch at work, happy hour after hours, etc.), reducing that part of after-retirement budget. Despite this fact, the reason most retirees spend close to their pre-retirement is thanks to av

  Portland Head Light, Maine Our (my wife and myself’s) 2 months long stay in the beautiful state of Maine was coming to a close by the end of July.  By then, we had already seen famous attractions like Acadia National Park , Colby Museum of Art , as well as several waterfalls in the state, and we had ventured out to other places like Wolfeboro (New Hampshire), and to Quebec City (Canada), thanks to our rental’s proximity to both places.   After coming back from our trip to Quebec City the previous week, we were hoping to visit one more place in Maine, to wrap up our very first trip to the “ Pine Tree State ”.  To that end, we decided to visit Portland  near the southern coast along the Casco Bay , a city known as the center of economy, tourism, and growth in the region. On one of the many Maine tourism brochures we picked up from one of the Maine welcome centers/information centers, Portland was named as one of the top destinations to visit in Maine.  Besides, we always love scenic

  Quebec City, Canada (View of Chateau Frontenac) The first time my wife and I drove into Quebec City , admiring the undeniably majestic Chateau Frontenac, we thought we were transported to any number of beautiful and historic European cities like Vienna, Heidelberg, or Salzburg.  The charming buildings decked out in colorful roofs, the cute flowers placed in outside window boxes of many homes, and busy alfresco cafes/restaurants really set the mood for a trip like no other.  We fell in love with the city at first sight… That was exactly 20 years ago.  Upon leaving Quebec City after a two night stay, we knew in our hearts that we would soon be back.  That didn’t quite turn out to be true, as it took all of 20 years to go back. In the month of July 2022, we literally had the opportunity of a lifetime to revisit the city, as we were staying two months in the northwest part of Maine.  The US/Canada border was only about 30 miles away from our place in Stratton ( Maine), therefore, we had

  Casino de Charlevoix, Canada (hotel) One of my favorite things in the world is visiting new places, whether that’s a new city, a new park, a new restaurant, or a new hotel/motel/lodging.  There’s just something special, exciting, and anticipatory about going to a new place. My heart races at the thought of finding a new place to explore.  As I’m researching a place, I get a kick out of reading various reviews of fellow travelers, as well as looking at photos of places to explore.  The anticipation builds after I actually book our lodging, wondering what the trip would be like… I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again:  There’s nothing quite like traveling to explore somewhere new.  My brain is tingling with the thought that I’ll be getting new stimuli, and the anticipation reaches a climax when we’re leaving for the trip that departure date. My wife and I always loved exploring all sorts of places on a new trip.  It could be new restaurants, museums, parks, major & minor attr