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

  Coligny Beach Park, Hilton Head Island, SC The last time my wife and I visited Hilton Head Island was way back in 2003, on our way down to Florida, for a one night stay.  We had just spent 2 nights in Myrtle Beach (SC) prior to our trip to Hilton Head Island, and we wanted to at least see the place, so we made a reservation to stay the night. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do much or see the island that trip, as we were looking forward to going to Savannah (GA) early next morning.  Big cities, like Savannah for us back then, had a much bigger attraction for us as a potential travel destination.   This was prior to us getting our Pomeranian Toby, who seriously got us into hiking and all things parks (national/state/local/community).  But back then, we were just interested in hanging out in a big city, spending couple of nights eating, drinking, and shopping, just like all people do at that consumption-centric age.   Long story short, we arrived at Hilto...

  Warren Buffett:  “Fear is the most contagious disease you can imagine.  It makes the virus look like a piker.” The stock market and the bond market which my wife and I have been relying upon to fuel our early retirement, has seen its peak exactly 16 months into our retirement, in December 2021.  When we retired early in August 2020, thanks to the concept of FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement, we thought we had prepared ourselves for the inevitable ups and downs of the financial markets. What we didn’t realize at the time of our early retirement were the macroeconomic conditions that we didn’t even know existed.  Things like demographics and when people consume vs invest, were simply not known to me when I was researching all things finance-related and FIRE related. How was I to know that thanks to globalization, when people take manufacturing or services related jobs in the cities, that that would transform how many kids they would have? ...

  Coligny Beach Park, Hilton Head Island, SC When my wife and I were thinking about where to spend our winter months during the winter of 2023, we had several options.  We could rent another month long (or longer) stay at an AirBnB or similar, stay at my brother-in-law’s place in North Carolina for about 6 weeks then travel for about 6 weeks, or travel for longer than 6 weeks. In the end, we settled on traveling using hotels rather than AirBnB’s for the duration of 8 weeks.  We usually have to make our way to North Carolina to get stuff done (vehicle registration, vehicle inspection) as that is our official domicile.  As early retirees and nomadic travelers, we don’t rent or have a permanent residence of our own. Instead, we rely on my brother-in-law to provide his place of residence as our official address for everything including driver’s license, vehicle registration, vehicle insurance, health insurance, etc.  On top of that, we stay with them from time to ti...

  View from inside the Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art  Growing up in one of the world’s great cities, New York City, we New Yorkers sometimes feel a sense of entitlement and pride bordering on arrogance, that there is nowhere els e outside the confines of the city.  Of course, this isn’t true the minute you decide to venture outside this great city. When I first saw a map of the state, I couldn’t put my mind around the driving distances between the tip of Long Island (the farthest point on the eastern end of the state) to Niagara Falls (the farthest point on the northwestern end of the state).  That drive, at little over 500 miles, would represent around a 9 hour drive, if you don’t hit any traffic, which is an impossible task in the state and you don’t stop for fuel, food, or bathroom breaks. As a young man thinking of going places after just obtaining a driver’s license at the age of 16, I certainly knew I had my work cut out for me, trying to see some of the mo...