May was good for income. The pay from the new assignment kicked in, along with severance payments and some deferred compensation from the past. All in all, we generated $74k of available funds for the month. Expenses were high for yet another month. Our home is 5 years old and the AC and plumbing need…
After waiting and watching for at least 4 years, we finally made the decision to go solar. Here are the details behind the decisions … The first step was to estimate our annual power usage. A review of bills over the last 12 months reveal that number to be 18,842 KW-hours. The lowest average cost…
Every month this year has brought one off or ‘special’ expenses. April was higher than usual. We moved one of our parents from abroad to come live with family in the US. A campus visit for our college bound son…and finally birthday and anniversary celebrations. There is no doubt that when things get busy, expenses…
April brought college decisions – and a campus visit to California where our son will be going this fall. This incurred some travel expenses but everybody was excited to see the uncertainty end and future unfold. Our expenses for the month were $11,032. April also brought 2 birthdays and an anniversary so gifts and kids…
March was a special month as the 2018 year bonus from my previous job paid out…netting us $60k. In addition, the severance payments continued so that added another $19k. So almost $80k of the increase in net worth was due to new money added to the pile. On a smaller note, we also got a…
2019 brought many changes …quickly and some unexpected. Crossing $3MM in net worth, a kid headed to college and a decision to leave a high paying job and take better control of our time and choices. Overall, I have the say the effect has been net positive … in spite of early fears and uncertainty….
Most kids will project out to the world, the interactions and experiences they have had at home. Ideally they would have grown up in a home where love and support is taken for granted. Our fear is that we have not prepared you for the real world. There are fewer and fewer role models in…
The numbers are coming together for 2018. Here’s a snapshot of what our tax return looks like. Numbers are rounded for some anonymity. This is a combination of many fortunate circumstances. Having a high paying job in a very low cost of living city, a paid-off house and no state tax. Interestingly, post retirement and…
The month of February saw steady progress. I put some effort in consolidating my 401k accounts but apart from that, the portfolio was free to keep reinvesting independent of what happened in the market any given day. We broke over the $3MM mark once again after having been there late last year. Our expenses for…
,The markets recovered nicely in January – what a relief. However it is still unsettling to see such wild and unexplained swings. That said, my attention was diverted by negotiating a six figure severance from my current increasingly toxic job and by mid January, I was free! Our expenses for the month were $5,903, which…