Playtirement
4 FOLLOWERS
Musings from an international school teaching couple about investing wisely, retiring early, and living an adventurous and rewarding life. Learn about their journey towards early retirement and some steps to take to reach financial independence.
Playtirement
6M ago
Skiing Mount Bachelor during our Ski-a-Palooza.
Working Hard
It’s been a while since the last update, and we’ve sure had some months of fun since previously reflecting in writing. Some intriguing psychology has been floating through our minds, too. More on that in a bit.
The phrase ‘working hard’ is a heading we use on our blog for several purposes, none meaning slogging away in a job you hate and want to get away from quickly. The phrase reflects the intentionality of work as it relates to our lives, both for investing in future endeavors and for finding satisfaction in the here and now. As ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
Winter is here.
Working Hard
The weeks are slowly clicking by, and that’s precisely how we want them to go. Routine is the enemy of time.
It’s still amazing to us that our paid work life is over and is replaced by our wealth preservation stage. Each month we still get ‘paid’, but this ‘paycheck’ is in the form of a new monthly budget. Tracking where every cent goes is how this whole playtirement thing will work out. And so far, so good.
The past weeks between updates were also about continuing to learn about the complex world of our financial emotions and how to carefully invest o ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
Winter is coming.
Working Hard
I’ve wanted to do these short blog posts for a long time. Twenty-one weeks’ worth of time, as a matter of fact.
This past June, we ended our career as educators to live a life full of adventures while funding these experiences with the investments we made over an imperfect path to financial independence. It was worth every ounce of messy effort.
Within these weekly (or random as heck) posts, I will reflect on anything we’ve been doing or thinking about within three areas. This section will focus on the monetary and continuous learning side of things ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
Trying to make it just like in Working Girl (1988) - 20th Century Fox
Passive Aggressive Living
First, if you haven’t read it, check out the first part of our Playtirement Preservation Stage. Then come back for the folly of reading this. The subtitle of this post is fitting. We live passively and aggressively doing things to make our money last as long as possible.
Just five months into this journey, we are starting to witness the amazingness that financial independence can be. Our hard-earned dollars continue to work for us while we sit on our arses. It’s magical.
Of course, we c ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
Our new-ish home city.
Change
Change. It’s part of life. Unfortunately, some people don’t get this until they are dead.
An obvious statement is that there are all sorts of changes people go through during a lifetime—puberty, nuptials, hair quantity, employment, and the list goes on and on. Changes in one’s work-life is a given. And those changes almost always involve undergoing some sort of transformation and growing pains, be it little or large.
Our transition wasn’t any different, although it had one thing that most career changes don’t—a move between countries. After ten years ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
The legendary Ansel Adams. In no way do I compare to him as a photographer.
So Long Hong Kong
Our overseas teaching adventure is coming to a close in June. And more importantly, our time living in Hong Kong is ending. I wanted to pay tribute to this incredible city by taking and posting a picture from each day leading up to playtirement within our final 100 days.
Inspiration for this project is from Minnesota photographer extraordinaire Jim Brandenburg and his book Chased by the Light.
We hope you enjoy it.
Click on the image to see some background information.
View fullsize Day 100 View ful ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
Aztec Calendar image courtesy of the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City; photograph, Mexican Ministry of Tourism
The Small Print
This blog post is a living document and changes daily. During the countdown to our early retirement from teaching, each addition will be a micro view into our world. So, as the year progresses, look for small vignettes of what we are doing, thinking, or talking about while on our journey to a rewarding life after reaching financial independence.
June Means Summer!
June 16, 2021 - Our last day of full-time teaching is one year from today. We know we ma ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
The cast of Breakfast Club (1985) - Universal Pictures
It’s Not You, It’s Me
Sorry, Money-Twitter. It’s me, not you. This relationship was new about a year ago. Besides the dates with Mr. Money Mustache, Andrew Hallam, JL Collins, the Mad Fientist, and the legendary Vicki Robin, I didn’t even know who you were until that fateful day—the day I started the Playtirement blog.
That day, I realized tons of people out there talking about finances and investing on Twitter. It felt like a whole new world. New blogs, more new blogs, courses to buy, the latest financial information to imbibe on, and ho ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
The more simply we live, the more simple life is.
https://www.plutusawards.com/showcase/
Evacuation
Ironically, there are hordes of things written about arriving at minimalism Xanadu. Thankfully this isn’t going to be one of those things. Well, sort of.
But before we begin, I’ve got a couple of questions for you. If faced with an evacuation due to a natural disaster, besides your loved ones, could you quickly name the things you would take with you? How about if the items were all forms of nouns—people, places, and things?
Nouns
It’s interesting how things come into our lives. These it ..read more
Playtirement
6M ago
How does the bell curve represent life?
Normal Distribution
Most of you have probably heard of the dreaded bell curve. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky.
If you have the unfortunate experience with a bell curve as a student, you were rewarded with either an incredible high, a sigh of relief, or rage against the machine when seeing scores posted on your college professor’s door.
If you don’t already know, the bell curve is a normal distribution graph, with a prominent rounded peak tapering away at each end. The top of the bell represents the most probable even ..read more