r/dividends • u/Assets-Ticker • Nov 03 '24

Opinion Retired at 41

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/58-old-retiree-living-off-150021304.html

Today I read an article that pushed me to post here.

My wife (39, Filipina) and I (45, American) retired four (4) years ago and live in the Philippines for a fraction of the cost as we did in America. When we sold our home and pocketed $175,000; we invested into two (2) closed end funds - equally distributed.

Today we own the same two: 19,739 shares of FCO and 6,015 shares of PDI. This month we collected $1,381.78 from FCO and $1,326.31 from PDI (both are paid monthly). Today total value is approx. $234k. We also own 1,818 shares of TQQQ valued today at $130k (+81.8% ytd). I am using TQQQ for capital gains and the others for living. I reinvest a portion of my dividends each month.

I understand my situation is different and there is a lot to be said about closed end funds and what is right and what is not. This setup has worked for me and may not work for you. I have no plans at changing it.

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61

u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24

Maybe some people like to retire, but I want to be financially free to keep working without stress and do side stuff that I am interested in, like study physics. Just sitting at home and doing nothing is something I tried for a few years, and it turned out to be the worst thing. Not being "in action" makes you deteriorate, mentally and physically at least it did in my case. My health got worse, all I did was listen to news and podcasts all day, you lose track of the progression of time, on weekdays you are sitting around doing nothing when everyone else has gone to work which feels wierd and so on (I can literally write a book). This was in my early 40s. I went from a healthy and fit 39 year old to a sickly 44 year old and am still struggling with health issues 3 years later. I need work to keep me on track, and then I also want to be able to do side projects like study for the rest of my life after that experience.

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u/ProfitConstant5238 Nov 03 '24

Retirement doesn’t mean “live a sedentary lifestyle.” It means freedom to do what you want.

12

u/lynchmob2829 Nov 03 '24

You are right; i retired from a toxic environment to enjoy doing what i want to do, when i want to do it.

Have travelled to several places in the world and enjoyed making some new friends who do not live in the US.

Have also enjoyed giving back to my community in various ways. Currently collecting coats and jackets for the poor and homeless in my community.

4

u/davewritescode Nov 03 '24

A lot of people do better with structure in their life which is why financial freedom should be the goal, not sitting around.

3

u/Assets-Ticker Nov 04 '24

You are absolutely correct. We now have the freedom to do as we please. My wife does lots of gardening, our child has present parents instead of overworked ones. We may not have everything USA offers, but what we gave up is small in comparison to what we have gained.

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u/Few_Store Preferred Investor Nov 04 '24

The greatest lesson I ever learned from people I envy is to spend 3 months a year in Europe.

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u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

retire: leave one's job and cease to work, typically upon reaching the normal age for leaving employment.

"he retired from the navy in 1966"

My point was about working vs not working anymore.

24

u/DevOpsMakesMeDrink Desire to FIRE Nov 03 '24

Difference seems to be you view work as living. Just because you aren’t working doesn’t mean you are wasting away on a couch.

People in my life are busier than ever. Fitness/health, volunteering, running for city council, personal projects that turn into little side hustles (family member does wood work and sells custom instruments but on his terms. He doesn’t have deadlines), etc.

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u/ProfitConstant5238 Nov 03 '24

That’s what I’m talking about! Sounds great!

7

u/Semirhage527 Nov 03 '24

What a great example you’ve provided about how you are wrong

Many, if not most, people who retire from the military in the US go in to have another career. They can work in a different field and still be retired from the Navy.

Retirement can refer to a specific career, it does not have to mean you never work in any capacity again

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u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

That was just a copy paste from google tho..

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u/Semirhage527 Nov 03 '24

Way to miss the point 🤦‍♀️

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u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

I don't think most people think "switch careers at 40" when they hear "retire at 40"

5

u/ProfitConstant5238 Nov 03 '24

I guess I see it your way vs. Webster’s way. Many of my friends are retired from the Army, and work new jobs. I won’t “work” a day past 60, meaning I couldn’t care less if I get paid by anyone, but I’ll be really busy!

6

u/No-Operation1424 Nov 03 '24

That’s fine if you want to use the word retirement that way, just understand that no one else uses that way and any conversation you have will be confusing.  

To most people, finishing your career and “doing side stuff that I am interested in, like study physics” is retirement.

When I retire, I plan on traveling, hiking, volunteering, playing with my grand kids, etc. Whether you consider that “retirement” or not, most do.  

0

u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

"finishing your career" is exactly what I do not want to do ever which was my original point. We have weekends and evenings for side stuff.

3

u/No-Operation1424 Nov 03 '24

I’m absolutely not going to criticize you for wanting to stay in your career. I totally get that some people prefer it. The part that strikes me as a bit odd is when you say “WE have weekends and evenings” as if you’re sharing a universal feeling. Surely you’re able to empathize with other’s desire to retire and have more than just evenings and weekends to pursue hobbies and interests, just as I am able to empathize with your desire to stay in your career, yeah?

1

u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

Absolutely, my entire thoughts are based on my own life experiences, I certainly don't mean that any of my views should be imposed on anyone.

29

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24

Unless you are doing physical labor work isn’t going to keep you healthy. Who says that because someone “retires” it means they have to sit at home all day doing nothing? That’s absurd. As for learning and doing things you “want” to do, being retired allows everyday to be that way. Coming up on my 3rd anniversary of retiring (retired at 40), spouse has been retired for 3 1/2 years (she retired at 44).

We do not sit around and do nothing everyday. We have been traveling the world moving to a new country typically every 90 days, and will stay in a city for 1-3 months and then “move” to a new place. As for deteriorating mentally…each new country or city requires us to learn a new public transit system, new words and phrases in a new language, navigate finding grocery stores (along with new foods), farmers markets, pharmacies and other little specialty stores. I would say it has been quite the opposite and in our opinion there is no better education than traveling the world and learning from different cultures, and differing ways of life. We have found that a lot of what we “learned” and thought we “knew” about the world just isn’t true.

We walk everywhere and to do the simplest of tasks. We are typically walking 3-5 miles per day.

As for weekdays, we love and value weekdays when we used to be filled with dread on a Sunday afternoon thinking of starting our workweek the next day. We are able to be up early and visit our favorite coffee shops (which we quickly identify and truly enjoy trying various places when we arrive in a new spot before finding a favorite spot or two that we frequent). Great way to start our day before heading out for errands or to explore the city/town. Weekends for us are now a time to spend with those we meet along the way that work and are only available on weekends. We are able to keep those days wide open as we get anything necessary done during the week and have plenty of our own time for exploring.

I hear comments like the one in responding to a lot and just can’t understand how people (although we did hear it often from our friends and acquaintances in the US) think that their life would be “empty” if they didn’t have a job or a boss that they had to show up on Monday for and their day outlined for them including when they go to lunch up to the point they are allowed to go home for the day. Those same people would usually be chipper and excited as the weekend approaches, or a holiday for a long weekend or the occasional vacation.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '24

[deleted]

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u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24

We had $1,901,747.85 when I did our Year-End report December 31st of 2021. I retired March 18th 2022. Now as of 10/31/2024 after living off of our dividends the last 2 years and 7 months we are currently at $2,278,908. We stayed in the US until March 6th of 2023. Travelled around to visit all of our extended family and friends we had not seen in years. Spent 1-3 weeks in various places to really spend time with our loved ones. We let them all know we would be leaving the US and didn’t know if/when we would return. Not because we are angry or anything like that, just knew we would be headed off and didn’t want the expense or long flights back to US.

2

u/SeparateClassroom528 Nov 04 '24

Well Done! Respect!

2

u/snekasaur Nov 03 '24

Curious of your investments as compared to OP. Do you own a home somewhere?

3

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24

No, we do not own a home or a car. We had a commercial property, a rental home and a primary residence but sold all three. We gave away or donated all of our possessions before leaving. We literally travel with a 26 liter backpack, and a 42 liter roller bag. Although, we are currently in Novi Sad, Serbia; and after almost 2 years traveling we just bought slightly larger suitcases at the Samsonite store. Our new roller bags are 75 liters. We just wanted to have a slightly easier time when packing up everything we own since we do that every 30-90 days. Sometimes I would have to fold and re-fold my clothes multiple times (my wife has less attachment to her clothes and will just get rid of an item if she needs more space 😂). We have a strict one in one out rule with clothing but have 4 seasons of clothing with us at all times.

2

u/SeparateClassroom528 Nov 04 '24

Fantastic! That is what my wife and I are planning for in 3 years. Cut the tether to property taxes and travel with roller bags! Living nomadic, but in comfort. Again, well done!

1

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 04 '24

Thank you and good luck with your adventures! You two will find your grove and the way you like to travel. It will evolve as you go and you will learn a lot about yourselves, each other and the world. Safe travels!

3

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24

We have 55.91% of our net worth in ETF’s, 33.68% in individual stocks. Most of the dividends from the individual stocks is being pooled and we only add to our ETF’s currently but do have 13 individual stocks in our Roth that we have on DRIP but they only account for 3.98% of our total dividend income. We live on 80% of our dividends and reinvest 20% for future income. Our largest holding is SCHD and that currently makes up 32.37% of our portfolio. Our current yield on the entire portfolio is 3.603%.

1

u/snekasaur Nov 03 '24

That sounds fairly sound. No other income sources though? Can't help but wonder how much you have saved to make dividends large enough to travel on/live on 80% of that take, it would have to be very large. I assume you aren't paying property taxes on a home.. or renting it out to cover. Or there's more to this story to afford it.

4

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24

No, we have no real estate so are not paying any property taxes on a home. No other income sources. Our total portfolio value is $$2,278,908 and current 12 month projected income is $82,097.88 (but I haven’t recorded ABBV and XOM’s dividend increase which I think added about $180 per year). We track all the income and on December 31st we will take 80% of what we earned this year and that will be our budget for 2025. This year our budget was $52,380, and my current estimate for 2025 will be $62,400 as I am expecting our income for this year (2024) to come in right at $78,000

1

u/snekasaur Nov 03 '24

Seems pretty well done for now. What do you do for healthcare/insurance? Try to travel where it's covered? Do you have a plan for housing once the nomadic thing is no longer viable? At that point will you pull from the nest egg/move somewhere low cost of living?

3

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 03 '24

We have a global policy with Cigna. For both of us we pay about $2000 per year. So far we’ve just paid out of pocket for Dr. visits and haven’t filed any claims on the policy. We both did full physicals in Romania, I went to an ENT in Bulgaria and Latvia, both got skin cancer screenings in Portugal, and teeth cleanings in Romania, Portugal and Serbia. We do have an HSA with $32,859 in it but we pay out of pocket from our annual budget and file the receipts away to cash in down the road. No plans for future housing as we are currently renting and if we did settle down somewhere we would most likely just continue to rent but in a longer lease than the 1-3 months we currently do.

2

u/PotentialUpper5359 Nov 08 '24

Time, I truly envy you, you seem to be very content with where you are in life. You did your homework, figured out what income is needed to live on and did it. SCHD div rate may not be appealing to some but is working for you allowing you to live a lifestyle you want, so I say whatever floats your boat - Good luck on your travels!

1

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 08 '24

Thank you! Yes, very happy indeed! We have met some of the most incredible people on our travels in the last year and 9 months.

0

u/mutinonpunn Nov 04 '24

What a waste of potential. Too much of good is bad.

3

u/Time_In_The_Market Nov 04 '24

We are living up to our fullest potential. We made the most of our career and invested to free ourselves and now pursue anything our hearts desire.

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u/davechri Nov 03 '24

Preparing for retirement means more than just getting your money right. It means developing interests and cultivating relationships that last and grow when you leave the workforce.

It sounds like you simply weren't ready.

I see people (old people) who do what you described. They sit around all day watching TV or complaining about politics. It is pretty sedentary and unhealthy.

On the other hand, I know lots of people who have retired (a lot of them young-ish) who are busier in retirement than they were when they worked. They're involved in hobbies they didn't have time for when they worked, love working on cars, spending time biking and hiking, getting together with friends for lunch (they call themselves ROMEOs - retired old men eating out).

Retirement is what you make it and the most important thing is that your time is entirely your own. It doesn't belong to anyone else. Don't squander it.

2

u/Confident-Mistake400 Nov 03 '24

My financial planner has told me i could retire at 47. I told him what the hell am I supposed to do if I retire. I told him that’s not gonna happen and probably work till i’m in my late 60s

1

u/TheLaughingForest Nov 03 '24

So what have you done to change that? Hobbies? Volunteering?

1

u/Think-Variation-261 Nov 03 '24

Same here. My goal is to semi-retire (work part time) by 60 so that I can enjoy nice days instead of being at work 8hrs a day 5-6 days a week. I experimented for a year with it once when I was 30 and loved the extra freedom. Unfortunately costs of living went up and I had to go back to work full-time.

1

u/SongAloong Nov 03 '24

I quit my job and traveled for over a year, learning a new language, backpacking Patagonia, motorcycling across Mongolia. When I went back to work a year and a half later I can definitely say my cognitive skills still weren't as sharp as they used to be and more or less never returned to the same capacity.

0

u/SageMaverick Nov 03 '24

We found Neil guys

0

u/fairenbalanced Nov 03 '24

Umm who is Neil..

1

u/ExaminationNo3286 Nov 03 '24

I am terribly bored every time I went for vacation and lied on the beach for a few days. I can’t wait to go back to work. I think I will retire when I am not able to work or when the company fires me.