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| Journal art by our son. |
Wow. So the world has changed quite a bit since our last post (Did Your Investment Account Catch A Virus This Week?) ... and that was only last month!
I planned to take a week off or so from the blog since we had Spring Break, but around that time life quickly spiraled out of control globally due to COVID-19. Needless to say, I decided to take time to cope and adjust (the best that we can) to this “new normal.”
So ... now what? Of course top priority, we are trying our best (along with loved ones) to stay healthy and stay home. We hope you are doing the same!
But ... What about FIRE (financial independence retire early)? What about our investments? And several have asked ... but you sold your home? And of course ... what about Spain? And do you have any backup plans?
The good news is because of the FIRE lifestyle (and where we are at in this journey) we probably couldn’t be set up better for this sudden global pandemic (well, for the most part ... some things can be improved for example ...living in an area where we could enjoy the great outdoors more). We are still on track to FIRE. We are already more than prepared for this financial apocalypse (remember you haven’t lost investments unless you sell them!). We probably sold our home just in time (and we’ve adapted just fine to apartment living / taking care of less space and things). We are still on track for Spain ... now, quite obviously this may be delayed somewhat (and partly out of our control.. and partly our decision based on the information we have available). Only time will tell how much ... a few months? 6 months? A year? We should know more in the next month or so. So ... What about backup plans?
One huge plus of FIRE is flexibility - the ability to choose your own adventure. I had planned to resign this year from teaching full-time regardless of what was happening (we just didn’t really think the global pandemic would happen!), and we are still moving forward with that. We’ve always had several backup plans (if Spain didn’t happen ...or didn’t happen in the timing we initially planned), but we just didn’t think we would need to implement them. Always good to be prepared, no? The most likely Plan B at this point would be to stay in the Houston area for another 6 months to a year. Maybe we would move back temporarily to Houston’s Museum District with easy access (walking distance) to Hermann Park, the museums (and Zoo), and transit (all of these places would be ideal for World Schooling for 6 months to a year). (Do I think life is going to be back to normal that quickly? Well, no ... but hopefully some or all of these places will be open with new approaches to health and safety). We’ve also thrown around other backup plans (maybe move to Bend, OR for a year? ... maybe try out World Schooling around the world?), but given COVID-19 and other factors ...they may not make the most sense right now. And another one I threw out there - well, why not Costa Rica (as a backup idea)?
So in a world filled with uncertainty right now, we are definitely grateful to have the ability to be flexible and choose our own adventure (knowing of course much is out of our control at this point due to COVID-19). But we are looking forward to our next adventure, even if it may not line up exactly as we envisioned.
So what do you think? How well were you prepared for the global pandemic and financial apocalypse? What may you change moving forward?
-Tara
It is great you have flexibility! We, too, are rolling with the punches. I am still retiring this year. I planned on looking for an office job; now I might be more inclined to teach online. We still have 4 years before JC gets his TRS pension and we move to Costa Rica, so we are still on track for the rest of our lives.
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