September 2015 – Our Next Life

Month: September 2015

On Still Not Sharing (Most of) Our Numbers // Talking Finance With No Finances

By Tanja Hester on September 30, 2015 • ( 79 Comments )

one of our earliest posts on this blog was about how we don’t share our numbers. it’s mostly because, one day not too far off in the distance, we will drop this whole anonymous charade, and we don’t want all the details of our finances attached to our names and faces. in our culture, money comes with meaning and prejudgments. having x amount means you’re supposed to behave a certain way, dress a certain way, spend a certain way. we don’t want those expectations to precede us.

Beyond Frugal Gifts // Giving Gifts of Experience

By Tanja Hester on September 28, 2015 • ( 43 Comments )

Gifts are on our minds because we just celebrated a birthday. Not spending money on gifts is something aspiring early retirees are big fans of, but right-sizing pseudo-minimalists also aren’t into acquiring more stuff. Here’s how we cope come gift time.

When Did We Become Grown-Ups? // Embracing Our Adultness

By Tanja Hester on September 23, 2015 • ( 50 Comments )

do you feel like a grown-up? if you’d asked us that question a year ago, we would have said no. in fact, it was a guiding a principle of our lives that most people never grow up, they just learn to fake it. but recently, we realized that something has changed. we can’t put our fingers on exactly when it happened, but somehow, we started to feel like grown-ups.

Size Matters // Should We Downsize Our Home When We Retire?

By Tanja Hester on September 21, 2015 • ( 60 Comments )

today’s post continues the conversation about whether you should move to retire, and asks: should you downsize your home when you retire? we bought our house thinking it was our forever home, but now realize it’s more house than we need, and are pondering one last move when we quit our jobs in a few years.

The Joy of Better Late Than Never // Gratitude on the Road to “Late” Early Retirement

By Tanja Hester on September 16, 2015 • ( 42 Comments )

it’s easy to get frustrated, wishing we’d figured out our early retirement plan at a younger age. but what would that get us? it sure wouldn’t make us retirees at this moment! we’d much rather go with the “better late than never” way of thinking, and be grateful that we found this path at all.

The “Our Next Life” Series // Time to Join In!

By Tanja Hester on September 14, 2015 • ( 44 Comments )

our bloggy buddy steve, who writes think save retire, started the about series a few weeks back that all bloggers are invited to continue, and more recently wrote a series on his own blog that he dubbed the “our next life” series. we love the name, obviously, and thought — why not also make it a series that we all contribute to? so this is our take. and we’d love for you to write your own and link back! who’s in?

Fostering a Spirit of Lifelong Curiosity // Staying Young in Retirement

By Tanja Hester on September 9, 2015 • ( 54 Comments )

we feel super lucky to have somehow retained our spirit of curiosity, and we think it will serve us well in our (hopefully) very long retirement, since we think curiosity is a big part of what will keep us from getting old too fast. here’s our plan for fostering a spirit of lifelong curiosity to keep our minds nimble and active for decades to come.

The Meaning of Labor Day // Reflections as We Prepare to Leave the Labor Market

By Tanja Hester on September 7, 2015 • ( 22 Comments )

just as we did for u.s. independence day, we want to take a moment to reflect on what the labor day holiday means, especially for those of us planning to leave the labor market as soon as we can!

Our Blogging Philosophy // Lessons Learned in Writing About Our Next Life

By Tanja Hester on September 4, 2015 • ( 41 Comments )

today we’re sharing our blogging philosophy, and lots of lessons we’ve learned along the way. come tell us what you think we could do to grow!

Progress and Uncertainty on the Road to Early Retirement // Mid-Year Check-In

By Tanja Hester on September 2, 2015 • ( 47 Comments )

looking at things big picture, we’re astonished at how far we’ve come in a short time, aided in large part by jobs that overpay us. since we bought the house four years ago, our net worth has tripled, and the year-over-year gains are pretty big, owing to us getting serious about saving and about paying off the house quickly, as well as growth in the markets since 2009.