- Big Changes Coming
- Part 1. Can We Do This?
- Part 2. Let’s Do This
- Part 3. Tomorrow is Promised to No One
- Part 4. Vive la France?
- Part 5. Portugal
- Part 6. When Do We Leave?
- Part 7. A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish
- Part 8: Our Stuff is Now Their Stuff
- Part 8b: Revisiting “Our Stuff is Now Their Stuff” – Results!
So, somewhere along the line, and now we’re talking just a couple years ago, I say out loud to my wife “I can’t get this one thought out of my mind. I don’t remember where I heard it, but somebody said ‘tomorrow is promised to no one’, and that feels so true to me.” Numerous examples existed in our life (family, friends, coworkers etc…) of people who reached a normal-ish retirement age in a state of health that’s not conducive to extensive traveling. Hell, for that matter people we know have died before ever reaching their retirement. We had already been thinking about cutting a couple years off our work time to retire early-ish, but as we talked it through we came to agree that our plan to see Europe in our mid to late 60s suffered from an extreme case of optimism. Who knows if we’ll both be healthy in 10-15 years, or if we are then how much longer can we expect it to last? We’re only in “ok” health right now, and while we’re trying to take steps to improve that there’s no guarantee that it’s going to pay off. We could easily reach our 60s and find that we’re in no condition to do all the things we want to do. What, exactly, are we waiting for?
The answer to that question, of course, is basically “money.” I said earlier that the ability to move to Europe requires, first and foremost, the will to do it, and that’s true. The second thing it requires, though, is money. Not obscene money, but whatever number you thought you’d want to retire comfortably (or at least safely) in the United States. If our financial plan only works on the assumption that we’re working into our 60s, then trying to go any earlier could be super dangerous. Back to the financial advisor we went. “Kevin,” we said (for his name is Kevin; hi, Kevin!), “you know that financial plan we had worked out all nice and pretty? Wellll, what happens if we stop working sooner than we initially said?” He asks us how much sooner we’re talking about. “No no, you misunderstand. We want to know how early we can stop working and still be financially viable. You tell us.” So Kevin runs some different scenarios, and we work out our best estimates on what a monthly budget would look like, and he comes back to us and says “assuming average returns and no catastrophes, you can retire as soon as you can access your retirement accounts without penalties.” Great! That’s only 6-7 years away, way better than the 12 or so we were aiming for! We can almost taste the buffala mozzarella from there. We begin to shift from fantasizing to cautiously planning what retirement might look like. Do we own or rent a home? Which part of Italy do we want to live in?
A brief aside. Getting this news was actually far more emotional than I’ve described it to you. Neither Lisa nor I “come from means” as they say. Neither of us was actually dirt poor, but neither of us had a model of comfortable retirement in our lives. (This has since changed, but when we got together this was definitely true.) We had been doing what we had read we should do (401k, spend within your means, don’t try to keep up with the Joneses) but we weren’t financially literate enough to have a firm grasp of how we were doing. The moment we were told, by a professional with fiduciary responsibility towards us (that is, not trying to sell us anything, they get paid for knowledge not commissions) that we had, in fact, colored within the lines and were on track for a secure retirement, we had an intense shared moment of “we actually did it.” You tell yourself it’s going to work out, but part of living a moderate lifestyle is not having tangible feedback of financial success. And yes, greater financial literacy would have helped here. I’m not saying we’re model geniuses, I’m saying this is what happened. Parents, teach your kids about money while you’re teaching them everything else; you’ve got nothing but time, right? :p
Aside over! We began to think of our future in very concrete terms of “when we move to Italy…”. What’s the rental market in Pieve al Toppo look like? How’s the grocery shopping? Ooo, which cities do we want to explore first? Do we maybe want to live in a city instead? Rome would be way too intense, and Florence looks kind of spend-y, but Siena looks like it’s in a sweet spot of culture and scenery and affordability. Yeah, that might work! Plus, we can never tell the story of accidentally driving onto the Piazza del Campo too many times, right? Do we want a car? We were excited by all the questions.
Except, soon we’re not so sure about Italy.
Comments (4)
I feel “the future is.promised to no one”. I’ve seen too many people that couldn’t enjoy retirement the way they planned or didn’t make it to retirement to work longer than I have to.
The earliest is 5 years, 19 days and counting and I know this because I am counting.
Solidarity, sister! ✊
Oh, my! We’ve had these exact conversations in our home. We even have a “Kevin!” His name is Jay, and we always have to say “sooooo, Jay….” Congrats on your blog and your journey. We hope to be in Europe one way or another by March. Cheers! (Americans & FriendsPT group)
So sorry for the slow response, Hailey! 🙁 Since we’re ahead of our blog posts by a couple/few months, this past couple weeks has been selling our house with all that entails, pre- and post-. The dust has finally settled, though. Thanks for reading. 🙂 And by all means, if you’re in the neighborhood after March give us a nudge.