Category Archives: Retire Often

Retirement, Savings, Pages, and Dog Farts

Retire Often, Saving Money

So far this year has been very busy for Leisure Freak Tommy. For this post I wanted to cover what’s going on with Retirement, Savings, Pages, and Dog Farts. I always struggle putting out there in the Inter-Web financial details of my life. But I think showing real numbers and situations is important to give a peek at how things can work when you retire early and often.

Retirement

I am still busy with my early retirement side hustle that was extended into 2015. But I am looking very much forward to returning to my early retirement #2 on May 15, 2015. Or earlier if their funding dries up.

To recap: The original gig was mid-October 2014 until end of year. It was a sweet assignment. In fact the best gig I have ever had. However the extension did not come without hiccups.

I had laid out some rationally unreasonable boundaries in order for my accepting an extension and all were in agreement. At the last-minute (12/31/14) my 2015 project and funding collapsed. Instead of rolling-me-off back into retirement I was passed to another team. A team where their Manager was less than receptive to my previously agreed upon boundaries.

It was awkward and tense but I held my ground. I would be perfectly happy to return to retirement. I don’t have to beat my head against a wall anymore doing things that I find unpleasant or invasive to my passion-driven lifestyle.

That is the beauty of being financially independent. So far things have gone well. But the extension assignment is more like what I retired from (retirement #2). That said  I am looking forward to once again leaving this type of work behind me. There have been some new experiences, awesome moments, and I have learned some new skills. So it isn’t a total drag or anything. However I will always now measure any opportunity against that sweet initial 2.5 month side hustle that brought me back here. Why do good things have to end? WHY?

Savings

Since I pretty much live off of my retirement portfolio and any income is saved. I started with an 80% 401k contribution until the end of the year. I then changed it to 50% for the 2015 extension. I am now getting a take home check for around $1500 twice a month.  It felt strange during the end of 2014 with almost all the money funneled into the 401K and getting a check for just a few bucks. The take home money in 2015 will be put to good use.

I was able to put 80% of my 2014 qualified pay checks into a 401k which ended up a little above $11K contributed tax-free.

If I finish this extension I should hit my target 401K savings of between $23K and the $24K limit ($18K+$6K age 50 makeup).

Mini Financial Report

I have saved $2500 from the pay checks for January and will also hit it for February. $500 a month has been diverted to cover a budget buster associated to our pet’s medical costs.  From the expected $7500 in paycheck cash savings I plan on fully funding my 2015 Roth with $6500 of it. This is of course if my project funding stays through to the end. Any remaining cash will be held to continue paying for pet care if still necessary.

Once all the pay checks end and 401k contributions have been deposited I will roll the 401K into a low fee IRA fund. The Roth and IRA fund decision is still to be determined. This is the benefit of living a retire early and often lifestyle. I can add to my retirement portfolio whenever I CHOOSE to work for pay. I look forward to setting up the new IRA with the total 401k rollover of $34,000+ and new Roth with $6,500. Over $40,500 added to the retirement pot from one early retirement side hustle.

Pages

I have added static pages to the Leisure Freak site. My goal was to offer to Leisure Freak site readers the information I was looking for when I was trying to reach FI. I researched a lot to boost my confidence in my early retirement decisions by obtaining the knowledge necessary to understand all of my options. I plan to actively add posts and/or new static site pages to Leisure Freak weekly.

Dog Farts

Our terminally ill pooch is hanging in there. The medication for his heart is working but the side effects are causing him reduced appetite and rotten gut issues. Hence the prevalence of aromatic insults.  The good news is he has dropped from 94 Lbs. to a more healthy 83 Lbs.

After another Dr. visit and some more tests we only had to cut back on one of his medications (split the pills) which will save money. He is picky but now eats better. Still no idea how long he will be with us. In the meantime we are managing with the budget hit, his condition, and all of us taking each day one day at a time.

In Closing

All in all things are going exactly as planned. I can’t complain about that. Well, other than our old dog but that is life. That concludes my run-down on Retirement, Savings, Pages, and Dog Farts.

Has your 2015 been going as planned?

Early Retirement Side Hustle Update Part 3

Retire Early, Retire Often, Saving Money

Leisure Freak Tommy’s Early Retirement Side Hustle Update Part 3 brings me near the end of this sweet gig. This side hustle was to be from October 16th to December 31. Today is the day that I deliver all of my work for approval by my managing team. Then hopefully to the client tomorrow. This has been a nice project and the best work assignment I have ever had.

Contract Extension

Last week was a rough one at the big corporate office as extension notifications were delivered to all contractors. There are always budget issues. Even at a company that makes money hand over fist. Sadly a few people that depend on the contracting income to live and support their families were told they are finished at the end of year.

I was expecting to be screaming happy New Year and return to full retirement soon. Being that I was rationally unreasonable with management by laying out my boundaries for staying beyond end of year. But those crazy executives offered me another Five month extension with boundaries intact. So I told them I would accept.

I was surprised and still don’t know how I feel about it but soon will be more enthused once the new projects can be reviewed. I hope it is as good as this one has been. May 2015 sounds just about right for calling it quits again and returning to retirement.

Side Hustle Income

I have received three pay checks since starting this. The first was a full pay check with my W4 claiming zero dependents and as married but taxed at the higher single rate. Other than the State tax we pay and our donations we have limited tax deductions so I pay taxes out the nose. I had to wait until after that first pay check to set up my 401K account.

—Check number 1

Take home pay was a little over $3000 which I used to replenish my slush fund that kicked in some money to cover our going a little over budget on our California beach and Disneyland family vacation. The rest has been used to cover our Christmas budget. It is nice not having to hit the account to pay for a budgeted item.

—Checks number 2 and 3

My Second and Third pay checks were a little different because I have 80% now going to a new 401K so I saved $3700 for each check. The thus-far $7400 is invested in a lousy 2020 Target Date Fund. Once I leave this gig I will have to move it to an IRA. After my deductions paying for long and short-term disability Insurance and the Social Security-Medicare bundle my remaining 20% check leaves me a couple of hundred dollars take home. This is the first time since retiring early and often that I have been able to do this and it does feel strange to have almost all your paycheck go directly to a 401K leaving only a few dollars. But I am getting over it.

Going Forward

I still have one more check this year to contribute to my 2014 401K at this 80% rate but after that going into 2015 I plan to scale back the 401K contribution amount to 50% to spread it out over the next five months. That is the amazing financial power of reaching financial independence and being open to opportunities that you WANT to do. You can come up with ways to maximize the income and add it to your portfolio.

I am grateful to be able to increase savings instead of spend down money during the holidays.

Have you had the opportunity to increase income to help offset the cost of the holidays?

Embrace Failure as Necessary for Success

Career, Passion, Retire Early, Retire Often

Here is a key to reaching and exceeding your goals: Embrace Failure as Necessary for Success. I have known my fair share of failures on my financial independence journey and my ongoing quest to live a passion-driven lifestyle. Let’s face it, failing at something you put great effort into feels like crap. You can’t help but feeling like you let yourself and maybe others down in your failure.

I don’t know about you but when I think about my failures they are seared into my brain. I learned more from them than many of my successes. The funny thing is I wasn’t depressed, hurt, or feeling discouraged when I started thinking about the importance of failure today. I was feeling happy and was counting my blessings. It came to me that many of my blessing are because of failing at trying something while pushing myself.

  • I am blessed that I can bounce-back from failure and negative feedback.  I do this by being able to change course and continue on. Realizing any feelings of embarrassment or of being hurt were just feelings and would soon pass. If the challenge or quest was worth doing and I experienced a failure it doesn’t necessarily mean the challenge or quest should be killed. Just adjust and keep moving forward.
  • I am blessed to have failed and allowed to fix things myself so that I could learn from my failures. Nobody rushed in to save me. I felt abandoned when it occurred but I am stronger for it. It is now one of my strengths that I don’t ever look for a rescuer.
  • I am blessed to be able to recognize that failure is always a possibility in anything that I attempt of greatness so that I consider all contingencies before going forward. To reach great success I know I have to take risks and accept failure, not be frozen to inaction because of a fear of failure.

In order to reach success I believe you have to challenge yourself and go beyond your comfort zone but do so leveraging your strengths.

I have lived my retire early and often passion-driven lifestyle for five years now and there have been a few failures that I learned immensely from. Not failures in the plan or quest but in the way I handled some things. It is something that makes me wonder about destiny and fate. Had I not had failures my life would have taken a totally different direction. That is what makes this all an adventure.

Five Tips to Embrace Failure as Necessary for Success

  1. Be an optimist and surround yourself with like-minded people. Keep people around you who can be honest and push you to focus on lessons learned from any failures instead of dwelling on the failure itself.
  2. Be a root-cause failure analyst. If you experience a failure then something went wrong somewhere. Figure out where that was and make adjustments or corrections, then move forward.
  3. Set goal timelines and reflect on successes, failures, and all of your lessons learned. I like bi-annual quest reviews but consider what works best for you whether monthly, quarterly, etc. Recognize the effort and any pain experienced. Recognize and mentally celebrate your personal growth.
  4. Document your failures. Not to dwell on them but to acknowledge what didn’t work or what errors were made. I recall reading somewhere that all of Edison’s light bulb failures were considered successes in how not to do it. Think the same way.
  5. Embrace Failure as Necessary for Success. Nobody goes through life without failure so accept that mistakes will be made and learned from. It is an important part of our personal growth.

Whether it is advancing your career, making a career change, starting a business, retiring early, reaching financial independence or any life challenging quest, there will be failures.

Have you encountered and bounced back from failures on your own journey?

Early Retirement Side Hustle Still Thrills

Career, Passion, Retire Often

My early retirement side hustle still thrills and this sweet little two and half month gig is quickly coming to its conclusion. Realistically I have about two weeks maximum left to deliver the finished product so that the client has time to review and ask for any changes before funding ends.

The work result is a comprehensive documentation of this large Cable and Telecommunication Company’s billing mediation code. the code that their billing system uses for inter-exchange access billing. The code grew and got more complicated over the years with the implementation of Local Number Portability. It seems that the software developers who would program the code changes and additions didn’t do the best job of documenting anything.

I am sure this project comes as a big snooze to my readers. But I can honestly say that this has been the best gig I have had in many years. It hits on what I love to do best. The time has really flown and I have learned a lot of new skills. But more importantly I also learned more about what it is I really enjoy working on. Also how I prefer to do things and what makes for a rewarding and interesting way to earn some extra money. Aside from the actual project itself I have found a few added factors that really sets this gig apart from anything I have done before.

Why this early retirement side hustle still thrills

Flexibility.

I have for the most part enjoyed going into the office. After being retired for a while I wondered if I would have a case of the “Mondays” all week-long even though I loved the project. I think the biggest pain for the working person is commuting to the office. Nothing starts your day off in the dumper like spending an unreasonable amount of time in traffic.

This gig allowed me the flexibility to offset my hours slightly to avoid the morning crush. This is probably the first time I have been allowed to do this to the extent I have now. It does make a huge difference. If I ever take another side hustle or start another career, guess what I will be negotiating for. Yep, a flexible start time.

Going Solo.

I am pretty much on my own. There is a support team working the day-to-day operations. I can ask them questions of or get advice but it is seldom needed. I do enjoy the social aspect of the office setting. But this is the first time I have been able to sit at a desk and just do my thing on a dedicated project. Work all day without meetings after meetings about everything and anything. Or having to stop to do another emergency project. I went in, sat down, and could get to work and stay on task pretty much all day except for a weekly thirty-minute staff meeting and a bi-weekly thirty-minute project status meeting.

I always wondered what it would be like to not have a bunch of daily meetings or multiple priority-competing projects to be responsible for. Now I know and it is being more productive and is far more enjoyable.

Totally Relaxed.

Since this is an early retirement side hustle and not a ladder-climbing career. I was able to relax and just chill out. I go in every day having a good time and not taking myself so seriously. I don’t have the stress of thinking I need to perform at super-employee levels. No trying to impress my leadership so that I can get that bonus, raise, or promotion. I am an early retired Leisure Freak working when I want to work. Only working on what I want to work on. Financial independence ROCKS! I have actually had this skill-to-chill mastered since my first early retirement but this time it feels even better.

What’s Next?

At this time I don’t know if there will be an offer to extend the contract for a few more months. I do feel great having been totally honest with them when I was being rationally unreasonable. Setting my boundaries for accepting an extension. If it comes then great. If not even better. I can then return to my early retirement and look forward to whatever comes next. It is an adventure.

The wonderful thing about my “retire early and often” journey is getting paid while learning new skills and being able to do things I am interested in and passionate about. I also learn more and more about what it is that really makes me tick which will help me be better at recognizing the best passion-driven opportunities when they do come around.

This early retirement side hustle still thrills me and I have to say that I am not too surprised by that. I am picky before accepting going back to work. Have you thought about what it is that you love most about your job, career, or business?

Or, have you thought about what it would take for you to call your early retirement as over to start an encore career or as I just did, do an early retirement side hustle?

Being Rationally Unreasonable

Career, Passion, Retire Early, Retire Often

I was just told that I was being unreasonable. I love being called that because I have attained freedom and financial gain by being rationally unreasonable. I have posted previously that I am on an early retirement side hustle. I have the perfect project to work. Of which is funded directly by an internal company client separate from the department my short-term gig is in.

This project is funded until the end of the year. The funding client insists that I concentrate solely on this work. That allows me to stay outside of the company’s day to day operational issues. That is totally awesome for me. I am really enjoying this gig and looking forward to completing it.

However I was just asked whether I would consider a contract extension into next year after I finish this project. I basically said only if….

I then laid down my boundaries of what I would be willing to do if I were to accept a contract extension.

I am not working here because I have to but because I wanted to based on this project. Why wouldn’t I be picky about the conditions that I would find acceptable to stay longer?

When others found out how selective I was about what I considered acceptable and the limitations I had laid out I was called unreasonable. Although I counter that I am being totally rational.

Being rationally unreasonable is what Leisure Freak Tommy is all about

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw.

I unreasonably challenge the definition of retirement and many other things. I wasn’t always this unreasonable. I use to toe-the-line and take my fair share of misery and crap. Many times more than my fair share of crap because the world is like a big machine with all its moving parts and someone must toil to keep everything moving. Not everyone, but someone.

If you are always reasonable then you end up being that “someone” because it is easy for those who rule and don’t want to deal with it to have you do it. That is the prevalent world of the career-driven. I have made the rational decision to be unreasonable when it comes to the way I want to live my passion-driven life.

Within Reason

The opposite of being unreasonable is being “within reason”. I have often been cautioned with that limiting phrase when I started preaching my retiring early and often lifestyle plans long before my first retirement.

  • People would tell me it was OK to set my early retirement goals but make sure my goals are “within reason”.
  • Go ahead and embrace living a passion-driven lifestyle pursuing my passions and interests but do it “within reason”.
  • It is fine being picky about the opportunities I am willing to accept retiring early and often but you are getting older and less hirable so scrutinize any opportunities “within reason”.

The list can go on and on, but what is “within reason” really saying?

  • Within reason says don’t take too big of risks.
  • Within reason says go ahead and do what you plan but make sure you play it safe.
  • Within reason says don’t expect too much, ask for too much, or dream too big.

Within reason basically means just be part of the normal masses, chained to tradition and the definitions laid out years and years ago. Get a job, go into debt buying crap, buy a big expensive house, save for a retirement that should be delayed until age 70, never question authority and always do what the “experts” claim as the normal thing to do. Now that is what I call being irrational and unreasonable.

Push Yourself Being Unreasonable

To really succeed with financial independence and early retirement you have to go way farther than safe or within reason. You have to make a rational decision to be unreasonable. To unreasonably break from the norm and push your thresholds by testing the waters of risk and discovery.

This is about being rationally unreasonable about your own plans and expectations for your participation with the world.

This is about asking for what you really want and challenging the norms.

This is about being rationally unreasonable anytime you have the choice to question and go in the opposite direction than how everyone else does things.

Father and Son at the coffee shop- We are rationally unreasonable
Father and Son at the coffee shop

I want to dedicate this post to my son whose birthday is this week and would have turned 34. He was a musician, artist and painted cars for his money and definitely lived his short life being rationally unreasonable.

His passing changed me and taught me that life is too short to live under the rule of others who benefit from the reasonable stuck-in-the-rut people. I prefer being a freak who loves being rationally unreasonable.

Do you consider yourself rationally unreasonable?

Challenging the Norm and Reaping Rewards

Career, Passion, Retire Early, Retire Often

I have got away with challenging the norm and reaping rewards for many years now. Some that know me just think I have a problem that goes way back with questioning authority. Religious, Legal, Corporate, you name it.

I definitely got into trouble questioning too much in Church and Seminary as a young man and the final response that I need to pray more didn’t answer my questions completely. I would let them know that I wasn’t satisfied with the answers I was getting. That sure didn’t win me any friends in the Church.

I have had a few encounters with law enforcement where they were way out of line and I just couldn’t follow stupid orders. I have been nearly arrested for contempt of Cop a couple of times. Fortunately I always stayed calm in my disobedience and they were just over-reacting and emotional and not corrupt because they could have made up any unprovable charge but didn’t.

I was never one to enjoy corporate politics and the bull shit that goes with it. I was once nearly fired for being the only person who could answer why something had failed. I was asked by a senior VP what I thought, I answered, I was right, I was the only one who understood even though it wasn’t in an area of my responsibility, and I ended up embarrassing those who should have understood who were politically special. Another SR VP intervened and I was given a little talk. Basically just keep my mouth shut even if asked.

I think it was all the part of my personality that helped me be the Leisure Freak I am. I recognized that there was little happiness in following the consumerist herd and I sought after financial independence for the freedom of early retirement. Not my grandfather’s or even my father’s retirement but one I redefined to include pursuing opportunities of pay that I could be passionate about doing. That is where my challenging the norm and reaping the rewards really shines. It wasn’t easy, it took time, and my retiring early was and perhaps  is still risky. But with great risk comes great rewards.

Why I believe I am challenging the norm and reaping rewards

People called me crazy.

When I retired early the first time at age 51 I was at the top of my game, well-respected, a leader and innovator in a large telecommunications company but I had a different dream for my future. It was the end of 2009 and with a rotten economy, recession, stock market still in a shambles, high unemployment and a lot of people scratching their heads at my decision to pull the plug. I loved it! When everyone goes one way I am more motivated to go the other, taking the risk and adventure over sitting safe and bored. But I wasn’t crazy. I had a plan and the financial independence to live life on my terms.

Nothing happens if nothing moves.

I was ready for a change in a big way. It was just not the same there for me. I lost my passion for it and was coasting along. It was sucking the life out of my soul but also in a way comfortable and would have been easy to just stay and sleep-walk through many more years. But that is what other people do because it’s the easy way. I wanted to see more, be more, and believed with it would come personal and financial rewards. If I didn’t make the move to a “retire early and often lifestyle” I would always wonder what could have been. If I failed it wasn’t for lack of planning, preparation and financial backing. It just came down to if I didn’t make a move then nothing different will happen.

We all have choices to make and some are more risky than others. Stepping out of the conformist line and doing your own thing against the norms may label you crazy. There are worse things. Here are 4 important steps to get you started to be that crazy person challenging the norm and reaping rewards.

Understand how you will deal with any fear you might have

Also deal with any excuses and distractions that your insecure side might use to stop you from this new adventure. Be clear and believe in your journey so that you can overcome any doubt that will come your way and take necessary actions to stay on course.

Know that your new adventure won’t be easy

This is the time to be fully committed to your plan. Your plan will need to have defined what you consider success but also what you are passionate about and what really makes you happy. Commit to it because you are doing this for YOU.

Learn to accept mistakes and to learn from them.

Your journey won’t be a perfect line from point A to point Z and all points in the middle. That is a fact of life regardless of all the planning in the world. Concentrate on your goals and don’t worry about what anyone else is doing with their life. Do not compare yourself to others. Stay focused on your plan, your passions, and your progress. You had the courage to jump head first out of your comfort zone so believe in yourself.

Lastly enjoy the ride.

For me it took a while longer than I thought it would for my post-retirement plan to advance but I was moving closer and closer to my goals. Soon it picked up a momentum of its own. Be happy, keep pursuing your passions, and be in the moment. Be gracious and grateful that you are able to make this move.

In Conclusion

It is totally cliché but life is too short to feel like you are living a life of mediocrity. If you have a dream and plan, prepare, and can risk the move then do it. I retired early, started a second career and retired again. Now I’m on an early retirement side hustle gig that is amazing and I am certainly happy with my decision to take my leap of faith challenging the norm and reaping rewards.

Have you taken or planning to take a leap of faith to pursue your dreams even though it’s considered risky?

The Absence of Needing to Work Defines Retirement

Passion, Retire Early, Retire Often

A friend of mine pointed me toward this recent finance-retirement article because he thought this is exactly what I have preached for years: The absence of needing to work defines retirement, not the absence of working. It’s totally aligned with my talking about retiring early and often. A retirement lifestyle where we can pursue paying opportunities that we are passionate about doing and have high interest in doing. Working because we want to, when we want to, not have to.

The article provided by Libby Kane of the Business Insider is titled Everyone Should Adopt This Alternative Definition Of ‘Retirement’. The short article is about Eric D. Brotman, author of “Retire Wealthy: The Tools You Need To Help Build Lasting Wealth — On Your Own Or With Your Financial Adviser“.

He says it this way:

“When you have achieved enough financial wherewithal to eschew any and all income-producing activities other than those you want to pursue, in my mind you are “retired.” In other words, it is the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working that defines retirement.”

This is of course the beauty of reaching financial independence. It provides the freedom to live life on your terms. Retirement is not the end of a long life of working and saving. It is the beginning of what should be many adventures and if you decide to, the beginning of new careers or just following your passions doing what you want to do.

Now I have taken a lot of crap from people for my “retire early and often” attitude. They are people who just won’t budge from their grandfather’s rocking chair retirement definition. Maybe if everyone just drops the word “retirement” and instead we replace it with “financial independence” it would be easier for people to accept the message.

The article states:

“Brotman’s definition is brilliant because it positions retirement as a state of freedom, not an impending deadline you must hustle to accommodate. Wouldn’t it be nice not to need to work?”

I can definitely answer that question. Absolutely Yes! Face it, it’s not easy to live a smart frugal life and save consistently for financial independence or retirement. It also doesn’t come quickly. But it’s a worthy commitment and goal.

“Viewing post-career years as an opportunity to revel in financial freedom is much more motivational than making a mad rush to squirrel away every possible cent before meekly bowing out of the workforce.”

Who wants to meekly bow out? Not me but it takes more than saving money to continue pursuing opportunities you don’t HAVE to do but WANT to do.

Realistic Plan

You have to have a realistic plan of what you want to target. Obviously the easiest way is to list your passions and leverage your skills and experience to fine-tune your plan. Take into consideration where you live, your health, skills, qualifications and physical capabilities.

Skills

If you don’t have all the necessary skills or qualifications then do whatever you can to get them. Whether it is going back to school or getting a job or volunteering in your target area to gain the skills you need to add to your background.

Practice

If you are learning something new, practice your new skills until you are good at it.

Network

You need to maintain your network of professional connections and keep adding to them. The easiest way to a new career or position is by leveraging all the good work you have done.

Patience

It may take time to make your goals happen. You must have the patience to stay on plan. You also should always remember how blessed you are to be in this position. Most people only dream about reaching financial independence.

All of this looks like the same advice you would get for advancing your career. There really is no difference except for one. With financial independence and the kind of early retirement I am talking about here you have retired from a must do career-driven mindset to a want to passion-driven mindset. That mind-shift makes the things you need to do feel like they are accomplished much easier.

What do you think about the absence of needing to work defines retirement, not the absence of working? Once you reach financial independence and this alternative definition of retirement as are you planning to pursue new opportunities of interest?

Retirement Mindset in a Work Environment

Career, Retire Early, Retire Often

I am feeling an internal conflict having my retirement mindset in a work environment. I recently posted that I took on an early retirement side hustle. Today marks the 2 week anniversary of my starting a bitchin project.  It is a small two and half month (until end of year) gig documenting some processing code for telecommunications billing.

For most people that may sound like a total snooze of a project. But it’s in my background and within my passion zone.  It is also very interesting to see and learn how the developer did their mediation code. I also get to pick up a few new skills in the process. Part of the benefits of retiring early and often is to continually learn new things while doing things of interest. This side hustle fits right in there.

My conflict

My conflict lies in the fact that I do see this as a side hustle to my early retirement. Although I am fully focused and dedicated to completing this project. I want to think of this as a short-term gig and still have my retirement number 2 status alive and well in my brain. That is where my retirement mindset and the corporate work environment are starting to collide. This situation I am having can be another example of what you can experience if you intend to retire early and take on the occasional quick side hustle.

The company I am working for as a contacted consultant is starting to make some long-term plans. They have started to invite me to meetings outside the scope of my awesome project. Not only that but they are putting my name to new projects well into next year after my current gig ends.

If I had called an end to my second retirement and came in here thinking I was starting another career or long-term engagement I suppose I would be very happy about their optimism about me. But I am nowhere near making that call. I knew coming in that there was an option in my contract to extend it if both of us agreed. Although I do love what I am doing on my little gig. I am not sure I am ready to or wanting to make another career commitment for the long-haul. Doing the other projects that they have on their plate are not as attractive to me.

I am passionate about early retirement

After all, my biggest passion that I have set aside for this short-term side hustle is my love of being an early retired leisure freak running free through the hills. I guess that is the problem, I am not ready to let that go and call the end to retirement number 2. I should say that is a problem for them, not me. I am perfectly happy returning to early retirement bliss once this gig is completed.

How I Dealt with my Retirement Mindset in a Work Environment

Time for a plan. What is really called for is just getting my head straight.

Finish what I signed on to do and don’t sweat the side noise.

First and foremost I will concentrate and focus on completing my awesome current project. In this business you are only as good as your last performance. There are short memories; especially in Corporate America where “what have you done for me lately” is the norm.  I am sure this is sound advice for anyone engaged in a side hustle where there is talk by your client outside of the task at hand for later work.

Always keep my options open.

I still have 2 months to this contract and a lot can happen in 2 months. Feelings can change on both sides of this equation. It would be best to go along for the ride and just roll with the future plans that are being discussed.  You never know how you will feel in the future so leave doors open as much as possible. I will just stay in my position of living life on my terms and see where things go.

Be totally honest.

If asked or it comes up in conversation I will just say that I have not been thinking about anything outside of delivering this project before deadline. If pressed I will say that I came in here thinking short-term and we will have to see if it is worked out for something more than that.

Final Thoughts

I think what I was feeling is they were pushing a little too hard too early.  I should feel great about their feelings about me (so far) and acceptance is a good thing. I shall stay grateful to have these opportunities. I do have a responsibility to deliver for them and I will focus on that for now. I have to think I am not alone in ever having to deal with this so if anything else I hope this can give something to think about if you are someone who takes on side hustles to your main career or in early retirement as I am.

Do you think I have the right approach to take going forward about having a retirement mindset in a work environment when they are starting to plan ahead like they are?

Or should I come up with a strategy to proactively have them cool their jets about the future with me in it?

Early Retirement Side Hustle Part 2

Retire Often, Saving Money

This post is about my Early Retirement Side Hustle Part 2 – Details and Decisions. In my earlier post I wrote that I consider this new gig as a side hustle instead of calling an end to my second early retirement. I think it fits perfectly in my “retire early and often lifestyle”. As I mentioned in the first post this is a sweet Systems Analyst contract. It is funded until the end of the year. That works out to be approximately 2.5 months with an option to extend. That is if all the stars align and we can both agree to it. After spending a couple of days on site and seeing the scope of the project I do consider this to be short-term.

Details

If you are not familiar with Leisure Freak Tommy’s story I retired the first time at age 51 from a long telecommunications engineer career. I had some passion bucket-list items about jobs I would like to learn and do. I was able to transition my earlier network operations engineer’s process and requirements documentation skills over to I.T. doing similar work as a Systems Analyst for a fortune 500 cable company in their video group. I retired a second time earlier this year from that career.

This new gig is for the same company but on a different team and segment of their business. It”s now back to my roots. Working in their voice telecommunication billing group on a special project. This project is all about Local Number Portability (LNP) and issues associated to correctly billing other telephone companies. For everyone but those who were involved in the development and deployment of being able to take your telephone number to any provider you want to, number portability it is just a fact of life. No big deal.

Believe me when this was ordered by the governing bodies in the late 90s it was a huge endeavor. It is still very technical. There are not many people who are aware of all the issues. I was knee-deep in this during my engineering career which feels like a previous life now. I even contributed at a national level with requirements so I do have a unique insight. What makes this gig rate super-high on my passion meter is that I am able to immediately contribute and do something again that I really enjoyed working on in the past. I definitely feel like I am on a path with purpose.

Decisions

I am in a place where all of my lifestyle costs are funded by my early retirement portfolio. Any money I earn is added to my net-worth. Of which I rant and rave as the power of retiring early and often to increase wealth. Reaching financial independence isn’t a destination. It opens the door to other opportunities both personal and financial. This gig does offer me both personal and financial opportunity. The financial opportunities require my making sound decisions on how to best leverage the money I will be paid. For most people their side hustle is to either do the same to increase their savings towards financial independence, pay off debt, or to pay for a focused target like a planned upcoming large cost. In each case we need to make smart decisions about what our best strategy will be.

401K –

I have worked some months this year before retirement number 2 but I didn’t have a 401K for that time. This time I do have the ability to start a 401K (there is no match). So after looking at our taxable income for 2014 I feel this is where my primary focus should be. In looking at the federal tax rates and our 2014 income we should be in the 25% federal and the 5% state tax bracket. Anything I save in the 401K will save that combined 30% tax and keep it to work for me. I have to believe that once I am no longer working and need to add this to my income I will be better able to do so in a lower federal tax bracket.

My Savings Plan

I will be paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last working day of the month. There is a 2 week delay so my first check is expected November 15th. Then I will have the remaining checks for this year at the end of November and again in middle and the end of December. My 401K can be started any time after my first pay check.  So I should have 3 checks to have contributions directed to my 401K for 2014.

My plan is to set my 401K contribution percentage at 80% of earnings. This leaves enough to pay my Social Security and Medicare taxes. Also a little over 10% to cover my commuting costs with a little to add to cash savings. The first non-401K qualified check will more than back-fill my slush-fund that took some minor hits. We went over because of our vacation budget with our fantastic family beach and Disneyland trip. The cash should also cover our 2014 Christmas budget.

The Benefit of  a Short-Term Gig

I usually don’t like the idea of sharing specific details about my income and portfolio amounts. But I want to be open about this gig to show how even a short contract can really make a long-term financial impact. This contract pays me $9,300 a month. Which equates to $4,650 a paycheck. 80% of earnings puts my 401K contribution at $3,720 for the 3 qualifying paydays. Putting this year’s contribution at $11,160 or so tax-free to the 401K. That along with my earlier $6,500 Roth contribution I will have $17,660 saved in tax advantage accounts for 2014.

Not bad for someone who retired early on less than $40,000 a year. If there is an agreed contract extension I will just continue with this 80% 401K contribution plan. Of course if this turns into a longer contract I will soon reach the maximum 401K contribution limit for 2015 and will have some new decisions to make.

Tax Focused Strategy

My savings plan here is totally tax focused. Unfortunately this new 401K plan has nothing close to what I would consider low-cost investment choices. I am just looking at this as a place to park my income short-term. Then once the side hustle ends I will quickly move the money to an IRA where I will have a better fund selection.

I still have to pick what 401K fund I will park the money in but I have time to make that decision which will be very important given the short-term nature of this money and the current volatility of the markets now. I think my plan is sound as my only alternative is to just pay the 25% federal and 5% state taxes on it and invest in non-retirement type accounts. Since I don’t see needing this money in the next 5 years or longer (I am 56 so I will soon clear the 59 ½ age threshold) I think letting the 30% tax savings work for me is the best option.

So after reading my Early Retirement Side Hustle Part 2 – Details and Decisions, do you think my income saving and tax shielding strategy is the best one to take?

Do you have any suggestions that you believe I should consider?

Early Retirement Side Hustle

Career, Retire Early, Retire Often

I am about to start a new gig. But instead of calling it the end of my second early retirement I will call it an early retirement side hustle. It does fit in nicely with my retire early and often lifestyle. But it is at this time only funded for two and a half months (to end of year). It really isn’t long enough to call my early retirement number two as over. The contract’s fine print does say that it can be extended. If an extension is offered and I accept it then I will have to rethink how I look at this.

Is It Really a Side Hustle?

Some may disagree with my use of the term “side hustle” when this is not a secondary pursuit to a full-time career or work. I do seem to be carefree with how I challenge the definition of things. I just feel that at this time my full-time career is being an early retired leisure freak. This is just a little side hustle bringing in some extra cash.

On the surface this came about effortlessly and quickly especially if I were to lay out the series of events and timelines from the first conversation the end of September to my starting this project in a couple of days. But when looking at only the surface you don’t see what really has to have happened to get a gig like this.

I am just acting a part

early retirement side hustle - Actor's LifestyleI like to compare my life living my “retire early and often” lifestyle to being a working Hollywood movie actor. Not as a mega-star. But a really decent character actor. I audition, play a role that I am interested in doing and when it’s over I move on. When I am ready for another project I audition and start again. In between gigs I keep in touch with my network of connections and my agent. Who in my case is actually the consulting company I have worked for.

Like an actor I never forget that I am only as good or as popular as my last gig. Or at least the gigs that I am remembered for. I don’t claim to knock every ball out of the park and there were some stinker projects. Never because I half-assed things. But they were far too ambitious for the budget, resources and time-frame. Just like some bad movies are. I just work hard to make sure I hit a home run with the next project or projects so that any stinker along the way isn’t what is remembered.

The other thing that ensures being considered for roles is being easy to work with. You can’t be a pain in the ass to the people on the set or the director. In other words the people on your team, your project-manager, manager, etc. You can be the most competent person at your craft but if people don’t like working with you then you won’t get the call.

Lets Recap How This All Works

So below the surface it takes working at being remembered with networking. Being someone people like to work with, and by building a good past performance portfolio. That is how this happened for me. I think this can apply to anyone considering living a “retire early and often” lifestyle or people pursuing their side hustles.

One last note. Like being an actor your popularity will not last forever. You have to ride the wave while it is there. You can take time away but probably not too long. I know that these opportunities are finite. But I just want to be choosy about which ones I will accept. If it looks like a bad script and I can’t be passionate about it, then I don’t want to be involved with it. Regardless of the risk of maybe missing my last wave.

So what is the gig?

I have accepted a Systems Analyst opportunity. I will share more details and plans on a new post after I have started and get a better feel for it. I still have some thoughts to iron out about how I want to put this extra income to work for me. It’s coming in at over $9K a month so this is real saving and investment opportunity. Wish me luck.

Do you think it’s alright for me to call this an early retirement side hustle?

I didn’t intend to offend any real actors out there. My use of actors as a comparison is only based on my simplistic perception of the working Hollywood actor life. Minus the multiple rejections. Does anyone have comments on my liberal and stretched use of the actor comparison?