FISH | Financial Independence Seeking Happiness: early-retirement

Fragilista - Part 2

Contender 1 Black Swan, Dividends, downshifting, early-retirement, Life, survival 08:01

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low cost fuel and no moving parts - a robust heating solution</td></tr>
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Have you ever wondered how some people get rich and are able to grow their wealth? 
 
In <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.fr/2017/01/Financial-Planning.html" target="_blank">part 1</a>
 I covered the principles of financial independence and shared a planning tool to work the numbers. I highly recommend you <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.fr/2017/01/Financial-Planning.html" target="_blank">check it out here  </a>before reading this post. 
 
Today it is all about taking "Talk the Talk" about wanting to be financial independent, happy and resilient to reality by "Walking the Walk". 
 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I gained an interest in wealth accumulation through a very dynamic friend Chris in 
university. He would read every autobiography of a successful person he 
could get his hands on and say that was going to be him one day. 
 
My take at the time was to get a good job work 
really hard and work my way up the ranks. Little did I know at the time 
that this actually takes a long time. After a few years I started to read up about rich people like Chris did. My general take at the time that they were not afraid to invest and take risks. So I changed jobs and started investing badly. I had a severe lack of financial knowledge and was letting myself to be guided by speculative investment newsletters.   
 
My first breakthrough was coming across the blog "Early Retirement Extreme" which turned on the light bulb of frugality = increased investments and a few blogs on dividend investing. Eventually I joined the dots to frugality = increased investments = increased passive income => financial independence + increased freedom. 
 
My second breakthrough was understanding the need to build resilience. This was triggered by two topics. First the blog LATOC - Life after the oil crash website (which no longer exists) which highlighted that the world is not infinite so some self sufficiency is a good thing. The second topic was the tech boom and bust followed by the sub prime meltdown and oil price crash which moved our investments all over the place. Importantly we waited it all out teaching us to be long term investors. We are unable \ lack the knowledge to "trade" short term effectively.  </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Finally I started to read about "Black Swans", "Business Cycles" and "Capital Flows". This made me realise that we needed to be serious about resilient living. This allows us to continue to live frugally and use the savings to re-invest in even more income investing assets. This is to help us ensure we can keep the financial independence dream alive indefinitely.</blockquote>
So today this post is all about what we are doing to keep the FI dream alive: 
<ul>
<li>A look at some potential risks we want to counter (several graphs)</li>
<li>Our "Walk the Walk" anti-fragile changes we are making to our lives (financial and at home)</li>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Personal - Family education \ health </li>
<li>Sustainability \ Antifragility - reducing our reliance on outside help</li>
<li>Community - Engage in the local community and with friends</li>
<li>Financial - building diverse assets and income (Our latest financials)</li>
</ul>
<li>Inter-generational wealth building </li>
<li>How you can start on the road to antifragility  </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
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<h2>
Why we want to be Resilient</h2>
Over the last 10 years I have read, 
learnt, been lost by and perplexed by economics and life. My lifestyle has been 
cajoled by consumerism, dazzled by technology and awed by my ability to
 travel. Our modern world is great and we want to participate in it. 
 
We are looking at a substantial period of time without "jobs" and have two kids to raise. We need to make sure our standard of living remains the same or improves by: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst"</blockquote>
In hoping for the best: we are waiting for battery storage to make the next step, solar panel efficiency to go to the moon, nuclear fusion, 99% recycling and an iRobot to do all our heavy lifting. 
 
While we wait for this Utopia we should "hedge our bets" and "plan for the unexpected".  I want to point out we are not Doomers but Realists. Risks may be small but we are well aware black swans can appear. For example having some alternative sources of lighting if a storm takes out the power lines for a few days is appropriate and cheap to implement. 
 
Other risks are harder to mitigate. Here are a few risks worth considering: 
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<ol>
<li><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13n1KT5u1-wX-EzErxzDPcsbjKgWIewJ4pWvGTJvS-VSqPiUVREOqJXrEgO5TIsOvZaro3VQUj8zEioWeb5gs2RF4nu8736YzI2corDHb3E3Y9zZ75eDZwtr8c5SlkidB9CYHJrxp0gbX/s1600/2035.PNG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13n1KT5u1-wX-EzErxzDPcsbjKgWIewJ4pWvGTJvS-VSqPiUVREOqJXrEgO5TIsOvZaro3VQUj8zEioWeb5gs2RF4nu8736YzI2corDHb3E3Y9zZ75eDZwtr8c5SlkidB9CYHJrxp0gbX/s320/2035.PNG" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source http://populationpyramid.net/</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXLVUe15n6uW8jbzG6-LZfX3cr_k1tGVWt3b_bcRjk7wIdqAcgqQwZ-TFqHf5U3TuGoITUog1eVrhvTHmU9TrQfqKXfjWKQjvaIPBdoYrTwkHkliPnv7Fqzt3eCIjYCnOUtiIWJ8ybiDH/s1600/2015.PNG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXLVUe15n6uW8jbzG6-LZfX3cr_k1tGVWt3b_bcRjk7wIdqAcgqQwZ-TFqHf5U3TuGoITUog1eVrhvTHmU9TrQfqKXfjWKQjvaIPBdoYrTwkHkliPnv7Fqzt3eCIjYCnOUtiIWJ8ybiDH/s320/2015.PNG" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source http://populationpyramid.net/</td></tr>
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Society is now rapidly ageing\ retiring in the west and dependency 
ratios are rocketing. 
Pension funds are massively underfunded and assume
 large percentage YoY growth. Risk: large liquidation of stock and housing by boomers paying for their retirement. Tax rises to pay for services and entitlements that are underfunded by the tax receipts caused by a drop in the workforce to retiree ratio? <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 163px;"><colgroup><col width="79"></col><col width="84"></col></colgroup><tbody>
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  </li>
<li><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="CHART OF THE WEEK: European Debt-to-GDP Ratios | The Economic Voice" class="detail__media__img-highres js-detail-img js-detail-img-high" height="177" src="https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.economicvoice.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F10%2FEuropean-Debt-to-GDP-Ratios-Oct-2013.jpg&f=1" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="280" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://www.economicvoice.com/chart-of-the-week-european-debt-to-gdp-ratios/" target="_blank">www.economicvoice.com</a></td></tr>
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Debt has been piled on at 
staggering rates. It is only really backed by the faith that some poor fools will foot the bill (us the tax payers). Risk: Debt jubilee, high inflation, currency devaluation, new currency? </li>
<li>Assumptions on 
property prices are <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE6IHdx7kRYEIRdQykxC_nzkNWGmAipHlcsI2r485tfUdSagHwf_MljdeOnboF4sUWPLQLefbqFWHsWJmTScOlR9TfJ2loI0kNufveQx0-aPe09Z9pBp_ARM_Cv6KthYOE1FMtGOZ0p5I/s1600/10Yr+Treasuies.PNG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE6IHdx7kRYEIRdQykxC_nzkNWGmAipHlcsI2r485tfUdSagHwf_MljdeOnboF4sUWPLQLefbqFWHsWJmTScOlR9TfJ2loI0kNufveQx0-aPe09Z9pBp_ARM_Cv6KthYOE1FMtGOZ0p5I/s280/10Yr+Treasuies.PNG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it time for interest rates to rise.....The million $$$$ ?</td></tr>
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potentially widely wrong - low interest rates and 
credit have driven prices sky high. They are unaffordable to the young who can not get the
 high paying jobs needed to even get a deposit together. Risk: Onerous under water mortgages suppressing property values and rental incomes or a period of high inflation eroding their real value? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE6IHdx7kRYEIRdQykxC_nzkNWGmAipHlcsI2r485tfUdSagHwf_MljdeOnboF4sUWPLQLefbqFWHsWJmTScOlR9TfJ2loI0kNufveQx0-aPe09Z9pBp_ARM_Cv6KthYOE1FMtGOZ0p5I/s1600/10Yr+Treasuies.PNG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> </li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2605/26051202.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Source newscientist.com Click to Enlarge" border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwl2eWIlIXf0ZMut4TLkmnHfQa9eSkFhC3zJ-Yba4lLxH7021qaGn-pIEhY9_NhdmDDYN-GvvZ00f9HAJaH8Nob-sDh_noLb7b9OfMbJ0aS_9DANlB6_naFHNZqZuKFj_9DockVdtlArbV/s280/Years+Left.PNG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Newscientist click to enlarge</td></tr>
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<li>We all 
live on one planet and consume more of its resources each year than can 
be replaced by equivalent alternatives. Liquid fuels, metals, fish, 
lumber and soil. This is just another form of debt we are piling on and 
the bill will become true at some stage. Risk: Lack of resources to build out our technological society of the future? </li>
<li><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWyPzjir7tFI4CtjEXpgHvssK0dWzkMMLROvwXjGijSdZmEUoAQATm_JDEkC4RY3Eg3JelAEIoCJigjq_uWXnp3abi5iXVRCzn1H7UCM0WHkosfgpRbsU-UeSlkIPg6CdiURKwBitzapY/s1600/Soil.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWyPzjir7tFI4CtjEXpgHvssK0dWzkMMLROvwXjGijSdZmEUoAQATm_JDEkC4RY3Eg3JelAEIoCJigjq_uWXnp3abi5iXVRCzn1H7UCM0WHkosfgpRbsU-UeSlkIPg6CdiURKwBitzapY/s280/Soil.PNG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/soil/erosion1.htm">seafriends.org.nz</a></td></tr>
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It is about time food production
 is  re-thought to re-build soils that have been degraded 
by the green revolution. Organic farming (including pest and weed control), low tilling soil and replanting hedgerows and trees are gaining ground around the world. Perhaps the days of the 6000 mile lettuce has 
almost had its day - you can easily grow one in your basement with the 
right setup. Risk: large increase in cost of food as more resources are dedicated to its production?</li>
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</div>
</ol>
<h2>
What Resiliance means to us</h2>
My personal take on resilience is OPTIONS. Lots of them. Options to move, different income streams and multiple ways to provide the basics (food, water, shelter and warmth). 
 
As early retirees we have a likely 40+ years ahead of us. A lot of things can and will happen in those 40+ years. Most of them will be surprises good and bad. OPTIONS will either allow us to take advantage of these changes or ride them out. 
 
Staying financially independent = fix up our place, be 50% + self sufficient and build excess income streams. 
 
We need to be able to offset the risks we have listed above (and others) and setup our investments to to take advantage of any opportunities. 
 
This "work" has taken priority over this blog in the last year. We have been super busy but the benefits have been amazing for us. We are so happy that we have taken steps to anti-fragile our lifestyle which has relieved some of our anxiety of going it alone. 
 
First up here are our Anti-fragile / Resilience goals: 
<ol>
<li>We want to provide a normal middle class up-bringing for our kids and afford them opportunities to grow. This requires us to at least maintain our inflation indexed income and ideally grow it. We need to be able to ride out any large unexpected bills and save for the kids education.</li>
<li>Not to be a burden to the state \ provide adequate funding for our lifestyle through low living costs, excess passive income and a small amount of paid work. We will pay our fair share of taxes on time and limit our impact on local amenities (e.g. less waste, support fund raising for the school etc.)</li>
<li>Reduce our reliance on external resources - we will source as much of our food, building supplies and fuel locally.</li>
<li>Look after our health (again reducing the cost to state) eat our own organic food and fruit, cutting wood, cycling instead of driving etc. </li>
<li>Engage with other people, to share resources to help with maintenance issues for example. </li>
</ol>
<h2>
4 action areas</h2>
We have decided to consolidate our actions in to 4 main areas 
<ul>
<li>Personal - Family education \ health </li>
<li>Sustainability \ Antifragility - reducing our reliance on outside help</li>
<li>Community - Engage in the local community and with friends</li>
<li>Financial - building diverse assets and income</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Starting with our Personal Gaols</h3>
Adult Education - We continue to read up on wide ranging topics 
(Super-forecasting, Logic, Perma- 
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culture \ Market Gardening, the 1930's, 
Solar Energy to name a few) and most importantly put these into practise. An example 
of this covered in more detail below is our ability to grow our own 
food and generate some of our own energy. This improves our finances and health. 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEeJUmovd94-JDI2UQwBml7YKK41iEGolEzxji18lBZj_Z4ghSP8oOyyZOFu9boQqmFjZi5LsMaQ-DURSZIWOUfKhg5BpABKcIGaIKxRRM7fxC87sIE_NrObi3cgtmQROgvbGTJdfcI2d/s1600/DSC_0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEeJUmovd94-JDI2UQwBml7YKK41iEGolEzxji18lBZj_Z4ghSP8oOyyZOFu9boQqmFjZi5LsMaQ-DURSZIWOUfKhg5BpABKcIGaIKxRRM7fxC87sIE_NrObi3cgtmQROgvbGTJdfcI2d/s320/DSC_0181.JPG" width="212" /></a>Kids 
education - we continue to encourage the kids to learn through play and 
experience. The TV has long gone. This been a brilliant thing to do as their play is more beneficial helping them to develop personal / communication skills, anger and conflict management. 
The both take judo classes which we hope will help with confidence, control and respect. 
 
We take them to museums (locally we have a school and a bee\ honey museum, down the road we have the Airbus museum). We 
engage them in day to day activities, cooking, gardening, cleaning, 
painting etc. They are learning 4 languages.... wowser!  I struggle with English let alone French. 
 
Lifestyle - An added bonus is lifestyle here in the south west of France. It is a
 holiday for us. Our local town has just been added to the Michelin guide. In fact our whole area is a hot tourist area with lots
 of things to do. We have easy access to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts 
as well as the Pyrenees mountains. 
 
We continue to improve our house and land. We are renovating, planting, repairing and cleaning. We love our flowering pots around our terrace, the picturesque views and starry nights. 
<h3>
Sustainability & cost reductions \ savings</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-UWfaUdD4ESx2rHKuxYN7jLFd6lxzinXZDaBRm4HVNZB5qHTtGjcKWy7dkSsP1JPqg0cSRFWaDFlyMAw6sXtdY_5EPOoi6SM2g-AwaPRqfOAfGsP1J5WWJLaO0Gn7XEpMhM_Cz2hidPQ/s1600/P1080133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-UWfaUdD4ESx2rHKuxYN7jLFd6lxzinXZDaBRm4HVNZB5qHTtGjcKWy7dkSsP1JPqg0cSRFWaDFlyMAw6sXtdY_5EPOoi6SM2g-AwaPRqfOAfGsP1J5WWJLaO0Gn7XEpMhM_Cz2hidPQ/s280/P1080133.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our preserves from the garden and batteries for 
off grid solar system</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBY4pvs2H3f9bEHJM9r8f9fK7TTI6OiBFI5x3udsydHPkLJTO_B6iW4Sp6nXaKW0E64QhEao0PATvYXRMHiJb4YOrjZpoxv3g-dDw1IYEED8gKpX6_LcDJ7HDQZOhV3VwgL2AySj00ev9/s1600/Solar.PNG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBY4pvs2H3f9bEHJM9r8f9fK7TTI6OiBFI5x3udsydHPkLJTO_B6iW4Sp6nXaKW0E64QhEao0PATvYXRMHiJb4YOrjZpoxv3g-dDw1IYEED8gKpX6_LcDJ7HDQZOhV3VwgL2AySj00ev9/s320/Solar.PNG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://eco-worthy.com/">eco-worthy.com</a> wind solar off grid system</td></tr>
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<ul>
</ul>
 
<ul>
<li style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> <div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
 
 
</li>
<li>We have built an intricate gravity and solar fed 
irrigation system - reducing our demand for mains water and allowing us to grow lots of lovely veg.</li>
<li>Done as much renovation work as possible by ourselves saving thousands</li>
<li>Replaced lots of damaged roof tiles </li>
<li>We have started to build a 
perma-culture garden, permaculture mounds, a couple of ponds and a poly 
tunnel.  </li>
<li>We have invested in manual garden tools.</li>
<li>We have invested in preserving equipment and Mrs C has been really busy canning (Bocals)</li>
<li>We have purchased a sun oven to cook and preserve our food </li>
<li>We have planted more fruit and nut trees </li>
<li>We have started making our own compost without fuel and fertilisers. It has no 
requirement for machinery only hand tools.</li>
<li>We have installed an off grid solar and wind system and are 
currently adding the option to run the whole house off it as required. 
It is a 1.4KW system (1KW solar and 400W Wind) with 4*130AH batteries. This system running at 1/3 of capacity daily = 1.4KW * 1/3 * 24 = 11.2 KWh per day Our average house consumption we believe is around 8.3 KWh per day (350 AH per day @ 24V) The
 only issue is that the battery bank (the 4 batteries give 260AH @ 24V) 
is not large enough for a prolonged period without the system running at
 1/3rd of capacity. 
</li>
</ul>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xuiftzpCFkMOjt8Sh1Yi6yiiPU7K2R3CRzJr9vpE3WFGG5VLoJua9bCJK0lxbk0VQuwzoD6P3FkfM4n3R2b3lnIeO77L9HsVymF9H5NuWmvk_aP18G2B5ofS6EP1srlJ-Oa2auxQyJMw/s1600/P1080158.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xuiftzpCFkMOjt8Sh1Yi6yiiPU7K2R3CRzJr9vpE3WFGG5VLoJua9bCJK0lxbk0VQuwzoD6P3FkfM4n3R2b3lnIeO77L9HsVymF9H5NuWmvk_aP18G2B5ofS6EP1srlJ-Oa2auxQyJMw/s280/P1080158.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Permaculture "mounds" 
which have now been planted with fruit bushes</td></tr>
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Benefits 
<ol>
<li>We can save and invest more each month increasing safety nets and future options </li>
<li>We are growing our own organic food - this is exercise, provides healthy meals (Vegan) and saves money</li>
<li>We are able to use resources on our land (we have solar electricity and hot water, a
 gravity fed water source, trees for firewood, fruit and nut trees, and 
we are developing good soil). </li>
<li>Our kids are learning real world skills with us such as solar system installations and calculations, water flow and management.</li>
<li>We are not buying loads of rubbish "entertainment" for the kids - they play outside making their own games. </li>
<li>We can repair things ourselves which is satisfying, saves time, money and stress.</li>
</ol>
We have reduced our necessary living costs (2 adults and 2 children) to ~£900 (1,050 EUR, ~1,170 
USD) per month (property tax, food, utilities, school fees and cars) as of Sept 2016. We can live on much less if needs be. 
 
From an Antifragile standpoint - we are able to provide for ourselves in an emergency and have reduced our "fixed" living costs. We have learnt additional real world skills that allow us to do things for ourself. 
<h3>
Friendships & Community</h3>
We have abnormal living arrangements in a normal community of hard working individuals. The "abnormal" part is that we do not have "normal" work and "normal finances". Talking about financial independence and resilience building seems almost taboo... We try not to talk about unless someone specifically asks. 
 
Financial independence is a bit like talking about how much you earn (ironically it is fine to talk about how much you spend;) see the following <a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a28515/why-cant-we-talk-about-how-much-we-make/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">article.</a> I often wonder why this is the case. Surely it would be beneficial to know if you are being paid fairly? Wouldn't a discussion on money, budgeting and investing be beneficial for people to have? So talking normal finances or investments is not really touched either. 
 
 
Work has become so hectic and all encompassing most people do not have time to have a go at sustainable living. After all it is a lot of additional "work". Do you have the energy to dig the garden, chop some wood or insulate the house when you get home late and exhausted from work? Promisingly on this topic we are finding that people are more interested in this area and are taking small steps. 
 
Sport, weather, holidays, kids, homes and mainstream hobbies are all in the easy bucket. A good way to chat over a beer. We live in an outdoor party area so BBQ's are great places to catch up and make friends. 
 
Ultimately friendships take time and a lot of work. We can definitely do better. We want to have fun and relax with friends so it is important we build rapport by talking about stuff they are interested in.  So KISS (Keep it simple stupid!) really works here :) 
<h3>
Financial</h3>
Our financial plan is quite simple - take part in the ownership of productive "cash flow" assets. Have skin in the game. Our trading accounts are invested in individual companies. Our pension choices are limited to funds. We have part ownership of some commercial real estate. 
 
Thankfully building income is easy and can be done in small increments over time. We do this primarily through share and bond ownership. Lending clubs have also become popular. 
 
Unfortunately very few people we know actually"invest" perhaps due to the risk warnings written across all financial products. They rely on earned income. Any spare cash is generally not put to work but "saved" as cash or spent. 
 
Inflation means cash "value" is eroded instead of growing and providing an income through positive interest. Investing in dividend stocks opens the door to capital gains and cash flow. Admittedly you need to hold some cash - it gives you quick access, options to deploy the cash to an opportunity. 
 
Ownership can be expanded to other assets such as forestry, agricultural land, commercial property, private company investment etc. 
 
Our financial actions to increase our assets are as follows: 
<ul>
<li>We have opened tax efficient share savings vehicles in France (PEA - stocks and shares)</li>
<li>We are saving cash in multiple currencies (GBP, EUR)</li>
<li>We continue to re-invest dividends</li>
<li>We are investing in alternative diversified real assets (Sustainability projects, REIT (commercial real estate))</li>
<li>Mrs C's has setup as a small business </li>
<li>We have been saving for the kids who both have savings plans based on the permanent portfolio approach. (25% fixed income, 25% Shares, 25% Cash, 25% Commodities)</li>
<li>We have made our wills</li>
</ul>
Our preference is a take on the permanent portfolio approach.....at the moment we are overweight global stocks and underweight bonds and cash and commodities due to historical reasons and the way our pensions work (limited choice). 
 
Pensions 
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</div>
 
Global Stocks (EQ) 
Bonds (BN) - Final Salary Pension Scheme mainly high quality bonds 
Commodities  - (GLD) 
 
These have seen phenomenal gains on a small investment 500%+ since inception due to matching contributions from employers and the power of compounding. Both Mrs C and I joined our schemes as soon as we started work. We cannot access this money for 25 years...... 
 
Income 
 
Dividend growth stocks (EQ) 
Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (PR) 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfEUgec6bIYbP7_pHSHb8TRXr7-mipGfnwxCZjsUbz4XDcZ9eTG7SEag14CaMNsj98hsb9THNJ2B6mz5h05JXTTF4IG9W_OcoN0T0wq4YMOzAal_exVaEzrcuNWdkJAOna7qAv0l8DOYQ/s1600/Financial+Investment.PNG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfEUgec6bIYbP7_pHSHb8TRXr7-mipGfnwxCZjsUbz4XDcZ9eTG7SEag14CaMNsj98hsb9THNJ2B6mz5h05JXTTF4IG9W_OcoN0T0wq4YMOzAal_exVaEzrcuNWdkJAOna7qAv0l8DOYQ/s280/Financial+Investment.PNG" width="280" /></a>French PEA tax exempt stock and share account after 8 years of holding (EQ) 
 
Cash 
 
GBP and EUR (small holding as neither currency is great at the moment) (CA) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On the EXPENSES front our current budget is 1,709 Euros per month (~£1,450, ~$1,828 - FX is moving all over the place). 
 
This includes 300 Euros per month for holiday and entertainment, school fees (150 Euros) and after school activities (70 Euros). 
 
Our "bare bones" costs if we had to extreme economise would be 730 Euros per month. 
 
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<ul>

</ul>
We
 have ample safety nets, live a comfortable middle class lifestyle and 
do not go without anything. Our activities make us more robust and able 
to be in control of our lives. 
<h2>
Now Build Your Resilience</h2>
There are major benefits of building resilience and many steps will actually get you to financial independence earlier. 
<ol>
<li>You will reduce your living costs (hence save more)</li>
<li>Learn to do things for yourself such as basic plumbing, gardening</li>
<li>Start to adapt to a new way of life - a financially independent way of living</li>
<li>Be risk aware and adapt your plans accordingly</li>
</ol>
Considering these points (and some of the above risks) I believe that building resilience is an absolute must. Again 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Hope for the best and plan for the worst" </blockquote>
Considering the needs of resilience building this means early retirement is MUCH more than just investing to replace earned 
income to retreat to the beach. 
 
You can't leave all your eggs in one or two baskets or leave them to chance. I suggest you
 need to continue to live well within your means. Consider emergency planning (which usually requires more money than you think). Be able to look after ourselves in a 
time of difficulty such as a natural disaster. 
 
Additionally we need to take opportunities when they come our way (such a a bit of paid work). Use our new found freedom from debt and wage slavery to develop new skills to keep our mental skills sharp and hopefully gain a cash flow from them. 
 
Some resilience building strategies that come to mind are: 
<ol>
<li>Aim for low "fixed" living costs and continue to drive them lower - we have below average bills for utilities, cars and fuel.</li>
<li>Some self sufficiency in water, energy and food - make sure you live somewhere where you can provide some of the necessities of life on your own.</li>
<li>Easy to get a job if you need to (CV up to date etc) - can you work from home \ setup an on line business - give it a go and perhaps it could become your job.</li>
<li>Diverse income streams - Property, Shares, Work, Interest, Bonds, Capital gains. </li>
<li>Continued monthly saving - 10% per month as a minimum? </li>
<li>Have a large rainy day fund - 6 months + of living costs? </li>
<li>Speculate to accumulate (have 5% of your savings going for big gains at high risk)</li>
<li>Do stuff you enjoy - if you are not happy perhaps early retirement was not for you?</li>
<li>Continual learning - great for spotting opportunities and problems. I believe this is a good balance between opting out and keeping a good foot in the real world. Isolationism we believe is a dangerous approach to take when you need the help of others and want to have normal relationships. Extreme frugality (without excess cash flows) leaves you vulnerable and open to shocks. Lack of resilience could have you back to work to recover a capital \ cash flow shortfall quicker than you think. </li>
</ol>
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** I have installed a new commenting tool for this website DISQUS which makes it easier to add comments depending on what type of account you want or just leave an Anonymous comment if you would like any more information or add useful information. 
 
<ol>
</ol>
 
Peace, prosperity and happiness 
 
CoNTeNDeR 
 
Welcome New Readers! Please take a look around.<a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> to find out more about THE.TriBe and the blog is or perhaps browse the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/p/all-posts-get-in-ring.html" target="_blank">all posts list</a>, Please feel free to play with the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/p/muff-tools-and-check-lists.html" target="_blank">planning tools and checklists</a>. If you liked this post can you please spare a few seconds to share it?

Fragilista - Part 2

Low cost fuel and no moving parts - a robust heating solution Have you ever wondered how some people get rich and are able to grow thei...

Happiness in France

Contender 2 Budget, downshifting, Early Retirement, early-retirement, financial freedom, financial independence, frugality 21:00

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THE.PReSeNT: "CoNTeNDeR what are you up to? You have been all talk about this move to France THE.FuTuRe says you haven't got it in you besides FRA?NCE are you MAD?  
 
Aren't they all socialists that take all your money and tell you how to live your life?  
 
Come to your senses man. 
 
It may rain in Blighty a lot and the government may be a bit socialist and spend most of our money, badly.... but we have the pub! let's get down The Dog and Bone pub, have a few pints* and get p*****" 
 
<a href="http://www.camra.org.uk/beertax" target="_blank">* Effective tax on a UK pint costing £2.50 is £0.97 - 38%!</a> 
 
Here is an update and some reflections on our downshifting move to France NEXT MONTH: 
 
- Was Renting in the UK a good Choice? 
- How the move is going? 
- What is on the cards for the TRIBE in the next 4 years? 
-  Is it going to work for us? 
 
Exiting the Rental Property in London 
 
Right now we are finalising our move to France. Mrs C resigned from her job one month ago. We have arranged to hand back the keys on our London rental property. 
 
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="1" style="height: 144px; width: 547px;">
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 <td align="LEFT" bgcolor="#C0C0C0" height="17" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: 1px solid #000000;">To buy the London 3 bedroom terraced Victorian house it it would have cost $700,000.  With 20% down payment of $141,000 the mortgage would
 have been $560,000 and we would have to have paid stamp duty on the 
property $21,000. 
 
The typical cost of a repayment mortgage over 25 years is (4.6%) = $3192 
The typical cost of an interest only mortgage is $2147 
The rent is $2080 per month</td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Was renting a good choice? We may have missed out on capital appreciation of the house. This would have been completely dependent on the timing of the purchase. Or we could be in negative equity. 
 
By renting we abdicated the risk of owning the property. We did not have to pay for re-decoration, a new roof, new boiler and the mortgage arrangement fee, estate agent fee and the stamp duty to the government. 
 
The "fees" and the deposit instead have been invested for capital gains via the stock market. This has allowed us to save in more diverse assets instead of the majority being tied to the property. 
 
Some people have become very rich via property over the last decade and perhaps we did not understand the opportunities that were there at the time. Perhaps we were always intimidated by the large amount of money and the commitment involved.

Happiness in France

THE.PReSeNT : "CoNTeNDeR what are you up to? You have been all talk about this move to France THE.FuTuRe says you haven't got it...

Do the Right Thing

Contender 4 Blog, Conformity, Critical Thinking, downshifting, Early Retirement, early-retirement, financial freedom, financial independence, Inflation, Investing, Life, Mid Life Crisis, Naive 23:17

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Is the Pursuit of Financial Independence Doing the Right Thing? 
 
THE PaST: "Go to school then study a degree that makes a difference to the world" 
 
THE.PReSeNT: "Go to school and study a degree to make you rich, all that touchy feely stuff won't pay, get a corporate job, go work in finance" 
 
THE.FUTURE: "sell your soul to me Muuugh Ha Ha Ha - OK a bit carried away just get into debt up to your eyeballs. I love a good debt slave, mine all mine." 
 
Has the world become more individualistic and materialistic? If you are not part of the system are you weird? Come on get with it, work hard, climb the ladder and load up on debt until you drop. 
 
Is this really the pursuit of happiness - stuff and job status or just a marketeers dream of control over the masses? 
 
Is getting with the system the way to go? if so why the F**** does this blog "chase" financial freedom?  
 
Why isn't THE.CoNtENDeR blogging about working, making a difference in BIG business?  
 
Perhaps the CoNTEnDER has got it all wrong. Perhaps he needs a good look at himself and get (back) with the system? 
 
Known, Know, NO's 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
Let's start off with a few challenges THE.CONtENDER believes exist in the world, have shaped some of the thinking in this blog and yet we do very little about:</div>
 
We know burning fossil fuels is not 100% good. Particulate pollution and rising gases in the atmosphere come with some known and unknown consequences. On the other hand we have realised  the BIGGEST improvement in living standards mankind has ever seen. Life expectancies have increased dramatically. 
 
The group think it is now "normal" to burn fossil fuels, we are unsure of the consequences but are enjoying the ride while it lasts. 
 
We know that we live on a planet of finite resources but we still continue to consume them at increasingly faster rates. They will deplete - what do we do then? 
 
Someone will have to go without in THE.FUTuRE - be rich and buy our way out of it! 
 
We know work is good for us but too much work can be bad. We know that some stress (eustress) helps us fulfil our potential. At the same time a eustress 9-5 job is now becoming a stressed 8-9 job. 
 
Work adds meaning to life and stress is good for you as well as having money to exchange for some material comforts. You will have a career to look back on. You will have achieved something special in life - just make sure you are able to get the right job that pays well, letting you get ahead in life. 
 
We know that debt is bad so why do it? We know saving is good but the majority thinks saving 3-4% of their take home pay is very very good.  Invest it? Who are you kidding you cannot beat the professionals on Wall Street - pay them big fees to loose your money instead. 
 
Why save when we have a state and work pension. Inflation will erode the value of any debt we take on and our house will go up in price. My pay goes up over time so I will be able to pay for inflating goods and housing. I am told I need lots of shiny gadgets and lots of designer clothes. I need to be on the work bandwagon to afford it all. 
 
We know money doesn't grow on trees - it is made from them! On top of that more recently it is actually typed into existence on a computer - not the one I am typing on I am sad to say. Can fiat money really be a store of wealth when it can be created out of fresh air so easily? Go figure. 
 
The government is in control of inflation. Inflation = good and Deflation = bad because they say so. Just accept that it is good that your cash savings loose value each year and you have to pay more for goods and services. It is all OK as Inflation = good. 
 
The family structure is challenged by he reduced amount of time at home. On the flip side it has more money to spend than ever. 
 
The government is providing lots of tax incentives to help pay for child care at a creche. I need to be in work to accrue the state pension entitlement. Instead of the parent staying at home messing up their career their child can be happy with lots of other kids.

Do the Right Thing

wikimedia.com Is the Pursuit of Financial Independence Doing the Right Thing? THE PaST : "Go to school then study a degree that ...

Downshifting One Year On

Contender 2 Budget, downshifting, early-retirement, financial independence, Happiness, health, Mid Life Crisis, Writing 20:34

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying Downshifting - Walking on thin ice in the park and life?</td></tr>
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THE.PAST: "CONTENDER why are you boxing so infrequently and why stop for a couple of years in your prime? What about the perks, the stature of it all? 
 
CONTENDER: "I want to spend some time with the children while they are young, life is no longer chasing the next fight to prove my credentials. I need some time out to look after the family, reflect, relax and keep in shape. 
 
THE.FUTURE: "I'm here! I'm here you yellow bellied son of a *****!" 
 
THE.CONTENDER follows the blog A Good Day To Live and his latest post <a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/downshifters-in-australia-interesting-case-study/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Downshifters in Australia – Interesting Case Study">Downshifters in Australia – Interesting Case Study</a> has inspired him to have a look at his own downshifting in the last year and all of the joys and calamities along the way. What did THE.CONTENDER learn and could these new skills benefit work in the future. All is revealed below: 
 
For newcomers to the blog try here is a post on our Financial Independence journey - <a href="http://www.getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/round-5-15-secs-muff-family-financial.html">Family Financial Freedom in 7 Years!</a> and benefits and budgeting to downshift - <a href="http://www.getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/father-muff-financial-frugality-case.html">Daddy CONTENDER a Financial Frugality Case Study of Bringing Up Baby</a> 
 
THE CONTENDER is a 36 year old professional dad of 2 children (1 and 4 years old) having downshifted from the corporate world one year ago. This was not because of ill health or any major dislike for the job (there are always going to be some gripes) but because our well laid plans to move to France and exorbitant cost of childcare where we live and which are covered here on this blog. 
 
After working solidly for 13 years and having a strict savings routine for the past 7 years it was time to become very frugal. Could we as a family be better off financially and happier with THE.CONTENDER at home taking over the childcare duties at the end of Mrs CONTENDER's maternity leave? So what has happened in the last year, has downshifting worked for us? 
 
Downshifting the tribe 
 
THE.CONTENDER had at least taken an active role in the upbringing of our eldest child making sure he was around at evenings and weekends while Mrs CONTENDER was on a full year of maternity leave. 
 
When Mrs CONTENDER had to go back to work our child started full time nursery. She did the morning drop off and the contender rushed home before the creche closing time at 6 pm. 
 
With the arrival of the second putting both in nursery was too expensive. We decided to downshift. THE.CONTENDER stepped out of the ring to become the children's full time carer whilst Mrs contender went back to work. 
 
Looking after the Kids 
 
With the perhaps limited experience of looking after the eldest, now both were  the contenders responsibility. A corporate conditioned bloke now full time carer for two young children. What is all that about! Could he hack it? 
 
To ease the transition we had a couple of plans in place. THE.CONTENDER took parental leave so if it was not going well at least the old job was there. Alternatives were a new higher paying job or part time. We had lists of nannies, child minders and nurseries should we need them. 
 
The first few months went smoothly, it was heading into spring, the 6-month old baby slept and rolled around. Our eldest still had a couple of days a week in creche. So good, so far, right? THE.CONTENDER on the other hand was wiped out with.... 
 
Work Withdrawal Syndrome! 
 

No more hour long commute to work in the morning in the car on the motorway through lots of traffic. 
No more predefined routine 
No more boring business conversations 
No more work stress 
No more kissing a*** 
 
THE.CONTENDER knew it it would be coming and it happened - he became sick. A cold and chest infection that lasted for two months. Sometimes he got a cold whilst on holidays after hard stressful work, so this was nothing new. Work withdrawal syndrome - his body was expelling the stress of work and detoxifying his body. 
 
THE.FUTURE: "Got ya! You can't survive without the buzz of the ring" 
 
With the concerns on workload, appraisals and not letting anyone down were lifted from the shoulders he could relax. Actually do something he wanted to do in a weekday afternoon with the little angels in bed for their nap. Result! 
 
After a couple of months we were in spring. THE.CONTENDERS office was now a park instead of a cubicle. Meetings were in the playground instead of a corporate, white, bland boardroom. AND continuous exercise for all! 
 
The need to have a snack or a coffee was gone. Food for the family is now my responsibility to take time to make. It needs to be healthy for the kids - time to get out the kiddie recipe book and beat some eggs with one kid bouncing on my knee with the other wondering what the plug socket is. 
 
Did THE CONTENDER miss <strike>the ring </strike>work? Of course he did (a bit) in those early months. How could he keep the brain ticking over? All those years of hard work and education. Must use it! A strong psychological war was raging in his mind.   
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
THE.FUTURE: "CONTENDER! what a waste, what are you doing, what about financial security, shiny status symbols? You will loose all of your friends!"</div>
 
So what did THE.CONTENDER experience and learn from with the kids during the year? - please read on:

Downshifting One Year On

Enjoying Downshifting - Walking on thin ice in the park and life? THE.PAST : "CONTENDER why are you boxing so infrequently and why ...

A Good Day To Live

Contender 3 Blog, Early Retirement, early-retirement, Happiness 06:59

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTywbm9sp_qAOou8MWlfSwcyutdXcnF14sJK4lRx_nSh6EKTXIUklG_5kP1DGSPihz7Hgrfm_9vX02h7GI7EZQWc8waPK8OqhuGbMHXtlrpDl3GjnB1ecEnQYQAVmvEe6iyxxjJSLCdCx3/s1600/AGoodDayToLive.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTywbm9sp_qAOou8MWlfSwcyutdXcnF14sJK4lRx_nSh6EKTXIUklG_5kP1DGSPihz7Hgrfm_9vX02h7GI7EZQWc8waPK8OqhuGbMHXtlrpDl3GjnB1ecEnQYQAVmvEe6iyxxjJSLCdCx3/s280/AGoodDayToLive.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: A good Day to Live</td></tr>
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Fight fans it is a <a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/">Good Day To Live</a>! There is a contender out there with strong credentials, a vision for THE FUTURE and a conviction to see it through to the end. MR WOODPECKER is a fellow European who is lighting up the Early Retirement and Live Life to the full movement. His posts on saving for the future, experiences from all the beautiful places he visited, perspectives on early retirement and the beautiful world around us, all that through the photographs he shares from his travels.  His philosophy on life resonates to the CONTENDER tribe! 
 
THE.CONTENDER has been fortunate to work with several people across countries in Europe. Europe is an amazing place full of extremely different cultures, working practices, traditions, sense of humor, rivalries and politics to name a few! This is why it is so good to have another European perspective from Woodpecker. His posts cover similar goals to THE.CONTENDER 's in his own unique way. Being only a few hundred miles away (UK / Germany) you can see the clear cultural differences from the styles. 
 
THE.CONTENDER has more of a western capitalist slant to this blog whilst Woodpeckers is more easy going and philosophical. Just an observation! 
 
THE.CONTENDER enjoys reading about Woodpecker's adventures, analysis of work life balance and what is happiness for Woodpecker and his tribe. THE.CONTENDER sees clearly that he has been dealt a great hand by living in Europe. It may have tones of bureaucracy, too many politicians and silly rules but it works. We have amazing geography and landscapes on our doorsteps, a mature society (as in stable populations and over population limited to some of the European mega cities). 
 
Our architecture may be crumbling in places but new exciting architects transform European cities  (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbao_Guggenheim_Museum" target="_blank">Bilbao Guggenheim</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorf-Hafen" target="_blank">Dusseldorf harbor</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia" target="_blank">Barcelona familia sagrada</a> and good old Blighty's modern glass ode to capitalism the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_Axe" target="_blank">Gurkin </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shard" target="_blank">Shard of Glass</a>. Shame we can't look after our crumbling (literally as well as morally) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster" target="_blank">Houses of Parliament in London.</a>... Old and New, Splendor and Shock all there to be marveled or abhorred! 
 
Woodpecker's posts are clear and nice to read, and contain lots of personal thoughts on how to achieve work-life balance in a fast paced, modern, corporate lifestyle in a big European city. For instance Mr Woodpecker describes in one post how he considered applying for a promotion and the implications this would have for him and his tribe, read on to see what he chose to do in the end. Quite inspiring for THE.CONTENDER. 
 
This is why <a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/">Good Day To Live</a> is a must read. It is a celebration of life an all things good in Europe. What is happiness? Why travel far when there is beauty on your doorstep? The joys of raising a family.  
 
THE.CONTENDER 's favorite posts from A Good Day To Live 
<h1 class="entry-title">
<a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/a-new-era-of-work-part-2-women-back-to-kitchen/" target="_blank">A new era of work – Part 2: Both partners working full time – what a crazy concept!</a> </h1>
This is
 a great post considering the change in the working patterns of the 
"average" family from 30 years ago versus present. The post is a good critique of the crazy change from one wage earner to both parents working and the impacts this can have on your lives. 
 
 <a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/the-income-and-consumption-illusion-more-and-more-will-not-make-you-happier/" target="_blank">The income and consumption illusion – Part 1: More and more will NOT make you happier!</a> 
 
A post on what is enough? Woodpecker considers discussed does a higher grade model of car really make you happier? What is an agreeable income threshold for happiness? All in this post an one to definitely ponder upon. What do you really need and what would your family budget look like if you re-size your lifestyle? 
 
THE.CONTENDER's Favorite Part of the Blog 
 
A small selection of Woodpecker's wonderful photos of Europe which are dotted all over his blog: 
 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/xdsc_6495-e1349775071411.jpg?w=640" imageanchor="1" style=""><img alt="" border="0" height="186" src="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/xdsc_6495-e1349775071411.jpg?w=640" title="Source: A good Day to Live" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/italy-part-6-san-vito-lo-capo-and-genoa/" target="_blank">AGDTL - San Vito Lo Capo and Genoa</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/xdsc_6299.jpg?w=640&h=425" imageanchor="1" style=""><img alt="" border="0" height="185" src="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/xdsc_6299.jpg?w=640&h=425" title="Source: A good Day to Live" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/italy-part-5-sicily/#more-780" target="_blank">See Woodpeckers post on Sicily</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">  </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/xdsc_6058.jpg?w=640&h=425" imageanchor="1" style=""><img alt="" border="0" height="185" src="http://gooddaytolive.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/xdsc_6058.jpg?w=640&h=425" title="Source: A good Day to Live" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/italy-part-4-tropeacalabria/" target="_blank">AGDL - Tropea Calabria</a></td></tr>
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<h1 class="entry-title">
Keep up the good work <a href="http://gooddaytolive.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">Woodpecker</a>!</h1>
Peace and prosperity 
 
THE.CONTENDER 
 
Welcome New Contender Readers! Take a look around. <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-me.html">Find out who THE.CONTENDER is</a> or <a href="http://www.getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/why-why-why.html">Start at the first article</a>, browse the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/all-posts-get-in-ring.html" target="_blank">all posts</a> or just go for a <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-me.html#random" rel="13">Random Post</a>. Please feel free to play with the FREE <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/muff-tools-and-check-lists.html" target="_blank">planning tools and checklists</a>. 
 
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A Good Day To Live

Source: A good Day to Live Fight fans it is a Good Day To Live ! There is a contender out there with strong credentials, a vision for...

Community HELP! Part 2 - 8 Contributions and Develop New Skills

Contender 0 charity, community, Early Retirement, early-retirement, Happiness, health, Life 08:29

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6Ew_uzGZGdpO6B8w2TmiTVHFkg8Pi6iT3xS4-Ocqd7ySrWcMCkiq7zxmWyrFmBeSCNkPxxNMDts4f-rj8uvm1_J7zssgFLqEGaLoyqFSU8XbGrlhEP-ht4IfVxjQHEhEIkWwn7AdAOsJ/s1600/TheFuture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img alt="" border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6Ew_uzGZGdpO6B8w2TmiTVHFkg8Pi6iT3xS4-Ocqd7ySrWcMCkiq7zxmWyrFmBeSCNkPxxNMDts4f-rj8uvm1_J7zssgFLqEGaLoyqFSU8XbGrlhEP-ht4IfVxjQHEhEIkWwn7AdAOsJ/s280/TheFuture.jpg" title="Source: nhs" width="280"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look to your community and learn new skills</td></tr>
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SPENDITALL: "CONTENDER, when you decided to hang up your gloves, you talked about giving back to the community. Have you thought about it more? What are your thoughts now? Are you going to make a comeback????" 
 
THE.CONTENDER:  "Hold on, one question at a time! Yes I have been fortunate to be the UNDISPUTED CHAMP! but now it is pay back time. THE FUTURE may still taunt me, he may want me back in the ring. Why? I have nothing more to prove to him. He is still strong and lurks just around the corner in my mind. I must accept he will always be there and get on with life. There is no good looking back, what is important now is life, family, community and everyone's happiness. I'm not here to entertain anymore, too old for the silly games and pranks; brawls and spectacles. Time to move on. Time to live!" 
 
In the last post we had a look at some of the ways our local community has helped and supported us. In this post we are going to consider ways in which we can contribute to the community in early retirement and how you can add to \ improve your skill set. 
 
Giving something back 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Early retirement has to be earned but it is a blessing; why not using some of that time to help improve your local community?  </div>
</blockquote>
THE.CONTENDER is fortunate to live in such a nice community. It supports our family, provides friendship and safety. We will miss it when we leave. In the future we are keen to give back and help improve the community we live in. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let me tell you something you already 
know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and 
nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to 
your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or 
nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you 
hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how 
much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! 
Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re 
worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing 
fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or 
anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that! - Rocky Balboa</blockquote>
What
 can early retirees give back to the community in this tough old world
 we live in? This is something we have been thinking about for some 
time. Early Retirement can be great from a selfish standpoint. Loads of free time to do as you wish.
 In our opinion early retirement is about living a happy life which means a happy family and a happy community. Anything we can do towards this will benefit everyone please read on for some that we would like to choose from in the years ahead.

Community HELP! Part 2 - 8 Contributions and Develop New Skills

Look to your community and learn new skills SPENDITALL : "CONTENDER , when you decided to hang up your gloves, you talked about gi...