Andrew is constantly thinking, talking, or writing about his never-ending pursuit of a better life & career through personal experiments, lessons learned, and smart money habits. In 2017, he took a detour off the path towards financial independence and embarked on a one-year mini-retirement. Now he is using the insights gained from a year off to reframe his goals and ambitions for decades to come.
Welcome Back!
[2:48] So Andrew took a mini retirement, when he was last on the show he was in the middle of it, now we have a chance to catch up with him and see how it went. First off, how did you plan for your mini retirement? Was there a dollar figure you needed to save up?
- Spoke last right at the beginning of his mini retirement, it wasn’t planned but it evolved over time, the plan was to travel the world, their number figure was $40,000 each.
- There was a lot of stuff that happened in their personal lives that changed their plans- Andrew’s wife got diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.
- Andrew was also completely burned out at work and got a lot of time to think about things
[8:20] Looking back, did your mini retirement go according to plan? With your spending goals?
- Andrew was obsessive about his money and definitely had a number in mind and wanted to make sure he kept strong tabs on spending money.
- Ended up spending the less of any year since they started tracking their expenses
- Ended up trying to beat his goals and only spent about $30,000 in the whole year
[8:30] Are there some things you weren’t expecting from your mini retirement? Like finding stuff to keep you busy etc?
- Andrew did a lot better job of his time keeping himself busy
- Coming up with a long list of things to do was important and gave him clarity
- Taking things one small piece at a time is really important, read Bird by Bird.
[18:37] You took a break off your FI route, would you say your mini retirement set you back? And if you could go back, would you do it again?
- Yes Andrew would do it again, even with some of the more difficult parts of it.
- It didn’t make that much of a dent in their FI journey
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[20:11] Debt Plan That Works
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Value Link Round
[20:32] What is your savings or retirement plan?
- Stayed the same after mini retirement, lifestyle expenses have been in check
- Baseline spending and save the rest
[23:17] Do you have a favorite book?
- Millennial Money
- Retire Early Not the Penny Pinching Way
[25:18] Favorite quote you like to live by?
- “Bird by bird” – focusing on one thing at a time
[26:3] Any other parting piece of guidance?
- Focus on more than just the money, having a magic money is great but there’s more to life than that
