1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

1500 Days to Freedom

10 Years of 1500 Days

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I published my first post on 1/1/2013. Here it is: https://www.1500days.com/start-here/ 10 years later, here we are.

Crazy. Time flies by. So cliche, but so true.

10 years difference. I feel pretty much the same except for having to use %$#*ing reading glasses!

10 years is most likely more than 10% of my life. And the past 10 years are certainly some of the best years.

Some random facts:

  • This blog was supposed to end at the 1500 day mark. I even wrote my last post around day 1,200. Then a couple things happened:
    • Something went wrong with WordPress (this blogging platform) and about 5% of my posts, both published and unpublished, just disappeared. One of those posts was my final post. To this day, I have no idea what happened.
    • As day 1,500 approached, I got a little sad. I love writing here and didn’t want to give it up. That and the Mysterious Disappearing Final Post inspired me to continue on.
  • I never thought anyone would read this. This blog peaked in traffic a couple of years ago at about 5,000 pageviews per day. It’s now down to 1,000. But I never cared because I never did this for anyone but myself. Don’t get me wrong; if you’re reading this, know that I appreciate you. I admit my fragile ego gets a little boost knowing people read read my words. I hope that I’ve inspired some of you too.
  • Even after I decided to continue on, I never thought this thing would last 10 years. I don’t write as often as I used to, but it still feels good when I do, so I continue on.

My Money Journey

This blog is supposed to be about money, so let’s start there.

1973-1998

I grew up outside of Chicago (I get waaaay too excited looking out the window on planes!)

When I was a kid, if you told me that someday I’d be a multimillionaire, I would have called you a nutter. I’m a recovering worrier and my father had issues with alcohol. So Young Me didn’t spend enough time thinking about what I was going to do when I grew up or how life would turn out. Instead, I worried that my dad wouldn’t make it home from his latest drinking adventure. He was a good person at the core, but struggled. Those struggles made for some very unpleasant childhood experiences. Not fun.

I knew that money could solve a lot of problems. As a teen, I thought that the best path to make money was to go to university which I did. I studied biology and chemistry which was not a good path to make money. Whoops. No matter as I eventually stumbled into computers. I went to a certificate program at DePaul in Chicago and learned COBOL/Y2K remediation.

1999-2013 (-$60,000 -> $586,000)

The DePaul computer program got me into a great job, but COBOL (an old computer language) wasn’t the future. I quickly learned object oriented programming (Java) and other modern languages and moved on.

I worked and saved. In addition to working a normal job, Mindy and I fixed up houses for fun and profit (mostly profit, the fun was questionable…). I paid off the $60,000 in loan and credit card debt and started saving.

In October of 2012 after a miserable stretch at work, I found Mr. Money Mustache. This led me to create the blog you’re reading now. I have always enjoyed writing and a blog would be a fun way to document my FIRE journey.

2013-2022 ($586,000 -> $5,000,000 -> $3,000,000): The Crapperhorn

I reached my goal of $1,120,000 in April of 2016, one year ahead of schedule. Thank you Raging Bull Market! I didn’t muster up the courage to quit for another year. At the same time I quit, Mindy unexpectedly went back to work. This sort of negated everything, but in a good way. We didn’t have to worry about sequence of returns destroying out net worth. We could continue to save! (It’s addictive!)

It was still difficult to leave my job. For most of my adult life, the biggest activity of my waking hours was work. That’s a big vacuum to fill.

But it would all be OK. My “Retirement To Do List” has tripled in size since I quit. I won’t get to most of it in my lifetime.

And the money part is great too. I’m an indexer now, but the tech stocks I bought (before I knew about VTSAX) had a great run. Our investments briefly crested $5,000,000 before getting knocked down by almost $2,000,000 this year.

Here is how our investments have done since the start of 2013.

2020-2022 has been an interesting time. Our money looks like the Matterhorn!:

I’m going to call it the Crapperhorn. The run-up part of the left is fun! The other side, not so much. We started the year with investments of $4,762,642 and are now down to $3,112,821 for a loss of $1,649,821. Yikes!

And this may not be the end. The PE of the S&P 500 is still aggressive:

Credit: Multipl

And the Shiller PE is even higher! Yikes!!:

Credit: Multipl

(Note: Some smart people think that the Shiller methodology needs an update, but it wouldn’t change the numbers much.)

To get back to historical norms (with the Shiller version), our portfolio would have to lose at least another million which would kick our investments down to $2,000,000.

But, I’m not worried. While this is a lot of money to lose on paper, it wouldn’t change our lives in any way. Life is good when you let go of The Game. Having a lot of money is fun. Having a great life with interesting projects, purpose, and loving relationships is a lot more fun.

I Caught The Car

And I still feel like the dog who catches the car:

What now?

But what makes it a little more fun is that for most of my life, I didn’t even know what I was chasing. I just worked a lot and saved. Money was (is?) my security blanket.

The Future

And that dog chasing the car has the wrong idea anyway.

Life is best when you’re not chasing anything. The best goals should be micro goals, not more than a couple of days into the future. Here are some:

  • Go outside and walk
  • Exercise
  • Read
  • Create
  • Be kind to others and to the world
  • If you still work, do your best, but don’t let other parts of your life slip by
  • Don’t be distracted
  • Surround yourself with the best humans that will have you
  • Listen
  • Be positive

If you focus on today, everything else will fall into place. And, you’ll live where life is supposed to be lived, in the present. In retrospect, my 1500 Days premise was silly.

I’m really thankful that I found MMM. My life is certainly better because of FIRE. I have time to work on all of those bullet points because I have more time. It’s not obvious when you’re young, but time is everything.

Optimism

Despite a crummy 2022, I’m confident that our investments will do well in the years to come. I won’t go into details because that just leads to combative comments, but I feel really good about where our money is invested now.

And I feel even better about life. 2023 will be the year I wrap up building projects and move on. Perhaps I’ll really retire? Hell no, what fun would that be?! But I do look forward to spending less time with my toolbox and more time playing the piano, guitar, speaking Spanish, and perhaps most of all, taking random walks with no destination or purpose.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading my silly words!

See you soon.

More 1500 Days!!!

You can also find me (and the dinosaurs) at:

Mile High FI podcast:

Also here:

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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.

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Comments

  1. David @ Filled With Money says

    Glad you were here for a decade!!

    Even though I’m in my 20s, I’m already feeling the health effects of getting older.. My eyes in particular.

    I should take care of my health early in life to prolong the health effects as much as possible!

    Reply

  2. MindspeaksFi says

    You literally changed my life. Talk about inflection point (as you described in your email). I get choked sometimes thinking how someone can have so much positive impact on others. I am just one in a million others who took action and changed the course.

    How did I do to deserve you as my mentor? (Hindu mythology tells a story about Eklavya who never met his Guru (Teacher) Dronacharya. But he watched Dronacharya from a distance and learned martial arts and archery. You are my Dronacharya, my Guru. How I found you 3 years back and slowly get introduced to amazing world of Fi is a miracle for me. Without you, I would have been the frog in the well who never dared to jump. The frog who would die but would not try something new because he is too afraid.

    You found MMM and JD. I found you. Forever grateful to you.

    Note: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/story-eklavya-dronacharya-venketesh-pillai-l-i-o-n-#:~:text=Eklavya%20was%20the%20son%20of,teacher%20of%20the%20Royal%20family.

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      You’re far too kind! I have a feeling you’d still be doing great without me. Your mind was in the right place, so perhaps you just needed a nudge from me.

      But, I’ll take the compliment with a super-sized thank you to you! Happy New Year! I hope your 2023 is your best ever!

      Reply

      • MindspeaksFi says

        Thanks Carl. You are friend I never met. You are my North Star. I did not need a nudge, but a shock of lifetime.

        I am looking forward to meet you in 2023.

        I wish you and your family a very Happy and Healthy 2023 and ever.

        Reply

  5. Anna Himes says

    So thankful that you have been around for a decade and I hope for a decade to come. As I am in the middle of my 1500ish days, I am actually glad that you have written about how you wish you hadn’t done a death march toward FI. It has helped me (my husband thanks you) realize that life is to be lived as you try to reach your goals.

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Anna, now is a rough time to be on your journey, so I hope 2022 didn’t freak you out. I had the good fortune of having strong market tailwinds for most of my journey.

      Best of luck and Happy New Year!

      Reply

  6. Matt Berger says

    Hey Carl, Long time lurker first time poster here. Congratulations on the 10 years! I actually got fired from a brutally shitty job in Chicago in Oct 2012 (it was a terrible time for a lot of people) and I decided to change my life. I just wanted to take more control of how I spend the remaining hours on this planet, and 10 years later I’m staring at early retirement in a few months @ 39. It’s amazing how much someone can accomplish in a decade. Thank you for the encouragement/humor from afar and wanted to wish you/mindy and your girls an awesome 2023!

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Whoah, way to go! This is awesome: “It’s amazing how much someone can accomplish in a decade.” It’s crazy how little tweaks can have very big results.

      Are you still in Chicago? If so, have some Portillo’s or a deep-dish pizza for me!

      Reply

  7. Dave @ Accidental FIRE says

    Carl yours was one of the first FIRE blogs I found and I’ve enjoyed your hilarious musings over they tears, a lot. Crapperhorn… that’s classic you. I’m also grateful to have met you a couple times. Huge congrats on a whopping decade of blogging! I’ve only been at mine for 5 years and don’t know if I’ll make another, but hey life is good right? Happy New Year to you and Mindy!

    Reply

  8. Daniel says

    Thank you Carl for your articles, my wife and I have been readers for just a few weeks but are totally mind blown. Really appreesh!

    Reply

  9. Marla says

    Happy new year to you and the family! And, congratulations on 10 years of blogging! Count me as one of your “1000 raving fans” – they say that’s all you need!

    Reply

  10. Robert says

    Hey Carl,

    Thanks so much for writing the blog and for continuing at it for 10 years. (Side note: I think “3652 Days of 1500 Days” would have been a cheekier title for the article, as it would likely have caused a few double-takes 🙂

    I’ve enjoyed reading your writing and have learned a lot about how to keep things in good perspective from following your journey. You have my gratitude for all that you’ve done.

    -Robert

    Reply

  11. Angela says

    You’re probably making more difference to more people than you realise. Thank you for sharing your experiences so openly.

    Reply

  12. Carlos says

    Feliz año nuevo y muchas felicidades por esa década! 🙂
    For you to practice spanish, from a spanish reader.

    Ive been reading you for almost those 10 years and still enjoy it, so lets keep with it for lot more of years!

    Best wishes from Barcelona

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Gracias mi amigo! Me gustan tus palabras en Espanol!

      I didn’t have Google Translate help me there, so those words may not make any sense! This year, one of my goals is to go to an immersion program in a Spanish speaking country.

      And Barcelona! I was there many years ago! What a great place! Did they finish La Sagrada Familia yet? 🙂

      Thank you for your kind words!

      Reply

  14. The Crusher says

    Carl – Congrats!! Amazing work. I have enjoyed following your journey. I even had the pleasure along the way of answering your 10 Questions!

    Love the Crapperhorn analogy. I remember reading about your passion for one tech company in particular that I imagine now has made the downslope of your mountain pretty steep. I think it would be interesting to hear if you did or did not diversify away from that position and why/why not? Just a thought for a post.

    All the best – keep writing and keep bringing your humor along!

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Thank you for the kind words!

      And Tesla! Actually, I’m more confident than ever in the future of the company. It had a great 2022 and will continue to grow aggressively, but there are certainly market headwinds in the near-term (recession, interest rates).

      I added to my position (just a little), but probably won’t add anymore. It is about 16% of my portfolio now and I’m OK with that going to 0 in a worst case scenario.

      I think Tesla will have a strong 2023 as the Cybertruck comes out, they start shipping Megapacks in volume, they open the charging network to non-Tesla vehicles, and they announce the next generation (smaller and cheaper) vehicle. However, I also acknowledge that I could be totally wrong, so future money is going to index funds.

      Reply

  16. FIwithKids says

    Thanks for sharing your journey for so long. Found you when I heard about FIRE a few years ago, was on that journey just didn’t have a term for it.
    Those tumultuous childhoods make us seek out stability and finances are usually the first major part of that.
    I “retired” last year but young kids so a different kind of job now fills my time.
    Not read your history – but curious about Longmont move? Was it MMM that pulled you there? Who else is there as you mention a community?
    Seeking some geoarbitrage locations with good weather as SoCal is hard to beat, but it’s a big sunshine tax to enjoy it!!

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Thank you for the kind words!

      We had originally moved to another part of Colorado and really disliked it. We put our house for sale 2 weeks after buying it! Crazy. Our intention was to move back to the Midwest, but then I discovered MMM. I sent him an email and he was kind enough to give us a tour of Longmont. We decided to give it a test run and the rest is history. That was back in 2013.

      There are a lot of good folks here in the FIRE community, but most don’t have a online presence. Waffles on Wednesday is one that is local though.

      We have a thriving community through the coworking space and also this Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/NoCoMustachians/ You should join the latter in case you’re ever in town and would like to attend something.

      SoCal is REALLY hard to beat. I LOVE the ocean. I LOVE the beach! I LOVE San Diego! Haha!

      If you ever to make it here, we’d love to show you around town.

      Reply

  17. JSD@escapingavalon says

    Congrats Carl! Hope you keep writing. I’ll keep saying it just so you’re reminded of all the people you’ve helped; your podcast was a big reason I finally pulled the trigger on the RE part of FIRE. Without your thoughts on Warren Buffett’s thoughts (so meta), I wouldn’t have come to the conclusion I needed to stop making my life suck for money I didn’t need. Thanks man!

    Reply

  18. Tech says

    Happy New year!

    So glad that you didn’t wrap this up this blog after the 1500 days. I swear, it was not me that hacked WordPress and deleted your final post! 😉

    Both my wife and I learned Cobol in college (this must be a sign we are really old). Like you I moved on to other things in IT, but she is still using Cobol to this day. There is a future for Cobol programmers if they want a niche career working on big legacy systems.

    I am optimistic for 2023 too, the paper losses on the stache will bounce back and besides health and happiness are more important. All the best for 2023 and keep on posting!

    Reply

  20. Corwin says

    Congrats man! It’s crazy how time really does seem to accelerate as we get older. I guess we all need to find a black hole to very slowly approach, so time slows down a bit!

    I was also very curious on your take about Tesla this year, I’m glad I saw your response above. Very bullish! But all your reasons make total sense – even if the CEO doesn’t. I’m just really glad we got our Kia EV before the rebates law changed and it became ineligible for the $7500 rebate we got. Still planning to get a Tesla yourself?

    Reply

    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      Corwin! How the hell are you?

      Did you get the EV6? I recently rode in one and it was pretty good.

      I canceled my Tesla order. With the way markets have been behaving, I just don’t feel good spending that kind of money on something we don’t really need. Perhaps later this year…

      Reply

      • Corwin says

        Great! Life is always a bit crazy with two young kids at home, of course.

        No, we got the Niro EV. The EV6 hadn’t come out yet, unfortunately. But we love the Niro, even if it’s on the lower end of the EV market, and wasn’t designed to be an EV from the ground up (we also have the plug in hybrid version of the Niro). So it’s a front wheel drive, which is annoying with all that torque, but it still beats any dinosaur sludge burning car off the line easily.

        Makes sense killing your order. We’ll see how 2023 goes…

        Reply

  21. pawel says

    Wszystkiego najlepszego w 2023. Spełnienia marzeń, nie tylko tych finansowych.

    🙂

    All the best from Poland.
    Keep writing and keep smiling. I like your balance between FI and RE in FIRE approach.

    Reply

  22. Wade says

    Awesome 10 years Carl!

    I’ve been reading the whole time. Enjoy your posts and humor.

    I’m up for another 10 if you still enjoy it!

    Happy 2023.

    Reply

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