How I Evolved In 2021 In Semi-Retirement

I’ve done updates on my total spending and my business income for 2021.  This last update will be about everything else, and how I continue to evolve in semi-retirement.

Firstly, more numbers.  If you’re reading this on a full computer you’ll notice I track my cycling, running, and paddling miles every year among other things on the right sidebar.  It’s easy to do because I record them all on Strava, the popular app for athletes.

In 2021, I rode my various bikes a total of 5620 miles!  That is about the same as the great circle distance between Washington D.C. and Kutaisi, Georgia.  Not the Georgia of peaches and Atlanta, but the country Georgia in the Caucuses Mountains of Asia!

 

Looks crazy huh?  Let me tell you, those endless miles across the ocean were lonely and desolate…  haha.  More seriously, this was an average cycling year for me.  About 70% or so of those miles were training and racing miles on my road bike or mountain bike, while the other 30% were a mix of errands, bike touring, and just putzing around. 

Once again I rode way more than I drove my car in 2021.  I drove a total of 2147 miles, so human power beat gas power for me again for the 4th straight year.  My 2021 activity tracker ended up like this:

I would have liked to have gone hiking and climbing more, but I can’t do everything.  There are so many folks ‘working’ from home or not working at all the local climbing crags are crowded all the time, even weekdays. 

 

Ever Changing Routines

One of the major changes I made in 2021 was that I stopped napping, for the most part.  I wrote a post back in 2020 about my experiments in napping and coffee naps.  During 2021 I doubled down on my regular sleep hygiene and really focused on sleeping well at night. 

I improved a lot, and along with that I found less and less desire to nap in the afternoon.  I was also becoming frustrated with the fact that about 2 out of every 5 naps would leave me more groggy than refreshed, and I couldn’t pinpoint why.  Most naps were helpful, but the unhelpful ones were really a drag on the rest of the day. 

My daily routine for my non-W2 working days in 2021 consisted of waking up early, working on my business for 4 – 5 hours, then doing a long bike ride or run.  Some days the ride or run came earlier to either beat the brutal heat of D.C. summers or to meet up with others. 

The rest of the day would entail cooking and eating, doing DIY projects, playing guitar, reading, or dabbling in my numerous other hobbies.

 

Life’s Challenges And Victories

2021 brought major health challenges for members of my family and I spent a lot of time dealing with those.  It is what it is, and I’m blessed to be in a position to help.  It was a great reminder to never take my eye off my own health and the need for discipline in that arena. 

If you’re not a regular reader you may not know that I used to be obese and unhealthy in every way, but now firmly ensconced in middle age I’m the healthiest and fittest I’ve ever been in my life. 

On that note 2021 was a huge bright spot for me.  I absolutely destroyed all of my cycling personal bests and won quite a few races. 

Because of my discipline and focus on my body I can now run faster, jump higher, lift more, and ride my bikes faster than ever.  And I’m over 50.  “Science” says I should be declining.

Fuck science, outliers exist.  I’m proof.  If you want it, work for it.

One of the reasons I believe I had such a great 2021 is because cycling group rides and races came back.  In 2020 all races and group rides stopped due to covid.  Riding solo is still very healthy and good for you, but it’s hard to get that extra 10% that you get “chasing and racing” your friends. 

So 2020 for me was a maintenance year of just trying to keep base form.  But when group rides came back in 2021 it was full-throttle game on!  And the fun, excitement, and sheer pain of racing with my friends elevated me to new heights of fitness. 

I have a high bar to reach this year if I wanna improve further but I’m up for the challenge. 

 

My Investments

Yes this is a blog mostly about financial independence, thanks for reminding me.  In 2021 I started to de-risk my portfolio.  I didn’t make drastic moves but I now have a smaller percentage in equities and a higher percentage in bonds.  As I said in that post, when you’ve won the game you should quit playing.  Or at least make your playing hand much safer. 

Like many others I bought $10,000 in I-Bonds which was a no-brainer given the 7.12% interest rate.  I bought another $10,000 right after new years.  And to protect further against inflation I bought a Vanguard TIPS fund.

Besides that I maxed out all of my tax sheltered accounts in 2021 (TSP and Roth IRA) and still saved some extra money after that.  As I’ve mentioned before, my investment philosophy is boring and simple.  I like to spend as little time on my portfolio as possible because time is money.  If I spend more than 5 minutes in any given month, that’s because it’s tax month.

 

This Here Blog

I’m well into my fifth year of blogging.  My blog is slowly losing readership and, well, I just have to accept that.  I feel that I’m still posting in general about the same things and with the same voice, but perhaps you my dear reader can correct me on that if you feel otherwise. 

I refuse to do listicles and robotic SEO-focused posts to chase pageviews, that’s not me and frankly sounds like misery.  I have a voice and a style and I plan to stick with it.  If my readership continues to decline I’ll have to make the decision as to whether or not it’s worth it to continue. 

I still get “love your blog” comments and messages as well as emails saying that I’ve helped people.  Those are amazing and are the reason I started doing this in the first place. 

We’ll see how 2022 goes, but as a numbers guy I have to admit it’s difficult seeing a decline in reach.  Regardless, if you’ve read this far you obviously like something here and for that I thank you, sincerely. 

Let’s all make 2022 the most ass-kickiness year ever!