2021 Annual Review

At the end of 2020, I was hoping for the next year to be more relaxed. 2020 seemed pretty intense for a lot of reasons, and while I am firmly on the side of not wanting to go back to what used to be considered “normal” in many ways, I was hoping vaccines and other developments would bring back some of the things I liked about the old way of things. Maybe more time with friends and some international travel?

Needless to say, that was not what 2021 had in store for us! The year kicked off with political turmoil and upheaval and continued full bore ahead with new waves and COVID variants seemingly around every corner. The year also included a lot of challenges, illness, and loss of loved ones on a personal level. Despite all this, 2021 was also an amazing year packed with exciting and sometimes unexpected adventures, massive personal growth, new friends, and eclipsing financial milestones.

Thankfully, along my journey so far I have picked up mental and emotional tools that have helped me cope with the challenges, an amazing support group of family and friends, and a framework for financial wizardry that keeps us nimble, adaptable, and antifragile in the face of challenges. I’ve had the luck to be dealt good cards and take advantage of many of the opportunities life has thrown my way or learn from those I missed. I’m deeply grateful.

This is my fourth year posting my annual review publicly. As usual, I’ll follow this format:

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House Dreams

pool on roof of house

Mrs. Wallet and I recently bought a house. We live busy lives as I’ve described previously. The property is going to require quite a bit of work on our part and is going to divert funds that we would otherwise invest to accelerate our path to financial independence.

How did this happen? Having once thought we would be renters for life, why would we take on this huge commitment? Let’s take a look at what convinced us to make the leap to buying our home.

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2018 Annual Review

a man looking down into his reflection in a puddle

It’s the end of one year and the beginning of the next, which calls for a little self-reflection. Over the last few years, I’ve been moving away from New Year’s resolutions, which don’t seem very effective, toward annual reviews. I find reflecting on the past year to be much more effective, and while I still set a vision and goals for the coming year (mostly making sure I’m in alignment with my core values and long-term plans), the flavor is a little different. 2018 will also be different as it will be my first year sharing my review publicly!

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