An Early Retirement Update from QCash

Since our last interview QCash, the guy who retired @ age 36 with a net worth of over $2 million, we have received a tremendous response from readers looking for more info on the early retiree.  I’ve contacted QCash and he has kindly taken the time to write an update on his early retirement.

Thank you for the opportunity to give you a little bit of an update on my ultra-early retirement a la Derek Foster.

As you recall, I had built up a sizable net worth which allowed me to generate a passive, investment income equivalent to my employment income.   It was reaching this level that allowed me to seriously consider “taking some time off.”

As far as my portfolio providing a return to “stay retired”, I am happy to report that my cash flow has been positive through out the year with dividend and investment income exceeding our requirements. This still has to be rebalanced a little, because I have been putting off selling any investments to avoid capital gains taxes this year.

In addition, with the market doing as well as it has, I have increased my overall net worth and remain quite confident of my ability to handle this early retirement. I still have my rental properties, and for the time being I guess my profession is landlord, but it is not taking a great deal of my time.

I might make my next submission about some of the actual investment strategy, but for this post, I will keep it to what I have been up to.

So far, I can report on that on a personal level, I have had a hard time “winding down”.   My wife thinks I am busier now than when I am working.

Here is a brief summary of what I have been doing to keep my brain from atrophying:

1. I am currently chair of our Business Improvement Association. Since one of my investment properties is within the BIA and has a commercial component, I qualify, but most BIAs will let you participate if you are nominated by a qualifying business. 2) I organized a Charity Golf Tournament in July for Breast Cancer Research with a friend who lost her mom to it.
2. I just finished organizing our community festival this past August. It took far too much time with not enough “young blood” to keep all the hard work out of my hands.
3. I am helping a friend write a business plan for a voip/internet/dsl business start up. It is lots of fun and lots of research.
4. I spent lots of time with the kids this summer through their various activities including coaching TimBit soccer (rather like herding cats, but lots of fun).
5. We have only now just sent our oldest out into the cold cruel world with her first day of JK, and at our school meeting was asked to join the fundraising committee.
6. I started piano lessons this month.
7. I did not get to play nearly enough golf, but that is on next years’ agenda.  But I did manage to completely finish phase I of my wife’s three year-three phase gardening and landscape project which answers why not as much golf, perhaps.
8. I took a three week French immersion course et maintenant, je dois attendre pour le prochain ete pour niveau deux.  (and if that makes no sense to you, I will remind you it was only trios semaines)

On a professional level, I have been asked to help with a couple of start-ups (see Number 4 above) but it has mostly been providing financial advice and doing up business plans (no income yet, but I have been promised loads and loads of stock options) :)

So what’s next?

I am actively looking into buying some property to actually develop (not be a landlord, but be a property developer) because there is a real lack of high quality, multi-residential, condo style apartments in our town.   There is a real need for them for an active senior population and I want to locate them in our Downtown as part of our downtown revitalization strategy which I helped write.

This will probably take me out of the “early retired” category, but if I follow this path, it will be doing something new, exciting and challenging which is what my old job was lacking.

No decision yet. My wife keeps reminding me that property development will always be available, and that if we are heading into a market downturn, maybe now isn’t the right time.

In the meantime, I plan to take a deep breath this fall. We are heading out to Disney World for a couple of weeks in October and after that, I might read a book or two (not write one). :)

Thanks for the update QCash, we look forward to your investment strategy article.