Retirement - first anniversary

The first anniversary of my retirement (30 September, 2013) came and went without registering so this is a month late.

From a financial perspective, things have gone well. It would have been nice to start with a raging bull market and watch my equity portfolio appreciate by 20% but at least it was not a full on bear market. After all the ups and downs, during the first year of retirement, net worth increased by 4.9% after paying our living expenses during that  period. In effect, I have paid the bills and beaten inflation.

 On a cash flow basis, I have more or less broken even - a calculation which includes the principal component on our home mortgage and does not take into account either my or Mrs Traineeinvestor's part time incomes (trivial in my case). However, we took one less holiday than normal during this period and had the special dividend from Hutchison (HK:13) and, if those are taken into account, the cash flow situation is not quite so good once the two part time jobs come to an end. We will probably find that dividends and net rents do not quite meet all outgoings but that situation will reverse when the home mortgage is paid off in about six and a half years from now.

The home rennovation project has been delayed yet again. We will do it as and when the tenant moves out of one of our investment properties (rather than go to a serviced apartment for 3-4 months). An accrual has been made for most of the expense.

In terms of other issues:

1. the part time study is going very well - I am on track to finish in mid-2015 and will need to line up my next project after that;

2. progress on the novel has not been as good as I would like but is not terrible either - instead of finishing a rough first draft by the end of this year I am looking at early 2015;

3. I had some minor sporting injuries (plantar fasciitis) which have taken a long time to clear up with consequent adverse impact on fitness and weight - this has been the only serious disappointment in my retirement so far;

4. volunteer activities have gone as planned - fostering kittens for the SPCA, serving on some Law Society committees and two other positions;

5. I have spent a lot more time with my children.

All in all, retirement is off to a good start.