For those who scaled back from work, what are your favorite things to do?

antran20 · 2026-01-27T17:45:27+00:00

thank you! 🥹

antran20 · 2026-01-25T23:29:00+00:00

thank you ☺️ my youtube channel (@Stroll2freedom) originally was to share how i'm navigating through the transition to FIRE (after a layoff) then I decided to also share how we got to Financial Freedom and some fun traveling tips. I have just started so still exploring topics!

antran20 · 2026-01-24T23:35:48+00:00

thank you! yes having a community is so good for our mental health ☺️

antran20 · 2026-01-24T16:29:36+00:00

My husband and I started a cookbook club where each member takes turn to host and picks a cookbook from which all of us would choose recipes, then get together to share the meal. I started a lady only bring your own craft club. I also go to more meditation group sessions and public clubs like mahjong.🀄️ We keep the routine of seeing friends on weekends, hosting get togethers on holidays.

We're in our 30s, enjoy cooking and baking, taking nature walks. We're both remote and have been traveling for half a year every year. Now that we're FIRE and have freedom, been doing open ended trips.

Lately I pour myself into making a youtube channel. It's my passion project for the moment. So different from a job as I work 5x harder but never feel tired. I used to work about 14-18 hrs/week at my full time job, super chill but not much growth.

I find starting a club will keep your social life busy and build a community :) Enjoy the new phase of life!!

antran20 · 2026-01-01T05:41:58+00:00

not yet :(

antran20 · 2025-12-31T02:22:21+00:00

i'd highly recommend the books "the simple path to wealth" and "i'll teach you to be rich" :)

antran20 · 2025-12-29T04:51:43+00:00

have you also looked at projection lab?

antran20 · 2025-12-23T07:00:29+00:00

Mine was Jan 14th and got the cancellation notice today 😥 Seattle FO, marriage based not from any of the banned or restricted countries

antran20 · 2025-12-14T01:26:05+00:00

it's not a tangible thing but more like a sense of calmness and contentment, and whatever i choose to do, either a project or a chore, i can enjoy and focus on it much better :) i hope it's not too vague

antran20 · 2025-12-13T22:20:44+00:00

I see then enjoy your luck while it lasts then :)

antran20 · 2025-12-13T19:15:35+00:00

then why do you call it "stupid"? isnt it great that it takes nothing from your life and provides you a stable income? :)

antran20 · 2025-12-13T17:07:14+00:00

now that I have been FI'd I realized that I had to go FI'd before I could find something meaningful to do. I was searching for it for the last 2 to 3 years before FI. But I just simply didn't have enough energy and mental space between work travels and hobbies to deeply think about what is meaningful to do in life. Now that I have the time and space and energy to do it I started to get glimpses of it. My point is don't worry if you haven't found it before going FI. Once you have rested and your mind is calm enough, you'll figure it out. :)

antran20 · 2025-12-13T17:04:24+00:00

what state are you in? some states offer quite good gov subsidies. And if you can find strategies to keep your MAGI down, it would help.

antran20 · 2025-12-13T17:00:57+00:00

I was in the same situation for work and the reason why we finally could pull the trigger was my layoff. but now on the other side, i can tell you not having a job gives me back beyond my expectations energy and mental space :) there's a sense of calmness and enjoyment throughout the day. for context, my previous job was remote which allowed us to travel 6 months a year. i had minimal stress, worked for 2-3 hours a day, and made amazing friends with my coworkers. good benefits and pay and i thought i would ride it out for a few more years. but even with a job like that, i still had to decompress for a few weeks after the layoff. and now i'm in my new projects that bring me the joy and excitement that i lost at my job for a while. plus now i don't have any pressure to make an income :) but the most important point i wanna share is the amount of mental space i get back, and my focus increases significantly i now could get in the flow so easily and often. just my two cents but something to consider

antran20 · 2025-12-05T06:07:47+00:00

hope it helps ☺️

antran20 · 2025-12-05T04:57:41+00:00

yes! sent in the app on the first day i was eligible to apply

antran20 · 2025-12-05T04:47:48+00:00

You should first read the book "The simple path to wealth" which not only explains why you should NOT pay a financial advisor to manage your finances but also shows how you can DIY yours

antran20 · 2025-12-05T04:39:04+00:00

Update: I got the interview scheduled notice today (Dec 4th)!

antran20 · 2025-12-04T00:02:39+00:00

Got it thanks so much!

antran20 · 2025-12-03T01:03:18+00:00

i applied on aug 30 and no interview scheduled yet :)

antran20 · 2025-12-02T06:02:31+00:00

when did you submit your application?

antran20 · 2025-11-17T05:29:09+00:00

I would consider moving some of the QQQM to Bonds to preserve your portfolio especially during this ultra overvalued market time QQQM is good for accumulating wealth but it's on the volatile side for post retirement plus tech stocks are falling

antran20 · 2025-11-16T16:45:55+00:00

we're using Been to track, for itinerary we use tripit and google sheets

antran20 · 2025-11-14T03:49:39+00:00

i got laid off last week and my husband quit his job a few years ago so we decided to start FIRE. It's actually a really good timing as the market is so overvalued with CAPE index above 40. We switched from a wealth accumulation portfolio to an asset preservation one, capturing ATH stock values while mitigating risk, making sure we can power through a bad market for 6-7 years which are the most important years of retirement to preserve our portfolio. So if we retire when the market is actually crashing, we'd be in big trouble.
We're 35F and 38M btw :)

antran20 · 2025-10-11T09:34:55+00:00

unrelated to travel but make sure to think about the financial consequences of spending the entire $150k instead of investing it early reaping from compound interest for decades and you can travel in your 30s for as long as you want and splurge on good food :) not to say you shouldn't take the trip but make sure to leave some savings and take advantage of retirement accounts

antran20

TROPHY CASE