July 17, 2021 — Page 2 Of 4

Upcoming Holidays – July 17, 2021

Andy | July 17, 2021

Next Saturday is Strugeon Moon 🌕 – Jul 24
Five Saturdays until World Mosquito Day 🐞 – Aug 21
Eight Saturdays until September 11th 🇺🇸 – Sep 11
Two months – Constitution Day 📜 – Friday Sep 17
Nine Saturdays until 7 PM Sunset 🌆 – Sep 18
16 Saturdays until Daylight Savings Time Ends 🛥️ – Nov 6
17 Saturdays until Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 – Nov 13
18 Saturdays until Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 – Nov 20
19 Saturdays until Small Business Saturday 🛍️ – Nov 27
22 Saturdays until Bake Cookies Day 🍪 – Dec 18
23 Saturdays until Christmas 🎅 – Dec 25

Good Evening – July 17, 2021

Andy | July 17, 2021

Good evening! Even though it’s been a stormy Saturday I’m making the best of it ⛈

Mostly cloudy with a few rumbles of thunder and 79 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. ☁ There is a north-northeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 70 degrees.

Been a hotter and more humid day than was predicted by the weather man 👨. I feel like I’m in a swamp. Took the earlier bus 🚍 back from Thacher Park to hopefully avoid the worst of the rain on my walk home. 🚶🏻 Hiked to Hang Glider cliff, it was muddy, then back to the Discovery Center and hung my hammock until it started to rain. Then I hiked the Bear Trail under the escarpment 🐻 and the rain picked up. Caught the bus to Five Rivers and watching the very happy robins 🐦 and soon I’ll head home.

While it’s not been super wet here, Gilboa has gotten a lot of thunderstorms so I bet the pool was closed all day and it wouldn’t have been worthwhile to head out to Schoharie. 🏡 The Nature Bus is free and I’ve really enjoyed exploring Thacher Park worry and anxiety free 🆓 this summer.

A half million dollars?

Andy | July 17, 2021

A half million dollars?

I am getting close to a net worth of $500k which I should reach by the end of the year if the markets don’t completely crap out before the end of the year. It’s almost all money I’ve made myself and invested. I recognize that my current financial struggles are just a temporary dilemma as I build a secure retirement and save for my off-grid property that I should be able to buy with cash and live simply.

The way I look at it is if I can manage a 7% return on my investments over the next decade, I should be able to have more than a million on capital gains alone along with continued investments that will get me closer to $1.5 million by my mid-50s when I leave my good paying job for a better life. Plus wherever I end up moving, be it rural Missouri or South Dakota or elsewhere, I will probably still need a real job beyond my homestead for at least a few more years as I think universal health care is still a few years off.

Sounds like a lot of money but it really isn’t. Land and equipment is expensive and I hope to have many years in retirement. I don’t want to live fancy but I do want to have the money needed for the equipment needed for a hobby farm, a truck, four wheeler, guns and other implements for working the land.