It is March 2020 and I am continuing to think about provisioning and the budget once we cast off.
Up until last month we still had rental income and paychecks. Fortunately we managed to sell the house recently, which will give us the opportunity to put money aside in savings and place the rest in investments. We were also still contributing to a 401k and our Roth IRAs, as well as regular investments until last month. Now all of these contributions have been terminated. Our goal is to follow the 4% rule when it comes to withdrawing from the investments, meaning not to withdraw more than 4% of the total amount of investments per year to ensure sufficient funds for future years without running out. Our investments all focus on index funds to keep fees low. We have been tracking our finances since 2013 using Mint. We also recently found a high-ish interest saving account (currently 1.61% APY) with Varo Money.
Since we just sold the house I am happy to soon remove all of the following items from our budget:
- Home (mortgage & insurance, utilities, internet
- Two cars (insurance, fuel & maintenance)
- Retirement contributions
- Investment contributions
Our other expenses that won’t change (for now at least):
- Mobile phone with international plan
- Boat insurance
- Groceries & food
- Pet food & supplies
- Boat fuel (diesel, gasoline, propane)
- Boat maintenance
For now, sitting in the marina or later at anchor, I don’t expect new expenses. Whenever the current situation due to CoViD-19 improves and we are allowed to leave I will provide updates on this topic.