Savings Report #88 - Hedonic Adaptation

October was another good month for the markets and for the value of the pound, raising our net worth even further. I’m just waiting for the crash at this point.

We’ve really settled into our windy northern home now, everything is unpacked and it feels like home already. Everyone that we’ve met up here has been noticeably nicer than where we previously lived in the South-East and South-West.

My family always joked that Southerners weren’t as friendly before I left for University in the South, but I never really noticed it. Now that I’ve moved back north after 14 years both me and Mrs SavingNinja (who’s a Southerner,) have noticed a number of different interactions have happened in only our first month that hasn’t ever happened previously. Little things like neighbors bringing us Prossecco when we moved in (this has never happened and we’ve moved a lot in three different countries,) our local DIY shop letting us take some wood for free to make a play kitchen for Baby SavingNinja, a whole family helping me fit a second-hand furniture haul into our car, people even wave hello when driving past on our country roads, this never happened in Devon.

I wonder if it’s just this area, or if Northerners really are generally more friendly than Southerners in the UK?

Parental Leave

I’ve got a little over 2 months left of parental leave now, and I know that will go quickly due to Christmas. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the extra time that I’ve been able to spend with Mrs SavingNinja and our baby. One thing that having this leave has taught me, though, is how hedonic adaptation applies to these situations as well.

Usually, this is a word we know in the finance world. You increase your salary, and you adapt to spending more, rather than saving, you get used to your new norm!

With parental leave, I’ve definitely gotten used to it. In-fact, it seems like I’ve had barely any time each day. The days are filled with looking after Baby SavingNinja, shopping, trying to tick off any tasks that may need doing. I feel like I may have actually had more time when working.

This observation has shed some light onto what early retirement might look like. Maybe it won’t be the idealized, “You’ll be able to do anything you want!” that a lot of people quip about. Hedonic adaptation will apply, you’ll normalize to post-FIRE life, and it will be just like normal life, with it’s own ebs and flows of boredom, stress, and happiness.

If this happens, why retire at all? I’ve actually missed work, missed the sense of purpose, my sense of identity as an engineer, missed catching up on the latest trends.

It’s highlighted to me that we definitely need some form of balance. I probably won’t want to quit all together. Finding a part-time job would be a good first step, and maybe keeping that part-time job indefinitely would actually be better than quitting all together.

There’s a lot to think about over the next few years as early retirement truly becomes an option. Right now, I think I won’t be lusting after, and sprinting toward early retirement as much as I have been in the earlier days.

See you next month!