Breadwinning, Six Figure, Millionaire Mom Updates!

Today, in honor of my awesome guest post on the White Coat Investor (all about the lessons I’ve learned from talking with breadwinning, six figure, millionaire moms, I wanted to post a few updates on some of the prior interviewees. You can already find some of these on my one-stop shop page for Breadwinning moms, but I haven’t published a post about it. I’ve been wanting to bring you this update for a while. I’ve always enjoyed reading periodic “updates” posts on some of my favorite sites, and since this is my site, I get to do it too! Births, retirements, new businesses – they’ve been busy!

So Let’s See What They’ve Been Up To…

Mama Fish Saves – My friend Chelsea over at Mama Fish has seen some amazing updates since we last talked with her. She posted on her Instagram the other day that she’s left her job to start blogging and freelancing full time for a year (you go girl!) and she’s no longer the mother of one. She and her husband welcomed her second son not that long ago. Stop by that Instagram for some adorable baby pics! Her original interview is here.

Adventure Rich – My friend Adventure Rich also has an amazing update. Her family has become a one income family – hers! You can go here to find her most recent update on this awesome event, and that post has links to many of her prior posts. She even said this series was helpful to her in making her decision! Aw shucks. Her original interview is here.

Hatton1 – The first doctor I ever talked with was Hatton 1. And apparently I was the first money interview she ever did! I feel honored, because I thought she had an amazing story and lots of wisdom to share. Since talking with me, she also did an interview over on Miss Bonnie MD where she shared some updates. You can always find her over on the White Coat Investor forums if you’d like to connect. Her original interview is here.

She Picks Up Pennies – Penny was a mom-to-be back when she did her interview. Well, she’s a mom-to-be no more! She’s officially a mom to the most adorable feet… I mean baby…that I’ve seen. You can see those feet and her story of how hard it is to back to work after her first son – it’s a story many of us moms can relate to. You can also find baby Half Pennies feet on Instagram. Her original interview is here.

Miss Bonnie MD – Miss Bonnie was also a mom-to-be back when we talked, but no more! She welcomed her baby boy and put up some adorable baby pics on Instagram. She’s started a series interviewing female physicians of all different specialties, and she’s of course still doing her Hipocratic Hustle podcast. Her original interview is here.

Are you sensing a pattern where I hang out on Instagram a lot? Join me over here! I put up lots of adorable pics of my own. No more babies here, though, just the three boys.

Make Smarter Decisions – Back when we first talked, she was planning to retire – and yep, now she’s retired! You can check out her talking about her Colorado trip post-retirement, where she used travel hacking to head out west and visit Mr. Money Mustache world headquarters. Right now she’s living in her lake house, seeking health and not just wealth! You can find her (and me) hanging out in the Younger Next Year Facebook group. They’re inspiring me to stop missing that darned goal of walking at work a few times a week! Her original interview is here.

Life Post-Early Retirement

Wish I Could Surf dropped me a great update when I asked what she had been up to since we last talked. Definitely read through what it’s like to pull the plug and retire early! You can find her original interview here.

What’s a major success you’ve had since you were featured?

Well, I pulled the plug on my career and Retired Early.  I was technically FI for the past 18 months but held out to meet my stretch goal and finish my career on the terms I desired.  Numbers as of today are $1,725,000 in invested assets plus $60,000 in a college fund for the little.  The final number was buoyed by a solid stock market as well as an excellent and profitable half year of work.  My plan is guided by the 3% rule of thumb though I’ve been spending less than my original budget of $4,000 so far by $1,000.  But, I figure it’s better to have a surplus of funds, just in case some unexpected expenses come up.  I‘m at a 2.32% spend at $4,000/month.  Even with sequence of returns risk at an all time high and all the uncertainty about health care coverage, I feel good about those figures lasting me 60 years!  

What’s a major challenge you’ve faced since you were featured?

I sometimes feel a twinge of guilt when I’ve not had a productive day, but it’s subsiding.  The biggest challenge for me has been answering the question:  what do you do with your day now that you have so much time?  Truth is, I don’t really have that much time once I accomplish all the daily tasks in my house as well as my self care routine.  I don’t normally have anything especially noteworthy to discuss about my day unless I made a rare breakthrough in my yoga practice. Or my daughter or I saw something different on our walk to and from school.  I just don’t have to rush in between tasks – I can sit and drink some water (slowly) after yoga, chit chat with folks who were in class with me for a few minutes and then head home at my own pace, many times on bike and on foot.   

What’s changed about your life since the interview?

1. Daily stress levels are dramatically lower than they were when I was working.  
2. I don’t spend much time daily in front of a computer screen.  I try to keep it as minimal as possible.
3. According to my fitbit, I’ve been averaging over 1,000 minutes of activity a week and the past 8 weeks, it has trended up to 1,200 minutes.  Last year at this time while I was working, it was hard to get 400-500 minutes of activity a week.  I’m a mover and always have been and I think sitting or standing at a desk was very tough on me not only physically, but mentally.  My energy levels are higher than ever now and it helps to contribute to my lower stress levels.
4. My family has always focused on eating whole, “real”, foods (we limit processed foods), but we are eating healthier than ever and I feel great (I think husband would agree, kiddo would likely shrug and say she can’t tell the difference).  Personally, I started implementing a 10 hour eating window so that I have 14 hours between my last calorie at night and my 1st cup of coffee for the day.  It’s called time restricted eating.  At any rate, although it took some adjustment to push back my 1st cup of coffee and then breakfast by a few hours, I also feel like this has my body running more efficiently.  There’s a lot of science that supports this eating methodology, so I figured running an experiment on myself to see how my body reacts would be worthwhile.  I feel good and I like the discipline of time restricted eating, but I haven’t been doing it long enough to have a strong opinion on whether it’s right for me long term or not since I’m only a couple months in.  Here’s a link to some more information.
5. I’m living life for the first time in my adult life with no measurable goals.  I want to be active on a weekly basis and practice lots of yoga (which I’m doing). I’m also spending a lot of time enjoying each moment with my family, but purposefully trying to dial things back and be present.  It’s an awesome way to live. I don’t think I’ll hang out in this space indefinitely but this is where I need to be for now.

 What have you learned financially since your interview?

I shared my plan with BigERN – my numbers have changed slightly since I did this due to some unexpected cash flow as well as a continued increasing stock market.

BigERN applied some of his amazing analytical skills to my situation and I should be OK.  Further, he gave me some good advice when it came to my Betterment account.  I knew about the potential issues with tax loss harvesting and had my other accounts linked up to Betterment to prevent a tax audit time bomb. But I decided to self manage my assets by transferring them in-kind to Vanguard.  I don’t dislike Betterment as much as BigERN does, but I decided to manage everything myself and avoid the fees and potential tax audit issues.

What’s some advice you want to share but didn’t get a chance to last time?

I’m re-reading Lean In now that I’m removed from the workforce.  My perspective has changed somewhat and I’m more angry.  Re-reading the book combined with the #metoo movement, I realize that all women have a right to be angry about everything we have had to endure.  I realize now that I minimized horrible behavior but also my own accomplishments just to keep things copacetic at work.  Especially, I think the mansplaining/disrespect many women experience regularly needs to stop.  My hope is that more women will have the courage to speak up and also that other women would be more supportive of our lady colleagues (and other marginalized groups) in the workplace so that we can create a culture shift.  Let’s work hard to pull each other up, ladies!  

Thanks so much to Wish I Could Surf for the awesome update!

There You Have It!

A few major life updates from some amazing women. It’s so interesting to me how much things can change in such a short period of time! Since I published that first interview earlier last year, we’ve had three births (all boys – a pattern?), one new business launched, and two retirements. I can’t wait to see what else is in store!

Those are the major updates I’ve seen. Be sure to stay tuned here for my new series on Women on FIRE, launching next Wednesday!

Don’t worry, the breadwinning moms aren’t going anywhere. I’m still always looking for new amazing women to talk to. Know someone that would be perfect for this series, or is that you? Drop me a note at liz@chiefmomofficer.org. If you’re a prior interview with an update or accomplishment to share, be sure to let me know!

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Want to connect with other money smart women? Join in my Breadwinning Women or Women on FIRE Facebook Groups and find other money smart women like yourself.

If you haven’t already, be sure to swing by my one-stop shop page for Breadwinning moms, featuring all my prior articles and interviews (plus some updates on prior interviewees!). Know someone that would be perfect for this series, or is that you? Hop over to my “Be Featured!” page to access the request form.

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