How have I now been retired longer than I held my longest job? Longer than I was in college? Literally how 🙂 ? I have no idea, but it’s true. Time is flying and I’m celebrating completing Year 5 of my early retirement!
So to commemorate the end of my 5th retired year and get pumped for the 6th, I wanted to go over where I’ve been, what I’ve spent, any revelations I’ve had, and what’s next in retirement 🙂 . Let’s get into it!
Year 5: Where In The World Is Purple?
In case you want to catch up, here are the recaps from previous years:
- 1 Year Of Early Retirement: Spending, Accidental Income, What’s Changed And What’s Next?
- 2 Years Of Early Retirement: Finances, What’s Changed And What’s Next?
- 3 Years Of Early Retirement: Finances, What’s Changed And What’s Next?
- 4 Years Of Early Retirement: Finances, What’s Changed And What’s Next?
In Retirement Year 5, I lived in these US states🇺🇸:
- New York
- California
- Washington
- Colorado
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
I also lived in these countries:
- Switzerland🇨🇭
- Italy🇮🇹
- The Netherlands🇳🇱
- Japan🇯🇵
- New Zealand🇳🇿
- Perú🇵🇪
- The UK🇬🇧 (England🏴, Scotland🏴)
- Iceland🇮🇸
October 2024
Location: Switzerland🇨🇭 & Italy🇮🇹
I started my 5th year of retirement by visiting Switzerland for the first time and taking my Partner to Italy where I had previously lived for 6 months.
- The Month Of Switzerland & Italy: October 2024 Recap
- Medical Tourism: Dental Cleaning And Cavity Fillings In Bologna, Italy
November 2024
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands🇳🇱
Then my Partner and I headed to my favorite city in the world that I want to live in (besides Seattle): Amsterdam! I originally wasn’t sure about going to The Netherlands in the winter, but it turned out to be a lovely decision. We had a great time exploring this beautiful city and even got to go to a Friendsgiving with a college friend of mine that we met up with.
- The Month Of Amsterdam: November 2024 Recap
- Slow Travel Review: Amsterdam, The Netherlands – The Land Of Canals and Bikes
- Review: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines – Bologna, Italy to Amsterdam, The Netherlands
December 2024
Location: Upstate NY🇺🇸
In December we continued our tradition of heading to my Partner’s family in Upstate NY. We did activities straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie and generally had a lovely time being around my amazing chosen family.
January 2025
Location: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Sapporo, Japan🇯🇵
In January I headed to Japan for the first time! I went with my Mom and we explored the beautiful country and topped off the trip with the 75th Annual Snow Festival in Sapporo.
- The Month Of Yuki Matsuri: January 2025 Recap
- Review: Mt. Fuji & Hakone Full-Day Tour From Tokyo, Japan
- Review: Singapore Air Business Class – LA to Tokyo, Japan For $5
February 2025
Location: Auckland, New Zealand🇳🇿
After that adventure, I met my Partner “halfway” in New Zealand (Spoiler: That is not at all halfway between NYC and Japan 🙂 ). I had visited Auckland in 2023 with my Mom and thought my Partner would love it and I was right! We spent a wonderful 6 weeks there soaking up that Southern Hemisphere summer sun.
- The Month Of Auckland: February 2025 Recap
- Review: Bioluminescence Kayak Tour Near Auckland, New Zealand
- Review: Tiritiri Matangi Island Nature Reserve from Auckland, New Zealand
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Tokyo, Japan to Singapore for $37
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand for $37
March 2025
Location: Tokyo & Osaka, Japan🇯🇵
After that we headed back to Japan so my Partner could experience it for the first time and so we could meet up with our college friends to see the Cherry Blossoms! It was very cool to see Japan during multiple seasons.
- The Month Of Sakura: March 2025 Recap
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Auckland, New Zealand to Singapore for $18
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Singapore to Tokyo, Japan for $18
April 2025
Location: Seattle, WA🇺🇸
Then we headed back to the US and since we were landing on the west coast, we of course had to go back to my love, Seattle 🙂 . Since living there from 2015 to 2020, we have been visiting Seattle almost every year. It’s always fun to get an Airbnb in our old neighborhood of Queen Anne, see our old friends and eat at our local spots.
May 2025
Location: Upstate NY🇺🇸
After that we headed to Upstate NY to see our family. Before getting an apartment we usually tried to be there about every 6 months to celebrate our niblings’ latest milestones.
And that was the other big news in May! We got an apartment in Upstate NY after 5 years of full-time travel and bought a car. I also changed my residency from WA to NY.
- The Month Of Settling Down(ish): May 2025 Recap
- I Got A Homebase! (But Will Still Travel 1/3 Of The Year)
- I Bought A Car! What I Learned As A First-Time Car Buyer
- I Became A NY Resident (Again): Real ID, Voting, Libraries, Healthcare and Taxes
June 2025
Location: Perú🇵🇪
In June I headed to Perú for the first time with my Mom with the goal of seeing Machu Picchu – and we did it 🙂 .
July 2025
Location: The UK🇬🇧 (England🏴, Scotland🏴)
After that my Partner and I headed out for 3 months of whirlwind travel. It began with his first visit to the UK where we traveled with college friends and went around England and Scotland. It was a wild time of fast travel that was a lot of fun, but also quite tiring 🙂 .
August 2025
Location: Bath, UK🇬🇧
Luckily after July’s whirlwind, my Partner and I settled into Bath, England and were able to do our usual slow travel lifestyle. It was a lovely relaxing time.
September 2025
Location: Iceland🇮🇸
After our relaxing time in Bath it was time for a little more fast travel! So we met my Mom in Iceland on our way back to the US and took full advantage of our free 7 day stopover with IcelandAir.
There we completed a lifelong dream of mine to see the Northern Lights, chilled in local hot springs and explored national parks that we missed when we circumnavigated the country last year.
And that’s what I got up to in my 5th year of retirement!
Year 5 Spending
Before I get ahead of myself though, let’s see how much I spent living in 6 US states🇺🇲 as well as Switzerland🇨🇭, Italy🇮🇹, The Netherlands🇳🇱, Japan🇯🇵, New Zealand🇳🇿, Perú🇵🇪, The UK🇬🇧 and Iceland🇮🇸! Here’s the full picture:
Retirement Year 5 Spending Goal: $24,000
Actual Year 5 Spending: $34,500.75
In year 5 I had the goal of spending $24,000 and spent 44% more for a total of $34,500.75🤑. However, I went overbudget for good reason.
After 5 years of being a full-time nomad, my Partner and I decided to sign a year-long lease in Upstate NY. We furnished our new apartment and bought a fancy new-to-us car, which led to a big spike in spending. Without those expenses my spending for the last year was $23,860.25, which is $139.75 or 0.5% under my 2025 budget. Perfect!
Year 5 Net Worth
So that’s how much I spent, but how has my money changed since I retired?
2020
Investments: $500,000
Cash: $40,000
TOTAL NET WORTH: $540,000
2025
Investments: $921,985
Cash: $48,832
TOTAL NET WORTH: $970,817
And here’s how my net worth has grown since I graduated college in 2011 with $5,000 (final 2025 numbers are obviously pending 😉 ):
As you can see, when I retired I had a net worth of $540,000 including $40,000 in cash. As of October 1 2025, I had a total net worth of $970,817 including $48,832 in cash. That was an all-time net worth high for me. Madness!
Originally the unexpectedly slow drain of my cash cushion was a result of interest from my Ally High-Yield Savings Account and some accidental income. I always fully break that down in my annual December income post, so look out for that this year. As an example, here’s that post from 2024:
After living off my cash cushion that I saved because I was retiring into the madness of 2020, I finally touched my portfolio in October 2023 and withdrew $20,000 and have been doing so annually since.
That annual $20,000 withdrawal combined with the taxable dividends that hit my checking account compose what I spend each year. If you’re curious how I sold my investments, I walk through that here:
What’s Changed?
Kinda…everything 🙂 .
- MY PARTNER IS RETIRING!!!
- I Got A Homebase! (But Will Still Travel 1/3 Of The Year)
- I Bought A Car! What I Learned As A First-Time Car Buyer
- I Became A NY Resident (Again): Real ID, Voting, Libraries, Healthcare and Taxes
In summary, the FOMO of not being around my Partner’s family got to us. I also realized that I’m in a financial place where I can be a little less efficient with my money 🙂 .
It’s totally fine to have a homebase to chill in when we want to spend more time around family and also travel the world. Since we got our homebase apartment in Upstate NY, we’ve been traveling 50% of the time. We’ll see if we get that down to our original 1/3 of the year goal during the remainder of our lease.
So there were lots of big changes this year, but that’s kind of par for the course in retirement. Even 5 years of full-time travel was a surprise to me since I thought I’d travel full-time for a year and then want to settle down, but I never got the urge.
And even now my urge is to be around family more and watch my niblings grow up, not to settle down for any of the reasons I expected. But I’m happy with our decision 🙂 .
The other big news this year is that my partner announced that he’s retiring in December!!! I’m so excited for him to have unlimited free time and shake off the stress of corporate life.
What’s Next?
We have our current apartment lease until May 2026. At that time we need to determine if we want to go back to full-time traveling or if we’ll renew the lease and continue being snowbirds by staying in Upstate NY when the weather is nice and visiting sunny places when it gets cold.
Currently I have a bit of our 2026 travels planned, which look like this:
2026
- January-March: México🇲🇽
- April: Arizona
- May: Ecuador🇪🇨
- June: Maine
I’m excited to see how I feel with a more settled down life and a retired partner. I’m also curious how all of that will affect my spending and if I’ll get itchy feet and want to travel more or if I’ll embrace my homebody nature and go full homesteader.
We shall see 🙂 . I’m just excited that I put myself in a financial position to go wherever my whims take me. Let’s see what Early Retirement Year 6 holds!
Amazing Year! This gives me motivation and hope to stay the course.
Thanks so much and I’m so happy to hear that!
Congrats, congrats, congrats!!! What part of Mexico for your snowbird winter 2026?..
Thank you! We’ll be in México City and maybe a few other nearby places.
Congrats on the milestone! I started reading your blog shortly before you retired. At the time I was 25 and had a net worth of $80k so early retirement felt a long way off for me. I’m now almost 30 with a net worth of $515k so it’s crazy to see I’m almost in the position you were when you retired! Early retirement is still a while off for me because I can’t seem to spend less than $55-60k a year so I’m targeting $1.5m. Luckily I’ve been able to build in lots of long-term travel and relaxation to my lifestyle already, but I can’t wait to fully live the retired life one day. Your blog is always motivating and enjoyable to read!
Thanks! Congratulations on that net worth growth – that’s amazing!!! Also great job building travel and relaxation into your current lifestyle. I look forward to welcoming you into the retirement club and I’m really happy to hear you enjoy the blog 🙂 .
Haha what!? It’s been 5 years already. Thank you Purple for your consistency in posting, you’ve helped me more than I can put into words on a blog lol
Haha yeah I’m surprised too 🙂 . And thank you so much – that’s really lovely to hear.
I agree with Ken
Your blog have been an inspiration for me X100.
Thank you Purple to give back to the community and for all your researchs (apps, headset, travel, etc)
Oh wow – thank you so much!! I’m so happy you like my research too 🙂 .
Purple, congrats on 5 years! I would love to chat over a coffee, I live in México, so maybe we can arrange that?
Thank you and sure – what part of México are you in? We can check if I’ll be in your area. Feel free to email me (purple [at] apurplelife.com) if you don’t want to say in the comments.
I just discovered your blog about two weeks ago and I find it really inspiring! Thank you for sharing this trove of information on your expenses and earnings. Do you think you would have still retired at 30 with $500k if you were single (and not having a partner to share expenses with)? I am currently living alone and trying to decide when I should embark on my own early retirement. Thanks!
Thank you! And yep – I calculated my FIRE number assuming I was single and not splitting any expenses in case that happened.
You’ve had so many cool adventures this past year. But it sure doesn’t seem like you’ve spent a lot of time at your home base!
Do you think the apartment and the car were an experiment you might discontinue? Are you leaning one way or the other?
Thanks! And lol that is very true, but all that travel was booked before we knew we would have the homebase. I think we’re going to slow down and stay home more going forward.
Congratulations on five years, Purple, and also on almost becoming a millionaire! I’ve been following your journey for the last 4-5 years and it’s been so cool and inspiring to see you save, travel, grow over time. Love how you and your partner have been trying to stay true to yourselves and pivoting when it’s right to do so. Hope you both enjoy the next year being FIRE together and spending more time with your family and friends. Thanks for continuing to write this blog. It has helped me and so many people.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m excited to what my Partner and I do with a lack of work stress in either of our lives. Thank you for reading!!!
Living the dream! Amazing round-up. It’s still inspiring to see it all in action ❤️
I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed the post – thank you 🙂 .
Can’t believe it’s already been five years! Definitely an inspiration for me over this time, and now I’m at about a month and a half into my own retirement at 31!
Yeah time is flying 🙂 . And I’m so happy to hear that! You’ve got this.