2020 – A Year In Review

The desert landscape stretched out before me like an endless carpet unrolling. 

Desolate and unforgiving.  Lifeforms vacant. 

The smoke was invasive.  September forest fires ringing the horizon like an orange smile – a bastard’s maniacal grin.  I’m coming for you… they seemed to say.  Unstoppable.  Brutal.  Pressing down on me like a God’s fist, punching the putrid choking air out of my lungs. 

And then there was the sun, a claret bloody eye boring into me like a spear impaling my chest.  That lone beam of hellfire and brimstone singling me out, accusingly, like a spotlight on stage. 

Ash rained down upon us, a white patina contaminating the drought cracked Earth.  Cinder snowdrifts dusting the sandy dunes in a scorching swirl like dragon’s breath. 

Where was I?  Where was this barren wasteland of broken dreams and dystopian badlands? 

2020 was where I was.  Smack dab in it.  Staring across my campsite in Lone Pine at the distant flames, eating the world one patient mile at a time.  Kind of like the virus, infecting every victim, one patient host at a time. 

All you knew was that it was coming.  Coming for you like the dark rider himself. 

— 

Wow.  So, what a year? 

Haha.  I had to do a little intro to set the tone.  I know, very histrionic and over dramatic, but I must entertain myself somehow.  And I was just in one of those moods.  But don’t worry, optimism will always prevail even though it looks like we still have quite a few roadblocks to maneuver in 2021. 

Yet, could there have a been a wilder start to the first year of the next decade? 

I think not. 

Records have been shattered like devious little children smashing stained glass windows, normalcy turned upside down as if the Pacific Ocean spit up its bowels and littered the shore with its dead, and uncertainty injected with steroids. 

Welcome to the new age, my friends. 

Our shoes are tied, belts cinched, sunscreen smeared across our noses and ready to embark upon our next adventure into the unknown. 

So, I think I’ll start my year in review by summarizing some major events: 

• March – The pandemic shuts down LA with a stay-at-home order.  This was the first time, and probably only time, I will ever see an empty freeway.  That was a trip. 
• April – Oil prices go negative. 
• May – LA curfew and lockdown is imposed due to race riots and looting. 
• August – Wildfires turn the LA basin into a dystopian wasteland – literally a bowl of fire.
• December – COVID cases erupt like a skyrocket to the moon.

Those are the big ones for me.  There are probably a bunch of other little gems that will come to me later, but I think this is a good summary of my major anxieties throughout the year. 

And this might surprise some, but the biggest shocker on that list for me personally, wasn’t COVID-19, it was oil prices going negative.  I lived through the LA riots as a kid and wildfires are nothing new, so neither of those last two events were shocking in themselves; it was more the overall conditions that proved so challenging. 

Now, of course, I never saw the pandemic coming and never would have dreamed I’d experience one during my lifetime.  However, it was a possibility and life would go on after.  But regarding oil, I have a big commodities portfolio and honestly believed, if I were ever to see oil prices go negative in my lifetime, then that meant only one thing, the entire US economy would have collapsed, and capitalism no longer existed.  I just didn’t think it was possible. 

And wow, look how wrong I was.  Not only did life go on, but the markets didn’t even bat an eye when oil prices turned negative.  That was big wakeup call and learning experience even for a veteran investor like me. 

Alright, let’s look at any big changes that transpired over 2020: 

• In March, the missus was furloughed from work for three months.  Although stressful during the time, this proved to be a blessing in disguise.  The extra unemployment boost mostly evened things out financially and the unplanned break in employment gave her time to reflect and test out how it would be when she does leave her job next year. 
• I also began working from home in March, which proved to be an unexpected blessing as well.  I’ve mentioned it before, but in February I had approached my boss during my annual review with a proposal to work from home two days a month and he rejected it.  Hahaha.  And then a month later we’re working from home every day.  Damn life can be ironic sometimes! 
• I’m going to calculate our annual combined spending after the new year, but from my estimates so far, it looks like we’ll have probably cut our spending in half from 2019.  I knew our spending would be down this year, simply because we couldn’t do that much, but I had no idea it would have dropped so drastically.  I’m excited to dive into all the categories next month and see where the big changes took place. 
• I think my final takeaway is what a lot of people have already said, if anything I’ve learned this year, it’s that the pandemic has reinforced that pursuing FI is the right course of action for me.  Life is unpredictable.  Duh!  We all know that, but when an unexpected “Act of God,” (yes, that is a legal term, I’m not being religious) occurs, and you are financially sound and mentally prepared for the challenge, it just feels good.  So much of life is guessing, so when we get that rare confident reinforcement, we can nod and smile while holding our heads up high. 

2020 Goals Update: 

• Figure out adoption next steps – we decided in early 2020 to pursue fostering to adopt, instead of going the private route.  COVID has delayed this approval process, but we should be completing our final steps in early 2021. 
• Figure out housing next steps – we decided that the best long-term plan for us is to finally buy a home and began actively looking in November 2020 – an update post will be coming on this shortly.  This was a more of a lifestyle/space decision rather than financial, but I’ll be getting into all the details that drove this decision in upcoming articles. 
• Saving/Investing – we easily hit all our investing goals by maxing out both our 401ks and Roths and saving in our taxable brokerage accounts. 
• Downsize furniture/clutter in rental – We were able to do some spring cleaning during the months my wife was furloughed and have prepared for our move as well as fixed any outstanding items in our current rental.  We are ready to rock and roll! 

2021 Main Goals: 

• Complete foster approval and get a baby! 
• Purchase that new home – plan out furnishing and any necessary remodeling. 
• Have Mrs. Q-FI leave her job and toxic work environment to become a stay-at-home mom in Q1 or beginning of Q2. 
• Continue saving/investing (max out Roths and 401Ks, contribute to after tax brokerage). 

Well, there you have it.  Another year lived and in the books.  Lots of fun and stressful life changes coming in 2021 for the Q-FI family, but we’re alive and kicking. 

Thanks as always for reading and supporting my rambling gibberish. 

See you all again soon in 2021. 

-Q-FI 

— 

Easy peasy today.  Tell me one thing 2020 taught you.  Happy Holidays and stay safe my friends! 

• 2020 most viewed post: What Are You Going to Do When You Retire? 
• 2020 most commented on post:  The Day I Died 
• 2020 my personal favorite post to write:  A Starless Black Heaven