Mornings

 Mornings are like this:

Wake up without an alarm — this is such an unbelievable gift. Although it is of course a gift to have to wake up in order to do all the things that are gifts as well — practicing in India, the opportunity to work, get your Mexican residency, have a body that can do the things. And also, alarms kind of put me in a panic mode. I like to sit in the dark in the morning. In the silence. On the floor. Maybe music but I have to pick it. In the last month I’ve received a nickname - the little troll haha. 

Sip coffee — I have been told it isn’t coffee. The best people don’t comment. They just sit by your side or keep increasing the strength with love. 4 heaping spoonfuls of Nescafé instant in scalding hot water. That’s the recipe. It isn’t up for discussion. 

We have these gorgeous high ceilings in our flat and full floor to ceiling windows that open to the warm tropical air. I sit kind of outside and kind of inside or we all pile together as the city slowly wakes up.  

You can see the ocean. I can’t believe I am here and also it feels like the only place I should be. 

I journal or read or watch little YouTube videos. I make list after list. 

Then a shower and on my mat for practice. It doesn’t really matter what time I get up. I am always the troll. And I am always not really awake until 11am. 

Most of the time now we are finding personal homeostasis - mental and physical health. De-stressing. Recharging. Home cooked meals. Gardening. Running, yoga, working out. Cleaning out our closets. Dreaming about the future. Setting up our home. 

Yesterday we went on an adventure to surrounding towns in search of baskets. It turns out baskets are the big thing that we both feel will bring our visual home homeostasis peace. Big baskets and small baskets to put all the little things in that don’t really have a place or aren’t really that visually appealing. Just little plastic bundles of advertising with things we really appreciate having inside. We want to put them in baskets. And right now baskets are not so easy to find. 

We did get our Amazon set up. But you know there is US Amazon and MX Amazon and which do you use? And where do you ship? And do they even ship to you? We ordered some wall hangers to find out. Success. We placed an order of our biggest wants. They will be here in 10 days. Like it’s 2002. But still, I’m super happy. People ask what I’m doing and I’m again and again saying “getting settled”. And eating tacos. There are a lot of tacos. 

And reminding myself to just be here. To wait thirty days before the financial stuff. (Yesterday.) Because sometimes just like in India or anywhere when you have big changes you sometimes get this urge to like organize things or control something or wipe something away, delete, leave, escape etc. And I think I managed to talk myself down with that post. ONE MONTH. You take your own wisdom and advice and you wait ONE MONTH. 

Step two though, in case you are wondering, is take inventory. Maybe that’s one for tomorrow because now its time for practice :)

About me — I walked away from corporate America / I quit my career as a successful financial advisor / detangling the finances of quitting

I don’t know what to title this. 

Maybe we start here. 

I became a financial advisor in 2015. I was an art school graduate, militant vegan, and full time yoga teacher. That’s another story. 

Maybe we start right here, right now. 

I quit last week. Generally, when a financial advisor leaves a firm the firm does not take the risk that the advisor might do something shady (steal clients). It’s an immediate shut down/lock out/walk out bye bye. That’s another story.

So we start right now. What do you do when you get fired or laid off or you quit or you retire? As a financial advisor this is a situation I helped many people get through. I guess it is my turn. 

People think (at least I did and actually still do) that being a financial advisor/aka having a series 7 license/aka being a stock broker is this very fast paced sexy life with lots of screaming into phones and partying (I’m still waiting). Maybe it was that. Actually, I know it is for some and was definitely in the past. Not really anymore. Or maybe I’m just not that cool.  Mostly it’s boring. Just like me. And just how I like it. Smooth, simple, gentle. No big waves. It’s helping people stay emotionally sober and objective. That’s the big thing. Turns out a whole lot of world travel, experiencing different cultrues, and teaching yoga for 10+ years was really helpful for that.

Yes, I placed trades as a financial advisor. I bought and sold investments, gave investment advice, built and maintained portfolios, etc etc. The thing is as a financial advisor it’s kind of like this umbrella term. The actual day-to-day activities can be so many different things depending on the clientele and the firm etc. etc.

 Also another story. 

So we focus on right now. Right now I am the client. I have just left my previous employer. What now?

The first thing is to do absolutely nothing. 

Do nothing. 

Just be totally still. 

Because actually nothing is a big emergency. 

You learn that as an advisor. There are no huge financial emergencies in general. Not in the true sense of the word. 

Not like a few hours ago when we were having coffee and the glass balcony shattered above us. That was potentially an emergency. Except no one was hurt. Except for a tiny scratch on my hand and an actual childhood fear coming true. Someone had leaned on their glass balcony ledge and it shattered. 

So even though the second you leave or quit or whatever it feels like maybe you have to start changing accounts or moving money around etc. you actually don’t need to do anything. People get paid when money moves so people (companies) will start advertising to you. It is what it is. You are vulnerable and in an excited state of moving and basically are a walking dollar sign. 99% of the time the best advice is likely going to be just do nothing. For now. 

It might be hard. You might want to run as far as you can from where you worked, taking your 401ks with you. Or be on a whole “new me” kick and it seems super iconic to make these big moves chasing a $500 credit for opening a new account etc etc. 

I can assure you now is not the time. 

Now is the time to be still and take pause. 

Do nothing. 

It’s not just some yoga jumbo jumbo. 

Because you don’t really always know when your last paychecks or bonuses might trickle in to this account or that. You don’t know when there might be a final 401k match or contribution. Maybe some severance or unused vacation will be paid out. 

As hard as it is or may be — don’t open or close any new accounts yet. 

The exception is if you are moving to a new employer and there is a 401k plan there. Then, yes, you absolutely should take advantage of any potential free money. More on that later.

Because right now is right now. Right now I am not going to work for another firm. I am done. I am grateful for the time and the experience and all the things. And now no more. More on that later. 

Right now we are staying right here. 

Right here is doing nothing. It means closing  all open tabs researching “bank promos” or “free trade accounts”. Do nothing. 

Usually it takes a couple of payroll cycles for all residuals to be paid out. Also, sometimes you aren’t allowed to move your company retirement accounts for a certain amount of time. 

Wait at least ONE MONTH before making any moves. 

You should find out when your health insurance is finished though. That’s beyond boring for me. So, no more on that later ha. 

So right now we are stopping ourselves from making any moves. Stopping ourselves from doing any research on new accounts etc. Right now we are just pausing for one month. 

You could in month two or right now also take inventory. 

If step one is PAUSE/DO NOTHING FOR ONE MONTH then step two is TAKE INVENTORY WITHOUT JUDGEMENT. More on that later. 

Right now we are just doing that whole yoga, mindfulness, meditation thing and staying in the present. And in the present we don’t need to do anything. In fact, we shouldn’t. 

Step one: pause / do nothing.

Travel Diaries aka Mostly Notes on Quitting Your Job

2024 Thoughts 

-Slow living

I like having my phone off and being off grid and not being able to be found. I like not knowing what time or day it is and taking ten hours to brush my teeth. I’m starting a garden. Cooking. Attempting to do less. Noticing how caught I have been in the busyness of it all even though I hadn’t wanted to be. 

In Mysore you get there, the yoga plus one. You realize it quickly if you are lucky. It isn’t really possible to do a bunch of things really really well. It all starts to get thinned out into nothingness and wasted efforts. 

Getting here though - from New Mexico to Nevada to New Mexico to Mysore to New Mexico to Mexico -  that took everything I had in a way. But it also felt so automatic. It was just happening like it was the only direction to walk. And now the slowing down.

-Minimalism

With the transitions there are definitely edits that are still needing to be made. For me it starts with just taking inventory:

    -Writing

I miss it. I missed the ritual of practice then process. Here we are again and I don’t know I guess you just have to start somewhere and it turns into something. 

    -Living in Mexico

At times there isn’t any water. The Bici bikes are handy. I like our depto. We are busy settling in. Settling in takes time. 

    -Quit corporate job and leave finance

That happened and feels great. Actually I went to college for painting. I taught yoga full time for about ten years after that and then realized that being a starving artist yoga teacher was pretty painful. (And I didn’t think it was very glamorous anymore.) Through a lot of hard work and tons of luck and twists of fate I broke into finance. The next 9 years were sink or swim but they got me here so I am really proud/grateful/fill in the blank. 

    -Prioritize health

“Here” is Mexico with my partner and our dogs just living our little life. 

And now I have the time and the bandwidth to write again. 

Quitting Job List 

Financial Advisor/Yoga Teacher Notes

-Financial

    -Make a list of all HR accounts associated with firm

        Health insurance, Dental, Vision, HSA, Life Insurance, 401ks, etc. Know when they expire. Know if you have to take steps to keep them in place (and if you want to). Know that for the 401ks etc often you have to wait a bit before you are able to move them elsewhere. Check on that. Know that sometimes all your money has been sent to you in a final check but other times there will be little trickles still into your 401k etc so maybe wait a bit before doing anything. But check on the insurance stuff as soon as possible. Also, a lot of things will be mailed as a formality so if you are out of the country that will be a thing… 

    -Make a list of all money accounts that you have elsewhere

        Take inventory for now. Where are they? How much? How are they invested? What are they earning?  Fees? Etc. 

    -Budget Beginnings

        Take inventory. Make a list of all expenses and subscriptions. Check bank activity, credit cards, Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal, email accounts, app subscriptions, etc. Make a big list. 

-Emotional/Spiritual

    -Write it all down but don’t make any sudden movements that aren’t necessary. 

    -Journal/gratitude journal. So corny but they work.

    -Move your body each day

    -Drink water

    -Sleep

    -Slow down

The thing is to not to try to do anything except the same process again and again each day and slowly it’s like this settling that happens. The dust settles. The boat stops rocking. The pendulum stops swinging. I’ve moved and traveled and been married and divorced and lost loved ones and I don’t know apparently have done a bunch of things where actually there is wisdom now I guess and I am really just saying all of this or typing all of this for myself. Maybe this is self-soothing? Maybe all that yoga and self help stuff and podcasts and YouTube videos and oil pulling and therapy etc etc etc etc has paid off. 

Really this is just a comedy blog. 

And really I am just honestly blissed out about starting my little balcony garden, making a smoothie bowl, and walking our dogs on the beach.