Are You Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? 2024 Edition

Are you better off than 4 years ago? This is what we hear every presidential election. However, it’s really a trick question. Everyone should be better off after 4 years no matter who the president is. However, the last 4 years are a little different. All of us went through the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a once-in-a-lifetime traumatizing experience. The pandemic set all of us back hugely. Was 4 years enough to regain some ground? Let’s look at 3 important facets of life to see if we are better off – health, wealth, and happiness.

The RB40 family has done pretty well over the last 4 years, but we have some issues too. Personally, the last 4 years felt much more difficult than any previous 4 years periods. However, we still came out ahead. I encourage you to do the same and take my poll.

 Loading …

Health

Health is a big issue. It’s harder to enjoy life if you aren’t healthy. Unfortunately, I’m 50 and my health is in decline. This is different than the previous 4-year cycle. In 2020, I felt healthier than ever. Now, I’m a little less healthy in almost every way.

Working out – I started working out at the gym regularly late last year. It felt good at first, but I developed joint pain in my knees and elbows. Evidently, I can’t work out like I used to anymore. My joints are a bit better after 2 months of vacation. However, they are still not 100% back to normal. I still feel some pain when I carry heavy items. I’ll continue to minimize stress on my joints and talk to my doctor soon.

Eyes – My eyes are drying out much quicker. I can only work on the computer for about 2 hours before it becomes difficult to see. The eye drops help a bit, but not for long. I had this problem since I was an engineer. In 2012, I couldn’t read by the end of the day. That’s one reason why I wanted to retire early from my engineering career. Unfortunately, the dry eye problem has worsened over the years. I think living in Portland exacerbated it because the heater is on constantly. The air is too dry. My eyes felt much better in Thailand and Japan. It was a lot more humid there.

General health – My general health is okay. The numbers got a bit worse over the last 4 years, but it isn’t too bad. The doctor changed my meds and increased the dosage a little. I feel okay about it. My blood pressure and triglyceride level are a little high.  

Mental health – The last 4 years were tough. We were very lucky to move into our house before the lockdown began. We had a yard and didn’t mind staying at home. It was great. Mrs. RB40 enjoyed working from home. RB40Jr liked remote schooling. It wasn’t a difficult period for us. The only big problem I had was my mom’s health. She had Alzheimer and it worsened dramatically during the pandemic. She passed away last year and I had a difficult time with it. She deserved a better retirement. But that’s life. You never know what the future holds. At least she is not suffering anymore. I’m okay with it now.

Overall, I’m a little less healthy in almost every way. That isn’t good, but I guess that’s a normal part of aging. Hopefully, the rate of decline is stable for a long while.

Wealth

It was a tough 4 years for many households. We were fortunate to survive and thrive. Most of our wealth is invested in the stock market. It took a hit in 2020, but came back strongly over the last 4 years. I held on and invested more whenever we had extra money. That’s the secret to investing. You have to keep investing through the thick and thin.

We did pretty well because we were already established and didn’t have much debt. The only debt we had was a low-interest mortgage. My investments were mostly in index funds and dividend stocks. Sure, we had some risky investments, but it was a small percentage of our portfolio. We were in a position of strength before the pandemic and we pulled through pretty well.

It’s important to note that Mrs. RB40 had a stable job and we didn’t have to draw on our investment during the last 4 years. This made it much easier to grow our wealth. We wouldn’t have been able to do as well without her income.

Happiness

Happiness is very subjective. Personally, I feel more content than ever at 50. Life is going well and we don’t have any big problems to deal with. My mom’s health problem caused some unhappiness, but that’s in the past.

My dad helped me realize this period probably will be the happiest time in my life. My marriage is good and RB40Jr is growing up in a happy household. We have a lot of fun as a family. Life is good now and we are enjoying it.

Are you better off than 4 years ago?

All in all, the RB40 household is better off than 4 years ago. The only problem is my slowly declining health. But that’s just a part of aging. Hopefully, I can stay at this level for a few years.

I feel very fortunate. Many households struggled over the last 4 years and haven’t recovered yet. In contrast, these last 4 years were good for us. We had a good time and we are looking forward to the next 4 years. I hope everyone does better over the next 4 years as well. Good luck and keep at it!

Alright! I managed to write this post without touching politics until the end. The most important thing about this election is to vote. Billions of people around the world don’t have this basic right. It’s our obligation to vote and support democracy.

How about you? Are you better off than 4 years ago?

If you’re curious, here is the 2020 edition of this post and the result of the previous poll.

Please follow and like us:

The following two tabs change content below.

Joe started Retire by 40 in 2010 to figure out how to retire early. After 16 years of investing and saving, he achieved financial independence and retired at 38.

Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the USA so check them out!

Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.