How did you lose your eyesight?

I have a condition known as Retinas Pigmentosa (RP) which causes my retinas to slowly die over time. I was diagnosed with this genetic condition when I was in 6th grade.  Over time my vision has gotten worse, in high school I lost my ability to see at night, at 26 I needed to quit driving, Now at 36 I'm now legally blind, but I can still read some from my right eye. That being said my eyes are still getting worse and I will be 100% blind at some point in the future. Doctors tell me my progression has been quicker than normal but there are people with my condition who have become blind before the age of 20 so it isn't entirely unheard of either.

Fun fact RP is one of the leading causes of non age/injury related blindness

Am I really Blind?

Yes I am legally blind.  Legal blindness in United states is defined as less than 20 degrees field of view in both eyes or if your corrected vision is worse than 20/200 in your better eye. My field of view isn’t detectable using standard measuring methods meaning my eyesight is quite poor. we think it’s around 1-3 degrees field of view. for context when I look at a word on a page I can only see 1 to 2 letters at a time.

How much can I see?

Fun fact 9 out of 10 blind people have some useable vision.  My left eye only has light detection, and I can’t read out of it.  My right eye is somewhere between 1-3 degrees field of view.  It’s so low it’s difficult to accurately test.  However it has enough clarity I can read some out of it if I take my time.  It’s also getting worse over time so it’s hard to say how long I’ll have use of this remaining vision. 

How do I use Twitter/ Other Social Media?

I get this question A LOT.  People find out I’m blind and assume I’m in 100% total darkness.  NOT TRUE! 

I can read some out of my right eye.  I also use text to voice software to assist me in reading, especially larger document that are taxing for my eyes.  I also use voice to text for many of my tweets as it’s quicker and easier than me trying to use a touch screen. 

Then of course there is an old fation keyboard. I’m a very fast typer.

 BTW you can find me over on X.com @Blind__Luck

How did I retire at 32?

Great question and it wasn’t an easy task,  I used a combination of savings, investing, planning ahead, and Long Term Disability Insurance to pull together a modest living income.  I continue to save what I can to ensure my future is secure.  I wrote an in depth article which you can find HERE as a guest post over on Financial Samurais website. if you’d like to learn more about navigating the workplace and securing your finances while going blind it’s a solid read. 
I’m not saying this is the best way to retire, frankly the way I retired is rather unique and probably not accessible to most people. But here we are, I enjoy sharing my journey.

What Kind Of Investor Am I?

I'm primarily an index investor I follow my basic 3 fund strategy of

$VTI 70%

$SPHD 20%

$VXUS 10%

Notes: I do own variations / similar funds depending on the accounts such as $VTI / $VOO this is mainly due to when I bout the investment. My expectation is the overall portfolio should perform in line with the above allocation. I do have 1-2% of my NW in a "YOLO Fund" this is where I play with option strategies, buying speculative stocks, and learn different strategies. its a safe space I can take risks without putting the whole portfolio at risk. 

 For a detailed overview and my logic behind my allocations check out My 3 Fund Strategy article.  Not financial advice, just sharing what I’m personally doing.  Your situation may be different than mine and require a different approach. 

I also own a small business (Very small) that I am working on growing into a larger income stream. I consider this a form of investment as well.

What did you do before you retired?

I got my Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from the University Of Washington, after graduation in the middle of the Great Financial Crisis I managed to get a job at a custom fabrication shop building prototypes and other fabrications for Big Oil, the US Navy, Air Force, & NASA.  After 7 years I transitioned to a better paying job as a supply chain manager for a very large aerospace company.   The work was challenging but also rewarding. I learned a lot and am very grateful for the excellent opportunities I was afforded in my career.  I am aware my early retirement would not have been possible without the opportunities I was able to apply my talents to.

What has retirement been like?

I retired in December of 2019 right before the pandemic, at first it was like being on vacation for 6 months.  As the pandemic reality set in. I was grateful I didn’t have to navigate those turbulent times in the workplace.  Over time I realized I needed to set a routine and some personal goals.  We spend much of our formative years in some kind of structure.  Either in school, college, work etc.  you can feel a bit lost If you don’t give yourself a bit of a framework to run your day around.  I also had to address some hard life questions about what did I actually want vs just doing “what was next”. After 4 years(2023) I’m in a good place but it took a lot of work to get here. 

An unexpected challenge was a lot of my peers are still working or raising kids, since I’m not working or raising kids I found that I was on the outside looking in to a norm I don’t quite fit into anymore. . 

Overall it has been very enjoyable.  The change was just less automatic than I realized it would be.  Moving from a very structured and goal oriented life to an unstructured life took a lot of self reflection to ensure the new life I was building was a meaningful one one for me and not just a lit of empty “To-Do items”.   

I go into more details in my article 6 Surprising Things I learned Retiring Early

What hobbies do you have?

I get this question a lot, I think it’s because I’m blind and people wonder if I just sit in a dark room crying all day or something.  I get it, it’s difficult to understand something you’ve never experienced.  Here is a quick list of things I enjoy doing

  •  Hiking

  • Audio books

  • Weight lifting

  • Swimming

  • Wood working

  • Journaling

  • Working on this website

  • Researching investments

  • Spending time with friends and family

  • Beer

 Did I hit everything? if you have any more questions for me feel free to hit me over @Blind__Luck er.com/blind__LuckI’m happy to share my experience with others

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