Diary of a future rentier (7)

Minus 3 degrees outside, icy roads, pile-ups and snow that never stops falling. I am happy not to have to work today. It is for these still too rare moments of tranquility that I fight every day with a view to becoming a rentier.winter reminds me every year to order: it cyclically punctuates a hard year of work by adding even more unfavorable external conditions. It is as if all of nature wanted to make me understand that working is not normal. Animals hibernate, so why not us?

This alternation of seasons allows us to take stock at regular intervals of time, but long enough nonetheless. The path on the road to the rentier requires patience and sometimes we can have the impression of stagnating, or even regressing. Last winter I thus benefited from a lot of free time and I was only slightly stressed by my job, when I was there. On this snowy day, in the warmth of my apartment, I feel like I'm reliving those magical days of winter 2011-2012.

Yet since then, my quality of life has generally deteriorated and my job takes up all my time. How is it possible to have enjoyed the pleasures of the rentier life and then fall even lower into the failings of this post-industrial society, which has only replaced machines with computers?

I could have seen this ephemeral window on the life of a rentier as Pinocchio's pleasure island, a magical place, where everything is permitted, but which contains a horrible curse. Children worthy of the dunce's cap are in fact transformed into real donkeys who are then sold in salt mines or circuses. My own experience is so close to it that it gives me shivers down my spine. But being an optimist by nature, I prefer to consider this moment of peace as a foretaste of what awaits me in a few years. And suddenly it motivates me even more.

Although my quality of life has deteriorated over the past year, this has not prevented me from laying new foundations for the future in 2012. I have almost finished paying off my first property purchase, which is now rented out. The income I get from it covers the interest and costs of my current home. With the stock market being a bit high and having little cash due to my property investments, I have hardly bought any dividend payers this year. However, with these new foundations laid, I will have more cash to invest starting in 2013.

The foundations I laid this year therefore allow me to see the future with more serenity even if, on the surface, I have not really progressed since last winter. On the surface only...