First, want to say my sincerest sympathies for those who have struggled in 2013 -- Simplemind, so sorry to hear about everything your family went through in particular, and hope that things will now be on a permanent upswing for you in 2014 and beyond!

2013 was a year of transitions and surprises for us.

The first few months of the year were consumed by the effort of deciding on a new school for our kids. There were a lot of ups and downs as we evaluated different programs and tried (unsuccessfully) to secure financial aid at our top choice. In the end we decided to bite the bullet and go with the school that felt like the best fit, despite the cost. That meant needing to dramatically decrease the amount we were putting in long-term savings (retirement, college, and "pay off the mortgage any time" reserve fund), which was hard to accept (still haven't quite accepted it). In the end I think it has been the right decision, though, at least for now. The school isn't perfect, but it is MUCH better than where they were before and both kids have adjusted smoothly both academically and socially. DS is MUCH happier/more challenged and doing very well academically.

The financial blow of paying 50k+ out of pocket for schooling was offset nicely by the roaring markets this year, both stock and real estate. Our net worth has hit amazing heights with an increase of 27% this year on an already very strong base, and after running numbers over the holiday I have determined that we are more or less FI should we decide to quit our jobs and leave Beijing (though we could not sustain our current lifestyle here on our stash). A lot of our net worth is tied up in our pie-in-the-sky-lotto-ticket-of-a-luxury-apartment in Beijing, which makes me a bit nervous. We are closing in on the 5-year anniversary of our purchase, which means we could sell without taking a huge tax hit locally. What we decide to do with that depends largely on...

My career situation, which also is in major flux. My boss announced his departure very unexpectedly in the spring, and I was asked (and agreed) to step in as interim director of our office. I have applied for the permanent position but am not sure what will happen with that. If I get it and can get the significant increase in salary/benefits that should come with the new role, I will likely stay on for at least another 3-5 years. Not so much for the money (though earning more will certainly be nice!) but more for the challenge and adventure that comes with more responsibility and the opportunity to lead our organization into some new things. If I don't get it, I will need to see who they bring in and what they are like to work with. If good, I may still choose to stay on. If not, I will need to discuss with DH long-term planning. I would be fine with quitting, selling our apartment and leaving Beijing. He seems less willing to do that. I'm not going to push anything for now, as there is no point until I have a better sense of what I want to do.

The other major thing that has been in flux this year is MIL's health, and that has a huge impact on our long-term planning. Actually it isn't so much in flux as on a clear downward trend. While she doesn't have a fully confirmed diagnosis, we suspect that she has Parkinson's. She is declining both physically and emotionally and it has been very hard on DH, who is the oldest child and only son. He wants to be doing more to support her/the family, but that is hard to do from a distance. One of the options I suggested to him in conjunction with our FI status was moving to their town, but there are no decent schooling options for the kids there and he is not willing to consider homeschooling. Again, not going to push for something until I know what I want/need to do careerwise, but one possibility would be for us to set up a school ourselves. Nothing I am going to jump into now, but something for the "wait and see" files.

Given all of the uncertainty in our situation I don't really have a good sense of what 2014 is going to bring. I like fidgie's motto of "be open" and will just be trying to go with the flow as much as possible. We need to rein our spending back in after a very spendy 2013 (splurged on a family cruise that was worth it, but that blew our vacation budget sky high). Also focusing on health and wellness goals.