I posted on a couple of early retirement sites last week to see what advice folks might have for me in my final year of work before leaving work for good.  I didn’t get a lot of responses, but the advice was motivating since it came from folks that have already reached FIRE (financial independence & retired early).  My DW and I have gotten to FI, but will wait until April 1, 2016 for RE.

Here are some of the ideas that people shared …

1. Put magnet numbers on your refrigerator at home to countdown the 52 weeks
2. Order a digital countdown clock – keep it on your desk and pass onto someone (your boss?) when you hit zero
3. 52 shot glasses and a bottle of scotch 🙂
4. In Excel files at work, put your FIRE date minus Current date in a formula in the corner of every spreadsheet.  You don’t have to tell anyone, but think how funny it will be to see it every time you print something out
5. Countdown apps for your smartphone (I have one of these) or your PC/Mac desktop
6. Paper chain with 52 links.  Suggestion was to cut off one each Friday and use it to write a nice note to someone at work.
7. Mark a pad of Post-It Notes with numbers for 52 weeks and tear one off each week (this one would work especially well for me)

I also looked on Pinterest for countdown ideas and I saw the picture at the top of this post.  They look like Post-It Note flags that someone numbered for their weight loss goals.  I think this will work great for me.  I’ll make some up and put them on the back of my door at work (where no one would really see them).  The flag for “51” will be the first one.

Image Credit: Pinterest