It seems like just yesterday that I posted a blog listing “7 Ways To Countdown To Early Retirement“, but it actually has been a full 22 weeks since I got counting with the secret Post-it Note flags I put inside my credenza door at work. I just wanted to post my progress since I have now removed the entire top row from the countdown and … Continue reading Countdown To Retirement – Progress Update
Will early retirement be a stressful life event?
Sure enough, the website VisualMD.com has a list of stressful life events shows retirement in the top ten causes of negative life stress (see above). It’s not on the top of the list, but it is interesting to see it rated at about the same score as losing your job (getting married is the only other positive on the list).
Where’s the joy in one’s new found freedom?? Continue reading “Change Stress & Early Retirement”
I find myself spending a fair amount of time thinking about how life will be when I don’t go to work anymore with early retirement. As I get closer to my intended “FIRE escape” date on April 1, 2016, it is entering my thoughts more and more. It is not that I am very dissatisfied with my work. In fact, I am blessed with an interesting job and work with interesting people. As much as anything, early retirement is an opportunity to devote time to pursuits that I find more personal meaning in, than pursuits important to MegaCorp.
I was in a long, offsite meeting today – what I call “bell to bell”. Continue reading “Finding (Little) Purpose in an All-Day Meeting”
While no leaves are changing color yet, yesterday was the start of the school year for our son, who is now a senior in high school. Just as I count the last year of working before early retirement, he is slowly counting down the days and weeks until he graduates and leaves home for college next fall.
I’ve been watching my calendar since April 1st of this year. Each day marks “the last” day, week, month, or annual activity that I plan on spending in the workforce. I’m currently sitting at 31 weeks remaining as my plans still focus on April 1, 2016. (The stock market plunge of -1100 points in the last 2 days hasn’t scared me off too much … yet) Continue reading “Falling Toward Early Retirement”
Over the last 3 days, Dow Jones stock market drop has been sudden and severe, totaling more than a -11% drop from the end of last month . It includes two of the top ten stock market one-day declines of all time on an absolute basis. Some experts are saying this is the end of a six year bull market run as investor concerns rise with respect to slow growth in China and the potential impact to the world economy. The China concerns are becoming more worrisome as investors are also discussing whether the US Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates after a long time at 0%.
With our planned early retirement just 7 months away, should Mr. Fire Station call the whole thing off and work another year? The quick answer is “no” and “no”. First, markets go up and down, and proper retirement planning account for down markets more severe than this blip. Second, this correction is significant, but Mr. Fire Station’s investments remain up for the year. Continue reading “Big Stock Market Drop – Impact On Early Retirement?”
MrFireStation.com was recently called out in a generous posting by NorthernExpenditure.com focused on bestowing the “Liebster Award” on a fellow small blogger. The Liebster Award, which is a pass-a-long recognition of seemingly unknown origin, is used by small bloggers pay to pay forward a little visibility to other small bloggers (less than 200 followers). Captain Sparky here at MrFireStation.com has been active for only about 8 … Continue reading Liebster Awards – 10 Questions for MrFireStation Answered
“Take this job & shove it!” – that’s the dark dream isn’t it? The 1977 Johnny Paycheck song captures the retaliatory spirit within us all to fight the ‘man’ and leave work in a glorious rage of independence. While the song peaked at #1 for just two weeks on the Billboard Country charts, it has lived on as a cultural touchstone for more than 35 years. … Continue reading The Dark Dream: ‘Take This Job & Shove It’
We put a terrific screened porch on our house last summer. It has a great wooded view, gets a nice breeze, and is a terrific spot to sit and read or listen to the ballgame. Unfortunately, it seems like every time I get comfortable out there, someone else is starting up their lawn mower or the weed whacker. It’s happened so much lately that my … Continue reading Retirement Lifestyle – Less Competition During The Work Week
I just did the math on the several dozen early retirees posting their age at retirement on a thread (Class of 2016) from early-retirement.org/forums. The average age was 54.6 years old. This isn’t a surprise, given the name of the website, but I was curious what a group of early retirement enthusiasts would average out to. As I wrote in my earlier post How Early … Continue reading Average Age For Early Retirement
The Baltic Cruise that we were on in June was an interesting experience for us as we contemplate early retirement next year. While it was a great 12 day getaway, we felt a bit like fish out of water all week, as we were likely 12-15 years younger than the average cruiser on the ship, with most people in their 60s. We weren’t expecting … Continue reading Retirement Havens – Steer Clear For Years?
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