Things have now come full-circle at the FIRE Station as our son left the house this morning for his first day of ‘professional’ work. He just finished his third year of college and has a summer job / internship working at a software company.
It used to be that he was the kid goofing off in the summer while I went to the office, but now I our positions have flipped. While he is at the office tomorrow, I’ll be out enjoying the sunshine. I’ve been joking that “it’s about time someone in this house had a job, since I’m not going back to work!”
Saying “in this house” is a bit of a stretch as he has only been home for the weekend and is just waiting until the first of the month to move into his new apartment. It’s a big week for him, and a significant step toward independence.
Soon, he’ll be making good money with his computer science degree, living off-campus with three of his buddies, and have my wife’s old car as transportation. While he has one year of college left, it still seems like instant adulthood.
It will be a lot of change for Mrs. Fire Station and myself, too. I often tell people that you can’t realistically plan lifestyle decisions for a 30+ year retirement. A span that long will be broken into many chapters – each with its own interests and priorities. For us, true ‘Empty Nesterhood’ is quickly arriving.
This will be the first time in 22 summers we haven’t had our son at home – which will be quite different for us. While we will miss having him home, it also gives us a bit more flexibility. The more responsibility he takes for himself, the less responsibility we need to have.
The good news is that he will still be close by and we have a lot of plans already made for the summer, including a July vacation to California that we are all looking forward to. It seems that as families make the jump from kids at home to kids that are adults, travel is one of the ways that they stay together.
What do you enjoy / are looking forward to in ‘Empty Nesterhood’?
Image Credit: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
Good luck to your son! The thing I’m looking forward too is knowing we successfully launch three kids into the world. 🙂
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My son goes to college in a little over a year. That’s really when our FIRE journey kicks into high gear. Be careful coming to California. It’s not a FIRE friendly state. We might even have a special tax for people who retired early for all I know.
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No / California is not in our plans except as a vacation destination. I’m sure California liberal bureaucrats would have nothing but contempt for a FIRE early retiree!
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Personal responsibility is unacceptable in this state. Financially or otherwise.
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Not much different in MN, I’m afraid. We were voted #1 ‘Least Tax Friendly State’ by Kiplingers. Ugh.
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As empty nesters, we absolutely enjoy the time we have without any plans (i.e., baseball, basketball, softball, soccer, cheerleading, track, school events, etc.)…although it was quite a transition to go from “how do we get all this done” to “hmmm – what should we do today”. My older daughter is married and officially independent … my son … 2 years out of college, working 2 jobs, making “good” money and in no hurry to move out of the basement as he saves and invests his earnings. Still not sure want he wants to do yet but at 24 did any of us really know? Heck, I’m still trying to figure that out 🙂 … Although, I think I created a monster with all the blogs about financial independence! He is tiiiiiight! Pays all of his expenses except roof over his head and home cooked meals. He’s definitely not lazy! Wish I would have that kind of networth starting out.! We have had some “exit strategy” discussions lately and I believe getting a little pressure from his girlfriend to make a commitment. So who knows what the near future holds.
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My son is very good / frugal with his money, too. I’m not sure what next year – when he graduates from college – will bring. I’m not expecting him to move back home, but you never know. My wife and I never moved back home after college, so I’ve always envisioned it that way. We’ll see.
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Had to share a couple of my favorite enpty nester moments from this past week (four years empty nesters, btw). We had a couple of great calls from our two daughters. The oldest lives in the north-west now, and is a young officer in the U.S. Army. She had just been recommended for a Battalion level command and was super excited to call and let us know her great news. Her first comment to me was, “Dad, this will likely lead to a quicker next promotion (hence raise), which should be enable me to sock away a much higher percentage in my TSP!” My wife immediately busted out laughing, and said, “…and you wondered if she ever listens to you!” Only two days later, our youngest, who lives closer by on the east coast, called to confirm she had started her newly promoted role as a Senior Trainer for her Mega-Corp this week. Her call was to see if I would meet her for a quick beer after she got off from work later that day to talk (unbeknownst to me, to discuss her 401k contribution). I met her afterwork at our local brewery, wondering what kind of questions she might have. Much to my surprise (and pleasure), she too was planning on upping her retirement contribution amount by an additional +10% with her new raise! She wanted to bounce through the numbers to see if it made sense.
So…no empty nester travel, no day trips, and no sporting events this week…but it was a very good empty nester week indeed!! 😉 Self reliance was the best reward yet!
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Wow – both of your daughters with promotions in the same week – that’s fantastic! It also sounds like they are smartly thinking of their future first, rather than falling victim to mindless, lifestyle inflation. That’s great! It sounds like they have been taught very well indeed!
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