Yes – Mr & Mrs. FIRE Station have been very blessed to be able to retire more than a decade earlier than the average person, but it does come with an opportunity cost of 10+ years of income. While we are not living a “frugal” lifestyle, we are still making a choice to forgo the material benefits of working. Why do so? At this point … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Happiness Is Made, Not Bought
I have written a couple posts about fitness in early retirement. It’s not my favorite topic, but I learned that almost every early retiree I connect with became MORE fit after they left the workplace. I also bought a bike last summer and I set a goal of increasing my daily activity by 80% to 12,000 steps a day as a first step to getting … Continue reading Stepping Up In Early Retirement
The question I hear the most after four full weeks of early retirement is “is every day just like a weekend now?” The answer is both a “yes” and “no”. I would say overall, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday continue to hold their special status as the best days of the week. Weekends continue to be great because there is a lot happening around town … Continue reading Everyday Is Weekend In Early Retirement?
They say you should make sure to enjoy the ‘little things’ in life and I am learning (in my fourth week of early retirement) just how enjoyable the little things are. This week, I have had very little scheduled. I had a few nice lunches and breakfasts with people, we went to the afternoon movie as a family ($5 Tuesdays), and I had a couple … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – The Little Things
Last week I published a post that discussed the ‘honeymoon’ phase of retirement and included a chart on the phases of retirement (from Forbes.com, sourced to Dr. Sara Yogev). While I certainly feel like I’m in the honeymoon phase now – after just a few weeks away from the office – I went to the forums on Early-Retirement.org to see what some more ‘experienced’ early … Continue reading Never Ending Honeymoon?
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today 2 get through this thing called LIFE.” Living in the Twin Cities since high school and through college in the 1980s, it is easy to say that Prince wrote a huge part of the musical soundtrack of my life. An amazingly prolific musician, unstoppably entertaining showman, and thoughtful but respectful activist, Prince was a true musical innovator for … Continue reading Friday Inspiration – Prince’s Independence
As I am out enjoying my third week of early retirement right now, I thought instead of writing a full post today I would share something that I found inspirational over the years, especially when I was looking for motivation or facing seemingly impossible odds. It is a poem from Edgar Albert Guest, an amazingly prolific writer who penned over 11K poems in his career. … Continue reading FIRE Inspiration – Edgar Guest Poem
This is the second cake photo that I have shared in just a few weeks. As you can see, last week was my 50th birthday and my wife was kind enough to organize an awesome birthday party for me on Saturday night, which came just 19 days after my early retirement party. It has been an embarrassment of riches for sure and I am so … Continue reading Another Cake? – The Five Phases of Retirement
Most people are on their way to financial independence and retirement in one way or another, but we can all redouble our efforts to plan and save more. Kicking things into high gear can require getting started on NEW things that will produce even bigger results. Here is a link to a post with 12 quotes to help drive ACTION! Image Credit: MrFireStation.com / Pixabay Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Just Do It
Now that I am retired early and enjoying my first month without work, people are asking me for advice on how much THEY need to save to retire themselves. Many people don’t seem to know where exactly to start. Calculating the money needed for retirement feels like walking into a foreign casino to them – full of opportunity, but also fraught with risk. With that … Continue reading Calculating Retirement Odds – Using FIREcalc
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