I went to buy a Coke at a convenience store this week and the clerk accidentally said “good morning” when it was already pushing 1pm. When she realized her mistake, she happily said, “I guess time is going by fast … which is good for me!” Such is the nature of selling your time to your employer (or your clients). Time going by fast should … Continue reading Don’t Wish Your Time Away
One of my team members told me today that they are now on their “final lap”. We were talking about great cities to visit – my favorite is Rome – and they shared their plans to start traveling more in early retirement. Next year! This person plans on retiring on 5/1/16 after 35 enjoyable years at our dear MegaCorp. They’ve been a company loyalist for … Continue reading Roman Holiday In Early Retirement
How do you decide when you are ready to retire? For some, it is when you reach a certain number of dollars – your ‘F-Off’ number that represents financial independence. For others, it is a specific date, Come hell-or-high water, they are going to walk off the job on the date they’ve always planned – age 55, age 60, or any age they want, regardless … Continue reading FIRE Milestones – Dollar Number or Date?
I was talking with a good friend over lunch a couple Fridays ago and he mentioned that his kids were still quite young, and that he couldn’t see retiring until his kids were at least a certain age in school. I often thought about that myself before we retired and ultimately waited until my son was almost done with his senior year in high school … Continue reading Kids In School & Early Retirement
I can’t begin to describe the almost dreamlike surrealness that comes with walking into a beautifully decorated restaurant and reading a BIG banner and cake that say “Congratulations on your Retirement!” YOUR retirement. This is IT. If you aren’t 1000% sure you are ready for early retirement, seeing the BIG cake at the YOUR farewell party certainly will seal the deal. As I wrote about … Continue reading FIRE Milestone – The Glorious Farewell Party
This week we are on Spring Break – enjoying the sunny weather in Florida. When I get back, I only have one week left in the office before I leave for early retirement, so I’m kind of feeling retired already. Kind of like the ‘practice early retirement’ I imagined when I was home for the holidays. This time, I decided I would NOT pay … Continue reading Magical Escape From Work Email
With just a few weeks to go before early retirement, I’ve started the process of taking things home from my MegaCorp office. My plan is to take home bits & pieces until April Fool’s Day, when I turn in my badge & laptop on my final day. It’s a small but meaningful milestone in my path to early retirement on April 1st. Related Milestones: Giving … Continue reading FIRE Milestones – Taking Stuff Home From Work
Today is the first Monday of Daylight Savings Time which sprang most of the United States forward one hour early Sunday morning. It makes for one of the toughest Monday morning wake-ups of the year and as it realigns our location to the sun and the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England. This Monday morning also happens to be the second to last Monday morning of my … Continue reading Springing Forward
Well, here we are: my last month of work. Last month of work? How did that come so fast? The truth is it did not come fast – although things have accelerated in a HUGE way since I announced I was leaving MegaCorp. I wrote just a few months ago about how slow things were progressing as I worked my way through my last year before early … Continue reading Early Retirement FIRE Escape – Final Month!
As this post is published, I am getting up for another work week at MegaCorp. I’ve gotten up for work on about 1,400 Monday mornings since I started working almost 27 years ago. That said, the last couple of weeks have been quite different, as the shadows of my career are starting to get longer since I announced my pending early retirement two weeks ago … Continue reading Long Shadows At MegaCorp – 5 Weeks To Early Retirement
