When I talk to friends, family and neighbors about my (mostly) secret plan to escape MegaCorp next April and live a life of early retirement, I’m starting to notice that the reactions people have result in one of about a dozen predictable comments. Most people (90%) are nice and say “good for you, that’s amazing”. But other times – a small percent of the time … Continue reading Chatting with Friends – Odd Comments & Snappy Remarks
Well, this has certainly been the most dramatic month in the nine months I’ve been posting about our countdown to early retirement. The stock market surged back to positive this month – even my MegaCorp’s stock as they aim to layoff 1,500 useless corporate bureaucrats like me by end of year (Merry Christmas!).
Continue reading “Early Retirement FIRE Escape – 5 Months Left”
Yesterday my MegaCorp employer announced weak sales, record profits, and 1,500 job cuts. The rumors started about a week ago and proved true the old adage that 99% of organizational rumors are true. While no plans have been announced for how they are going to go about the layoffs, a couple things are understood: Continue reading “Blue Days @ MegaCorp / Financial Independence”
One of the executives at the MegaCorp where I first started my career once shared a story called “The Three Stonecutters”. It’s a vision & leadership parable, that I still remember 20+ years later. Continue reading “The Three Stonecutters”
I’m definitely going to need a bit of routine in early retirement.
I’ve always been too much of a born daydreamer to allow myself to live life completely unstructured. I worry I will absentmindedly dawdle my time away if I don’t create create some regular plans. Like Joe Walsh sang, “People say I’m lazy, but it takes all my time”. In fact, while I treasure unstructured time and often balk at too much regiment, Continue reading “Daily Routine versus Daydreaming”
Since we are now getting very close to the end of our early retirement journey (in less than six months), I thought I would reflect on some of the decisions we made in our twenties that set us up for early retirement success. I know a lot of people are talking about the stupid article “If You Are Saving Money In Your Twenties, You Are … Continue reading Seven Ideas To Save Big Money In Your Twenties
The Spanish word for “retiree” or “retired” is a lot more fun than the words we use in English. The word “jubilado” (or “jubilada” for women), based on the word “jubilee” is the term used by Spanish retirees. Jubilee connotes a season or occasion of joyful celebration. Spanish-speakers do seem more jubilant in the way they live their lives and the word is a lot more celebratory than the dreary connotations that come with “retirement” in English.
Its origins are deeply embedded in the Bible. Continue reading “Jubilant Retirement In Any Language”
My profound wife likes to say that often the “days go slow, but months go fast”. That feels appropriate to my situation, as I am surprised that I have just 6 months left to my planned early retirement (on 4/1/16), despite the fact that I recently wrote that time seems to be moving slower than I thought it would.
Six months is still a long time – yet, at the same time, it seems like I am now very near the daunting precipice of the unknown. My thoughts are increasingly “who does this?”, “who leaves their successful career 10 years early to enjoy a life of independence and leisure?” and “will I be wasting my god-given (and relatively highly paid) talents?”
While I wrestle with my fast & slow consternations, I am also watching our nest egg through the relative volatility of the financial markets, that started in August. Continue reading “Early Retirement FIRE Escape – 6 Month Countdown”
Early retirees talk about the pleasure & independence that comes with walking away from the workplace and living their lives to the fullest. At the same time, they also talk about the shift in mindset that comes from no longer actively accumulating their savings, but continuing to actively spend it.
One opportunity to spend less comes from the costs that are solely work-related. For me those expenses fall in two key categories: lunches at work and dry cleaning bills. I recently went on Mint.com, where I track our spending to see how much these expenses add up to annually. Continue reading “The Price of Work – Everyday Expenses”
I like to always have a big, interesting trip booked about a year in advance, but we have nothing yet planned for 2016. I’ve written about our love of travel before, my goal to get to all fifty states (two left!) and trips we’ve taken overseas. The challenge we face (for the first time ever) is too many opportunities to decide between next year. With early retirement arriving next April Fool’s Day, we’ll have the whole rest of the year to go wherever we wish. Continue reading “Our Early Retirement Travel Planning Framework & Free Download”
