Not long ago I had lunch with my recently early retired friend Russ, who gave me the inside scoop on snowbirding from wintery Minnesota to sunny Florida. Russ and his wife, Tracey, are new to the lifestyle, having bought a condominium on the gulf coast of Florida last year, which they can enjoy now that he retired from MegaCorp at the end of January. They … Continue reading Early Retirement “Snowbirding 101”
Today is the last day of my son’s Senior year in high school. School ends at noon on Friday, and he is off for the summer before leaving for college in the fall. He is a terrific kid and it has been a great joy to watch him grow up. Last night, we had a wonderful time attending a an event in the park to open … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Aging Richly
It has been more than a month now since I early retired from MegaCorp and adopted my new life of leisure. It feels like I am still “skipping school” and am expected to go back to work at some point. The good news is that I’m not going back to anything and enjoying my time immensely. It is wonderful to have all of the time … Continue reading Milestone: First 50 Days of Early Retirement
I am always paranoid about recurring, subscription fees that are like the little leaks that Ben Franklin warned us about. These kinds of fees are certainly much more common today than they were in Ben’s time. Some are big and easy to understand – utilities, internet access, or a boat club with monthly dues. Others are quite insidious in their nature. They hide in our … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – The Little Things
Today we have an extra special guest – for the first time ever we are joined by the wonderful MrsFireStation – who will share her own thoughts on Captain Sparky’s escape from corporate life and our new life of leisure in early retirement … My background … I’ve been a stay-at-home Mom for 18 years and our son is a senior in high school and … Continue reading The Better Half – Thoughts From MrsFireStation
Like many people on the journey to early retirement, I spent a lot of time tracking the performance of our investments and growth of our nest egg. I was anxious to see the numbers grow and ultimately tested our financial wherewithal through eight different lenses to ensure we were ready to take the leap into early retirement. Many times I would check my phone or … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Enjoy Every Day
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
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?
MrFireStation 