So you might have noticed that I like planning. It’s literally one of my favorite things. Even when I know that something could change or become moot, such as tax laws, just creating a plan for how I’m going to not pay taxes in retirement for example (since I’ll have no income) is super satisfying to me.
Knowing that, I doubt it will come as a surprise to you that I have a plan for basically every month until the day I retire in 2 years. Creating this kind of schedule has not only made the final year seem filled with things to do so it will feel like it’s going faster, but it also has the benefit of stretching out all the life changes I will make and things I need to do so they feel less overwhelming.
So what’s happening? Here’s a breakdown of what I plan to do before reaching retirement:
2019
January
Apply for Global Entry: My TSA pre-check is about to expire and it’s been incredibly useful the last 5 years (even within the advent of new systems, such as CLEAR) so I’m eager to re-apply and keep this gravy train going for another 5 years. This time, however, I’m going to swallow the exorbitant extra $15 cost (kidding) and get Global Entry instead of TSA pre-check to help my post-retirement international travel life. Seriously $100 for 5 years of speedier TSA lines seems like an awesome deal to me. It’s already saved me a ton of time and heartache. In Seattle, I arrive at the airport an hour before my flight departs and am through security in a matter of minutes. My record is 30 seconds. Worth it!
August
Smuggle Heirlooms: The last 2 summers I have visited my parents in Atlanta and worked from their house. The first year I stayed 1 week and this year I stayed 2. Next year I might pump that timing up to 3 weeks (get wild!) Remote work is awesome. Anyway, this is one of the few times I will be visiting my parents before retirement. I usually only go every 6 months now that we live on the other side of the country. When I lived in NYC (and hadn’t created a budget or FIRE plan yet…) I flew there every month. I want to take every opportunity I can to transport any family heirlooms that my Mom wants to keep to her house for free so I’m going to be putting them in my carry on luggage every time I visit.
November
Book Retirement Travel: As I’ve mentioned, I am a serious candidate for One More Year Syndrome, so I’m locking myself in by booking my travel for the month after retirement, as far in advance as I can. Booking in advance also has the added benefit of making it easier to book First Class travel hacked flights. My Mom and I are going to New Zealand and Australia for about 6 weeks (if not more) and she wants to fly in the Etihad Apartments. Her tastes are a lot fancier than mine to put it mildly, but with the wonders of travel hacking, we can make it possible for less than an economy ticket. So for those reasons we’re booking 11 months out.
Buy A Discounted GoPro: The reason we picked Australia as my first retirement destination is because of the Great Barrier Reef. My greatest joy is swimming in crystal clear turquoise water among vibrant wildlife. In my youth I seriously looked into becoming a Marine Biologist because of this, only to discover that 99.9% of Marine Biologists do not often visit these beautiful waters. So it’s become a hobby instead. One of my main callings in life is to curate my time on this Earth. It’s a bit of a compulsion and helps me remember what I’ve done in my life and enjoy my memories even more. I write reviews of everywhere I go, take an insane amount of pictures, and record my thoughts on this blog. One way I want to curate the gorgeous (and disappearing) Great Barrier Reef, is with an underwater camera, so my current plan is to start looking for a discounted or used GoPro about a year out from the trip. Hopefully I’ll find a good used model or Cyber Monday deal. If y’all have any suggestions of another way to capture the reef, let me know! I’m all ears.
Start Saving Retirement Year 1 Spending Cash: In addition to maxing my retirement accounts and continuing to invest, I want to slowly start setting aside my first year’s retirement spending in cash. I’m planning to open an Ally savings account for it to earn that sweet sweet 1.85% interest while I slowly spend it during retirement.
Lunch with Coworkers: If you didn’t suspect, I love deadlines. They give me a sense of focus and urgency. For example, I saw more of Manhattan in our last 6 months living there than in the preceding 3.5 years. Knowing something is coming to an end helps prioritize things. In fact, we also had more visitors in our last 6 months in NYC than in those previous years combined. So I want to get to know my coworkers outside of a work setting and don’t currently feel the urgency, so I’ve made it a goal to take 1 person to lunch a month during my last year until retirement. Luckily our company has a “Lunch On Us” program that will even pay for the lunch! That’s where the once a month time frame came from 🙂 . Gotta keep it frugal!
December
Smuggle More Heirlooms: This is the other time of the year I go home to see my parents and I’ll be still bringing any family items that my Mom wants to keep in my carry on.
Qualify for Social Security: This is the month I will have 40 credits, the minimum needed to qualify for social security! Even though receiving it is not factored into my plans, it’s good to know that I’ll now receive some piece of it in the future just in case. At this time I’ll also calculate how much that will be since I’ll have all that information.
Start Nomad Planning: At least for the first few years of retirement, I plan to be a vagabond with no home base. My goal is to live out of a 30L or 40L backpack and move to different cities or countries every 3 months if not faster. To accomplish this goal, I need to get rid of basically everything I own except for a few items of clothing. I want to start this process so I have a plan (I’m sensing a pattern here…) and am not scrambling to get rid of things while finishing up my full-time career. I also want to sell as many things as possible (that’s my optimization muscle flexing again). After selling what I can, I’m planning to give my things away to my friends, my Buy Nothing group and charitable organizations.
2020
February
Schedule All Doctors’ Appointments: It’s time to take advantage of my fancy employer healthcare. I’ll be signing up to be poked and prodded in all kinds of ways to see what’s going on with my body until I can go to a fancy Health Clinic Spa in Asia like GoCurryCracker. I’ll be having my teeth checked, blood work done, check out any inoculations I might need, visit the ‘lady doctor’ (oh Southern euphemisms), and get an eye exam. I already have my eyeglasses prescription, so if I need new glasses in retirement, I’ll just buy another awesome $25 pair from Zenni Optical (love that place)!
As I’ve mentioned, I’m planning to get World Nomad travel insurance during my first year of retirement since I’ll be moving so much that a normal healthcare plan won’t cover me across state lines and definitely not internationally. This plan covers me everywhere, even in the US if I’m 100 miles from my address, which I always will be. So that’s the plan – all the appointments!
March
Book Final Travel Plans: This is when I book the final pieces of the puzzle including my one-way flight to Atlanta. I’m doing this to chill for a week and allow myself time to FREAK OUT ABOUT WHAT THE CRAP I JUST DID before heading to New Zealand/Australia. I’ll also be booking an AirBnB near my place in Seattle so my partner and I can stay there the last few days when I’m selling important things like our bed.
April
Operation Clean Home: At this point, I’m going to start selling anything I can that I will not need in the next 6 months, such as our board games, DVDs and rarely used furniture. I’m going to start cleaning out all my paper piles from tax years past and digitizing anything important. It’s time for a clean home!
May
Renew Driver’s License: Did you know it costs an extra $50 in Seattle to get a Driver’s License instead of a “State ID” like my partner has? No? Yeah I had no idea. I’ve driven in Washington 2 times in the 3 years we’ve been here…so maybe it’s a fair trade? Anyway, luckily my driver’s license is expiring while I’m still living in Seattle and can prove my residency, so I’m going to renew it and will be a citizen of this great state for 5 more years for voting and tax purposes. After that time runs out, I’ll have to think of a new plan. Maybe I’ll try to renew again, maybe I’ll get citizenship in another state that takes kindly to investment income – I’m not sure! Good thing my only job in retirement will be to figure this kind of stuff out 🙂 .
July
Solidify The Banking Game: Now it’s time to determine what banks I will keep and which will be tossed aside. I’m going to want a bank that I can withdraw money from without penalty or ATM fees in any country, so I’m currently planning to get a Charles Schwab account since they reimburse all ATM fees worldwide. As I mentioned, I’ll also get an Ally savings account to house my annual spending cash. This is the time to start opening and figuring out those accounts.
August
Get Project FI: In retirement I want to be able to access phone data anywhere in the world and Project FI provides that. I currently have Republic Wireless, which I absolutely love but only works in the US so I’ll be switching to Project FI for the first year of retirement and evaluate from there.
Cancel WiFi: Bye bye Satan! Oops – I mean Comcast. I’ll be giving them notice that I’m done with them forever! That’s something I’m really looking forward to in nomadic life: everything is included in an AirBnB so I don’t need to argue to not have my rates quadruple every year!
Update Landlord And Utilities: I’ll be giving our landlord notice that we’re not renewing our lease and setting a cancellation date for our utilities.
September
Give 1 Month Notice At Work: I don’t need to give more than 2 weeks, but given how much I do for the company and how slowly they’ve transitioned people in the past, I think this seems fair. It also lets me sit back a little for a month instead of a rushed 2 weeks of transferring knowledge.
Activate Operation Clean Home: Sell and donate everything I own!
Set Up Traveling Mailbox: As I’ve mentioned, this service allows me to receive mail, such as voting ballots in Washington. The company then sends me any mail I receive digitally, and I confirm if I want them to forward it to me anywhere in the world.
Buy World Nomads Travel Insurance: As I said, I’ll be using their travel insurance for the first year of retirement at least.
Figure Out 401(k) Transfer: Since my employer has a weird advisor through a tiny company I’d never heard of, I’m going to ask our finance person how to transfer my 401(k) to Vanguard so I can do that ASAP and get away from their crazy fees! To read some of the hilarious and horrible things our advisor has said to my company, check out my live tweet thread of his last visit:
My company's 401(k) advisor is presenting today and watching this insanity has inspired me to do my first ever LIVE TWEET EVENT! Buckle up…🤑
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) September 21, 2018
Ask for LinkedIn Recommendations: Yes I’m planning to never work again, but I’m also a cautious person so I’ll be asking my colleagues, boss and clients to write me LinkedIn recommendations. In my experience it usually takes months of hounding to actually receive one so starting as soon as my departure is announced is probably best.
October AKA RETIREMENT!
Rollover 401(k): Yes – the work doesn’t stop even in retirement 🙂 . Hopefully after my talk with finance, this will be a simple process. I’ll have the financial institution holding our 401(k) send my check to my parent’s house or my Traveling Mailbox, then I’ll deposit it in Vanguard, and give a huge sigh of relief that I’m no longer helping that advisor pay for his BMW.
Change USPS Address: And finally, I need to tell USPS my new Traveling Mailbox address. Phew!
So there you have it! A breakdown of everything I’m planning to do in the next 2 years to prep for retirement. In addition to the above, I’m trying to be really cognizant of any ‘stuff’ I buy so that I’m not acquiring anything new just to get rid of it in 2 years. I’m also trying to live more in the moment and enjoy the gorgeous city we live in. To the next 2 years!
So what do you think of my plan? Am I missing or forgetting something?
You’ve inspired me to make my own master plan….Unfortunately, it is a 5 year time frame! But still, reading your plan is motivating!
That’s awesome! And 5 years isn’t that long 🙂 . My original timeline was 10 years, I’m 4 years in and it’s gone by really fast. So glad I could help with the motivation! Good luck making your plan.
Hi! I love your plan! This ensures that your retirement will happen. I imagine getting rid of your personal belongings is so freeing. Your retirement trip sounds amazing! I took a trip right after I quit full-time teaching, and it was extremely helpful. I think trips are a great way to hit life’s reset button. It will take you away from your normal routine and help you transition into your new life routine. Rooting for your in your countdown to retirement!
Thank you! Trying to put in as many guardrails to force my hand as possible lol. No chickening out! I’ve never gotten rid of all my stuff before so I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it – hopefully that it’s freeing! I’ll be sure to catalog my reaction to see.
And thank you! Great to know that a trip after leaving full-time worked out well for you. I feel more comfortable with my plan now 🙂 . And thank you for rooting for me!
GoPro is currently selling their older model Hero for $199
Good to know!! Thank you. The cheapest I’ve seen so far is $199 for their new Hero model and I didn’t know they were selling the older ones for a discount. Looking into it!
Breaking it down like this makes me realize what a short freaking time two years is. And I hear you on needing to force deadlines on myself; I do a great job getting stuff done in a stupidly short amount of time if I have to, but without a deadline, it never ever happens.
It still feels like a long time to me unfortunately, but working on ways to make it feel shorter! And I’m with you. Humans are really funny like that: if needed I can get something done in an hour that would take 3, but if no one asks for it it’s never getting done lol.
Wow that’s a very detailed and thorough plan! I’m sure you will think of more things to add to it as one goes on 🙂
I’m also a planner, though my future plans are really in the air as I decide next steps so I haven’t gone down to this detail yet. Nonetheless, though the immediate future plans may vary, they all come back together to form the master plan of FI!
Haha – thank you! Detailed and thorough might be my middle names. I hope I do think of more things – that will help fill the months 🙂 .
Completely true! It’s interesting to hear you say that because my plans are a bit in the air too. I know the lifestyle I want (nomad) and how to get there, but not what that looks like yet (what cities or countries after my victory trip). I’ll have to make those choices as the time approaches. Thank you for stopping by!
Hey. Did you know that some credit cards reimburse for Global Entry or TSA? It might be worth the hassle, especially if you can get some travel hacking points out of it. I’ve looked at it before but usually it’s only the fancy pants expensive cards that do it, and they seemed beyond my monthly spend limits. However, I just found that IHG’s new Premier credit card does it, and this card had a prize and a fee that was suitable to me. Unfortunately, I found out 1 week after I paid for my renewal. Maybe there’s a card that would suit you, too, and it might just save that $100 Global Entry fee.
Hi! I did know that actually. I applied to get a fancy one and got rejected sadly. That’s an awesome tip – I’ll look into IHG’s new Premier card! Thank you! And sorry you found out after you did the renewal.
Wow that’s a very detailed retirement plan.
I think you missed one though… attend FinCon! 😉
Hahaha – thank you. And I’m planning to apply to the FinCon scholarship (fingers crossed!), but it’s not on my official pre-retirement list right now. I’m in the final stretch and want to keep my budget on point as much as possible so my countdown clock is accurate.
Nice job: quite a bit of planning here. I don’t even know what I’m going to eat for dinner tonight! Maybe you can give periodic progress reports on your milestones? Would be a good follow-up.
Haha – thank you! And if you need help deciding a meal plan for the week let me know and I’ll get my notebooks! And you’re reading my mind – I was planning to write posts on all of the big items above, but doing more of a milestone round up is an even better idea! Thank you for the suggestion and for stopping by.
I wish I had 10% of your predisposition to planing. I am a total type b person. That is to say, I can’t make a plan if my life depended on it. To top that off I’m terribly indecisive. EEEKKK! I need to read your blog more so you can rub off on me. I like your 2-year plan. Like Angela said, seeing in print makes you realize it is not that far away.
And I wish I wasn’t a type A person that can’t shut her brain off 🙂 . It sounds like we might be able to help each other… I’ll make the plans and you teach me how to calm down – deal? And thank you! I’m still working on it feeling not too far away. My countdown clock moving from 2 years to 1 year 11 months this week might help…Thank you for stopping by!
This is a great (and very practical) to do list! Exactly the things to think about and plan for when retirement is looming closer.
Thank you! Glad you approve 🙂