How I Imagine A Day In Early Retirement

The responses to my last post helped drive home the point that everyone’s retirement and pre-retirement is unique. Both should be tailored to what you crave in life and what brings you the most joy. Recently a friend asked me what my perfect day looked like. After I finished answering her, I realized that I had also described what I imagined a day in early retirement would be like. I’ve written down my retirement plans for a regular day and they were identical. Nothing fancy, just simple pleasures, adventure and lots of love. Here’s what I said to her: Continue reading “How I Imagine A Day In Early Retirement”

Why I Pursue FIRE Instead Of Other Options

When someone learns that I want to retire early I get a variety of reactions. The most common one is actually indifference 🙂 , which works for me. The second most common reaction involves asking why I’m waiting for a far off goal instead of pursuing other options to change my life NOW. This came up a lot at the beginning of my journey when retirement was 10 years away. My friends and family seemed confused as to why I would reach for something so far in the future instead of changing my work to be closer to what I want immediately. Totally fair critique! Let’s explore my reasoning.  Continue reading “Why I Pursue FIRE Instead Of Other Options”

2 Years Until Retirement: The Master Plan

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: Continue reading “2 Years Until Retirement: The Master Plan”

How My Mom Retired At 55

Today I’m happy to introduce the first guest post on this site with a very special guest: My Mom! As I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog, she was my main inspiration in starting my journey to financial independence. She actually retired the same month I started writing this blog. Hopefully her story can help inspire others and show that it’s never too late to begin your journey. She didn’t start investing in stocks until she was 40 and still retired at 55 with 3 kids and 2 paid off houses. If she can still retire early basically anyone can. Let’s see what she has to say. Continue reading “How My Mom Retired At 55”

Another Retirement Prequel

Our living room view in Ecuador

My trip to Ecuador allowed me to explore more of my possible early retired life and try to discover who Retired Me might be. There are a few goals I have for retirement that I tried to accomplish during this trip, such as:

  1. Go to sleep soon after sunset and rise with the sun
  2. Watch the sunrise and sunset as much as possible

Continue reading “Another Retirement Prequel”

Half A Million Together and Keeping Finances Separate

We finally did it! After saving intentionally for almost 4 years we reached a new milestone: my partner and I have amassed half a million dollars together. I can hardly believe it. This is a special number for me because it’s the amount I need to retire. Now I know what you’re thinking: Why doesn’t he just give you his portion so you can retire now? I’ve wondered the same thing! 🙂 Continue reading “Half A Million Together and Keeping Finances Separate”

Planning to Pull the Early Retirement Trigger

There’s a fork in the road – It’s decision time.

I am a serious candidate for One More Year Syndrome. I know this. Major life changes are scary and my dislike of unknowns and my discomfort with change just adds to that. When I moved across the country to a city I’d only visited once without an apartment, job or friends (except 1 who lived relatively far away) I was terrified. The night before I told my boss, who at the time had given me the best job I’d ever had, I actually (TMI WARNING) threw up I was so scared. But I did it – I told her and I knew I had to because we had a locked-in end date: The end of our lease. NYC apartments don’t usually allow month-to-month leases so we were either renewing and staying another year or leaving before August 1. I had a set end date. Continue reading “Planning to Pull the Early Retirement Trigger”