I’ve made a decision. After a lot of thought, calculations and consulting with the people closest to me I have decided that I am going to retire on the eve of my 30th birthday in 3.5 years. I’ve made this decision for several reasons:
Category: Early Retirement
Why I Want to Retire
I want retire because my life is working (workdays) and recovering from working (weeknights and weekends). There is no room in that cycle for the life I want. And perhaps it is my fault for choosing a career where I interact with people all day that completely drains my introverted core – and at rare times invigorates me with creativity. But it’s also what I’m good at. It’s well paid work that doesn’t involve extra schooling or skills.
So I want to retire. I want to see what I can get up to when my life is not a cycle of drain and recovery. That’s all.
2015 State of the Union
I fucking did it. I started this year with the goals to:
- Max my 401K
- Max my Traditional IRA
- Max my HSA
- Overall contribute $35,000 to investments
FIRE Anniversary
I thought the first time I became serious about financial independence was October 2014, but I was looking at a Facebook Timehop today and was greeted with this a link to an NY Times article entitled “Why You Hate Work” and my comment “Thank you for perfectly articulating what I’ve been trying to say. Early retirement here I come!” I don’t remember posting this or what was happening at the time, but apparently exactly one year ago I declared that I would retire early. My FIRE anniversary has come early!
Cutting 10 Years to 5
So far in my four years of work experience I have noticed a pattern in the four jobs I have received: they are all through networking. So I was surprised when after applying online for a position at a Seattle agency I received a note from the recruiter asking to set up time to talk. Speaking to an agency recruiter isn’t a complete rarity, but this woman’s response time was impressive. So far in my search for Seattle jobs while still in New York the few people that have reached out to me of their own volition have fallen off the face of the Earth after I mention where I’m located. But she didn’t. Despite having to reschedule several times we made it work. And I’m so glad I didn’t give up on her because this conversation gave me very valuable information that will allow me to cut my 10 years to financial independence to a slim 5 years.Our FIRE Celebration
The other day my partner and I sat down to do our regular FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) calculations, but this time the results were different. Originally I calculated that given my current spending and saving level in NYC I could retire in 10 years. My partner calculated something similar, but wanted a larger nest egg to sit on so he was going to work about 5 years longer. This time when we did our calculations and accounted for moving to a much less expensive city (Seattle) he discovered that he too could retire in 10 years. It was time to celebrate!The Curious Case of My Heart During A Job Search
I found myself falling into a familiar trap last night. I had talked to a friend who mentioned a large company in Seattle that she has recruited for that pays very well, but is almost notoriously difficult to work for. It is said that your experience there completely depends on the team with which you’re placed, which is not that different from most companies. However, when reading reviews of the company by actual employees the overwhelming feeling is very negative. Continue reading “The Curious Case of My Heart During A Job Search”
NYC to Seattle: A Revelation
I had a bit of a revelation today. For months I’ve been running numbers and scenarios as a result of our New York City to Seattle moving plans. I’ve calculated how much less we will pay in rent each month after moving. And on an abstract level knew that we’d save money by not paying state or city income taxes since Washington doesn’t have state income tax while NYC has one of the highest in the country. But today I looked at this information in a different light. Continue reading “NYC to Seattle: A Revelation”