The real reason I want to retire: Because death is coming.
I know I think about death more than I should. It’s almost a daily occurrence – if not multiple times a day. This is my only life. My conscious time in this universe is constantly counting down. My time in this body and with the people I love is continually diminishing. And I refuse to awaken one day – like many of my relatives have – and realize my best days are behind me. I don’t want to be filled with regret over what I should have done in my life, unable to move on and constantly fixated on the past because I’ll never have that again. That is my greatest fear. Continue reading “The Real Reason 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.
I fucking did it. I started this year with the goals to:
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 “
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.
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!
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.