Last Wednesday - June 8th, 2016 - was my last day of work at Mega Corp, and June 9th was my first day of retirement. I am 41.
I just looked back at a few of my earlier posts on this forum:
- In April 2013, I posted (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/were-running-out-of-steam-at-38-and-40-a-66310.html) that my wife and I were running out of steam after decades of hard-driving ambition and long hours. I asked how soon you folks thought we could retire and many of you suggested that the fastest way would be to reduce our annual spending... and that getting out of high-cost Manhattan, NY would be a big help in that.
- In May 2015, I posted (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/share-your-fire-milestones-65754-46.html#post1594935) that my wife had handed in her resignation, that I was angling for a layoff & severance, and that we had put our Manhattan condo up for sale.
Here's what's happened since:
- June 2015: my wife had her last day of work
- August 2015: we closed on our Manhattan condo sale (netting us $750k cash in the process)
- September 2015: I got my division head's verbal agreement to help arrange for a 2016 layoff
- May 2016: we moved to a rental on the north side of Chicago
- June 8, 2016: I had my last day of work; because they agreed to lay me off after 19 years of service, they sent me away with a six-figure severance check
- June 9, 2016: I had my first day of retirement
We now have over $2.5M invested in low-cost, broad-market index funds (80% equity) and we have a starting $85k annual budget that includes a lot of travel. We expect to be pretty flexible with the annual budget based on market returns.
Since my wife's resignation a year ago, in addition to handling the bulk of the effort around the home sale and the move, she has volunteered about 100 days at several great non-profits. She's A LOT happier than when she was putting out fires every day at work.
Now it's my turn to figure out what to do next - in addition to the extensive travel plans that I've been researching. I'm looking forward to it!
I just looked back at a few of my earlier posts on this forum:
- In April 2013, I posted (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/were-running-out-of-steam-at-38-and-40-a-66310.html) that my wife and I were running out of steam after decades of hard-driving ambition and long hours. I asked how soon you folks thought we could retire and many of you suggested that the fastest way would be to reduce our annual spending... and that getting out of high-cost Manhattan, NY would be a big help in that.
- In May 2015, I posted (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/share-your-fire-milestones-65754-46.html#post1594935) that my wife had handed in her resignation, that I was angling for a layoff & severance, and that we had put our Manhattan condo up for sale.
Here's what's happened since:
- June 2015: my wife had her last day of work
- August 2015: we closed on our Manhattan condo sale (netting us $750k cash in the process)
- September 2015: I got my division head's verbal agreement to help arrange for a 2016 layoff
- May 2016: we moved to a rental on the north side of Chicago
- June 8, 2016: I had my last day of work; because they agreed to lay me off after 19 years of service, they sent me away with a six-figure severance check
- June 9, 2016: I had my first day of retirement
We now have over $2.5M invested in low-cost, broad-market index funds (80% equity) and we have a starting $85k annual budget that includes a lot of travel. We expect to be pretty flexible with the annual budget based on market returns.
Since my wife's resignation a year ago, in addition to handling the bulk of the effort around the home sale and the move, she has volunteered about 100 days at several great non-profits. She's A LOT happier than when she was putting out fires every day at work.
Now it's my turn to figure out what to do next - in addition to the extensive travel plans that I've been researching. I'm looking forward to it!
57 will have to do for us, but wow!!
