Reached FI in July and haven't looked back
Greetings - long-time lurker and now active member of the site.
In July, 2017 at 56 years old and after 34 years of MegaCorp IT consulting work, I hit my FI target and turned in my resignation. The job had lost any appeal for me and the last 10 years were especially rough - cross country travel every week. I still remember how shocked my boss and coworkers were when I told them I was retiring. They never saw it coming and couldn't believe someone my age could retire.
DW was very concerned about my ability to settle into retirement without being bored and/or driving her crazy, but it's worked out wonderfully so far. We've taken a few trips and are both avid golfers. Plus, I've been able to catch up on the house projects that were stacking up due to years on the road.
I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and have lived for several years with minimal/no debt. We've always been LBYM people and have passed this value on to our 5 kids (one still at home, graduating high school this year).
This forum has been a huge help over the past 1.5 - 2 years in giving me both the knowledge and the courage to put together and execute a FIRE plan. Firecalc, I-ORP, FRP and VPW have been my tools of support and I discovered all of them from this site.
At this point, I may go back to work on a part-time/consulting basis in the future, but I'm confident I don't have to for financial reasons and can do so on my terms if I choose. DW is still working for a few more years on a part-time basis.
Again, thanks to this group for all of the knowledge and support. What a great source of knowledge this forum is.
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"There are 3 kinds of people in this world: people who make it happen, people who watch it happen and people who wonder what just happened" - Tommy Lasorda
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