Today it's ten years since I left my job. What an amazing ride. We have been blessed with good fortune.
I'm still not sure how we got here. When I stopped working it wasn't retirement, I quit, just to take a break, fully expecting to go back after a few years. I was not aware of SWR or FIRE and even worse at investing than I am now - I only knew that I was going to get my life back, enjoy it, and also enjoy my family once again (and help them rediscover the real me). Only after a couple of years did I realize three things - we were spending too much, I was not investing well, but we still had enough so I could "not return to work" (I have a problem using the word retire). We needed to focus and make some changes.
We're now in our 4th version of plan B. Our life is quite different from our original plan. Stuff happens, most of which we can't control. Good, bad, fair or not - doesn't matter what or who's fault. We've managed to keep our sights on the things that matter and stay financially solvent despite my efforts to the contrary. We both have already enjoyed more "retirement" than almost all of our numerous previous generation family - yet we're still young. We have also come together as a family in a way simply not possible when I worked. Not just wife and children but also Mom, brothers and sisters and even close friends.
If I had known then what I know now about investing and withdrawal rates I probably would have done something different, stayed at work looking for that extra bit of financial security And missed so much more. Yet here we are, and everything's ok. (I think) It's crucial to have a sense of "enough" and then focus on other things – the important stuff, like life. It's fragile, changes come quickly and unannounced and it just doesn't make sense (for me) to build too great a margin of safety or look too far ahead. Those things are nice but they're not what are most important.
No words of wisdom here, just a thought I try to keep in my own mind - you gotta live your life as best you can, take the opportunities when they show, be fair and not greedy, and help others.
[FONT="]I am so glad I did this.
[/FONT]
I'm still not sure how we got here. When I stopped working it wasn't retirement, I quit, just to take a break, fully expecting to go back after a few years. I was not aware of SWR or FIRE and even worse at investing than I am now - I only knew that I was going to get my life back, enjoy it, and also enjoy my family once again (and help them rediscover the real me). Only after a couple of years did I realize three things - we were spending too much, I was not investing well, but we still had enough so I could "not return to work" (I have a problem using the word retire). We needed to focus and make some changes.
We're now in our 4th version of plan B. Our life is quite different from our original plan. Stuff happens, most of which we can't control. Good, bad, fair or not - doesn't matter what or who's fault. We've managed to keep our sights on the things that matter and stay financially solvent despite my efforts to the contrary. We both have already enjoyed more "retirement" than almost all of our numerous previous generation family - yet we're still young. We have also come together as a family in a way simply not possible when I worked. Not just wife and children but also Mom, brothers and sisters and even close friends.
If I had known then what I know now about investing and withdrawal rates I probably would have done something different, stayed at work looking for that extra bit of financial security And missed so much more. Yet here we are, and everything's ok. (I think) It's crucial to have a sense of "enough" and then focus on other things – the important stuff, like life. It's fragile, changes come quickly and unannounced and it just doesn't make sense (for me) to build too great a margin of safety or look too far ahead. Those things are nice but they're not what are most important.
No words of wisdom here, just a thought I try to keep in my own mind - you gotta live your life as best you can, take the opportunities when they show, be fair and not greedy, and help others.
[FONT="]I am so glad I did this.
[/FONT]
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