Age FIRE became a priority

[kaudrey]

I grew up in a house where my dad was always planning to retire after my sister and I left the nest. He did, at 57. Sometime in my teens, I started forming the idea that I'd want to retire at least when he did, if not earlier.

I maxed out my 401(k) starting with the day I got my first real job. I didn't start my first RE spreadsheet until I was 34, though (I am 45 now). I plan to retire at 57, but mostly due to federal health benefits rules; otherwise, I could probably do it earlier.

 

[longranger]

Did not really think about FI or RE till about age 55. Fortunately me and DW have always maxed out our pension and profit sharing, 401Ks etc.. so we are pretty much FI but by just enough that OMY syndrome is still in effect. Now at 58 I think about RE every day as work is a grind. If not for the costs of healthcare I would have probably pulled the plug already.

 

[Nodak]

I was 36.

 

[ESRwannabe]

FIRE became a priority shortly after getting my first real job and realizing I am not cut out to be a worker drone (about age 25). It isn't that I don't want to work, its the monotony of the routine.

I don't like being required to go to work every day, for the same number of hours, *everyday for decades*. I just can't take it.

My goal is not FIRE, but early semi-retirement. I want to switch to part-time work or working full time for half of the year, or some combination.

My plan is to build up dividend income in my taxable account so that it covers 50% of my living expenses. At that point I will look for new employment, maybe even a new line of work.

I'm roughly 70% of the way there now. I should be about 80% there by the end of next year. I turn 39 next year. My goal was to be 100% there by 40 and it looks like I will be very close to hitting my numbers. My guess is I'll be 90% there by 40.

I work in IT and the "new" thing now is "cloud computing" which is really not that different than time sharing if you go back a ways... Anyway this will play to my advantage as "cloud" is all about running things remotely which lends itself to consulting work.

 

[Retch The Grate]

I started saving for retirement when I was 23 and had access to my first 401k plan, but I didn't get really serious about FIRE until I was 25 and found the retire early forum on the Motley Fool website. I was saving 10% in my 401k, and didn't know until I started reading that forum that that wasn't sufficient to build up the sort of investments I wanted to fund my retirement.

Even then, it took a while before I hit being able to max my 401k and Roth IRA contributions every year. If we go by when did I start maxing out both of those and still saving money additional money, that was only 6 years ago, when I was 36.

 

[foxfirev5]

FI - Priority as much as possible from an early age, always LBYM type.
RE - Became a priority in 2009 after the big downturn and doing the corporate monkey dance with HR to keep my job.
Thanks to the FI part, the RE part can happen at anytime now. Perhaps the sooner the better for all concerned.

 

[Texconsin]

59...seriously...and thank goodness so late

Didn't start tracking my net worth until I was 59 and found mint.com.

Thank goodness, because it's already driving me crazy. Well, MORE crazy.

 

[scrabbler1]

For me, more importantly, I learned to lived debt free from my first job. If I did have the cash in the bank, I didn't buy it, simple as that (bought a new car for first job as current car kept breaking down, but paid off within a year)


This lack of debt has always allow me to save something. But really in my mid thirties and the post-2009 stock rise has the numbers started getting big enough that it has my FULL attention now, and I really have become religious about tending to my retirements needs.

I had some guidelines, or rules, about debt. One was to never have more than one of the "big 3" of debts: student loans, car loans, and mortgage loans. I paid off my student loans 18 months after the 6-month grace period (after college graduation) ended. I never had a car loan, paying cash each of the 3 cars I have owned in my lifetime. I did not take on a mortgage until 2 years after I paid off the student loans. And, of course, I always paid my credit cards in full each month, and still do.

I paid off the mortgage in 9 years, just after I turned 35 in 1998, so I have been totally debt-free for the last 16 years. This accelerated my personal savings rate in the late 1990s (one biweekly paycheck easily covered my expenses for a few years) and made working part-time possible with the greatly reduced expenses.

 

[Sue J]

DH and I were around 50 or so and he realized he had been at his county job for long enough that retiring with the pension could be a reality, he needed another 8 years so he planned on staying in his job. We made a plan to pay back 5 years that he had cashed out a long time ago to pay for graduate school in the 80's.

Soon after we completed buying back that 5 years his job started looking not so secure. I had always been frugal and a big saver but feeling insecure about his job made him get serious about saving and controlling expenses. We kicked into gear and paid off all debt by the time he lost his job at 55.

Pension > expenses = comfy enough retirement

 

[M Paquette]

Around age 46, when my last startup was bought out by a gigacorporation. I had to hang around for the transition, but, damn, that place was bureaucratic and almost moribund. Fortunately, the startup's CEO and C-suite team managed to capture the CEO and C-suite positions of the gigacorp, and things improved rapidly, both from a work perspective and for my retirement portfolio.

 

[shortstop14]

About age 43 in 1999 - with my daughter off to college and the house paid off, and after some disciplined LBYM and saving and less disciplined but fortunate riding the tide investment in technology stocks in the 90s - I started paying attention and focusing on the end game of FI and RE. Got beat up a bit in the tech wreck and the 2008 financial mess, but stayed the course and retired at 56.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

For me, it was two different occasions. The first was when I got my first paycheck from w*rking at a pizza place. I really worked hard, but the $$$ was just a pi**er. Once I got married, well...it went off the tracks. Once that tribulation was over and I realized how much the military pension was worth, I buckled down to make sure that when I wrapped up with the Air Force, I would be FI and if I wanted, I would be RE. This fruition came about when I was about 28 years old (10 year point in AF). I actually w*rked a couple of years past the 20 years required for the pension but for a while, I had myself fooled that I had a j*b that I enjoyed. Now that I have been FIREd for a little over a month, the ONLY thing I miss about w*rk was SOME of the people, but that certainly does not outweigh the cons of w*rk.

 

[Hermit]

59 for me. I was just going down life's lane enjoying the ride. DW was over 10 years my junior and had goals she wanted to fulfill. Retirement was out there somewhere, but not a priority.

When DD was born, I decided it was time to get serious about saving for college. I was not comfortable putting a bunch of money in a child's name and I would turn 59.5 the year she started college. I maxed out the 401(k) and kept it that way until I retired. It turned out that our income increased substantially and we would not need that money to fund college for the kids.

Deciding to retire happened a few days after DW suddenly died. Sometimes God can speak very loudly. I was to move to the mountains and for as long as I am capable I will help out at the kid's camp close to the house I am building. The timing for this move took a lot of soul searching. I wanted to retire and move right away, but DD had just completed her first year of college and DS was starting his first year. I decided I would retire at the time the DS finished college. Little did I know at that time that the rigors of working a constantly changing night shift would take such a toll as I got older. DS transferred to a larger school and would not graduate at 4 years. I first planned to put off retirement, but after a month in the Colorado mountains, when I tried to do a night shift again, I knew that I just couldn't continue. I put in my papers to retire the next day which was right on the original schedule.

Living comfortably on DW's SS and pension. Will move to my SS at 70. (BTW, DS is still going strong in college. Doesn't look like he will graduate until his seventh year!)

 

[Keim]

Wife and I have always been savers, and planned to retire in our 50s. Started actively planning when I was about 32. Precipitated by a serious, ongoing health issue.

 

[48Fire]

Always planned on retiring early, but did not become a priority until age 45, when I joined this forum . ER at 53.

 

[Totoro]

Have been LBYM from childhood.

Had FIRE develop as priority when I started my Phd (age 20) and reality of the many poor options in corporate life sank in. It's also a reason why I didn't go for an academic "career" afterwards.

Didn't think FIRE was realistic though until late 20s, as I started accumulating quite a bit of cash from a well paying job.

Now actually semi-FIRE at 34, but will pick up some form of paid work I think as I don't feel secure enough (@ +/- 750k usd) and may have a bit of adventure in me left to try something that pays. May even try and start a new business.

 

[Golden sunsets]

59 for me. I was just going down life's lane enjoying the ride. DW was over 10 years my junior and had goals she wanted to fulfill. Retirement was out there somewhere, but not a priority. When DD was born, I decided it was time to get serious about saving for college. I was not comfortable putting a bunch of money in a child's name and I would turn 59.5 the year she started college. I maxed out the 401(k) and kept it that way until I retired. It turned out that our income increased substantially and we would not need that money to fund college for the kids. Deciding to retire happened a few days after DW suddenly died. Sometimes God can speak very loudly. I was to move to the mountains and for as long as I am capable I will help out at the kid's camp close to the house I am building. The timing for this move took a lot of soul searching. I wanted to retire and move right away, but DD had just completed her first year of college and DS was starting his first year. I decided I would retire at the time the DS finished college. Little did I know at that time that the rigors of working a constantly changing night shift would take such a toll as I got older. DS transferred to a larger school and would not graduate at 4 years. I first planned to put off retirement, but after a month in the Colorado mountains, when I tried to do a night shift again, I knew that I just couldn't continue. I put in my papers to retire the next day which was right on the original schedule. Living comfortably on DW's SS and pension. Will move to my SS at 70. (BTW, DS is still going strong in college. Doesn't look like he will graduate until his seventh year!)

This is quite a story Hermit. So sorry for the loss of your DW at such a young age. Congrats on navigating those years immediately after her passing. It sounds as though your DS and DD are doing well and you have transitioned well.

 

[Golden sunsets]

DH and I always contributed to our IRA's(before 401K's were developed). In the beginning the max one could contribute was $2,000/yr. Premarriage, we also squirreled away more after tax but without a plan. Then when children arrived, I took a 10 year hiatus from work. We prepared for this period by practicing living on one income from our marriage until the birth of our first. That period, when we were socking away 100 percent of my net salary was the genesis of our journey to FI. We also chose to buy less house than we could afford and consequently had growing down payments as we bought and sold four homes over the course of our careers. The mortgage on our final home purchase was less than 50 percent of value, which we financed for 15 years and paid off in 12, making one extra payment per year. Our FI plans I think came into focus in 1991 when we started our spreadsheet. That spreadsheet is now 48 pages long and contains every aspect of our financial life from the original sheet which updates our Assets and Liabilities semi-annually, to detailed pro forma taxes going out to 2025 to anticipate taxes based on Roth conversions. Many other additional sheets have been incorporated including home cost basis, current investments updated for current value( one for each year) and detailed expense records. I feel like our whole financial life is contained in this living record.

 

[donheff]

The RE part was one factor in why I elected to pursue a Federal career. That was at 23 years old. The interest in FI (apart from the pension) came when DW and I reached our mid 40s. That is when we began saving in earnest.

 

[Idnar7]

In 2006 when my DF passed. He was a carpenter and didn't have a pension or paid vacation time and often missed time in the winter. We always went on a summer vacation camping, even though DF didn't get paid. My DM was a home maker and then worked part time after we were in high school. They managed to save over $300k. That and SS lasted them until he passed at 87. My three siblings and I each got an inheritance of $16k plus a paid off family lake place worth >$500k. I used the inheritance to start taxable and Roth accounts. We also maxed out our 401k's until DW retired in 2008 and I was let go in 2010. That last 4 year push increased our NW by about 40%.

 

[Hermit]

This is quite a story Hermit. So sorry for the loss of your DW at such a young age. Congrats on navigating those years immediately after her passing. It sounds as though your DS and DD are doing well and you have transitioned well.

Thank you, Golden

Hermit

 

[dunkelblau]

I liked the university environment and didn't want to leave, but I didn't want to be a professor struggling for tenure. Professional student would have been my gig of choice, all it takes is enough of a nest egg.

After I graduated and hired into MegaCorp I knew I had a poor fit my first week on the job. I was fine with living on a graduate student's stipend, so I figured it wouldn't take long to accumulate enough savings for passive income to cover my needs. My starting salary was modest but the 90s bull market was a great tailwind. Hit my milestone after 12 years on the job.

Over the years the allure of academia faded and I started to tolerate and even enjoy my job. I think this led to goalpost creep to the point where I'm now way past what I can realistically spend. No regrets because I believe FI made it possible to focus on the fun parts of my work and ignore the rest. Management gives me a pass because my specialty is rare and fairly important to the business at the moment. I'm a naturally anxious person so depending on a paycheck at my age in my line of work amid continuing layoff rounds would probably have stressed me out long ago. Even in good times a forced promotion into a supervisory role would have been ugly.

So even though my original reason for pursuing FI was to RE, hitting it early has actually extended my career. Most new hires don't realize how often the bigwigs in the positions they aspire to are aching to get out. It's all a matter of who's in control of your financial future, you or your employer.

 

[Kraftwerk]

For me it was 40. Surely I saved alot in my 30's but to be honest I also blew alot of money. No regrets. It would not matter anyway, nothing that I can do about it now. I am curious to know at what age FIRE became important to you and the reasons why if you want to give it. For me, age 40 was the time in my life when I realized my dreams just were not going to come true unless I tried to save and invest money alot harder than I did in my 30's.

Spot on with me too.

 

[Hermit]

I liked the university environment and didn't want to leave, but I didn't want to be a professor struggling for tenure. Professional student would have been my gig of choice, all it takes is enough of a nest egg....

I'm afraid my son is in total agreement on gig of choice. Unfortunately, it has been my nest egg so far!

 

[freebird5825]

Two ages, actually....at 30 first, then at 46 for real

Retirement was always something I always thought about, but was not too focused on it. Saving for FI was always a habit. 1980 was not a great year to hit the j*b market when I graduated college. I always w*rked, so I thought in terms of standard SS retirement benefits.

I didn't realize any serious salary level until I got a govt j*b at age 30, 9 years after college graduation. I had a few decent j*bs with defense contractor companies from age 21 to age 30, but nothing that looked long term or had potential to have any sort of decent pension. There was no such thing as a 401(k) at that time.
I saw people who had been in those j*bs, for 10+ years, changing companies every few years and ending up with next to nothing all in one place. Hmmmm...not for me.

So I bit the bullet and applied for a govt j*b in 1988 at age 30 during a temporary hiring freeze easement. BINGO ! I now had the federal TSP Plan in my court. I started at 5%, then ramped it up to 10%, then gradually to 15% as permitted. I bought EE bonds through payroll deduction. I got a Roth IRA going.

I intended to w*rk until my age 50 and do an early out within the FERS system when my husband retired at age 55 under CSRS.
Great plan, right ?
My husband passed suddenly 5 years before he was eligible to retire, leaving me with his modest pension and health benefits at my age 46.

Talk about having to adapt quickly to Plan B...whew!

The more I thought about it, the survivor health benefits meant I had the means to decide if I wanted to keep doing what I was doing as a GS-13 Engineer. It was becoming a real mental struggle to keep at that, facing ugly politics every damn day.

Was the money worth it ? Nope...

So I maxed my TSP out to the IRS limit for 2.5 years, achieved a target principal amount, and said adios at age 48.

No regrets.