I guess we don't fit the mold in some ways.
We have an annual "FIRE checkup" annually at Christmas time. We go over all investments, budget for the coming year, and plan for 2 different time horizons...1 year and 3 years. We commit to each other that we will come to agreement...so all these things in the article about not agreeing on whether they even have a detailed plan...don't apply.
We've decided that one spouse will FIRE earlier than the other. Which one? Well...it doesn't really matter at this point, but probably will be DW since she is 4 years older and my income is much higher. My plan is to have a part-time activity for low pay...and hers is completely get out...so I may go to PT before she completely leaves the race.
Why different times? Well, we just agree that there will be a lot of "logistics" and errands to run for a few months. I told her it would be nice if I could focus only on the j*b for the final 6-12 months while she cleans the house, takes the motor oil to the recycling center, buys groceries, mows the lawn, takes the dog to the groomer, schedules the furnace maintenance, plans our vacations, and a zillion other things that today we somehow share and fit into an already busy schedule as I'm sure all on this board do.
I've never in my life had a time when I came home from w*rk and had a hot meal waiting for me...so I
asked her if she'd be willing to do that for me a couple days a week that last period...and she smiled and said "happily".
Once we get within 12 months (currently we're within about 2-3 years), we'll really have to nail this down tight (I'm an Engineer by education
).