|
|
10-22-2016, 01:17 PM
|
#21
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
|
No kids. I planned it that way. Retire early instead.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
10-22-2016, 02:38 PM
|
#22
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,101
|
My youngest son will be 21 almost 22 when I retire. Done with his junior year of college. I do consider his employment prospects as an area of risk associated with my upcoming retirement plans. But I'm leaving anyways hoping for the best with him. If not, hopefully I can absorb the extra time he may need to be on my payroll.
Muir
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” John Muir
|
|
|
10-22-2016, 05:00 PM
|
#23
|
Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 7,913
|
Retired at 53, kids 21 and 18, both in college at the time (senior and sophomore)
__________________
"One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute." William Feather
----------------------------------
ER'd Oct. 2010 at 53. Life is good.
|
|
|
10-22-2016, 05:31 PM
|
#24
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Far Hills
Posts: 51
|
DH retired at 55. The kids were 22 and 26, both out of college. I continued to work for next 6 years, and retired at 53. My plan was to work until 55, but due to company reorganization my entire department was downsized. It was like a gift for me, since I received 56 weeks severance pay, annual bonus, and collected 20 weeks unemployment.
|
|
|
10-22-2016, 06:06 PM
|
#25
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 410
|
Retired last year at 46. DS was 14 and DD 11. DS was going into an intense academic program to prepare for early entrance to college (he is now a regular freshman at age 15), so I was glad to be available to support him full time. DD has now joined us back in the US, and she also seems to enjoy having a SAHM. Our lives are so much less stressful than when I was working. There is a small chance I may need to go back to work at some point, but I hope to put it off until they both are in college. It is just so nice to be able to get them off to school every day and welcome them home, and I enjoy having the rest of the day to do my own thing as well. The thought of going back to a 8-5 job, plus commute, is really depressing. Hopefully it won't ever be necessary.
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 08:24 AM
|
#26
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 900
|
I tell you, I admire those of you who RE (as in no part time income or spouse working... at least my definition) with multiple kids that are younger (under college age). As a parent of 4 kids 20, 22, 24, 26 and 2 still in college, I have timed my RE at 55 when the last one graduates. Between cars, insurance, "other kid costs", college costs, weddings, and just general kid costs, I just feel too exposed to shut down the money making machine. It would be interesting to hear from some of you 10 years later to see if you made it thru the those expensive kid years without turning the money machine back on. More power too you!
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 08:36 AM
|
#27
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,301
|
Retired earlier this year at 55. Wife retired 2014 at 53. Kids 23 and 21
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 10:42 AM
|
#28
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,468
|
My daughter was 31 when I retired at age 61. I waited until she was grown and gone before divorcing my ex, and then it took quite a while after that before I could retire.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 11:19 AM
|
#29
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Treasure Coast
Posts: 472
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by DawgMan
It would be interesting to hear from some of you 10 years later to see if you made it thru the those expensive kid years without turning the money machine back on. More power too you!
|
We are just a bit past 10 years post-FIRE. Both our kids have graduated from college, work in good jobs, and support themselves. We paid their expensive private college costs and also covered some costly items related to medical issues for them, now resolved. We have not lowered our standard of living and in fact now live in two much nicer houses than the two we lived in then. Net worth now 22% higher than the day I stopped working for money. We were fortunate to start with a big enough nest egg, and spent less than we made. Lately we have relaxed a bit on the spending, but still not dipping into the pot.
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 05:41 PM
|
#30
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 61
|
Planning on starting a sabbatical probably leading to retirement mid next year or earlier. I will be 53 and DS will be 3. Really looking forward to a second career as a SAHD. Also, DW has started talking about a second baby...
|
|
|
10-23-2016, 09:01 PM
|
#31
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kickernick
How old were / will your youngest child be when you retire? Beyond money, what considerations are there for you??
|
I retired 3 years ago at age 33. My kids were 1, 7, and 8 at the time (one still in diapers, the other two starting second and third grade, respectively).
Money wasn't too much of a consideration. We knew what we were spending, we knew it would get a little more expensive for food, clothes, etc but child care would drop to zero. We set aside "enough" to help significantly with college plus cover the big unknown kid costs (braces? car? teenager insurance?). I think we'll be okay from a financial perspective and will know a lot more in another 7-8 years once the oldest 2 are in college.
I also worried exactly zero that my kids would think me a lazy bum. They never saw how hard I worked while at work, or what I did at work. They mostly saw me at home at night and on the weekends, trying to catch up on personal pursuits and taking care of all the errands and crap that life throws at you.
Since retiring, most of the stress melted away, and what's left is very manageable.
I retired early in part to spend significantly more time with our kids before they turned into surly teenagers and "never wanted to see our ugly parent faces ever ever EVER!! again"! So far so good. We've discovered a few major issues as the oldest transitions to middle school and helped her solve these problems very well (dealing with bullying; changing study habits to go from F to A in six weeks). Hard to imagine we'd have the mental space, time, and energy to handle this stuff as well if we were still working.
And after spending the day with some new family whose kids are the same age as ours, I realized our kids are 1000x better off than some other kids (even though those other kids have a MUCH higher material lifestyle than our kids enjoy, and our kids were shocked to find out that's a pretty typical "high income, high spend" lifestyle that many kids enjoy). These kids today were pretty F'd up in many regards and holy crap I deserve some gold stars and A+'s for my parenting skills.
I'd like to think I could handle equally well the rigors of parenting while still working full time, but I think there's a non-zero chance I would have given up, said screw it, and let my kids be little snotballs as I go bury my head in some other pursuits (this seems to be pretty common among the "high income, high spend" community).
Instead, we actually talk with our kids a lot. We do slow paced fun (usually free) activities together. We do extended travel (and the kids actually want to go; something I hated as a kid). They are cool telling us about their friends and discussing most things with us. Our kids are far from perfect (some days I feel like googling the foster system to see if there might be a way to give them to someone else) but I feel like the extra time we have in early retirement allows us to cope with their challenges of growing up.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|