marko
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 8,427
I retired from my company ten years ago today on 12.2.05, exactly 12205 days after I started. (note the numbers) I was 53.
I had had an extraordinary run of 33 years. My company was eventually sold and I was given the opportunity to “pursue other interests” by the acquiring company with an obscenely generous severance and payout.
Despite a stellar resume, looking for new employment over age 50 was an eye opener; I was either “overqualified” or “just a rich guy looking to play golf with clients and do little else for the next 10 years” or “we can get a young kid cheaper” were the unspoken themes.
Then came the Great Recession and……..reluctantly, retirement came knocking on my door.
At first DW and I were a little concerned. We were never terrified, but more unsure and frankly hadn’t thought about an early retirement too much. We “thought” we were ok but had no idea where to start. We had a lot of money and investments but now the trick was to figure out how long it would last.
Can we do this?
Then….
Somewhere along the way I stumbled into this forum; sort of backed into it via FireCalc if I recall. I ended up lurking awhile before signing up about 6 years ago.
The things I’ve learned here over the past 10 years have been simply amazing and opened up a whole new life for us! Seriously, this forum should be required reading for high schoolers. Collectively, the folks here have saved me tens of thousands of dollars in varying ways and allowed us a new life.
Investments, taxes, social security, health care, and a dozen other RE topics along with some that are just fun.
When I first started lurking here, I was expecting the FI part of be a lot of super wealthy ‘financially independent’ types; trust funders, retired business owners and maybe an internet billionaire. What a surprise to realize that RE includes an entire subculture from all walks of life and financial situations!
Meanwhile, we had all kinds of stuff that we sort-of-kind-of thought we knew but slowly realized that we had NO CLUE!!! We were leaving all this stuff to accountants and lawyers with no idea what was going on!!!
More or less by default, my new “job” was to get us to 95 years old with just our money, time, and newly learned and evolving skills. This forum has been a huge factor in that learning.
I didn’t know an expense ratio from a cap gain! But I learned and the folks here helped me along.
We eventually dropped our FA and went DIY.
We cut a whole bunch of expenses; $10K a year in subscriptions alone! We got a good handle on our spending. Our only non-negotiable was that we would never, ever cut corners on the quality of our food (and drink). I learned to cook, really, really well. We started doing our own taxes.
Ten years later, here we are.
After a few years, you see that the bills are getting paid and you have more money at the end of the year than when it began. You start to relax and realize “Hey, this is working!”. You slowly start to see your portfolio grow over time. You get confident making changes. You don’t panic in a downturn. You start to loosen the purse strings (just a bit).
Bored? What’s that?!
Hey! Guess what?! I get by on about 90% fewer clothes in my closet than when I was working.
The work friends that I thought would stay in touch haven’t called in 10 years; I’m still having lunch with the ones I thought I’d never hear from!
My work had kept me away from home 200 days a year, so best of all, I'm now getting to do all the stuff I never had time for; early morning paper and a cup of coffee, working on my boat (instead of paying someone to do it), long walks, leisurely swims and slow dinners.
On the forum you go from a lurker, to asking serious questions, to being a contributor. The people here become your friends. You get to know who’s truly knowledgeable, who’s just cranky all the time and who to avoid. Most of us have never met but you empathise on someone’s loss and celebrate their wins. You see newcomers and want to help them with the same questions you once had.
To this day, I keep learning something new on this forum. I check in almost every day and most days, several times a day. I just want to see what my friends are working on each day!
Cons: The first thing I noticed was a minor slowing of my mental capacities. Not in a bad or scary way, but after being “on” and having to operate at a high level, hair-trigger for years, I found that I just wasn’t quite as quick mentally as when my life demanded being quick on the draw.
Pros: I found that it took me over 2 years to “come down” and find myself as a person. Thirty-plus years of “being your profession” takes some undoing.
I find myself more empathetic to others. More caring, a lot less hostile and less combative (many reading my posts over the years may disagree). As an executive, I had to play a certain role; it was never ‘me’ but what I had to do to stay on top of the game. I was always a little bit of a sociopath (heh!) so I don’t expect to end up helping out at a homeless shelter, but I do find myself being a lot more understanding toward others. I’m also more relaxed, less stressed and more willing to roll with the punches. I’ve gone from sleeping 4-5 hours a night to 9 or 10! I was actually able to get rid of my distance glasses.
So that’s been my first ten years of retirement! A lot more personal growth than I was expecting and a lot more insight as to who I am.
I thank the good folks here who’ve become my on-line friends helping on this journey and for this forum itself! It’s been quite a trip so far………..
Life is good!
I had had an extraordinary run of 33 years. My company was eventually sold and I was given the opportunity to “pursue other interests” by the acquiring company with an obscenely generous severance and payout.
Despite a stellar resume, looking for new employment over age 50 was an eye opener; I was either “overqualified” or “just a rich guy looking to play golf with clients and do little else for the next 10 years” or “we can get a young kid cheaper” were the unspoken themes.
Then came the Great Recession and……..reluctantly, retirement came knocking on my door.
At first DW and I were a little concerned. We were never terrified, but more unsure and frankly hadn’t thought about an early retirement too much. We “thought” we were ok but had no idea where to start. We had a lot of money and investments but now the trick was to figure out how long it would last.
Can we do this?
Then….
Somewhere along the way I stumbled into this forum; sort of backed into it via FireCalc if I recall. I ended up lurking awhile before signing up about 6 years ago.
The things I’ve learned here over the past 10 years have been simply amazing and opened up a whole new life for us! Seriously, this forum should be required reading for high schoolers. Collectively, the folks here have saved me tens of thousands of dollars in varying ways and allowed us a new life.
Investments, taxes, social security, health care, and a dozen other RE topics along with some that are just fun.
When I first started lurking here, I was expecting the FI part of be a lot of super wealthy ‘financially independent’ types; trust funders, retired business owners and maybe an internet billionaire. What a surprise to realize that RE includes an entire subculture from all walks of life and financial situations!
Meanwhile, we had all kinds of stuff that we sort-of-kind-of thought we knew but slowly realized that we had NO CLUE!!! We were leaving all this stuff to accountants and lawyers with no idea what was going on!!!
More or less by default, my new “job” was to get us to 95 years old with just our money, time, and newly learned and evolving skills. This forum has been a huge factor in that learning.
I didn’t know an expense ratio from a cap gain! But I learned and the folks here helped me along.
We eventually dropped our FA and went DIY.
We cut a whole bunch of expenses; $10K a year in subscriptions alone! We got a good handle on our spending. Our only non-negotiable was that we would never, ever cut corners on the quality of our food (and drink). I learned to cook, really, really well. We started doing our own taxes.
Ten years later, here we are.
After a few years, you see that the bills are getting paid and you have more money at the end of the year than when it began. You start to relax and realize “Hey, this is working!”. You slowly start to see your portfolio grow over time. You get confident making changes. You don’t panic in a downturn. You start to loosen the purse strings (just a bit).
Bored? What’s that?!
Hey! Guess what?! I get by on about 90% fewer clothes in my closet than when I was working.
The work friends that I thought would stay in touch haven’t called in 10 years; I’m still having lunch with the ones I thought I’d never hear from!
My work had kept me away from home 200 days a year, so best of all, I'm now getting to do all the stuff I never had time for; early morning paper and a cup of coffee, working on my boat (instead of paying someone to do it), long walks, leisurely swims and slow dinners.
On the forum you go from a lurker, to asking serious questions, to being a contributor. The people here become your friends. You get to know who’s truly knowledgeable, who’s just cranky all the time and who to avoid. Most of us have never met but you empathise on someone’s loss and celebrate their wins. You see newcomers and want to help them with the same questions you once had.
To this day, I keep learning something new on this forum. I check in almost every day and most days, several times a day. I just want to see what my friends are working on each day!
Cons: The first thing I noticed was a minor slowing of my mental capacities. Not in a bad or scary way, but after being “on” and having to operate at a high level, hair-trigger for years, I found that I just wasn’t quite as quick mentally as when my life demanded being quick on the draw.
Pros: I found that it took me over 2 years to “come down” and find myself as a person. Thirty-plus years of “being your profession” takes some undoing.
I find myself more empathetic to others. More caring, a lot less hostile and less combative (many reading my posts over the years may disagree). As an executive, I had to play a certain role; it was never ‘me’ but what I had to do to stay on top of the game. I was always a little bit of a sociopath (heh!) so I don’t expect to end up helping out at a homeless shelter, but I do find myself being a lot more understanding toward others. I’m also more relaxed, less stressed and more willing to roll with the punches. I’ve gone from sleeping 4-5 hours a night to 9 or 10! I was actually able to get rid of my distance glasses.
So that’s been my first ten years of retirement! A lot more personal growth than I was expecting and a lot more insight as to who I am.
I thank the good folks here who’ve become my on-line friends helping on this journey and for this forum itself! It’s been quite a trip so far………..
Life is good!
