Is it really early retirement that we most want or do we want the absence of ...

[ExFlyBoy5]

I didn't get the article either. Me thinks he is some "lost soul" out there seeking...

Whatever he's not found yet.

Add me to the list. I even re-read it and still didn't get it.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Y'all might like this one from his site a little better, as it is "preaching to the choir".

How much of your life are you selling off?

 

[gayl]

I am currently unemployed and get where he's coming from.

To be totally honest, I am beginning to like it. What I don't like is the absence of an income stream to augment my meager pension. However, I think that angst will subside once I take SSA in 12 months

 

[Teacher Terry]

My career had BS because although I loved the work when you work for the government there is lots of crap. 7 months after retiring I was offered a chance to teach a uni course online and I love it. No BS what so ever. It is like being your own boss. I know I have something rare. I find great enjoyment out of trips, events, eating out, etc and don't really understand when others don't like those types of things. Fortunately my DH feels the same way.

 

[RioIndy]

I suspect most of us get tired of emptying the BS bucket, and if someone can find a job that doesn't rapidly fill up said bucket, great. But most jobs aren't like that and most people aren't so fortunate.

This +1000. It is a sad shame the state of our current w*rking structure. We can safely assume that there are many, many people who have extremely valuable skills and experience, and these people would be happy to continue contributing these skills, but because of all the annoying nuances of the w*rk world and corportate BS, it is not fulfilling and so they choose not too. Can't blame them and will hopefully be making that same choice very shortly.

 

[unclemick]

Me, either.

Before I retired, I had no idea how much fun retired life could be, even though I wanted to retire more than anything. For some reason I thought it would be like a long vacation. It's so much better.

I was a miserable layed off unemployed slacker until it dawned on me that I didn't have to work.

After that realization I made the mental shift between my ears to high class ER. I try to be outwardly grumpy even though inwardly I'm wing flapping happy.

heh heh heh - unless I slip.

 

[aja8888]

I get David's e-mailed blog also. Sometimes he does a good job of making me think about things I never think about. This week, he is making me scratch my head a bit.

 

[W2R]

Y'all might like this one from his site a little better, as it is "preaching to the choir".

How much of your life are you selling off?

Thanks! I'm definitely going to read the article....

Really, give me a minute, I will.

Honest.

I will, for sure.

Just as soon as I can bear to move past the beefcake photo there at the beginning.

 

[Focus]

Y'all might like this one from his site a little better, as it is "preaching to the choir".

How much of your life are you selling off?

From the post:

This is why early retirees advocate reaching financial independence — saving enough that you can live off the interest alone without touching the nest egg itself — before you shut off your career income. This means you can live to be 200 if you like, but you’ll need to save more than a twenty-year burn-off fund.

Live off the interest alone? Really?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Live off the interest alone? Really?

That is a fairly traditional investment philosophy, as in the sayings "Never spend principal" or "never eat your seed corn". I'm curious why you find it surprising?

There is a discussion on it on Reddit here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/financiali...o_you_plan_to_eventually_spend_the_principal/

 

[Focus]

That is a fairly traditional investment philosophy, as in the sayings "Never spend principal" or "never eat your seed corn". I'm curious why you find it surprising?

Hard to imagine it's feasible in this era of ultra-low rates.

 

[aja8888]

Hard to imagine it's feasible in this era of ultra-low rates.

You just need to have several million $$$$$ or be living on $15K per year, that's all.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

You just need to have several million $$$$$ or be living on $15K per year, that's all.

Or multiple income streams in addition to dividend / interest types of income. Or Mulligan's utility preferred stock dividends, which I still need to look into.

 

[gayl]

I average 800-900 month dividends on way less than that. If I had 1m, it would be 2400 month dividends. So it is do-able

 

[aja8888]

Or multiple income streams in addition to dividend / interest types of income. Or Mulligan's utility preferred stock dividends, which I still need to look into.

Focus was referring to living off the "interest only", not multiple income streams.

 

[FUEGO]

You just need to have several million $$$$$ or be living on $15K per year, that's all.

A mere $1.5 million dropped in the SP500 spits out $31,500 at today's 2.1% yield. That plus a paid off house in a low COL area is a pretty decent but basic retirement.

 

[aja8888]

A mere $1.5 million dropped in the SP500 spits out $31,500 at today's 2.1% yield. That plus a paid off house in a low COL area is a pretty decent but basic retirement.

I'm sure a lot of people are doing that on SS alone these days.

 

[Gumby]

You just need to have several million $$$$$ or be living on $15K per year, that's all.

Or only plan to be alive until next Tuesday.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Focus was referring to living off the "interest only", not multiple income streams.

But most posters here are going to get at least some SS as well eventually, and some will have pensions, so no need to live only off portfolio income alone forever.

 

[bclover]

I didn't get the article either. Me thinks he is some "lost soul" out there seeking...

Whatever he's not found yet.

+1

Personally he just sounds like a person who hasn't found the "joy" of today because he's always focusing on something other than the present.

My vacations have lived up to my expectations maybe because I tend to be very, very grateful to be where I'm at. Lol, my honeymoon was spent on the island of Jamaica during one of the worst hurricanes of that decade and I was happy as a pig in slop because for me the object of it was to be with my sweetie.

I love eating out, my son's and I are on a quest to find the best pizza in Philly. Do I stress if I have to wait for a menu? WTH, is this guy 5??

I'm only two months into retirement but so far I'm a happy camper

 

[FUEGO]

I love eating out, my son's and I are on a quest to find the best pizza in Philly. Do I stress if I have to wait for a menu? WTH, is this guy 5??

The best part about this quest is finding the second, third, fourth, fifth, etc best pizza places in Philly. Even bad pizza is better than going hungry.

 

[tulak]

A mere $1.5 million dropped in the SP500 spits out $31,500 at today's 2.1% yield. That plus a paid off house in a low COL area is a pretty decent but basic retirement.

And it's not too hard to get more than 2.1% if that's what you want. My portfolio yields 2.75% and it's a total return portfolio, not at all geared at maxing dividend/interest income.

 

[Mulligan]

Or multiple income streams in addition to dividend / interest types of income. Or Mulligan's utility preferred stock dividends, which I still need to look into.

I love my utility preferred stocks. You will have to pry them from my cold dead hands. And Coolius is worse. In his will they cannot be sold until the 3rd generation receives the inheritance! You have to be careful though with price point... We are on another forum that focus's on income and preferreds investing instead of the normal traditional total return route that is more standard here. Before I mentioned it nobody had heard of Connecticut Light and Power. Now its a cult issue as a relative feeding frenzy has occurred on some of these investment grade "high yield" illiquids.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[FUEGO]

And it's not too hard to get more than 2.1% if that's what you want. My portfolio yields 2.75% and it's a total return portfolio, not at all geared at maxing dividend/interest income.

Good point. My portfolio yielded 2.44% and it's a near-100% equities portfolio spread around the globe with small caps, emerging markets, REITs, etc. No dividend focus at all.

 

[Markola]

OP here and it's really encouraging that all the ERs are so contended with ER. The article raised a legitimate question to me about whether my own intense focus on FIRE in recent years is a symptom of a work life that's out of whack largely due to managers I dislike and other work BS. Do I want to FIRE or is it simply my fight or flight mode kicking in? Maybe I'm over-thinking things but a key line in the article resonated with how I'm feeling:

..."The ease itself we can find much more readily by understanding our wants rather than scrambling to relieve them..."

After pondering it for a few days and reading the responses above, my answers are:

1) Yes! I have found that I'm a lot happier with a better manager after changing organizations a month ago, and
2) Yes! I'm still as focused on FIRE as ever. There are bigger reasons that I want to FIRE than simply escaping the confines of a professional career and poor management. Like many above who have FIRED, I want freedom and my time to myself. If present trends continue, 5-7 years and I can afford to hang it up in my mid-late 50s at our current lifestyle, which will be well ahead of most everyone I know. Cheers!