One Year Today

[TallTim]

Today is technically my one-year RE anniversary, though I was out of the office on a regular basis for a few weeks before-hand. I've debated what date to actually use, but since July 10 was the actual date on all my documents, I guess that's the one.

No huge reflections, but v glad to have stepped off the treadmill when I did at 49.

What's gone well:

- The total portfolio is greater today than when I RE'd, despite paying a year of living expenses, taxes, one year of college tuition and buying a new car. Thank goodness for lax monetary policy, market volatility driving options premium and the wonders of small consulting projects that seem to come along well-timed.

- My tennis game, surfing and running mileage have all improved, as has my marriage (IMO) and my tan.

- Better/more constructive relationships w late teen DD and DS. Was very much hoping this would be the case, and it's been wonderful to be around as they transition to college.

- Much lower stress levels (evidenced by lower BP and other markers, not that they were poor before, but different enough that my MD mentioned them in my annual check-up)

- Qualitative side has taken some adjustment, but has ultimately been positive on a number of levels.

What could have gone better:

- Better planning on qualitative friction points of being home a lot more; just some adjustments all around and could have been better planned

- Even at only 49, its harder to spend 4 hours a day exercising than I had thought (recalled) .. so not REALLY able to do that more (or at all).

- Options trading has been (thus far) lucrative, but it is time consuming and can be a bit isolating.

- Only have read a handful (at best) of books, despite ambitious plans.

All in all, a good passage to-date. Highly recommend to any readers on the fence. It really is worth it to get out as soon as you can !

 

[MBAustin]

Congratulations, TallTim, and thanks for the update! Wishing you many more happy years of retirement!

 

[Retch The Grate]

congrats, sounds like it is off to a good start.

 

[rodi]

Sounds like you've made a very successful transition from work to ER.

 

[Scuba]

Congratulations! I'm interested to hear how you think the qualitative adjustment could have been planned better. I have also been wondering about my ability to exercise 3 or 4 hours a day when now I'm lucky to get in one hour.


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[TallTim]

I'm interested to hear how you think the qualitative adjustment could have been planned better.

Thanks Scuba, it's a good question. We spent a lot of time working over the numbers, of course, but spent less time talking about the reality of me quitting my job. DW was 100% supportive of the whole enterprise, but we found there were some unstated expectations on both sides.

- With 2 kids at home, though barely, there is still a lot of house stuff to be done and we didn't communicate as well as we might have about division of labor on that front ... IMO DW rightly was looking for more help at home and I started out wrongly thinking that every day was Saturday for a few months anyway ... that took some discussions about what could be delegated effectively and what could not.

- I had ideas about doing more stuff together with DW with my free time, but of course she had a very full schedule w/o my help ... this has worked out fine in the end; we do a lot together and a lot apart and just needed to find a balance point.

- I do think there was some adjustment to me sitting in the kitchen trading on my laptop while DW did what she usually does in the mornings with getting people out the door to school ... solved that by converting the guest room to an office, so I have someplace to 'go' and do my thing.

- Also, we had to set up a plan to transfer $ on a schedule from the accounts I manage (investing, taxes) to those managed by DW (checking, local/emergency savings) to prevent the feeling that I needed to be asked for money (we both felt odd about doing that/having to ask, etc.) - so this has helped.

- A few other odds and ends about time and schedule, but those would have been good conversations to have up front, tbh.

I have also been wondering about my ability to exercise 3 or 4 hours a day when now I'm lucky to get in one hour.

- I had visions of doing 3-4 hour bike rides daily, etc. but it hasn't worked out that way for several reasons ... most of my training partners still work normal hours, so that limits their time, and I really didn't want to spend 15 hours a week training alone, so I don't do that.

- Also, working on making new group of friends who are retired/flexible schedule led to other activities, which has taken time away from what I otherwise might be doing.

- Finally, on the training/competing/racing front, I am alot less interested in trying to be as competitive/fast as possible that I was even a few yrs ago .. probably some mellowing and just overall staleness after 20 yrs of competitive endurance athletics of one form or another, and that has also led to much less desire to just go out and thrash myself all the time.

Overall, on the exercise front, it's been nice to have time to do things as and when I want to as opposed to a schedule imposed by work or other time constraints.

YMMV of course, but these were mine.

 

[SJ1_]

..
- Even at only 49, its harder to spend 4 hours a day exercising than I had thought (recalled) .. so not REALLY able to do that more (or at all).

-

Congratulations - I also thought I would be able to exercise a lot more than I do but i'm still in much better shape than 4+ yrs ago..

 

[Scuba]

Thanks so much for the detailed response, TallTim. Sounds like everything is working out but it takes an adjustment period to figure out new routines and time with spouse vs not post retirement. Appreciate your sharing your learnings!


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[Live And Learn]

Welcome to the one year club TallTim !

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I think it will help people who are on the fence about taking the plunge.