7 years FIRE'd

[FREE866]

7 years ago tomorrow I walked out of the office for the last time. I'll never forget it as I was just giddy and felt like I was walking on air. I've never felt freer and more content with my life. It's not like I hated my career, but not having to deal with Sunday night blues and Monday morning agita ever again is an indescribable feeling.



More time to exercise, eat better, show up for family, volunteer and in general be able to stop and smell the roses, and just really appreciate life more is truly a whole nother way to live.



I'm so grateful and thank you to everyone on this board that has shared their experiences as well as wisdom on a wide range of financial topics over the years.



It also hasn't hurt that my net worth has increased 58% since 1/6/2017 which has reinforced my commitment to disciplined investing and responsible spending.


Anyone reading this who is still on the fence I implore you to assess your financial picture and if the numbers work please join us. I truly feel I have been given a chance to live two lives!

 

[cooch96]

Congratulations!
I'm 30 weeks until semi-FIRE (hopefully!). All your sentiments resonate with me deeply.

 

[street]

OP I agree with you. I also ER 7.5 years ago and so glad I did. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I obtained my freedom in March 2017 and could have written what you posted word for word. My only regret is not having done it sooner!

 

[chicamuxen]

Wow, i feel the same as you. I retired 7 years ago also. It truly feels like 2 lives! I still have frequent dreams of my former job, not nightmares though. Some good and some not so good,lol.

 

[Harris4crna]

Semi-retired in 2022. I worked 28 days last year. 30% went to taxes (1099). Asked the wife today, why am I doing this. She responded, "I am not sure".

 

[DrRoy]

I obtained my freedom in March 2017.

+1

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I set myself free on 1/1/2016 at age 50. I could have written the OP.

It's good to see others set similar goals and obtain them.

 

[Koolau]

Congratulations FREE866! That's a great milestone. I just passed 18 years and my stash has doubled even though I've been doing whatever I can to lower the 401(k) to reduce future RMDs.

I too recommend FIRE to anyone who asks (and has run his/her numbers.)

May you have many more years!

 

[marko]

It also hasn't hurt that my net worth has increased 58% since 1/6/2017 which has reinforced my commitment to disciplined investing and responsible spending.

It's a curious thing isn't it? Many, many here, myself included, have commented that after leaving the workforce that their portfolio has increased over time despite living almost exactly as they had before.

Despite DW's very best efforts to drain the account, our portfolio had doubled after about 15 years.

 

[rodi]

Congrats on 7 years! This June will be 10 years for me. Never looked back. Like the OP it's reassuring to see portfolio is 45% higher than when I retired. But I credit the market more than my investing prowess. Lazy portfolio and 3.5ish percent wr.

 

[qwerty3656]

"portfolio value increased after retiring". The last 15 years have been a great run in the stock market - I'm recently retired and concerned about what the next 15 will look like. Sequence of return risk is a big issue.

 

[Retired Expat]

OP I agree with you. I also ER 7.5 years ago and so glad I did. Thanks for sharing your story.

Here, here! Agree with you both. I am more like 12 years retired and loving it. Still young at mid 60’s, lost lots of weight and salvaged my health. Married the greatest gal in the world and built a quiet, carefree life. So glad I took the very scary jump to quit a high paying job when I did!

 

[pacergal]

OP--
I am also a bit over 7 years into this wonderful thing called retirement.
Over time, I have begun to relax more about our money situation/planning, and realized our budget does just fine and our investment have grown. Not as much as some of you post, but we are a bit more conservative. And, I admit, I made some mistakes early on, corrected after learning so much here!

 

[AZsniper]

That's great to hear! I love hearing stories like this because it really builds my confidence to retire next year. Counting the days!

 

[G-Man]

OP--
I am also a bit over 7 years into this wonderful thing called retirement.
Over time, I have begun to relax more about our money situation/planning, and realized our budget does just fine and our investment have grown. Not as much as some of you post, but we are a bit more conservative. And, I admit, I made some mistakes early on, corrected after learning so much here!

Can you please share some the mistakes. I think it would helpful for me and others that is planning to retire very soon. Thanks

 

[Koolau]

"portfolio value increased after retiring". The last 15 years have been a great run in the stock market - I'm recently retired and concerned about what the next 15 will look like. Sequence of return risk is a big issue.

That's always a worry, but less so now that I'm 18 years in.

Where 50% declines really hurt is in the first few years. I retired in '05, so the crash in '08 was very scary indeed. Now, it would cause me concern, but I've taken money off the table and placed it in less risky (less productive) things. I'm hoping all goes well for all of us in 2024 and beyond.

 

[REWahoo]

That's always a worry, but less so now that I'm 18 years in.

Where 50% declines really hurt is in the first few years. I retired in '05, so the crash in '08 was very scary indeed. Now, it would cause me concern, but I've taken money off the table and placed in in less risky (less productive) things. I'm hoping all goes well for all of us.

From a fellow '05 retiree, ditto to all the above.

 

[G-Man]

From a fellow '05 retiree, ditto to all the above.

How did you survive? Did you have a huge taxable account so you don't need to pull from your retirement portfolio?

 

[REWahoo]

How did you survive? Did you have a huge taxable account so you don't need to pull from your retirement portfolio?

No, not a huge taxable account but I did have some and was able to avoid pulling from the retirement portfolio by starting SS at age 62 (Dec of '08). I'd planned to wait on SS but with the portfolio dropping every day I grabbed it at 62 like a drowning man clutching a life vest.

 

[Ncc1701]

I'll be 52 and calling it quits on 12/31/24 (right after I get my Holiday bonus check...lol) after 35 years in the financial services industry .

While I know this will probably be the longest year of my life, I'm already less stressed than I've ever been. Just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel does that.

 

[freddyw]

Retired in '08

I retired early in '08 just a few months before the big market crash. Now that was a pucker factor of an 11 out of 10. I took the lump sum option on my pension and didn't qualify for SS as I was 53. I also had accumulated an IRA that provided for a comfortable early retirement. I hung in there and didn't panic in the early years which was the key to successfully getting through those trying times. I remember the posts on this forum during those years and there was a lot of fear and angst. It took real discipline to stay the course and not panic given the situation many faced. Until you actually live through losing 30-50% of your portfolio as many on this forum did, it's hard to convey the shear fear one experiences at that particular moment. Believe me, the fear that things could get worse is a constant concern and many ended up getting out of the market thus losing a lot on the upside of the market crash.

My advice to anyone considering an early retirement is to develop an AA that allows you to sleep comfortably at night and stick to it. I used FireCalc to help develop the appropriate AA given my portfolio's make-up. There have been ups and downs in my portfolio over the last 15 years, but if you stay the course and have a reasonable amount set aside for the "bad times", it allows for a retirement with a very reasonable probability of success. Hope this helps

 

[street]

I retired early in '08 just a few months before the big market crash. Now that was a pucker factor of an 11 out of 10. I took the lump sum option on my pension and didn't qualify for SS as I was 53. I also had accumulated an IRA that provided for a comfortable early retirement. I hung in there and didn't panic in the early years which was the key to successfully getting through those trying times. I remember the posts on this forum during those years and there was a lot of fear and angst. It took real discipline to stay the course and not panic given the situation many faced. Until you actually live through losing 30-50% of your portfolio as many on this forum did, it's hard to convey the shear fear one experiences at that particular moment. Believe me, the fear that things could get worse is a constant concern and many ended up getting out of the market thus losing a lot on the upside of the market crash.

My advice to anyone considering an early retirement is to develop an AA that allows you to sleep comfortably at night and stick to it. I used FireCalc to help develop the appropriate AA given my portfolio's make-up. There have been ups and downs in my portfolio over the last 15 years, but if you stay the course and have a reasonable amount set aside for the "bad times", it allows for a retirement with a very reasonable probability of success. Hope this helps

That is a great story of history from some bad times. If I may ask, did you have to sell some of your investments or did you have enough cash to survive the storm?

 

[freddyw]

I had an initial AA that was 60/40 with CD ladder built for 5 years. In addition, I kept cash for emergency spending if needed. I never had to sell securities during the first few years, but I did withdraw from bond funds to rebalance AA. Those too were bleeding value during that time. I would rebalance my AA annually, selling bonds to keep 60/40 AA. Believe me it was not a good feeling selling losing bonds to buy stocks that were tumbling as well. No one knew where the bottom was. It's easy to say, "stay the course", it's a lot harder to follow that advice when times are trying. Hope this helps.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

The title of the thread made me smile.

As of today I am "7 DAYS FIRE'd"

LOL.

Congrats on a great 7 years. I hope you have many more!