Class of 2021

Robert the Red said:
Countdown app on my desktop say "649 Days left". I'm not expressing it in minutes (would be 933,344 - at least it's under a million now).
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I’m two days ahead of you. My app says 647 days left. Never broke it down by minutes yet.
 
Confession -- I have been sulking...

Classmates, My plan to use the rule of 55 to retire in the Spring of 2021 was a good one, but I missed a detail. The plan document requires 10 years with the firm. :facepalm: I won't have that. We will still retire in 2021 because DH will turn 59 1/2 later in the year, but I am irked that I relied on the SPD, which did not have the detail about the 10 year requirement. DH says I should still stop working in the Spring of 2021, but now that I think about it....HEY, he's going to make me do all the prep work for the move.....:trash::trash: sneaky DH:2funny:
 
100 weeks left to ER, 700 calendars days left, 500 work days (not counting PTO). DH is thinking about moving his RE date up by a year or so and he may be the class of 2019 or 2020. Already talking about taking a long trip to celebrate. It's starting to feel 'real' now.
 
goingtotravel said:
100 weeks left to ER, 700 calendars days left, 500 work days (not counting PTO). DH is thinking about moving his RE date up by a year or so and he may be the class of 2019 or 2020. Already talking about taking a long trip to celebrate. It's starting to feel 'real' now.
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Congrats! This timeline and plan is similar to us. DW is semi-RE with a new 30 hour/week, less-demanding job while she waits for me to finish a big project at work in either 18 or 24 months, depending on some factors. At that point, the plan is for me to quit and rent out the house so we can take a Gap Year focused on travel. Maybe we’ll see you “out there.” [emoji41]
 
I am hesitantly declaring myself as Class of '21 as well. Born in '66, so that's the year I turn 55, and can get a hold of my 401k, though I already have the IRA I inherited from DH that I can access now without penalty.

For me, the hesitancy is not really about the numbers--i could bail today if I wanted--it's more about still trying to figure out what I would do with myself. I'm guessing my company would want to keep me on contract, or even part-time, which I would take if I could still have health insurance. My job is very low stress, I telecommute two days a week, so it already feels part-time. [emoji2]

So, while I try to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, I figure I'll take advantage of a few more years of mega backdoor Roth capabilities and pad the savings a bit more.

Looking forward to reading about everyone else in the class!
 
googily said:
I am hesitantly declaring myself as Class of '21 as well. Born in '66, so that's the year I turn 55, and can get a hold of my 401k, though I already have the IRA I inherited from DH that I can access now without penalty.

For me, the hesitancy is not really about the numbers--i could bail today if I wanted--it's more about still trying to figure out what I would do with myself. I'm guessing my company would want to keep me on contract, or even part-time, which I would take if I could still have health insurance. My job is very low stress, I telecommute two days a week, so it already feels part-time. [emoji2]

So, while I try to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, I figure I'll take advantage of a few more years of mega backdoor Roth capabilities and pad the savings a bit more.

Looking forward to reading about everyone else in the class!
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Sounds to me like you already have, and are working, a great plan to me! As a wise FIRED person on this board said elsewhere about knowing when it’s time to quit working, “You know when you know.”

So, the corollary is, if you don’t KNOW yet, then it’s not yet quitting time for you.

I’m in the same boat. On a bad day at work, it’s “get me outta here” and my FIRE fantasies roll like waves. Most of the time, however, it’s “meh, no big whoop to keep doing this mostly-stimulating work I’m pretty good at while stacking up the Benjamins.”
 
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Markola said:
Sounds to me like you already have, and are working, a great plan to me! As a wise FIRED person on this board said elsewhere about knowing when it’s time to quit working, “You know when you know.”

So, the corollary is, if you don’t KNOW yet, then it’s not yet quitting time for you.

I’m in the same boat. On a bad day at work, it’s “get me outta here” and my FIRE fantasies roll like waves. Most of the time, however, it’s “meh, no big whoop to keep doing this mostly-stimulating work I’m pretty good at while stacking up the Benjamins.”
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Thanks, Markola--nice to "meet" someone in a similar holding pattern! And you are right about not retiring until I KNOW what I want. Still trying to figure out a new life after losing DH, so it's nice to have a "no big whoop" job in the meantime. And, what's the worst that could happen--they'd fire me, then I'd really be FIREd. :)
 
Markola said:
“You know when you know.”
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The contrarian position is that some people never 'know'. I have one coworker who had a heart attack at the office, and still came back to work afterward (in his late 60s), and another who's also in his late 60s. They're both quite busy 'stacking Benjamins', with both a moderate paying consulting job, and a government pension and government provided health care, and they seem quite content doing so. When or if they do retire, I'm not sure they'll have much time left on this earth. So my only question is, if you're FI, is there anything you'd rather be doing than work? I know the answer for a lot of folks, the answer is no.

A few quotes from this forum:

"You can always spend less money, but you can't make more time."
"Life is short. Dead is forever."
"You'll never be younger than you are today...and possibly not as healthy, either."
"Time > money"

I'm 53. For every year I work past FI, I give up a year of diving and travel. I'm still at MC this year in hopes I can accrue enough to buy a nice house on Hawaii Island. But since I know I'm going to die some day, and probably won't be able to dive past 75, I'm hanging it up in January. I can live in a smaller place, but I'll never replace the last healthy years of my life.
 
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Still, every person is different, right? My dad is 79 and still works as an engineer 3 days a week designing robots. There’s not a lot he could do that would stimulate him more, and his knees are too far gone for golf.
 
Markola said:
Still, every person is different, right? My dad is 79 and still works as an engineer 3 days a week designing robots. There’s not a lot he could do that would stimulate him more, and his knees are too far gone for golf.
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Now, that's a great story! Yes, if you truly live for and enjoy your work.

But I think that most in this forum are here because...there's something else they'd rather be doing.
 
Joining the Class of 2021 -- glad I found this thread. I will be 55 and will likely work two weeks beyond my birthday, retiring in October. 55 is the entry age to retiree medical coverage, for me, so I am essentially working now for health insurance (ACA is too flakey for now). Financially, I've been ready for a while -- my spouse and I have a comfortable combined net worth. For now, I am just trying to stay engaged and interested in my work -- getting a bit more difficult each day.

Glad to join the Class of 2021. And looking forward to hearing all of the exciting experiences we have as we count down to this next stage of our lives.
 
New to the forum and one of the first things I did was look for the Class of 2021. I'm a teacher and will have my 30 years done that year so I'll be officially retired as of July 1, 2021 if nothing changes. I'll be 57.

As of now, DH (same age) is doing very well at work and loves it so is planning to do about 5 years longer than I am but we shall see.

Golden handcuffs have kept me in a ridiculously expensive area and I can't wait to finally be able to move. Looking towards New England. :)
 
welcome!

caramel said:
New to the forum and one of the first things I did was look for the Class of 2021. I'm a teacher and will have my 30 years done that year so I'll be officially retired as of July 1, 2021 if nothing changes. I'll be 57.

As of now, DH (same age) is doing very well at work and loves it so is planning to do about 5 years longer than I am but we shall see.

Golden handcuffs have kept me in a ridiculously expensive area and I can't wait to finally be able to move. Looking towards New England. :)
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Welcome to the forum and the class of 2021! Do stop by the "Hi I am..." thread to introduce yourself to those beyond our class.
 
Joining the Class of 2021! After much thought, inspiration from this board, extensive research, and lots of number crunching, I have decided to retire sooner than my original goal of Class of 2023. Woohoo! I will be 53. 430+ days to go! January 2021!
 
DisneyDreamer said:
Joining the Class of 2021! After much thought, inspiration from this board, extensive research, and lots of number crunching, I have decided to retire sooner than my original goal of Class of 2023. Woohoo! I will be 53. 430+ days to go! January 2021!
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Welcome to the Class of 2021! So exciting that you're going early. :dance:
 
Joining the Club

Well, the current plan is to join the Class of 2021. March 31, 2021 is my tentative target date (which happens to be in 73 weeks, or roughly 315 more days of work, considering holidays, weekends and vacation). Not that I'm counting...

My original wish list date was 2 years ago, but then Megacorp froze our pensions, which delayed me a tad. And I'd like to get through the next election cycle, as that might impact health care options (I'll turn 59 in 2021). I do have some retiree medical options available through Megacorp, so shouldn't be a deal-breaker either way.

Anyway, glad to be part of the club! Biggest task ahead is cleaning out the house so I can sell it and downsize before then. Motivation.... ;)
 
Welcome @ChicagoGal!

I go in 319 work days, but true, who's counting? ;)
 
Two weeks ago I quietly bowed out of the Class of 2021.

I've signed a contract to work into 2022. It is OMY to a T. I don't critically need the money but our youngest child will graduate college in 2021 and committing to working one year longer than that gives my wife some peace of mind. Plus we get to keep taking advantage of the work related visa allowing us to live in Korea.
 
Physics Guy said:
Two weeks ago I quietly bowed out of the Class of 2021.

I've signed a contract to work into 2022. It is OMY to a T. I don't critically need the money but our youngest child will graduate college in 2021 and committing to working one year longer than that gives my wife some peace of mind. Plus we get to keep taking advantage of the work related visa allowing us to live in Korea.
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Sounds like a great decision for your family. :greetings10:
 
caramel said:
Sounds like a great decision for your family. :greetings10:
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Pretty much. It feels odd posting in an early retirement forum about being happy to stay working but the fact that I could retire early removes so much stress that I'm free to recognize that I have a really rather sweet job.
 
Physics Guy said:
Pretty much. It feels odd posting in an early retirement forum about being happy to stay working but the fact that I could retire early removes so much stress that I'm free to recognize that I have a really rather sweet job.
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The "FI" part of FIRE is far more important than the "RE" part, for sure!
 
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