New to posting on the ER Forum, but I've been lurking for a few years. Thanks everyone for the advice, experiences, questions, etc. It has been great to learn from everyone else.
A little about me.... I was born into a pretty modest family life with little financial means. My father was career enlisted military, so we moved a lot - I attended a different school every year until the 11th grade. Since age 12 or so, I've worked - actually picked cotton as a kid, threw paper routes, etc.
With the help of the GI bill, I attended college and later got a master's degree and managed to do so without debt. Ended up in the logistics/supply management arena and made a career out of it, rising to upper management. It was a very rewarding profession and for the most part I enjoyed it immensely.
Married with 4 adult children, all on their own now and doing well - I was able to pay for most their schooling (one has another year of college and all have finished without any student debt). My wife has the rare situation where she works from home and absolutely loves her job (earns about $40,000 a year), and will probably continue another 3-5 years, with an est. $25,000 pension.
We have a home that's paid for worth about $400,000, no debts, purchased new cars before retirement. New roof and other upgrades in the past 2-3 years and plan to stay put. $1.5 million in a mix of Roth 403b, 457, and other retirement accounts. We additionally have another $350,000 in liquid financial assets (including cash, PM's, savings bonds, CD's, etc.)
I retired at the end of 2015 and was fortunate to receive retiree health benefits until age 66 as well as an annual SS offset payment of about $30,000 a year, also until age 66.
Retirement for the past 5+ months has been better than ever dreamed. I've always been a type A, workaholic, but have always found time for recreation and travel, as well as good friends. I've done a lot of charity service over the years as well that I've loved.
The downtime that retirement has provided has allowed me to separate "who I was or thought I was" from "who I really am". Had a bout with melanoma about 5-6 years ago, and it hasn't reappeared, but it was a wake up call at the time. Now it's small "enjoyable" projects, spending time with grandkids, travel, planning/completing a few bucket list items and helping mom with her needs in stage 2 alzheimers. Wife and I are closer and enjoy each other more now than at any time in our 33 years of marriage.
On a final note, work the last 2-3 years was difficult. Changes in management, challenging issues and impossible expectations caused high turnover in staff almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown. My replacement is about ready to have one as well.
I stayed on 1-2 years longer than I would have on the promise of a (discretionary) retirement package. New management withdrew the offer to me after 27 years with the organization but offered it to several peers. I was told it was not because I was doing a bad job, but because they didn't want and couldn't afford for me to leave - guess they thought I would accept that! With some legal threats, I was able to prevail in keeping the package, but it left me feeling somewhat bitter at the experience. It was financially worth the fight, but I don't know if I would have done it over again. They've since wanted me to come back and consult - you can probably guess my answer...
We're FIRE'd and I'm "Free". I still can't believe that moniker wasn't taken yet, it was the first handle tried when I registered..... because it was the first thing that came to my mind!
A little about me.... I was born into a pretty modest family life with little financial means. My father was career enlisted military, so we moved a lot - I attended a different school every year until the 11th grade. Since age 12 or so, I've worked - actually picked cotton as a kid, threw paper routes, etc.
With the help of the GI bill, I attended college and later got a master's degree and managed to do so without debt. Ended up in the logistics/supply management arena and made a career out of it, rising to upper management. It was a very rewarding profession and for the most part I enjoyed it immensely.
Married with 4 adult children, all on their own now and doing well - I was able to pay for most their schooling (one has another year of college and all have finished without any student debt). My wife has the rare situation where she works from home and absolutely loves her job (earns about $40,000 a year), and will probably continue another 3-5 years, with an est. $25,000 pension.
We have a home that's paid for worth about $400,000, no debts, purchased new cars before retirement. New roof and other upgrades in the past 2-3 years and plan to stay put. $1.5 million in a mix of Roth 403b, 457, and other retirement accounts. We additionally have another $350,000 in liquid financial assets (including cash, PM's, savings bonds, CD's, etc.)
I retired at the end of 2015 and was fortunate to receive retiree health benefits until age 66 as well as an annual SS offset payment of about $30,000 a year, also until age 66.
Retirement for the past 5+ months has been better than ever dreamed. I've always been a type A, workaholic, but have always found time for recreation and travel, as well as good friends. I've done a lot of charity service over the years as well that I've loved.
The downtime that retirement has provided has allowed me to separate "who I was or thought I was" from "who I really am". Had a bout with melanoma about 5-6 years ago, and it hasn't reappeared, but it was a wake up call at the time. Now it's small "enjoyable" projects, spending time with grandkids, travel, planning/completing a few bucket list items and helping mom with her needs in stage 2 alzheimers. Wife and I are closer and enjoy each other more now than at any time in our 33 years of marriage.
On a final note, work the last 2-3 years was difficult. Changes in management, challenging issues and impossible expectations caused high turnover in staff almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown. My replacement is about ready to have one as well.
I stayed on 1-2 years longer than I would have on the promise of a (discretionary) retirement package. New management withdrew the offer to me after 27 years with the organization but offered it to several peers. I was told it was not because I was doing a bad job, but because they didn't want and couldn't afford for me to leave - guess they thought I would accept that! With some legal threats, I was able to prevail in keeping the package, but it left me feeling somewhat bitter at the experience. It was financially worth the fight, but I don't know if I would have done it over again. They've since wanted me to come back and consult - you can probably guess my answer...
We're FIRE'd and I'm "Free". I still can't believe that moniker wasn't taken yet, it was the first handle tried when I registered..... because it was the first thing that came to my mind!
