I did it! I finally retired!

[Lucie]

Today is my first day of retirement! Just shy of my 58th birthday. I closed from my private psychology practice Friday! I love my work so it has been a difficult decision for me to let go and retire. I will continue with my pain coaching and life coaching as a side gig for 10-15 hours/month. (I know the retirement police will disagree with my definition of retirement, but it allows me to continue the best part of my career at an easy, comfortable pace from anywhere in the world. Coaching allows me to snowbird in Costa Rica, which my state psychology license won’t allow).

Thank you all for your wisdom and guidance these past few years!​

 

[Jerry1]

Congratulations! No judgement here. Doing what you want with your life is the best thing ever. If that involves some work that you enjoy, good for you. The FI in Fire is Financial Independence - to me, that day was way more exciting that RE (retiring early). Knowing I could retire any time I wanted actually made my last few years of work a pretty good experience. Enjoy this next phase of your life!

 

[street]

Nice! Have a great first day.

 

[CincyDave]

Big congratulations to you Lucie. Enjoy your new journey!

 

[MarieIG]

Congratulations Lucie! Wonderful plan

 

[Dreamer]

Congratulations and enjoy your snowbirding in Costa Rica.

 

[MRG]

Congratulations!

Don't worry about definitions.

 

[38Chevy454]

Congratulations and welcome to the retirement club! The beauty of retirement is you can do what you want to. If that means some small working on the side, it still meets my definition of retired. Have fun being able to snowbird and the extra time to do whatever you want to.

 

[novaman]

Congrats!! Now you get the best of both worlds. You can enjoy retirement and still dabble just a bit in the work that you love doing.

I sold my dental practice 4+ years ago and am doing the same thing- still dabbling a bit.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Congratulations! [emoji324][emoji898][emoji322]

 

[tmitchell]

Congrats!! Hope you enjoy it

 

[pacergal]

Congratulations! Welcome to retired life, where you are now on your own terms.
Enjoy

 

[Chuckanut]

Congratulations!

 

[perez99]

Congrats indeed!

 

[ER Eddie]

Nice! I retired at just about the same age, from the same profession. The difference for me was, when I retired, I wanted a complete break from my profession. Wasn't interested in continuing part-time. I felt I had done enough of that. I wanted to do other things. But I completely understand your decision.

I have a colleague who is still working part-time at 80. He says it's because he enjoys the work. I think that's true, but I also suspect he is worried about not having a paycheck coming in (that did take some getting used to). I think he's also unsure what he would do with all the free time. Doesn't have many outside hobbies or interests, because he's spent his whole life working. He's had a good career and helped plenty of people, though. I'm not diminishing that.

 

[Unpaintedhuffhines]

Congratulations! My first day as well. Been so busy!

 

[Dash man]

Congratulations!![emoji324][emoji322][emoji898]

 

[Flyfish1]

Congratulations! Quite an accomplishment at age 57/58!

 

[Luvtoride]

Congratulations. Enjoy the next (hopefully very long) chapter of your life!!

 

[euro]

Congrats! Costa Rica - good on you!

 

[Dtail]

Congrats and welcome to the best part of your life.

 

[Lucie]

Thank you all for the congratulations and a warm wishes! Your wisdom has helped me with this achievement!

Congratulations! My first day as well. Been so busy!

Congratulations to you as well!

 

[jollystomper]

It is always good to see, despite the prevailing economic winds at the time, people able to happily FIRE. Congrats, and enjoy!

 

[Willers]

Congrats on your retirement and remember that you are free to define it as you wish! The amount of volunteering I do feels like w*rk sometimes and at least you'll be getting paid!

Enjoy the next phase of your life.

 

[upupandaway]

Congrats! You Costa Rico plan sounds amazing.