Mental barrier

[steadystate]

Again, thanks for all the encouraging and thoughtful posts. There have been a few comments about our $1M house. It is actually very modest; 2400 sqr ft. But, it's a modest house in a very hot neighborhood in the hottest RE market in the country ... we were just darned lucky for the appreciation. Seattle is a great place, but so many people have moved here that the traffic is awful and wide swaths of old Seattle are being leveled for gulag-style apartment and condo blocks, to house all the new "Ama-zombies" (Amazon employees, they walk around like the living dead with their noses buried in their smart phones, clogging sidewalks).

We will move at some point but DW's Mom is elderly and we need to help her out for now.

 

[rayinpenn]

Hello all, I'm teetering on the edge of FIRE, but despite things looking OK financially I have enormous anxiety and indecision.

I'm feeling exactly the same even with a bigger pile...I've made up my mind July.
1) Ive come to appreciate isn't the size of the pile -You've been on the accumulation side for probably close to 40 years. What will life be without a monthly, weekly or biweekly check? I believe your anxiety is as normal as can be.
2) Do you have hobbies or other interest that you enjoy. For me a good book, walking Fido or simply tossing a worm sitting in the warm sun is my little piece of heaven.
3) Did you have plans for retirement... winter in Florida, sell that million dollar castle. Take a vacation in Greece? Build a boat in your garage? Take acting/cooking/computer classes? Become active in the Boca Vista section 2 condo association. Or perhaps become a full time blogger?

I'm a firm believer that being happy is something like marriage - find the right situation and it can be easy.

 

[MRG]

I left at 56 with far less assets and was dying more everyday.

The first year a 50 yo guy who used to w*rk for me was getting ready for church one Sunday and his heart stopped. Fifty years old, looked like the picture of health, never smoked, nothing just dead.

 

[tulak]

One million for a house in Seattle isn't extreme. House values here are nuts. I think this is something that people out of Seattle can't fully appreciate.

Personally, your numbers look good. Enjoy your retirement.

 

[RobbieB]

If you can't quit, you need to keep working until you decide to stop working. Easy.

You have to decide, not us -

 

[Scuba]

Jeff,



We are in a similar situation as you. Our numbers demonstrate that even the most conservative folks on this board would tell me I don't need to work any more, but I still worry about it. It's not completely rationale, but we spend our whole lives working to get to this point, and the decision to give it up is not an easy one.



I left full time work at age 46, but I still work part time (I'm 50 now). The part time work keeps me engaged, keeps some money rolling in, but still makes me feel like I'm close enough to being retired that I can still enjoy my day and have a lot of free time to myself. In fact, the few hours a day I do work keep me very stimulated, and allow me to enjoy my free time that much more.



Good luck with whatever you decide. I agree with others that you're financially fine. It's just a matter of deciding when the time is right for you. And nobody else can make that decision for you. It has to feel right to you.

+1

 

[ERD50]

Heard some Led Zeppelin on the way home, and this thread made me think of:

I can't quit you babe
I... think I'm gonna put you down for a while

-ERD50

 

[Johanson]

Again, thanks for all the encouraging and thoughtful posts. There have been a few comments about our $1M house. It is actually very modest; 2400 sqr ft. But, it's a modest house in a very hot neighborhood in the hottest RE market in the country ... we were just darned lucky for the appreciation. Seattle is a great place, but so many people have moved here that the traffic is awful and wide swaths of old Seattle are being leveled for gulag-style apartment and condo blocks, to house all the new "Ama-zombies" (Amazon employees, they walk around like the living dead with their noses buried in their smart phones, clogging sidewalks).

We will move at some point but DW's Mom is elderly and we need to help her out for now.

I like my job but I still would have been gone already with that nest egg. This is me but I would sell the house and get a nice lake home in Northern Minnesota or Michigan and a condo in Florida. I'd stay 183 days/year in Florida to eliminate any state income tax. But that's just me. I figure I could do that for about $600,000 for two nice properties. Sorry, just doing a little dreaming in your thread.

 

[Johanson]

I left at 56 with far less assets and was dying more everyday.

The first year a 50 yo guy who used to w*rk for me was getting ready for church one Sunday and his heart stopped. Fifty years old, looked like the picture of health, never smoked, nothing just dead.

Sadly, one of the smartest techs I ever worked with, although a bit overweight, dropped dead at 28 while doing yard work. You just don't know when your time is up.

 

[Badger]

I get the sense lots of folks here have aces in the hole like big pensions, 4M savings, etc.

Not even close yet our lifestyle and living costs haven't changed except for more leisure time, less stress, and my wife gets to play tennis everyday while I get to pursue my hobbies and ride my motorcycle more.

Cheers!

 

[iloveyoga]

You can do it!! I have also been surprised at how much we spend in retirement!!

 

[NW-Bound]

I wonder if others on this forum would consider FIRE in this situation? I get the sense lots of folks here have aces in the hole like big pensions, 4M savings, etc...

Nothing beats this ace in the hole: being able to cut down your expenses if things get tough.

 

[NW-Bound]

I like my job but I still would have been gone already with that nest egg. This is me but I would sell the house and get a nice lake home in Northern Minnesota or Michigan and a condo in Florida. I'd stay 183 days/year in Florida to eliminate any state income tax. But that's just me. I figure I could do that for about $600,000 for two nice properties. Sorry, just doing a little dreaming in your thread.

My son is looking for a home. My area is too expensive for him, so he looks for a place further out, but still close to his work. We did not follow the market, and I was surprised to see there are so many nice homes for less than $350K, 2,500 sq.ft. and move-in ready.

The realtor said it got even better if he went further out, but that would be too far from town for someone who works. Not all retirees like to be close to town, and they can get awfully nice homes for less.

 

[iloveyoga]

And I should add, no $4M ace in the hole. My strategy is to combine multiple pieces of income, our two pensions, SS, my small PT job, etc. Also, we have carried 0 debt for many years now, that helps a lot.

 

[panacea]

Nothing beats this ace in the hole: being able to cut down your expenses if things get tough.

+1
Have you itemized your expenses and determined how much is fixed vs. discretionary? I bet you could easily cut back in a bad year if you had to... but you probably wouldn't have to anyway based on your numbers. Congrats!

 

[audreyh1]

I retired at 39. My husband was 44 working a part-time consulting gig and I pointed out that he would need to retire too, so we could go do all that traveling we wanted to do unconstrained.

Intellectually I knew we had enough, more than enough - belt and suspenders. Was it terrifying? Yes! Especially the idea of not getting a regular paycheck anymore and just living off investments. I think it took me two years to get used to that.

And guess what? That was 1999. So we retired right into the teeth of a nasty bear market. And an even worse bear market 9 years later. But we're still retired. And our net worth is higher than when we retired, even after taking into account inflation.

I think it's pretty scary for most folks, especially those of us with no pension and years away from SS, and reduced SS due to retiring very early.