Poll:How long after financial independence did you retire?

[Meadbh]

I'm having a problem really pinpointing FI, as well. According to the numbers, I actually hit FI this year, but that's living my current lifestyle. So, if I was to quit work or get fired, I wouldn't have to seek out another job.

However, the closer I get to that, I start to question more and more, am I going to be happy with $40K per year? Guess I'll know when I get there!

Scope creep! Ask yourself whether you would be OK if the sh*t hit the fan. If the answer is yes, you are FI. Beyond that, it's discretionary.

 

[Donzo]

I had always planned on retiring at 55 to get bennies - also knew I would have enough by then. I was on auto pilot and saving as much as I could.

Then we had some top tier management changes, stress and BS/travel increased significantly. I found this site/FIRECAL, crunched numbers found I was FI and jumped ship within 6 months at age 49. I am so glad I had saved for so long and was able to jump - the job would have killed me or driven me mad....

 

[Andre1969]

Scope creep! Ask yourself whether you would be OK if the sh*t hit the fan. If the answer is yes, you are FI. Beyond that, it's discretionary.

I think I'd be okay, unless too much hit the fan all at once. For instance, if I lost my job, AND both of the roommates moved out, AND the economy tanked and all my stocks started slashing dividends, AND something major happened to the house that wasn't covered by insurance, AND someone killed my father, got my sister pregnant, shot my dog, and stole my bible!

So, the right combination of things could tank me, but I'm sure the same would hold true for anybody.

 

[novaman]

I reached FI 2 years ago, but I still love my job and my 2 daughters are still in high school, so I see no reason to stop working. This may change once The girls are out of the house.

 

[imoldernu]

As we use calculators such as FIRECALC to predict success in the future it is sometimes interesting to look back and see the effects of inflation through the years on a specific dollar amount, rather than a percent.

For example, when I enter $1 million for the year 2013, and look back at my retirement year of 1989, it equates to $526,000. While this is in no way predictive, it does allow us to see a "real dollar" relationship.

It allows me to look back and relate my salary in the working years, to the salaries that I see here... (and marvel at!), so that it doesn't seem so bad.

Inflation Calculator

 

[Andre1969]

For example, when I enter $1 million for the year 2013, and look back at my retirement year of 1989, it equates to $526,000. While this is in no way predictive, it does allow us to see a "real dollar" relationship.

I think I first came across this site back in 2005, and at that time, I was pretty much fixated on $1 million as my goal to retire. Or, at least a good starting point until I got a better idea of how things would play out.

Well, just since then, even though inflation has been low these past years, $1M in 2005 equates to something like $1.2M today.

It's amazing how quickly inflation can change things, even when rates seem really low. For instance, way back in late 1999 I bought a new car for $22,389, out the door. Oddly, it didn't seem like a lot of money back then. And, adjusting for inflation, that's about $31,000 today! Yet, today, I don't want to pay $22K for a new car, let alone $31K! Although, I did recently buy a new truck that ended up being around $20,700, out the door.

The current mortgage on my house is around $122,000, and I don't like having it. Yet, back in 1994 I bought a condo, and had to finance $79,800. That $79.8K comes out to around $125K, adjusting for inflation! So, technically I'm better off today than I was back in '94!

Funny, how your perspective on money and how much things cost, and what feels like "expensive" can change over time.

 

[Meadbh]

As we use calculators such as FIRECALC to predict success in the future it is sometimes interesting to look back and see the effects of inflation through the years on a specific dollar amount, rather than a percent.

For example, when I enter $1 million for the year 2013, and look back at my retirement year of 1989, it equates to $526,000. While this is in no way predictive, it does allow us to see a "real dollar" relationship.

It allows me to look back and relate my salary in the working years, to the salaries that I see here... (and marvel at!), so that it doesn't seem so bad.

Inflation Calculator

Interesting! It tells me that I paid approximately the same in today's dollars for my 1995 Honda Accord and my 2012 Honda CRV, which is a bigger vehicle.

 

[Rambler]

I voted 3-5 years. 5-6 years back, I may have had to sell the bigger home and keep the smaller one, or sell both and find a cheaper location. However, if the proverbial $h!+ hit the fan, we would have made it ok from about 6-7 years back. We waited due to succession issues as well as the recession (which we would have survived just fine in the proverbial instance) and that really helped to pad the coffers. Every once in a while I wonder why we waited so long and if we can actually find things to spend it on...and DW just does this: , and says, "don't worry, I'll help you figure out how!"



R

 

[Spanky]

I did not vote as I have not ER'ed. FI, defined as 2.5% safe-withdrawal rate to support living expenses, was reached about 5 years ago. I was RIF'ed about a month ago and contemplated on calling it quits. However, I am not totally ready for ER for a variety of reasons, such as doing stimulating work, having one kid still in college, and waiting for eligibility for federal medical care. Fortunately, I received an attractive offer to start work in June. If work becomes unbearable or another RIF occurs, ER will definitely be a reality.

 

[emkute]

I waited an additional year to ensure a margin of safety, especially should my COLA'd pension be constrained in the future (e.g., chained CPI)

 

[johnrlawjr]

I qualified to retire at 55, but I still had kids in college. I just hit the point where it just repulsed me walk in the door of my own job. Beside missing some of my old colleagues, I have not looked back.

 

[seraphim]

I had a target date in mind, not a target wealth. When I hit the point it was no longer as financially profitable to continue working, I left.

 

[dessert]

I was probably FI about 8 years before I retired. I had a target date and I hit it right on the head. Never looked back.
Setting that goal and planning was the key. If I had lost my job before then I could have retired earlier. I have to mention that I enjoyed my job right up to the day I retired. Never looked back.

 

[karluk]

I said 1-3 years. I came extremely close to retiring in June, 2010. I went into the office on the Tuesday after Memorial Day in 2010 with the intention of submitting my two weeks notice. I changed my mind for a number of reasons, but none of them had anything to do with worries about running out of money in retirement. That was when I realized I was financially independent and could plan my retirement for whenever it felt right, which turned out to be this past February.

I could have said I was FI for three years before retirement. (By the way, what's with these polls that allow one to anwer "less than three" or "more than three", but not "exactly three"?) The way my pension is structured, it increased rapidly until three years before I retired, but then increased only slowly thereafter. I would never have volutarily walked away before reaching that inflection point three years ago, so that was when I first felt FI, regardless of what the numbers might have said, had I done some Firecalc runs back then.

 

[RE2Boys]

Less than two weeks!

Seriously, the agency where I worked was offering an early retirement pension incentive but had to be gone by a certain date. After several evenings with spreadsheets studying our spending patterns, decided we had enough between pension and investments that I could take the offer and maintain our standard of living, but not raise it. Was still nervous if I had calculated correctly for a couple of years (and way before I found this site). Just went by the 4% rule plus pension. When offered a consulting agreement, grabbed it for an extra year of padding but when that started to turn into 40+ hours with travel, gave it up.

That was 13 years ago. Still a bit frugal as have two boys in high school with college coming and two 8 year old vehicles, but net worth has more than doubled since RE decision made and withdrawal rate has never exceeded 3% of each years investments, majority of years it is under 2%.

 

[scrinch]

Scope creep! Ask yourself whether you would be OK if the sh*t hit the fan. If the answer is yes, you are FI. Beyond that, it's discretionary.

I like that definition!

We hit the FI point by that definition maybe 6-8 years ago. I'll hang in there at w*rk for another 1-3 years.

 

[ERhoosier]

Scope creep! Ask yourself whether you would be OK if the sh*t hit the fan. If the answer is yes, you are FI. Beyond that, it's discretionary.

And amazing how that "discretionary" def of FI can change over the yrs. If "discretionary" def of FI gets too big it can cause a variation of OMY Syndrome.
BTW- Agree with others who say often their best times in life were during times of low NW. FI is fine, but $$$ does not buy happiness.

 

[MBAustin]

I'm not really sure when we became FI because although I knew our net worth, I didn't feel like I had a good enough handle on future expenses to declare "FI". I had planned to ER at 58 in 2015 (eligibility for unreduced pension), following DH who ERd (disability) several years ago. After taking care of major expenses (buy retirement house, remodel it, sell previous house, buy new car, have $$ to put DD and DS through private college) it became clear in mid-2010 that we were more than FI (even with the market still in recovery mode). So I decided that my BS-bucket overflows were toxic enough to pull the plug. It really was perfect timing in many ways.

 

[martyb]

I became eligible for my main pension in January this year. I could retire today (wife still working) and our net income would be + $500 per month over what it is now with me still working. So, that's $6k per yr increase, with no W/D from retirement savings.

I'm primarily still working to put additional funds into my TSP, but will not work past the end of this year.

Wife will only work another couple of years, then her income is gone, and she has no pension, only a small 401k. I've decided to try not to tap the TSP until she retires, which will put us pretty close to the start of my military pension at age 60.

I've posted my plans before, but the scenario seems to change as I evaluate things more. I'm starting to feel fairly comfortable that we'll be ok. The amount of my pension is net after taxes, health & life insurance, and 55% survivor's benefits.

I'm not gonna feel right not contributing to my TSP anymore....

W2R, I need to talk to you sometime about post-retirement TSP allocations...

 

[W2R]

W2R, I need to talk to you sometime about post-retirement TSP allocations...

Be glad to, and I should probably send you a PM but instead I will summarize my present TSP strategy here. The TSP is a great asset for a retiree IMO.

My situation may not correspond to yours. In retirement I've got my TSP 100% in G Fund, as part of my portfolio's bond allocation. I also have a sizeable taxable portfolio that has sufficient equities in it to (hopefully) grow and more than keep up with inflation.

I take equal monthly withdrawals from the G Fund, which are very secure since the G Fund share price cannot decrease. So, it is sort of like a pension or annuity or SS, providing rock solid monthly income.

With so many articles being written like this one about what is going to happen to bond fund yield when interest rates eventually rise, it is nice to have a big chunk of my bond allocation in G Fund.

My TSP shrinks over time, as I withdraw from it right now. This is on purpose, for tax reasons. In another 5 years I will face RMD's from the TSP, plus I will claim SS, giving me more taxable income than presently. So, there are tax advantages to withdrawing from the TSP and shrinking it a little right now (lower RMD's in the future).

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

I could have retired in 2008 but there was a large chunk of stock vesting in 2010 worth about 500 K so I resisted the urge to quit early and waited for the cushion to mature.

 

[obgyn65]

I am not retired yet. 48 years old, and I guess I have been financially independent for the last five years or so.

 

[MooreBonds]

Am FI for my own existence with a 2.5%-2.75% WR funding a good midwest standard of living and one hell of a travel/fun budget, but hoping to find that special Mrs. MooreBonds to share the rest of my life with before fully disengaging from the workforce (and also have to know if the total family budget and whatever she adds to the portfolio will be enough for us).