Retired and Relocated into Isolation

[eyemin]

Hello ER members, this looks like a nice place to visit. I have a vague recollection of running across this website many years ago while <s>wasting time</s> working in my office, day dreaming about being unchained from my desk and spending time outdoors. I was a little envious of many of you and thought at the time that it was too late for me, that I'd have little choice but to remain at my desk until I was 65. That was about ten years ago and I was in my early 50's. I maintained a relatively frugal lifestyle and increased my savings and about ten years later I started plugging numbers into any retirement calculator I could find and discovered I could choose to take my leave of the daily grind and no longer have to sit at a desk staring into computer monitors all day every day unless I wanted more money. I chose freedom in December 2019 at age 59. That's probably not early by early-retirement.org or FIRE standards, but I think it still qualifies. In any event, I'm happy and content with my decision.

After my retirement party I traveled to Florida to spend a couple months visiting my elderly parents (in their 90's). An AirBNB provided just enough togetherness to make the time enjoyable for all. I was happy to have had the opportunity to spend time with them especially now that it's inadvisable for me to visit.

Part of my retirement plan was to relocate to the western part of North Carolina and I did just that in March of this year. Restaurants in this state were closing on the day the movers unpacked my belongings and not long after most of the parks & trails around here started to close. Of course the gym I planned to joined also closed. After a few months of spending time indoors (reading, playing piano, YouTube, napping, etc..) the great outdoors started to open up again. With my new electric mountain bike (helps me chew up inclines) I started hitting trails. In my exuberance I overestimated my abilities and propelled myself off a bridge into a painful crash (but I'll save that story for a biking thread sometime).

I'm patient, but certainly looking forward to a time when COVID-19 is in our rear view mirror. Understandably, most folks are not into meeting new acquaintances or friends right now, so I'll be spending more time alone in the foreseeable future, but that still beats sitting at a desk all day every day.

 

[njhowie]

Congrats. Don't worry, life will return to some semblance of "normal" in time.

For now, enjoy the freedom and that you have with no responsibilities, and can just take life as it comes.

 

[bltkmt]

Curious how you are dealing with health insurance, as I am in a similar situation age-wise and financially.

 

[eyemin]

Curious how you are dealing with health insurance, as I am in a similar situation age-wise and financially.

In the lead up to my planned early retirement I budgeted 1k/month for 5 years, then dropped that figure to $500/month for supplemental plans after I qualify for Medicare in 2025. Before pulling the plug I discovered silver/bronze plans on the ACA exchange and ended up selecting a very low cost bronze plan with a very high deductible. Not the best of coverage for sure, but I'm kind of rolling the dice and I think the odds are in my favor. Time will tell.

 

[Dtail]

Be patient. This too shall pass. Still better than working.
Think about the alternative once in awhile.

 

[pjm-7]

Like you I relocated in the middle of the stay at home orders in early April. I moved to a town I had been to many times, but did not know anyone. Generally, I am just fine with being alone, however at times the isolation felt over-whelming. I have not been able to get back into my thing of animal shelter volunteering. I did find a like minded volunteer group on meetup.com. I have spent time with them volunteering at a local foodbank. Just that once every week or two had been a joy.


I too look forward to the time when things return to "normal". I have all of my trip ideas in a folder and hope to do that next year. Hang in there!