BrianB
Recycles dryer sheets
12 years ago I came across this forum, and 3 weeks later I joined. In 2011 DW & I were 51/52 years old, both working, and DD was finishing high school & getting ready for college. My father had recently passed away at 82 and my mother’s health was declining at 80. We were very busy.
We had been contributing to our 401k’s and we were always frugal, but we had no idea when we would be able to stop working or how we would know when we were ready. I had seen my parents work until 65 and then enjoy just a few years of fun and travel before health issues really slowed them down and they became homebodies. I knew I wanted more than that for DW & me.
Jump ahead 4 years to 2015, when we were 55/56 years old. In early spring my mother passed away. DD was finishing college and on June 30, 2015 we pulled the trigger and closed our business. We were retired as of 8 years ago today. There wasn’t any meaningful inheritance so this was based on our own resources. Our investable assets had reached “critical mass”, the point where we could live comfortably but modestly and they would continue to grow.
I’ve looked back at my early posts on er.org and see ideas & questions that now seem simple and obvious, or dangerous and stupid, but that’s because I was new to learning about retirement and financial independence. In the 4 years between starting the journey and retiring we learned so much from this forum. Some of our ideas were squashed and some resulted in conflicting advice. We have learned about not only finance and investing, but about how to consider and choose from different paths – and to chart our own path. We also learned not to take the criticism personally because the comments were from people who had been in the position we were in, and we were getting the benefit of their experience for free. We continue to learn things every day here.
We’ve had a few health issues but are now doing fine. DW had a cancer scare 4 years ago, but after surgery & radiation treatments she is in remission. Going through that just confirmed in our minds that we had made good choices. We certainly notice that our stamina is not what it was 8 years ago so some of the more physical trips we made then would be more challenging now – if we could even do them. We know we will eventually slow down but we wouldn’t trade these years of freedom for anything.
These 8 years have gone by so fast. We’re only now approaching “normal” retirement age. We've traveled internationally and in the U.S. We built out a campervan in our garage during lockdown and we are leaving next week for a 2 month van trip to Yukon & the Arctic Ocean, and then after Thanksgiving we’re taking the van to the desert southwest for the winter with a planned trek down to Cabo San Lucas. Life is good.
To the contributors & moderators here: You all share your time & experience & knowledge so freely. You’ll never know all of the people you have helped along their way, but I wanted you to know how much your contributions to this forum have meant to the two of us. Thank you.
BrianB
We had been contributing to our 401k’s and we were always frugal, but we had no idea when we would be able to stop working or how we would know when we were ready. I had seen my parents work until 65 and then enjoy just a few years of fun and travel before health issues really slowed them down and they became homebodies. I knew I wanted more than that for DW & me.
Jump ahead 4 years to 2015, when we were 55/56 years old. In early spring my mother passed away. DD was finishing college and on June 30, 2015 we pulled the trigger and closed our business. We were retired as of 8 years ago today. There wasn’t any meaningful inheritance so this was based on our own resources. Our investable assets had reached “critical mass”, the point where we could live comfortably but modestly and they would continue to grow.
I’ve looked back at my early posts on er.org and see ideas & questions that now seem simple and obvious, or dangerous and stupid, but that’s because I was new to learning about retirement and financial independence. In the 4 years between starting the journey and retiring we learned so much from this forum. Some of our ideas were squashed and some resulted in conflicting advice. We have learned about not only finance and investing, but about how to consider and choose from different paths – and to chart our own path. We also learned not to take the criticism personally because the comments were from people who had been in the position we were in, and we were getting the benefit of their experience for free. We continue to learn things every day here.
We’ve had a few health issues but are now doing fine. DW had a cancer scare 4 years ago, but after surgery & radiation treatments she is in remission. Going through that just confirmed in our minds that we had made good choices. We certainly notice that our stamina is not what it was 8 years ago so some of the more physical trips we made then would be more challenging now – if we could even do them. We know we will eventually slow down but we wouldn’t trade these years of freedom for anything.
These 8 years have gone by so fast. We’re only now approaching “normal” retirement age. We've traveled internationally and in the U.S. We built out a campervan in our garage during lockdown and we are leaving next week for a 2 month van trip to Yukon & the Arctic Ocean, and then after Thanksgiving we’re taking the van to the desert southwest for the winter with a planned trek down to Cabo San Lucas. Life is good.
To the contributors & moderators here: You all share your time & experience & knowledge so freely. You’ll never know all of the people you have helped along their way, but I wanted you to know how much your contributions to this forum have meant to the two of us. Thank you.
BrianB
