Almost there!

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

It's been at least a few years since I posted and I want to give an update. First, thank you for this forum, where I learned it's okay to retire early and no reason to feel guilty! My retirement date is March 31. NW is about $12m, AA at 55% equities (voo) with $200k a year in spending. So I'm ready to go!! The stress has melted and I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Thank you!

 

[Ready2Go]

Congrats! Awesome feeling!

 

[Whisper66]

Congrats, enjoy you're retirement!

Am curious about your feelings now that you worked several extra years, portfolio has grown from huge to very huge but your early post said you were bored with the job. Did that extra money make it worth spending these extra years at work?

 

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

Hello whisper66, thank you! And that's a great question. I would have to say, was it worth working an extra three years basically? Well, I got caught up in wanting to do the "right thing" for the company combined with them paying me much more for staying in the transition (which I will be honest was an ego boost). whether it was worth it, that's not something that I could really answer definitively until I'm on my deathbed... But I would honestly say, most likely, no it was not worth it. We will not (and won't need to) spend any more in retirement than we would have had I retired three years ago. So with all that, I'd say, no it was most likely not worth it.

Congrats, enjoy you're retirement!

Am curious about your feelings now that you worked several extra years, portfolio has grown from huge to very huge but your early post said you were bored with the job. Did that extra money make it worth spending these extra years at work?

 

[Flyfish1]

Congrats ...that's a fat nest egg. Go and enjoy yourself.

 

[srblanco7]

Congrats! That's quite the nest egg relative to planned withdrawal rate. Enjoy!

 

[Whisper66]

Hello whisper66, thank you! And that's a great question. I would have to say, was it worth working an extra three years basically? Well, I got caught up in wanting to do the "right thing" for the company combined with them paying me much more for staying in the transition (which I will be honest was an ego boost). whether it was worth it, that's not something that I could really answer definitively until I'm on my deathbed... But I would honestly say, most likely, no it was not worth it. We will not (and won't need to) spend any more in retirement than we would have had I retired three years ago. So with all that, I'd say, no it was most likely not worth it.

Thanks for that response. I was very curious. My wife had a major health scare when I was 54. I decided to retire at 55 a couple months later. Basically retired the first day I could collect my lump sum pension from work. We have many folks that advocate using conservative assumptions and targeting 100% success in Firecalc before retiring. If I did that, I would have worked several more years. I decided to be much less conservative. I still ended up with more than enough in retirement (6 years retired now). That money has allowed my wife and I to yearly gift money to our kids and donate to our favorite charities. Probably more importantly, we've run into a couple cases where good people we knew were in deep financial staits and we able to quietly step in and help them get back to being finanically stable. It's been a good ride so far and we are thankful to be in this position. I wish you the best in retirement, enjoy the ride!

 

[SloHan]

Congratulations on your retirement!

 

[Koolau]

Congratulations!

Only curious, but at your spending level, do you still need 55% equities? My portfolio is much smaller than yours (but I have "enough"). Based on my withdrawal rate, I only keep between 30 and 35% in equities - believing I've already "won the game" so to speak. I have no reason (other than inflation) to increase my NW (and yet I HAVE increased it quite a bit - even at 30+% equities in the past 15 years since FIRE.) We plan to leave our estate to charities (kids, we'll take care of while we're alive.) I'd rather insure losing less with the understanding that I'll probably gain less in my portfolio. No criticism intended, but curious about the philosophy behind your strategy. In all cases, YMMV.

 

[oiseux]

Congratulations! That's terrific.

I looked back at your intro from late 2017 post and see similarities, as you delayed a bit as well (but you are now further ahead). Any wisdom to pass on that you learned by hanging around for a few more years? Anything you wished you changed or did differently?

 

[Finance Dave]

Congrats! Have some eggs, bacon, and toast in the fridge for that first "non w*rking" day you wake up!

 

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

Congratulations! That's terrific.

I looked back at your intro from late 2017 post and see similarities, as you delayed a bit as well (but you are now further ahead). Any wisdom to pass on that you learned by hanging around for a few more years? Anything you wished you changed or did differently?

No real wisdom to be honest....as I look back on it, it probably was not worth working the extra 2 - 3 years, but it did end up fattening up the portfolio quite a bit, and because of COVID, I worked mostly from home, which was a heck of a lot nicer in the transition than being at the office, given that as my replacement came up to speed my work level dropped substantially. If I was in the office at the time, I would have just been drumming my fingers bored...but given I was at home, I could just take a nap or hit the backyard!

 

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

Congrats! Have some eggs, bacon, and toast in the fridge for that first "non w*rking" day you wake up!

THanks Finance Dave! I’ve now been retired 10 days....loving it. Not ready to unretire yet!

 

[pacergal]

Congratulations!
Isn't retired life wonderful?