I did it!

[Ready]

Hi everyone. Today was my last day at work. I simply couldn't take one more day of dealing with the craziness and the unbelievable stress that was being heaped on me. I've been thinking about this for months now, and reading this forum extensively. It's funny, but prior to finding er.org, I didn't even know that retiring before 65 was really an option. I guess I just never thought about it. However, in the past six months I've read multiple books on retiring, investing, and living a simple life. All to prepare me for the day when I could finally tell myself enough is enough. And today was the day.

I think I'm going through all kinds of emotions right now. I'm probably still in shock. But I have no regrets. I'm financially prepared to support myself, and I can finally decompress and figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

I told my Mom and sister and they couldn't believe I would want to retire in my mid forties. My friends all think I'll be back to work within a few months. I have no idea what's next, but I'm really looking for to discovering who I am and what the next chapter of my life will look like.

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and wisdom! Hearing from so many happy early retirees confirming what a great move it was for them was really important to me. I'm looking forward to contributing more on the forum now, and learning all about ER.

Yippee!!!

 

[Cassie]

Congratulations on your retirement! It must be a good feeling & you must have made some wise decisions to be Ready )

 

[martyp]

Congratulations.

I started to experience ER before my last day when I discovered that I no longer thought about work on the weekends. My mother was one of those who thought I would be bored if I wasn't working. She was wrong.

 

[leongs]

Congratulation! I know how you feel & some concern the transition. I just retired last week at 66. Mid forties & you did it is amazing. Enjoy all the free time now.

 

[heeyy_joe]

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. If this statement doesn't rile you up then you are indeed ready to retire.

 

[ER Eddie]

Great! You are starting a whole new phase of your life. I'm envious but not too far behind you. Enjoy knowing that you will never have to deal with that work BS/stress again.

 

[obgyn65]

Congratulations.

 

[RenoJay]

Good for you! I'm early 40's and considering ER'ing in mid 40's. If you don't mind sharing some details, I'd be pretty curious to know:

1. Your asset allocation between stocks, bonds, other investments.
2. What percent of your total investable assets do you plan to withdraw every year?
3. Do you have any other income support (pension, parents, etc.) or are you relying on your portfolio exclusively?

 

[anethum]

Congratulations. The insanity it sounds like you were dealing with is finally over!

 

[Ready]

Thanks for all the words of encouragement everyone! It really means a lot to me. It's been a wild day for me. I'm still in shock, but very happy.

 

[Ready]

Good for you! I'm early 40's and considering ER'ing in mid 40's. If you don't mind sharing some details, I'd be pretty curious to know:

1. Your asset allocation between stocks, bonds, other investments.
2. What percent of your total investable assets do you plan to withdraw every year?
3. Do you have any other income support (pension, parents, etc.) or are you relying on your portfolio exclusively?

I'm happy to share...but keep in mind I've only been retired for a day, so all of this may change as I think it through more.

I currently have 60% in equities, 22% in bonds and 18% in cash. My bonds are mostly intermediate term municipal bonds. I am currently planning on a 2% SWR, and I will reevaluate it each year as I see how the market does and how my portfolio is growing (or shrinking). I've been living extremely below my means for my entire life. Not because I begrudged myself anything...I just am not all that materialistic, and never needed to keep up with the Joneses. And for whatever reason, right or wrong, I've always assumed that each day I go to work may be my last day at that job, and it may be a very long time before I find another job, so I've always been extremely cautious about spending on things that weren't that necessary nor important to me.

We paid off our home last year, so I've been without a mortgage for about eight months now. That significantly reduced our living expenses. And, my significant other still works, although will probably be reducing his hours a bit to have more leisure time to spend with me.

I have no pension, my parents are not leaving me anything in their will, and I have no other sources of income. I figure if things go horribly wrong down the road I can always take a reverse mortgage on the house, but I'm certainly hoping that if I keep to a 2% SWR that I will never find myself in that situation.

I have an appointment with my Vanguard financial advisor tomorrow (free of charge for Vanguard account holders) just to triple check all my numbers, but I'm pretty sure I've researched this to the nth degree and everyone says I'm good to go.

Hope that helps!

 

[Live And Learn]

Congratulations !!! a 2% WR means you are definitely more than Ready ! enjoy your freedom !

 

[sheehs1]

A Big Congratulations to you! Keep us posted on how you do!

 

[scrabbler1]

Always glad to read a story about someone else who retired in his mid-40s like I did back in 2008. Are you going on COBRA to hold you over until the PPACA kicks in?

My SWR is around 2-2.5% but I should tell you that I split my ER plan into 2 pieces - one to get me to age ~60 using only my taxable accounts followed by the easier part after that when my "reinforcements" begin such as unfettered access to my IRA, my frozen company pension, and Social Security.

Congrats and may you enjoy your ER as much as I have!

 

[WB52]

Congratulations! I pulled the cord myself last year at age 52. My withdrawal rate is more like 3.5%, and I feel comfortable. So I am sure you will too.
It takes some getting used to, being home with DW 24/7. but it is mostly good and beats the heck out of going to w*rk every day as a wage slave.
Enjoy!

 

[BigE]

Awesome accomplishment Ready! Keep posting to let us know how the transition into retirement goes.

 

[palomalou]

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. If this statement doesn't rile you up then you are indeed ready to retire.

Then I'm "ready" too!

 

[Ready]

Yesterday started off with a very nice day. It wasn't until lunch, when I received some negative correspondence from my former company, that things got very stressful. It seems that even when you leave a company, there are still lingering details and issues which can weigh on you just as much as when you worked there. I ended up taking some sleeping pills and slept for 12 hours trying to forget about it. It's occurirng to me that I may not be able to truly decompress and consider myself removed from the company for some period of time. I know others have said it can take months. I'm hoping my separation will be sooner than that.

 

[Ready]

Always glad to read a story about someone else who retired in his mid-40s like I did back in 2008. Are you going on COBRA to hold you over until the PPACA kicks in?

My SWR is around 2-2.5% but I should tell you that I split my ER plan into 2 pieces - one to get me to age ~60 using only my taxable accounts followed by the easier part after that when my "reinforcements" begin such as unfettered access to my IRA, my frozen company pension, and Social Security.

Congrats and may you enjoy your ER as much as I have!

I'm very fortunate that my significant other works for a megacorp that offers domestic partner benefits, so I'm able to obtain health, vision and dental insurance for $100.00.

There is a significant down side though. Because we are not able to be legally married (due to DOMA), the value of the health care plan (about $500.00) is imputed as income to my significant other, and he has to pay taxes on it. The taxes will likely be around $150.00, plus the $100.00 for the plan, so all in it will really be costing about $250.00. I know that's still less than COBRA or a standalone policy, so I'm not complaining. But the continued existence of DOMA is now costing us a not so insignificant amount of money. I hope the Supreme Court rules favorably on this. It's quite a hit for simply not being able to marry your partner.

Sorry if this is a controversial topic. I understand others may have different opinions on this. Just meant to address the financial impacts.

 

[ER Eddie]

Yesterday started off with a very nice day. It wasn't until lunch, when I received some negative correspondence from my former company, that things got very stressful. It seems that even when you leave a company, there are still lingering details and issues which can weigh on you just as much as when you worked there. I ended up taking some sleeping pills and slept for 12 hours trying to forget about it. It's occurirng to me that I may not be able to truly decompress and consider myself removed from the company for some period of time. I know others have said it can take months. I'm hoping my separation will be sooner than that.

That stinks, to have your day interrupted with more BS/stress from the workplace. I hope it goes away soon and you are truly able to start the "detox" process. From the thread we had on that subject, it seemed like 6 to 12 months was about average.

 

[leongs]

I agree with you, but I'm lucky.

Yesterday started off with a very nice day. It wasn't until lunch, when I received some negative correspondence from my former company, that things got very stressful. It seems that even when you leave a company, there are still lingering details and issues which can weigh on you just as much as when you worked there. I ended up taking some sleeping pills and slept for 12 hours trying to forget about it. It's occurirng to me that I may not be able to truly decompress and consider myself removed from the company for some period of time. I know others have said it can take months. I'm hoping my separation will be sooner than that.

I have referred my 20 years friend, the same business function, as my replacement & prepared overview processes with hands on training 2 weeks together before I left. Still some impact occurs while detaching from work. Wish you good luck.

 

[MBAustin]

Congratulations! I know the feeling about the follow-up details from leaving work, but don't ignore them. I almost missed a critical deadline for some paperwork to be submitted soon after I ER'd by putting it off because I didn't want to deal with it.

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations !

 

[mtheulen]

Congrats are in order! You have severed the ties with the corp, don't let their little stuff bring you down!
Mike

 

[Ready]

Hi everyone. I just realized it's been over five months since I quit my job, so I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on how life has been since leaving the craziness.

Everyone told me I'd be bored if I wasn't working full time, and after a few weeks I'd be going crazy looking for things to do and hoping to find full time work again. Well, I did end up accepting a part time position with another company after the first few weeks. However, it's more of a consulting position, where I work exclusively from home, about 2-3 hours per day. I have no daily responsibilities, no people reporting to me, and no requirement to ever go into the office. And I never wear anything but shorts and a t-shirt the entire day. But I do find that having 2-3 hours of things to do is the perfect thing to keep my mind sharp without creating any stress in my life. And the income is enough to keep me from having to dip into my savings.

More importantly, I have permanently turned off the alarm clock, and put away all the dress clothes deep within the closet. I get up when I feel like it. I get some great exercise first thing in the morning, then come back and drink my coffee, read the entire newspaper front to back, and enjoy some breakfast. I purchased a membership in a local resort hotel which gives me access to their pool and spa, along with one massage each month. The spa has a hot tub, sauna and steam room. That alone seems to make about two hours of my day disappear.

I've also been riding my bicycle almost everywhere I go. There are times when I go 3 or 4 days without ever getting into a car. I think last month I spent less than $50.00 on gas for the entire month!

So I guess that semi-retired life has really worked out great for me. I can't imagine working full time any more. I certainly have no desire to have to go into an office every day and keep to someone else's schedule. We'll see if this continues, but for now, I'm loving life more than I ever have. I have not had any regrets about leaving my job for even a moment. I can't believe I waited this long to do so. Each day I feel so fortunate to have the luxury of time to do whatever I want.

And most importantly, thanks to all of you who encouraged me and assured me that I made the right decision in May. I have really learned a lot from all of you, and I'm sure I would have made different decisions had it not been for all of your support.

For those of you thinking about retiring early, I can't even begin to express how liberating and enjoyable it can be. And I'm someone who has always needed to keep busy, and always worried that I would be bored. Who knew!