Class of 2020

[firewhen]

Who cares what day of the week it is

Might sound trivial, but for decades, everything was Friday and the Weekend, and Monday and the early part of the week were so hard. It really, truly does not matter now. It is so freeing and liberating. Monday, Friday they are indistinguishable from each other. The other big plus, is once covid settled down and vaccines came out, have taken 5 vacations over the past year and have another 5 scheduled for next year. Could never done this while working, from a PTO and scheduling standpoint. So life is good, with a beautiful sense of serenity!

 

[bada bing]

Celebrated two years free last month. Doing well and happy overall. Things haven't followed the plan exactly, but they never do. I cancelled (delayed) a couple trips because of Covid, but still flew 60K miles in 2021, 30K so far in 2022 with 8K more planned before year end. Going to Panama (again) for the month of February. Portugal and Spain are planned in the spring but not booked yet.

DSO (dear significant other) retired 6 months after I did, but she's been dealing with her dad's health issues, so that's a little curtailment. I'm currently solo, packing up my cabin in Alaska for the winter. We're scheduled to meet up at our joint house in AZ, hopefully by Thanksgiving, subject to change.

My health is good, eating and sleeping much better. I biked 4000 miles in 2021 and about the same so far 2022. The budget is good, I'm finding my pre-retirement prospective budget more than adequate for actual spending. Financial markets have been a downer, but they're not influencing my budget in any way yet. I'm well above my "worst case scenario" even if down from highs right now. Seven years until SS and pension will make portfolio just a backup for my fiscal plans.

And I haven't thought about work, which is odd. My biggest worry was that transitioning to retired would be an emotional hurdle. Not a bit, not at all. Subjective time seems to have expanded again. The two years since work now seems a long time ago, in a good way. My last ten years on the job flew by, like I was burning up my life.

I want to get a dog as well, I haven't had a "man's best friend" in 25 years. Probably 6-7 years out though, when I've finished with most of my travel-bug. My post-70yo future is probably just a camper and a fishing pole, with a yearly migration to/from Alaska for summers. Dog fits in well with that future. Best laid plans....

 

[ugeauxgirl]

All good down here! I'm having a marvelous time doing all the things I didn't have time to while working. I haven't gotten to travel as much as I expected to, but neither has anyone else I'm sure. My garden looks better than it ever has, and I'm enjoying several new hobbies. Cheers!

 

[TNBigfoot]

Crushing right along and doing the things I love stress free. Finally got traction healthwise and began walking 5X a week and lost 60 lbs. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some consternation around the portfolio but then I just think back to ‘07-08 when it was worse.

 

[f35phixer]

Great timing CO, today is two years federal retiree. Getting ready for third snowbird trip to FLA. I am the best puttser around, keep busy doing stuff. Just came back from trans Atlantic on QM2 and DW and I both get COVID. Twice boosted so just cold symptoms and bit tired.

 

[Draggon]

So class of 2020, how are we all doing?
Two bear markets, a pandemic…. We know how to retire!
We all planned for such disasters - I hope.

I am doing well so far. Financially, mentally, socially. Getting a new puppy soon.

How are my classmates?

Couldn't be better! 11/1/22 was my 2 year Free-iversary. Funny sidenote - I had a countdown app on my phone for 2+ years counting the days/hours/minutes to my retirement date. It was hard sometimes to pull up that app and see what it said. On the evening before my official date, I opened it just before midnight to grab a screenshot of "the zero hour", which I successfully did. But then, to my surprise, it started counting forwards from my date. I thought that was great, so I left it on my phone. As of today, it says "742 Days, 12 Hours... since Ron's 55 & Out"...

Those 742 days have been some of the best days of my life. I'd forgotten how absolutely thrilling being free can be - even on those days when you're not doing much. Like others have mentioned, I have two ailing parents (been divorced since I was 9), so a lot of my time is being spent there.

My wife retired about a year after I did, and so far we've deemed ourselves compatible in retirement - not that that was a huge worry for either of us after 33 years together... We've had a lot of fun and plan to have a lot more.

Portfolio-wise, after last week, we're actually at our highest net worth to date. I got stupid-lucky in that I rolled my company 401K over to an Individual IRA near the end of last year. I had to cash out my holdings to do so, and after the rollover finalized, I just didn't feel good about jumping right back in with the market highs and all that was going on at the time. I stayed in cash throughout most of 2022 and just redeployed about 60% of the funds near the end of September - only because it was a nice round 20% discount to my exit number. So far, it's paid off well, but now I need to get the rest of it to work!

It's great to see the Class members' pop in with their updates. It feels nice to have some of my thoughts and feelings validated by others as they enjoy their early retirements!

And work? Who was that guy?? It almost seems like a dream.

 

[COcheesehead]

Financially we are up about 11% if I go back to right before the Covid shutdown and that includes taking out 2.5 years worth of expenses. If I go back to my retirement anniversary date, July 2020, we are up slightly still including the 2.5 years of expenses. I figure that’s a win considering the markets in that time frame.

 

[Go-NoGo]

Doing well here..

There were paper gains when the market was up (Wheee.. !)
and paper losses when the bear market hit (OmiGod..!)

I have kept that in mind and I sleep well at night.

So far so good.

 

[Lienlord]

I was originally in this class, had 2/20/2020 circled on my calendar for a few years prior.
Literally just before giving notice, COVID popped up and the pandemic/lockdowns began.
My team was forced to WFH, and as their leader I didn't feel it was right to abandon them during that difficult transition.
Once systems were in place, my boss found the department was just as efficient WFH as in the office.
So they offered a telework plan 3/2 days home/office. Frankly, the lockdown and now telework feels like semi-retirement and has kept me from pulling the trigger!
Ironically, next February will mark 40 years since I started working my first "real" j@b in my chosen career path (trainee in a Bank).
So I'm thinking that's another nice date to close the circle at age 58.
That's still ER...right? LOL

 

[BruinBones]

Retired for 2 years as of 7/1/22. COVID, Hurricane Sally, and father-in-law diagnosed with a terminal illness occupied much of my and my wife's time during the first year. We didn't do much discretionary spending. We loosened the purse strings a little more during the second year for a bathroom remodel, home generator, and a major dental procedure. Overall, our portfolio is still +3.3% more than when I retired, maintained at 60/40. I never stopped traveling domestically about once a month to either visit family or for a part time consulting side gig. This past month we took our first trip OCONUS for a Caribbean vacation.

 

[Born2Fish]

I had a few lumpy expenses this year and feel a little bit of stress but the numbers say we are fine.

So, DW and I have tightened the "non-essential spending" belt a little but we are enjoying retirement.

Life is good!

 

[nobody]

I'm now 51, was 47 when I left work. I've seen my accounts rise and fall, never really worried about them. Moved to a new state and COVID hit, bad time to buy a house but I did. Hard as hell to make new friends when you don't work and with COVID.

I'm living more frugal now then I did when I worked. I'm struggling with spending money. I'm living on less than 1% at 30k a year.

Went to sign up for ACA insurance expecting a discount, nope nada. Colorado pretty much forced me to their Medicaid system, so I get pretty much free health and dental care. Never expected that. Also discovered per a federal plan I get $30 off my internet service, $4 a month is rough.

I mostly always drank coffee at work, those bags of beans don't last long when you make it everyday instead of just weekends.

Had some offers to go back to work other places, while I would like the money to spend on things the house needs, I can't do it.

Cheers

 

[INTJ10]

So class of 2020, how are we all doing?
Two bear markets, a pandemic…. We know how to retire!
We all planned for such disasters - I hope.

I am doing well so far. Financially, mentally, socially. Getting a new puppy soon.

How are my classmates?

Doing fine. The stock market situation wiped out a big chunk of my nest egg but it hasn't really changed our lifestyle. Took a BIG trip and got used to not working. I have had a stream of "gig" offers and took on a few. Don't really need the money but it is fun to "stay in the game" and do interesting stuff.

 

[COcheesehead]

Doing fine. The stock market situation wiped out a big chunk of my nest egg but it hasn't really changed our lifestyle. Took a BIG trip and got used to not working. I have had a stream of "gig" offers and took on a few. Don't really need the money but it is fun to "stay in the game" and do interesting stuff.