FI verus RE - a Poll

[TargaDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa As of the moment, over 60% of respondents waited more than a year after FI to RE, of whom 2/3 waited over 2 years. Sometimes we seem like a real "take this job and shove it" group, but the poll suggests that most of us have been more than cautious.

I think the difference is that many on the forum stayed in a current (long held position) for some time after FI versus a much smaller number who left to do something very different with less hours and pay in a semi-ER scenerio. Both approaches might be considered cautious but I think there are very few here in the second category. Not passing judgement, just making an observation

[Buku]

Im not sure of the definitions...but can you really be FI if you cant RE immediately?

And If you are FI and you choose to continue work, thats a personal preference isnt it? Instead of taking up fishing, you keep making widgets.

[Eagle43]

I voted more than 2 years. Actually, I never intended to retire. I just thought I would work till I dropped.

So, I could have retired at age 55 but finally retired at 60. MegaCorp had a pension that was higher at 60 than 55 and after much procrastination, I did it. With two pensions, two SS payments, Tricare, Medicare (this year), and a nice Vanguard stash, all I've go to do is enjoy the trip.

If I had it to do over, I'd have retired by 55. I certainly was FI by then.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR The problem with death is you don't know when it will happen to you. We all live out our daily lives with the belief that tommorrow will come followed by another day and so forth until someday...we die...way way in the future.

Yes. I was 34 when my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 62 and died just a year later. This influenced me more profoundly than anything else in terms of retiring early and having no illusions of longevity. It was a massive wake up call, and I have been grateful for being woken up young.

I have always suspected that many ERs have had a close call with mortality and had it strongly influence their lives and decisions.

Audrey

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR The problem with death is you don't know when it will happen to you. We all live out our daily lives with the belief that tommorrow will come followed by another day and so forth until someday...we die...way way in the future. My slant on this is colored by real life experiences with friends and family who were alive and happy one day and then gone the next. Some were as young as 4. Some were young mothers or young fathers. Car accidents, disease, home accidents, wrong place at the wrong time, etc. I don't have a negative view of life or death. I have a realistic one. I spent many hours with fellow widows and widowers discussing life and death and what it means to lose a spouse, a child, a parent or a close friend. Each are different events yet each one become part of who we are and how we view the future. I am more interested in seeing and doing now rather than 10 or 20 years from now. I plan on spending a good deal of my early retirement years being busy but not in a frantic sense. I don't have a morbid fear of death, I have been too close to it to fear it; but I do know that tommorrow is not promised to any of us so each day is a gift.

You put my feelings to words .Thank you !

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buku Im not sure of the definitions...but can you really be FI if you cant RE immediately? And If you are FI and you choose to continue work, thats a personal preference isnt it? Instead of taking up fishing, you keep making widgets.

I think that's the point. The poll seems to be asking, how long after you achieved FI did you actually RE? Because you're right, of course, that one can't safely RE until you've achieved FI.

Personally, my dad worked two years after becoming FI. He became FI on his 55th birthday when he became eligible to retire with a pension on top of his other investments. He said those two years were the best of his working life because his boss KNEW he could retire and tell them to stick it if they made his job a pain in the butt. They made sure he was happy because they didn't want to lose him. So as you can see, if your bosses know you are FI and don't want to lose you, it can make work a lot more bearable!

Of course, after two more years they gave early retirement incentives that were too good to pass up: six months' full pay, an extra five years of service credited for the pension, and fully paid health insurance for him and my mom until each turned 65. Needless to say, as much as he was enjoying his job a bit more, this was simply too good to pass on. I, like most in my generation, can only dream of such a thing.

[Rustic23]

It was more than two years for us. We were FI long before we decided to retire. The question was how FI did we want to be. We could have RE'd much earlier, however, we wanted more in RE than we had.

[friar1610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa What was the time interval between when you decided you were confidently financially independent, and when you actually stopped working (or went drastically part-time)? That is, how long was RE - FI?

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was pretty much FI when I retired from the Navy with 28 years of active duty at age 51. Worked several different jobs (with intentional breaks of several months between each one) for 6 1/2 years before calling it quits at age 58. During that time, I considerably increased my nest egg by using 401K's/403B's and lots of after tax investing/saving. But, in the cold light of morning, I was actually FI the day I was piped over the side.