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Five Year Mark! A report card...
07-31-2017, 08:11 AM
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#1
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: London/UK (dual US/UK citizen)
Posts: 502
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Five Year Mark! A report card...
It's the last day of July so it must be the five year mark since the end of full-time work! All that was left in 2012 was a couple weeks of holiday and a couple of farewell parties and that was that after 25 years.
I've bored you all with yearly (or there about) report cards so I hope you don't mind another to mark what I consider a real milestone.
Personal: Super. I'm relaxed, healthy, spending really good quality time with DW. Started running, down 25 lbs from my peak. I feel a different man. We travel a lot, and that's our major expense.
Work: I've done some consulting and enjoyed it. Not so much as to interfere with fun, but hey, it's paid for some extra trips and new computers and kept me feeling involved and stimulated.
Financial: The markets have been kind to us all. I claim no wisdom here. But even after all my spending and withdrawals, my liquid assets are up an annualized 4.76% on what they were when I left and after I collected my tinsel handcuff payoff. My current spending level is 2.69% of current assets -- and 3.09% of the starting 2012 level, adjusted for inflation. And yet, we're doing everything we want and don't feel constrained despite being able to spend at a faster rate according to most studies and formulas.
As I've mentioned before - great thanks to this board for providing company, comfort and stimulation when those around me seem in a very different professional and financial place.
Regrets: No regrets. The only sadness is realizing how big a place in my life work and more particularly work friends had been. I've certainly made good use of all the time I have, but I don't have nearly as many social interactions as I used to and that sometimes feels lonely. Were they "real" friends? Of course not. But they were good "mates" and "pals" and time with them was enjoyable and that is probably the biggest gap - something for those not yet ERed to think about perhaps. It just isn't as easy at 57 to make friends, at least for me.
Best of luck to you all - those who long ago passed my five year mark, those approaching it and those yet to take the plunge!
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07-31-2017, 08:34 AM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,763
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Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary!
Regarding work friends, I think of most of mine as co-workers/acquaintances. There are only 3 that I am close to and do things outside of work. These 3 are friends.
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07-31-2017, 08:37 AM
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#3
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 782
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Congratulations on achieving the 5 year retirement mark! Yes, the market has been good to us that retired in the last few years and let's hope we have many more to celebrate.
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My motto is.... "a dollar saved is better than a dollar earned. I don't pay tax on the dollar I saved."
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07-31-2017, 09:16 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,838
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Nice, Love the updates. About work friends, I went to a 30 year reunion & I saw old friends there I hadnt seen in a dogs age. They were real true friends, just life got in the way and we didnt keep in touch(transfers, marriage, etc...) One guy offered me a 80k a year supervisor job, I hadnt seen him in close to the 30 years. He said he needed someone he trusted and he knew he could trust me. I didnt take it, as by that time (2014), my life had taken a different turn.
__________________
Withdrawal Rate currently zero, Pension 137 % of our spending, Wasted 5 years of my prime working extra for a safe withdrawal rate. I can live like a King for a year, or a Prince for the rest of my life. I will stay on topic, I will stay on topic, I will stay on topic
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07-31-2017, 09:32 AM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Hog Mountian
Posts: 2,077
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Quote:
Originally Posted by splitwdw
Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary!
Regarding work friends, I think of most of mine as co-workers/acquaintances. There are only 3 that I am close to and do things outside of work. These 3 are friends.
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+1
Only a few friends. The rest are colleagues, etc. I filled the social "void" through volunteering. I do it on my schedule, it gets me out and about, and is very rewarding.
__________________
Never let yesterday use up too much of today.
W. Rogers
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07-31-2017, 09:39 AM
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#6
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 756
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I'd say you got an "A"!
__________________
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
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07-31-2017, 09:53 AM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 459
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Congrats! A+.
Have done lots of traveling solo. Can't wait for my wife to join me in five years when boys go to college.
__________________
Retired at age 52 on 12/1/2016
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07-31-2017, 10:05 AM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: The Shire
Posts: 1,504
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd852
I've bored you all with yearly (or there about) report cards so I hope you don't mind another to mark what I consider a real milestone.
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Au contraire, Pierre, I don't find these updates boring at all. They're more than welcome, and particularly interesting when they recount happy results.
Poor schlubs like me, still toiling away in the salt mines, rely on your tales of paradise for encouragement. Sometimes the only thing that gets me out of bed at oh-dark-thirty on Mondays is the sense that retirement is real and getting a skinch closer every week.
Please keep them coming. And congrats on your milestone! I look forward to having a similar one someday.
__________________
Paying it forward is the best investment.
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07-31-2017, 10:07 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,202
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Congrats, sounds like you're doing well.
After 6 years, my summary would be much the same. I really enjoyed being retired for 9-10 months each year (winter ). The pros easily outweigh the cons, but retirement isn't without cons - "paradise" would be too strong a description to me.
And I very much agree with your regret. I consciously avoided making true friends of work-friends, but I miss those daily interactions with lots of peers. I also retired at 57, retirees my age are still few and far between making new friends scarcer. And I was sure DW would retire shortly after I did, that was 6 years ago. She still surprises me after 37 years...
Shopping and running errands during the day is a different world though, lots of blue-hairs and SAHM's with small children. Almost no peers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd852
Regrets: No regrets. The only sadness is realizing how big a place in my life work and more particularly work friends had been. I've certainly made good use of all the time I have, but I don't have nearly as many social interactions as I used to and that sometimes feels lonely. Were they "real" friends? Of course not. But they were good "mates" and "pals" and time with them was enjoyable and that is probably the biggest gap - something for those not yet ERed to think about perhaps. It just isn't as easy at 57 to make friends, at least for me.
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__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57
Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
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07-31-2017, 10:07 AM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mdlerth
Au contraire, Pierre, I don't find these updates boring at all. They're more than welcome, and particularly interesting when they recount happy results.
Poor schlubs like me, still toiling away in the salt mines, rely on your tales of paradise for encouragement. Sometimes the only thing that gets me out of bed at oh-dark-thirty on Mondays is the sense that retirement is real and getting a skinch closer every week.
Please keep them coming. And congrats on your milestone! I look forward to having a similar one someday.
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+1 !!!
__________________
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
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07-31-2017, 10:21 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,304
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Sounds so wonderful!
I'm just 7 months it's just indescribable how free I feel.
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07-31-2017, 01:44 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: New York City
Posts: 2,838
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mdlerth
Poor schlubs like me, still toiling away in the salt mines, rely on your tales of paradise for encouragement. Sometimes the only thing that gets me out of bed at oh-dark-thirty on Mondays is the sense that retirement is real and getting a skinch closer every week.
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Too funny. I wish you well on your journey. And for this week anyway , you got the Monday out of the way.
__________________
Withdrawal Rate currently zero, Pension 137 % of our spending, Wasted 5 years of my prime working extra for a safe withdrawal rate. I can live like a King for a year, or a Prince for the rest of my life. I will stay on topic, I will stay on topic, I will stay on topic
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08-01-2017, 09:04 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,794
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The only thing I miss (beyond the paycheck) is the people I left behind at w*rk. I was only close to a couple of them and I have stayed in contact with them. Still, the setting was a good place to make "acquaintances" and w*rk mates. Now, I don't have that kind of access to that many people. All in all, I prefer being retired, but there is always some price to be paid for "freedom." YMMV
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -
Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
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