How did you handle the period from FI to FIRE?

[CoolRich59]

One option I'm looking into is seeing if I can work part time.

I had never considered it until recently. I'm a consultant and so I'm always at the client's office and never see any of my coworkers.

But I emailed a couple and was surprised to learn a few have been able to do so. In fact, I was very surprised to learn that the most senior guy works part time exclusively.

I think going part time would also do wonders for my sanity. Who knows - I might stay at for a couple of more years! [emoji1]

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREmenow I keep mine on one of my phone's home screens:

Oh, I like that!

[Souschef]

I worked to keep health insurance for my brain injured wife. Whe she passed away,
I was there another 2 years because i had nothing better to do, and it upped my 401K plus profit sharing.
I married my present wife, and waited until January of the following year to get my profit sharing, then pulled the plug.
Life is good!

[Floridatennisplayer]

I love this place. I posted a similar thread last March. I could do it now, but with no health care until Medicare now 62 1/2 I hate the thought of cutting into padding my goal. We had a national meeting last month, I just couldn't bear the thought of going...always a big waste. So....I blew it off. Told them I had the flu. I just don't care anymore.

They keep piling on more and more emails, new initiatives, more babysitting..plan on putting up with it until 64, bite the bullet and buy health insurance for a year. Trying to stay sane until then.

[brucethebroker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumDay I have become VERY vocal about the idiocy that abounds at my megacorp job of 30+ years. We just had a big RIF, and darn it, I was hoping my mouth would land me on the list. But noooooo, I'm getting all kinds of praise and thanks for my honesty and ideas for fixing the issues, even talk of a promotion. I'm pulling the plug next year, so more responsibility and conference calls happen to be the last things I'm looking for. I may have to start wearing a muzzle and quit caring.

Why not fully test your theory Walk into the office of the big boss and tell him what you REALLY think of him You may get promoted!

[athena53]

I was full speed ahead up till my last day. Ironically, the project I was assigned was one of the most interesting things I'd ever done (give me a big pile o' data, tell me to tease interesting information out of it and make some pretty charts, tell me to move it from Excel to SQL to Qlikview and learn the latter two, and I'm happy as a clam). Too bad the politics sucked.

The first time I realized I was close to FI, my company was acquired. I saw a lot of good people panic and jump ship because they didn't want to risk being let go. I was 53 at the time, with enough resources that I knew I could survive a few months of unemployment if it happened, so I stayed. It worked out well and I stayed there for another 6 years. It was good to have the resources to allow me to take that chance.

[dunkelblau]

I crossed into FI territory by what most here would consider a typical metric back around Y2K, but at that time my own idea of "enough" was considerably more, so I stayed on the job. Spending over a decade in a job I disliked from day one had prompted my sprint to the finish line.

But the 2008-2009 stock market excursion made me glad I still collected a paycheck, and maybe it was because of that security blanket that I purchased more shares then than I would have otherwise? Even at the trough I was still solidly FI, so I decided I'd stay in coastal California. And work was getting more interesting.

A health scare five years ago prompted me to take a buyout package, but to my surprise all the free time quickly grew uncomfortable, so I accepted an offer to stay on with some changes I wanted involving schedule, work location, and most importantly, work content. I didn't expect this deal to make any difference, but management convinced me to at least give it a try.

Since that time it's been OMY after OMY, life's as good as it gets (at least with respect to work/life balance), so I've become ambivalent about RE. Oddly enough the obscure corner I focused on purely out of personal interest five years ago has grown mainstream to our business, so my job security is maxed out at the moment. Not that it matters, anything happens I don't feel like dealing with and I'm done.

So I guess in my case hitting FI probably prolonged my career because it turned out my attitude towards work changed once I gained control over the parameters. I suppose if I knew it would come out this way, my FI sprint would never have happened, but since it's a rare outcome, I can't say I should have saved differently.

[someguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious I think the assumption is that when you retire, you "lock in" the gains in your portfolio by going to a more conservative AA than when you are working. That way, in the first scenario, you would lock in the conservative AA at the $1 million mark, so it would not tank as much after you retire.

You might be right but that can be done with or without retiring in the majority of situations. That's also basically timing the market.

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I'm pretty FI now and have enough to replicate my take home pay (lots of deduction off my paycheck). But am looking to work another 5 years to hit the numbers I've laid out for added security and to allow for extended retirement goals.

In some ways, staying motivated is kind of tough. However, I would feel disappointed if I don't reach my final target numbers. With the project management work I do, I also don't want to let people down but it is stressful.

I don't really feel more emboldened to speak out a work. However, we already have a pretty good environment where people can generally speak freely but you still got to speak with a little tact and respect.

[flyingaway]

OP here. Currently, we plan to retire in two years at 55, with a few conditions: (1) my son gets out of college and is gainfully employed, (2) the market is not lower than it is, (3) there is a reliable place to buy health insurance, (4) we are healthy.
I don't know what we may do in two years. But I think I can handle my work for two more years.

[RetireAge50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingaway OP here. Currently, we plan to retire in two years at 55, with a few conditions: (1) my son gets out of college and is gainfully employed, (2) the market is not lower than it is, (3) there is a reliable place to buy health insurance, (4) we are healthy. I don't know what we may do in two years. But I think I can handle my work for two more years.

Or you could say [insert favorite expletive] it and just retire now. You only live once and your conditions may never happen.

[googily]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireAge50 Or you could say [insert favorite expletive] it and just retire now. You only live once and your conditions may never happen.

+1. You Never Know.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar For me reaching a FI didn't happen at a moment in time. Was a more gradual realization that I was "there". "There" moved a bit over this period as well. If having $x dollars meant I was "there", wouldn't if be better to have 1.5$x? This happend in my early 50's and one thing happened for sure. It became more difficult to get motivated at work. Took about 3 years to effect retirement at 56.

+1
My experience was similar. I had a large financial incentive through my former employer to remain there through a certain date. As the date approached, I realized I was ready not only financially but also emotionally. I gave notice shortly after my incentive cleared and ER'd at 56 about 10 months ago. Life is good!

[coalduck]

Longest three days of my life. [emoji3]

[Toocold]

I've been FI since 2 years ago, and have yet to RE. I like my job so I am in no hurry to RE. I have a tentative date and an "official" plan for 2020 before I turn 50. I am somewhat ambivalent if I were to get laid off.

My personal struggle is my internal need to always shoot for the next promotion (resulting in more work) and tampering those feelings with my logic that tells me another promotion is no longer necessary and I should ramp down my career.

[brett]

We reviewed all of our finances in terms of who was handling our investments etc. right down to bank charges. We selected a new investment council because we were not happy with our previous arrangement. We moved most business away from our bank in favour of on line banks, etc. who has higher interest etc. We consolidated our accounts to make management easier and more straightforward. Reviewed our credit cards.

We made the decision to downsize and began to think of what stays, what goes. We did no buy any new items for our home and we planned out the mtce we needed to do in order to sell...mostly paint. All 25 gallons in the end. We started redoing some of the rooms were were not using. We went thought the house to discard items and sell others in order to de-clutter.

We spent some time deciding what we wanted to do after selling but remained flexible in case the sale or closing might be extended. We followed the currencies and travel opportunities in some of the countries high on our list.

We worked with our accountant to complete some tax planning that went 3 years out. Then did some tweeking with our investment counsel. We rolled these forward each year based on good advice. We updated our wills, POA's etc.

We moved as much personal business as possible from snail mail to email. This actually took more time than I thought. We still have a few pesky items that have to come through the mail.

We kept these plans in the forefront since I had no intention of FIRE without receiving a termination package from my employer. After a few years it came quite suddenly and quite quickly. I had a months notice. We then put our plans into high gear. A month or so later it became reality. A few months later house was sold, items in storage, we were homeless, and our world changed. It was a wonderful feeling. The financial prep and changes that we made prior to FIRE, after FI have made a significant difference to our net worth and our our comfort with the investment/risk situation.

[48Fire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingaway For those who are FIREd, how did you handle the period from FI to FIRE?

Well, it only lasted 2 weeks for me I was planning it for a while, and pulled the trigger after a few days of consideration.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski It was a very good time in my career. I felt free to speak up and say the things the entire team was thinking but that management or clients did not want to hear.... after all, the worst that could happen was that they would fire me and so what....... and they loved the candor and I was in more demand than ever.

+1. I was always pretty outspoken, but even more so during the 6 year period between FI and ER. I wasn't belligerent or disrespectful, just even more candid. And though I was somewhat bored with my job/career and tired of Corporate, I was very well paid, worked a long time to reach that position, and was able to easily handle anything that job could ever throw at me. Why not collect a $ cushion?

And I also put even more effort into developing as many of my qualified people to advance inside our location as well as other locations or Corporate. I took great pride in having more of my peeps promoted than my peers, some of them thank me to this day.

I expect to live into my 90's, 6 years is nothing in the overall scheme of things - I consciously reminded myself of same when I got antsy near the end of my career.

[Closet_Gamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingaway OP here. Currently, we plan to retire in two years at 55, with a few conditions: (1) my son gets out of college and is gainfully employed, (2) the market is not lower than it is, (3) there is a reliable place to buy health insurance, (4) we are healthy. I don't know what we may do in two years. But I think I can handle my work for two more years.

A few thoughts...

Regarding #2...perhaps "stress test" your portfolio. If your equity components dropped 20%, are you still FI? 30%? 40%? If so, I think you can safely set restriction #2 to the side. You could also adjust your AA to make an equity market correction (bust) less impactful.

On #3...given the state of things, that could be true when you FIRE and not true a year later. Seems like you should set that one aside and live life.

On #4, that seems inverted...if you're not healthy you may need/want to not work to focus on your health. If you are healthy, enjoy the FIRE.

Can't speak to #1...that's family stuff and the older I get the less inclined I am to offer advice on that front!

[brett]

I was in no rush between FI and FIRE. As it turned out those four years were some of the highest earnings years for me because of performance bonuses on P&L performance.

These bonuses significantly enhanced my termination settlement and my DB since bonuses were included in pensionable income in our plan. So I was not sitting around yearning to get out. I wanted out but was not about to do anything silly like quit. It was also different for me since the person that I reported to was 2000 miles and two time zones away.

It took a year or so after reaching FI for it to actually sink in that I was ready and able to go. It changed my attitude. I worked just as diligently however the noise level things than may have bothered me in the past ceased bothering me.