Thought I'd tell you that my plan is working.
When I first got onto this FIRE form, and asked about the possibilities of retiring, you all suggested (ok, required! (smile!)) that I track my spending so I'd know exactly what I needed to live on for a year. I'm not good at day-to-day expense tracking, so I did something else.
Last December, I opened up a new checking account, and transferred just the amount of money I thought I needed to live on, not counting taxes, or the COBRA I will have to pay for 18 months if I retire in June of next year (the COBRA money is already built into a separate savings account.) Starting January 1st of this year, I have lived off of only the money in this account.
I have spent "normally", including vacations and extras (I bought a new toy (an antique sewing machine), I had to buy a new computer this year, and we are in the process of replacing the recently broken washer dryer, so I've already added that estimated expense into the budget numbers.)
So far, I'm well under budget. I've projected ahead to the end of the year, and with those numbers, by the end of the year I'm projected to have spent about 73% of what I had budgeted to spend. The left over budgeted money is very close to what I will need for COBRA, too...nice!
I have the savings to make it to my pension and then to Medicare and Social Security, and beyond. And to cover my always high dental expenses, (thanks, mom and dad!)
I'm now officially FI!
And I'm here to say that now I know for sure that (barring the apocalypse), I can work another year knowing that any time I want to, I can tell them all where to go and quit. Working another year will save me a lot of my own money (I'd like to get as close to pension and then Medicare age and then Social Security age as I can before I retire, if possible, in order to save my own money so we can use it to travel or for age related expenses down the road.) I just love knowing that I am now working because I want to, not because I have to. I like my work a lot, just not some of the higher-ups that can make life miserable.
I am a natural worrier, and this year long process has done a lot to help me sleep at night.
Thank you all, so very, very much, for your helpful, generous, and entertaining posts and advice!
When I first got onto this FIRE form, and asked about the possibilities of retiring, you all suggested (ok, required! (smile!)) that I track my spending so I'd know exactly what I needed to live on for a year. I'm not good at day-to-day expense tracking, so I did something else.
Last December, I opened up a new checking account, and transferred just the amount of money I thought I needed to live on, not counting taxes, or the COBRA I will have to pay for 18 months if I retire in June of next year (the COBRA money is already built into a separate savings account.) Starting January 1st of this year, I have lived off of only the money in this account.
I have spent "normally", including vacations and extras (I bought a new toy (an antique sewing machine), I had to buy a new computer this year, and we are in the process of replacing the recently broken washer dryer, so I've already added that estimated expense into the budget numbers.)
So far, I'm well under budget. I've projected ahead to the end of the year, and with those numbers, by the end of the year I'm projected to have spent about 73% of what I had budgeted to spend. The left over budgeted money is very close to what I will need for COBRA, too...nice!
I have the savings to make it to my pension and then to Medicare and Social Security, and beyond. And to cover my always high dental expenses, (thanks, mom and dad!)
I'm now officially FI!
And I'm here to say that now I know for sure that (barring the apocalypse), I can work another year knowing that any time I want to, I can tell them all where to go and quit. Working another year will save me a lot of my own money (I'd like to get as close to pension and then Medicare age and then Social Security age as I can before I retire, if possible, in order to save my own money so we can use it to travel or for age related expenses down the road.) I just love knowing that I am now working because I want to, not because I have to. I like my work a lot, just not some of the higher-ups that can make life miserable.
I am a natural worrier, and this year long process has done a lot to help me sleep at night.
Thank you all, so very, very much, for your helpful, generous, and entertaining posts and advice!