I apologize, I'm sure this has been covered a billion times over the years, but I went through the search engine for an hour and couldn't really find the answer I was looking for.
I thought we had a poll floating around here for people's ER age. Do any of you "more experienced" members remember where [-]we put it[/-] to find it?
Who are the other people in here that retired in their 30s? I'd love to hear your stories. How were you able to retire at this age? What did you used to do for a living?
CybrMike ER'd in his 20s but has dropped off the radar.
Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community - View Profile: CybrMike
I believe he made his stash from cashing out an Internet business. You could try sending him an e-mail or a PM.
Jacob Lund Fisker of EarlyRetirementExtreme.com runs a board dedicated to ER'ing as quickly as possible (although most of the posters save their income instead of growing their businesses). He posts here as "jacob". He achieved FI through extreme savings and value investing. He still blogs & freelances for the "easy money" but he's financially independent. Both he and his discussion board could be a wealth of resources.
JJac is another about-to-ER in his late 30s. I haven't heard from him for a few months and I think he's more active on the ERE board. He's a tech exec in the ERE mold.
John Greaney of RetireEarlyHomePage.com retired in his late 30s. He occasionally posts as Intercst but has largely dropped out of sight.
I think that Philip Greenspun ER'd in his 30s. His startup crashed on VC management and/or the end of the Internet bubble (depending on which version you read) and he had enough cash left over to do what he wants. He's very active in photography and aviation.
Paul & Vicki Terhorst retired in their 30s in the 1980s and wrote "Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at age 35". Billy & Akaisha Kaderli (RetireEarlyLifestyle.com) retired in their late 30s in 1991. Both couples are good friends and have a wealth of expat experience to share. Paul was a KPMG exec while Billy & Akaisha ran a restaurant, worked at a brokerage, and generally saved like crazy.
What issues did you face from friends/family/others upon such an early retirement?
In general, family will be supportive. ER will usually make you more of what you already are (hopefully that's a good thing) and happier/mellower.
You have to talk a lot with family about their expectations for you. By that I actually mean you have to shut up and listen to what they're telling you they expect of you. Spouses probably want more support at home without having to worry about you getting needy or underfoot. If they're not already running the household then they'll expect you to take charge. If they're already running the household then they'll expect you to ask them to renegotiate the tasking by giving you your half of the yucky jobs.
Kids (of all ages) don't care whether you're working or not as long as you're spending more of your time with them. Teens at home will disguise this appreciation very well but will warm to the idea once they realize that you'll still give them money and car keys. Younger kids will be happy to have the support at school and on field trips. Very young kids will just be happy. College-age kids won't care-- your life has no relevance to them unless it involves money & car keys.
Your true friends will be happy for you whether you're ER or working. Neighbors and other friends will think you're (1) an idiot, (2) unemployable, (3) ignoring a drug/alcohol problem, (4) headed for a brick wall at Mach2. Of course they may already have formed this opinion of you, and your ER will simply reinforce it. ER will quickly show you who your true friends really are.
Your parents will probably sound like they've been talking to your friends, unless your parents have also ER'd and "get it". They'll probably be worried about you, but that may not be anything new.
Your parents-in-law will be convinced that their grandkids will be homeless. But then they may have already formed this opinion as soon as it became apparent that you were sleeping with their offspring.
The people you meet on your daily routine will generally be incredulous and/or skeptical. Reactions will vary from "No way, you're too young, you're wasting your life!!" to "Sure, right, of course you're ER'd, when does the unemployment run out?" and "Eh, you must be so bored."
After years of this board's debate on the subject, the most palatable response seems to be "I'm taking a few months off to spend more time with family before I decide what I want to do next". Of course there are many more snarky and more satisfying responses, but that's the most publicly acceptable.
Do you regret retiring in your 30s?
Hell, I regret retiring at age 41 and missing the goal of retiring in my 30s. We were borderline FI when I was in my late 30s and I hung around for the pension. But retiring at age 41 beats retiring in my 50s. It also beats starting a bridge career.
And most importantly...what did you end up doing with your time? Did you get as bored as everyone tells me I'll be and start a business? A hobby? Move?
Just trying to get as many ideas as I can from people who went through what I'm going through.
I have a suggestion. You're limiting your search by age, and you're not going to be happy with the lack of responses. You're also seeking outward for ER suggestions. Of course you have to ask those types of questions in order to figure out how everyone else did it. But once you get a hint at how to find the reference library, then your best results will come from digging into the stacks to do your own research. You won't find your solution by surveying the ER population about their personal choices.
We have people who ER'd in their 40s who act like geezers in their 70s, and we have people who "ER'd" in their 60s who act like they're in their 30s. Some have health problems, others are training for triathlons.
We have ERs who are at different stages of life even if they're near the same age. Some are married, some aren't, others aren't too committed to the concept. Some have families, some don't, others are empty-nesters. Some are free to roam the world, others are caring for aging parents. Some are FI on a shoestring, others have more money & toys than they can keep track of.
You don't want to talk to the ERs of your age. You want to talk to the ERs who share your interests. You also need to have (or at least anticipate) the confidence that you can be responsible for your own entertainment.
Your concern is not unfounded. Inflation and health insurance are the top two worries of all ERs. Once they solve those problems, the next worry is "But what will I
DO all day?" However after they ER, 98% of the ERs wonder what the heck they were worried about. You may be skeptical reading that statement from where you are now, but you might have a different perspective in six months.
Outstanding. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Keep 'em coming.
Well, maybe not what you want to hear. But it's what I think you would benefit from learning.
So... what have you done with Ernie Zelinski's "Get-A-Life Tree"?
http://bestretirementquotes.blogspot.com/2009/10/get-life-tree-great-retirement-planning.html
Still, I have several backup options built into the plan, and I think we will be fine.
