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Old 11-05-2015, 10:10 AM   #61
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Well I retired early
I left my marriage
I rent my apartment
I own a condo in Mexico
I "live in sin" with my girlfriend
I drive an old Ford SUV
I use coupons to get discounts mostly on meals

I could go on...

I consider my job to create things that others can gossip about.
And what those people think of me is none of my business!
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Old 11-05-2015, 10:44 AM   #62
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You should take the exam. It's easy, and you never know when it will come in handy to be admitted to the bar.
I'm glad I don't need an exam to be admitted to a bar...
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Old 11-05-2015, 12:37 PM   #63
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Originally Posted by Cobra9777 View Post
Actually, I find the reference to "luck" somewhat insulting. But I agree that it's often not intended that way, but rather as a positive expression. An experienced ear can usually tell the difference.

I agree. I consider myself fortunate, not lucky. There's a big difference.


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Old 11-05-2015, 12:51 PM   #64
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I agree. I consider myself fortunate, not lucky. There's a big difference.


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+1
Well said.
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Old 11-05-2015, 01:14 PM   #65
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I agree. I consider myself fortunate, not lucky. There's a big difference.


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"Fortunate bastard" sounds better than "lucky bastard"?
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Old 11-05-2015, 02:10 PM   #66
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Originally Posted by truenorth418 View Post
I agree. I consider myself fortunate, not lucky. There's a big difference.
Big difference? Maybe (or maybe not):
Fortunate | Definition of fortunate by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortunate

adjective for·tu·nate \ˈfȯrch-nət, ˈfȯr-chə-\. : having good luck : enjoying good fortune. : coming or happening because of good luck.

(the below is found when the word "fortunate" is googled).
favored by or involving good luck or fortune; lucky.
"she'd been fortunate to escape more serious injury"
synonyms: lucky, favored, blessed, blessed with good luck, in luck, having a charmed life, charmed; informalsitting pretty
"he was fortunate that the punishment was so slight"

auspicious or favorable.
"a most fortunate match for our daughter"
synonyms: favorable, advantageous, providential, auspicious, welcome, heaven-sent, beneficial, propitious, fortuitous, opportune, happy, felicitous "in a fortunate position"
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Old 11-05-2015, 08:26 PM   #67
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The way I see the difference:
I was fortunate to:
be born in the USA
be born after the advent of penicillin
be born in a white middle class family
have had an educated mother who prized education for her kids
be born after WWI and WWII (and before WWIII ?)
etc.

I was lucky to:
just happen to a chance meeting with someone which led me to getting my first real job
just happen to meet the son of my first future client there
just happen to have take the right course in college that proved pivotal
just happened to meet the woman I would marry
just happened to be in a boring seminar that led to my daydreaming and thesis topic
etc.

To me this is the difference, it is indeed subtle, but important.

But then I am not an English major
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Old 11-05-2015, 09:09 PM   #68
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Oh yes, folks will come up with ANY excuse as to WHY you aren't REALLY retiring! I think that's nothing more than jealousy.
Don't forget that many (many!) people are simply unable to understand financial matters....just like many are simply unable to wrap their minds around and understand particle physics, or astronomy, or multivariate calculus, or engineering, etc.

There are undoubtedly some that do come up with excuses out of jealousy, but I'd be willing to bet that because many are simply unable to comprehend investments and LBYM and saving, someone telling them that they are retiring in their 40s or even early 50s is like telling that person who is unable to comprehend particle physics just what a Higgs boson or quark is.
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Old 11-05-2015, 09:34 PM   #69
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<snip>
<snip> (again)... someone telling them that they are retiring in their 40s or even early 50s is like telling that person who is unable to comprehend particle physics just what a Higgs boson or quark is.
Well, I certainly don't understand particle physics. But as for Higgs Boson and his half-brother Quark, they played on the defensive line at my high school. Both were declared ineligible in their sophomore year due to academic deficiencies. Last I heard, they are retired hedge fund managers living on several Greek islands they now own.
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Old 11-05-2015, 10:45 PM   #70
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I've always been one to see positive results others have achieved and tried to emulate them.
If you want to be skinny, hang out with skinny people, if you want to RE hang out with those who are. It's not jealousy, but admiration.
So true, that's why I always tried to hang out with the thin beautiful gorgeous folks
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Old 11-06-2015, 05:09 AM   #71
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Everyone was supportive, I grew up in a blue collar world, my elderly mom said that's great now enjoy yourself, my friends said wow I wish we could, (some of them make obscene amounts of money, but don't have enough to leave), my wife is a homemaker , she said ok but don't start bugging me all day long, lol. I did have a neighbor come over and layout his financials with me , he said what do I think can he retire? I looked it over told him to call up the bride he also had enough for 2 lifetimes ,he gave his 30 day notice , started to complain he was bored, the another neighbor died at 58 ,he owned a bus company. I said I think he would trade places with you, stop complaining. He agreed.
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Old 11-06-2015, 05:44 AM   #72
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I retired at age 52 from a job in law enforcement where retirement from mid-40's on is fairly common, but most in early to late 50's. Reactions from coworkers were "Great, you made it with all appendages intact and most of your mind!" (Seriously, not everyone did.)

Family was relieved and happy for me.

A few friends outside of work: "Great, you made it! Now what are you going to do?"

"Whaddaya mean, nothing?"
Getting out of law enforcement in good health is a very good thing. Congratulations.
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Old 11-06-2015, 11:09 AM   #73
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I told my boss that I would be leaving in six months at the age of 50. She kept saying, "You're so lucky!" She also said that she is really sorry to be losing me, etc.

This conversation took place this morning. :-)
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Old 11-06-2015, 11:40 AM   #74
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I told my boss that I would be leaving in six months at the age of 50. She kept saying, "You're so lucky!" She also said that she is really sorry to be losing me, etc.

This conversation took place this morning. :-)
Uh Oh, catsouttathebag now. To me luck is something that comes along, once maybe twice, to be consistent day after day has nothing to do with luck and more to do with persistence, reaching goals and self-determination.
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Old 11-06-2015, 11:52 AM   #75
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My (retired at a normal age) cousin said "retirement is the best, isn't it?"

I didn't have any negative feedback from family. Nobody expressed jealousy and nobody attributed my ER to luck. They know I worked hard at a well paying career, was LBMM and had an inheritance, though they don't know any details.

One of my friends told me that an acquaintance had remarked that ER was a terrible waste of my education.
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Old 11-06-2015, 12:46 PM   #76
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My FIRE date is 1/1/2016, I've been planning for it since 1984. I also happen to be moving from the small town where I've lived my whole life. I've been a small town business owner and have been very active in volunteer groups, civic organizations and anyone else who needed help in a small town. (It goes with owning a business) I hear a lot of critical comments such as "you made all your money off of us and now you're leaving" My closest friends and immediate family know it's the result of 35 year so of work & financial responsibility. I'm 50 and I've found it's easier to just tell people I've got a new job lined up in a different town.


My father passed away in August and a lot of people are talking that I must have fallen into a pile of his money to be able to leave my business. Little do they know his estate wasn't large enough to probate (under $50,000) and he left it all to Mom. People in a small town will speculate and I don't engage with them when they ask personal questions. I'll move on and be forgotten soon and then they'll talk about someone else.
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Old 11-06-2015, 12:47 PM   #77
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Uh Oh, catsouttathebag now. To me luck is something that comes along, once maybe twice, to be consistent day after day has nothing to do with luck and more to do with persistence, reaching goals and self-determination.
Oh indeed. I wanted to say, "No luck, just savings and investing". No lottery winning or inheritance here. But she's 53 with 6 years to go, so if she wants to believe it's luck, she's welcome to it.
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Old 11-07-2015, 06:30 AM   #78
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FIRE - family and friends just can't relate!

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Originally Posted by Meadbh View Post
...had remarked that ER was a terrible waste of my education.
As an ER'd physician, I get that one. Or a corollary- "but we have to find something so we can harness your brain power! It's going to waste!"

First of all the education was not "wasted". It allowed me to earn enough, quickly enough to retire early, which I consider a good return on my investment. As for society, I will concede that anyone paying taxes has a small point. Physician's training is subsidized by Medicare taxes. Now, my absence in the field is NOT depriving anyone access to care. However, there is such an oversupply in the area where I work that one could argue that my early exit unduly affects costs by upsetting the supply/demand curve. However, medical fees are both so regulated and opaque that they are largely untethered or weakly tethered by supply and demand. Still, an investment was made by society and if they feel my early exit has somehow not been "fair" I would suggest they make their expectations and demands more explicit. State medical schools do this. If you attend a state medical school with tuition loans, those loans can be forgiven if you stay practicing within the state. The military also demands service in exchange for subsidies.
If we were to have such a policy for the Medicare subsidies, what would be the length of service required? I would add and argue that the hours and pay of residents and fellows already comprise some sort of payback in the form of incredibly cheap medical laborers.

I reject out of hand the notion that someone else could not do my job as arrogance. ( A common trait found among physicians- and likely one of many reasons physicians do not retire early). There may be highly specialized areas of expertise wherein the world only has a few capable practitioners...but for most medical care and care providers -this is not really an issue.

As to "harnessing my brain?" Been there, done that. That is why I ER'd. I wanted to be FREE from others slapping harnesses on my existence for their benefit. I want to run free and be the sole determinant of how and where my brain is used. If that is wasting my brain power, then all the exercise we do to stay physically fit is "wasted." All that energy spent running or swimming or weight lifting instead of plowing a field, or turning a mill wheel or planting a garden or picking up trash.


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Old 11-07-2015, 06:58 AM   #79
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As an ER'd physician, I get that one. Or a corollary- "but we have to find something so we can harness your brain power! It's going to waste!"

First of all the education was not "wasted". It allowed me to earn enough, quickly enough to retire early, which I consider a good return on my investment. As for society, I will concede that anyone paying taxes has a small point. Physician's training is subsidized by Medicare taxes. Now, my absence in the field is NOT depriving anyone access to care. However, there is such an oversupply in the area where I work that one could argue that my early exit unduly affects costs by upsetting the supply/demand curve. However, medical fees are both so regulated and opaque that they are largely untethered or weakly tethered by supply and demand. Still, an investment was made by society and if they feel my early exit has somehow not been "fair" I would suggest they make their expectations and demands more explicit. State medical schools do this. If you attend a state medical school with tuition loans, those loans can be forgiven if you stay practicing within the state. The military also demands service in exchange for subsidies.
If we were to have such a policy for the Medicare subsidies, what would be the length of service required? I would add and argue that the hours and pay of residents and fellows already comprise some sort of payback in the form of incredibly cheap medical laborers.

I reject out of hand the notion that someone else could not do my job as arrogance. ( A common trait found among physicians- and likely one of many reasons physicians do not retire early). There may be highly specialized areas of expertise wherein the world only has a few capable practitioners...but for most medical care and care providers -this is not really an issue.

As to "harnessing my brain?" Been there, done that. That is why I ER'd. I wanted to be FREE from others slapping harnesses on my existence for their benefit. I want to run free and be the sole determinant of how and where my brain is used. If that is wasting my brain power, then all the exercise we do to stay physically fit is "wasted." All that energy spent running or swimming or weight lifting instead of plowing a field, or turning a mill wheel or planting a garden or picking up trash.


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+1

Well said. I nodded in agreement with every paragraph.


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Old 11-08-2015, 11:55 PM   #80
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I sold my business and de facto retired at 40 (46 now), but I don't tell people "I'm retired." I say I sold my company and now I'm working on new projects and looking for new opportunities. Nobody has ever questioned that, plus it's true for me. Maybe they're hobby projects, but they're projects. And if a new opportunity fell in my lap, sure I'll take a look at it, although the threshold to pursue it is really, really high now.

I think people still working assume "retirement" means sitting around all day living a life of leisure, which of course we know isn't quite the case (even my 70-something parents have projects going on and keep busy most days). That's why I anyway don't like saying "I'm retired."
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