Early Retirement Is Overrated: Here’s What We Plan to Do Instead

[RonBoyd]

https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/early-retirement-overrated-plan/

That’s why my husband and I only focus on the financial independence side of the equation. While we might have enough saved in our late 30s to retire right now, I am not leaving my life to chance. My kids are only 7 and 9 years old, and we have our entire lives ahead of us. To me, it would feel selfish and reckless to stop pursuing income and start living off what we’ve saved. What if my husband or I were to get sick? What if one of our kids were to fall ill? What about paying for college? Weddings? Vacations? Expenses we couldn’t possibly plan for it we tried?​

 

[Murf2]

Well, I'm so happy for her. I'm glad see she has it all figured out.

There sees to be a lot of " lumping together" on all sides of the subject.

I personally don't know any 30 something's that are militant FIRE' ers.

I was RE by no choice of my own and decided to try FIRE.

Bloggers are a funny lot. Half of them claim to be working & half claim to be FIRED.

I'm soo confused!

 

[tb001]

Uh-oh, I didn’t realize we couldn’t plan for paying for college, weddings, etc... I guess I should take those expenses out of my budget/spreadsheet

I get her point but I guess I give people who have saved enough to fire in their 30s enough credit to have thought things through.

 

[Aerides]

They are in their 30's with two very young children. They don't mention their savings or expenses, so we have zero to go on.

To RE, for all we know, firecalc might not give them even 90% at their ages. If they wait a decade, their kids would be grown, and they'd still have plenty of time to RE.

Is anyone else but me getting tired of these silly opinion puff pieces about fire with no meat to them?

 

[Bigdawg]

Even though this site is called ER.org I personally think the FI part is the most important. You can be FI w/out being ER. Technically you can't be ER w/out being FI. I have been FI since 2010 but am still not ER. For me and DW it is the "what are we retiring too?" Once we figure that out we will ER. Most likely me in 2020(54) and DW in 2026(54). DW and I both understand that from a FI stand point we can ER at anytime. That knowledge makes our fun jobs even more enjoyable.

 

[RunningBum]

Is anyone else but me getting tired of these silly opinion puff pieces about fire with no meat to them?

It's not just you. They don't need to be reposted here. I'll do with this thread what I do with most of them--put the thread on ignore.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

It seems to me the OP has lost focus and has decided not to pursue retiring.

That is her choice.

Does not mean the rest of us should follow her example.

It takes hard work. Even though I followed a military career, I constantly had to work to stay focused on getting that pension.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/early-retirement-overrated-plan/

A couple of things. First, that website is terrible....I couldn't read it because of the 27 ads, side banners and inbedded videos.

Second, I have almost 4 years of early retirement under my belt and its been absolutely fantastic. At this stage, w*rk (or as the kids are calling it, "side hustle") is a no go for me.

 

[RonBoyd]

A couple of things. First, that website is terrible....I couldn't read it because of the 27 ads, side banners and inbedded videos.

I count four ( 3 plus one video).

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Is anyone else but me getting tired of these silly opinion puff pieces about fire with no meat to them?

I try to be open and see what kind of ideas and opinions are out there to selectively incorporate into my own plan (other than the really far out ones) but this piece falls under the "it depends on personal risk tolerance, goals, and lifestyle choices" category.

 

[HadEnuff]

I don't have any bar graphs, or pie charts to support my own personal opinion, but I will say that IMHO retiring poor is overrated.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Even though this site is called ER.org I personally think the FI part is the most important. You can be FI w/out being ER. Technically you can't be ER w/out being FI. I have been FI since 2010 but am still not ER. For me and DW it is the "what are we retiring too?" Once we figure that out we will ER. Most likely me in 2020(54) and DW in 2026(54). DW and I both understand that from a FI stand point we can ER at anytime. That knowledge makes our fun jobs even more enjoyable.

The FI part has been my goal since I first started reading the Motley Fool board back in the 90s. I've passed my minimalist COL calculation, so I'm FI, being unemployed for 11 months last year was not a big deal, my net worth was increasing while I wasn't being paid to work. That was a huge emotional burden lifted from the experience. I'm working again and having fun with the job, and while I constantly do my "how much do I need" calculations in my head, it's all about how much of an above and beyond my minimum needs lifestyle it will give me when I finally do RE. Definitely nice not having to feel beholden to a paycheck.

 

[RonBoyd]

I try to be open and see what kind of ideas and opinions are out there to selectively incorporate into my own plan (other than the really far out ones) ...

Which is why I posted it. I was directing it to those that HAVE NOT been around so long they have no more to learn from this forum... those that may want to consider moving on.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Really planning for ER takes into account cuts to Social Security, inflation, weddings, college, disability, etc. If they are choosing to work because they like their jobs that is being FI. If they are choosing to work because they are worried about running out of money or paying for a wedding, then they are neither retired nor FI.

 

[HI Bill]

Technically you can't be ER w/out being FI.

Sure you can, it's called being homeless! Oh, wait, they're actually FI, just with a lower standard of living!

 

[Oz investor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigdawg
Technically you can't be ER w/out being FI.

Sure you can, it's called being homeless! Oh, wait, they're actually FI, just with a lower standard of living!

in my case the government , told me to stop working NOW in January 2017

and gave me a disability pension ( not an old age pension )

leaving me with the challenge of not running out of money in my lifetime .

luckily ( or unluckily ) my recreational activities have been severely restricted

and get to budget for a life-style i gave little experience with .

but it could be worse , my sense of adventure is still intact , now all i need is my permit to have some wheels

 

[Nords]

Holly's a FinCon friend. She's a rockstar travel blogger and one of the Internet's biggest freelance writers. (BankRate paid her well for that article.)
She's helped many more freelancers boost their careers, and she has no reason to stop what she's doing.

As she said, "While my husband and I love being self-employed and working from home, we’re not going to jump on the early retirement bandwagon just yet" and "This couple is focusing more on the FI and less on the RE."

I think FIRE was a great idea in the 1990s, but 20 years later we're ready to drop the RE and just talk about FI. People can add their own acronyms without feeling the scrutiny of the Internet Retirement Police.

 

[marko]

Is anyone else but me getting tired of these silly opinion puff pieces about fire with no meat to them?

If they are choosing to work because they are worried about running out of money or paying for a wedding, then they are neither retired nor FI.

+1
As they said in "The Princess Bride", I don't think those words mean what they think it means.

 

[JustCurious]

Sure you can, it's called being homeless!

You can be RE without being FI and without being homeless. FI is defined around here as having enough so that you can sustain a SWR with a 90% or higher success rate until you are 90. And yet most people retire without being FI by that definition. Someone can retire with enough money to support themselves for say 10 years before they run out of money and they may be just fine (they may die before they run out of money, they may get by with social security, they may get a reverse mortgage, they may sell their house and downsize, they may move in with family members) but around here they would not be considered FI. The fact is that most people in this country who retire are not FI as defined by this board. So yes, you can be retired and not be FI and not be homeless.

Sometimes people on this board and the Bogleheads board get lost in their own world and forget how the vast majority of the rest of the world actually live.

 

[JustCurious]

+1
As they said in "The Princess Bride", I don't think those words mean what they think it means.

The author did not claim to be retired or FI.

 

[marko]

You can be RE without being FI and without being homeless. FI is defined around here as having enough so that you can sustain a SWR with a 90% or higher success rate until you are 90. And yet most people retire without being FI by that definition. Someone can retire with enough money to support themselves for say 10 years before they run out of money and they may be just fine (they may die before they run out of money, they may get by with social security, they may get a reverse mortgage, they may sell their house and downsize, they may move in with family members) but around here they would not be considered FI. The fact is that most people in this country who retire are not FI as defined by this board. So yes, you can be retired and not be FI and not be homeless.

Sometimes people on this board and the Bogleheads board get lost in their own world and forget how the vast majority of the rest of the world actually live.

As you point out, there's a difference between "Financial Independence" and 'retirement'; they very often go together but are not necessarily linked.

Most people on this forum are--or aspire to--FI and RE. That's what this board is about (mostly). What I think differentiates folks here is that most have a plan for both pre- and post RE: LBYM, save, invest, move to a LCOL area etc.

The day I discovered this forum I was expecting a bunch of trust funders or internet billionaires. What I found was a group of people who, one way or another were able to define FI on their own terms, respectfully, well beyond your definition above of what this board considers FI.

Having said that, I'd say that if one's plan is to live off savings for 10 years, sell the house, move in with mom or DS and wait out for SS is one's actual realistic workable plan, they'd not only be more than welcome and fit right in, they'd offer some really great threads.

Hoping for the best is not a strategy however, but knowing the internet, I suspect there's likely a forum out there for folks with such ideas and complimentary strategies for getting by after the money's gone.

I don't think many here are 'lost in our own world' (although I have been accused of such since childhood) but rather come here to find like-minded people and to share ideas with a certain segment of the retirement demographic. Like social clubs, yacht clubs and the old men at Dunkin Donuts every morning, it's not for everyone but a lot of folks find and learn things here that fit what they need.

 

[fasteddie911]

Based on the OP snippet, I'd agree with the writer. I've seen some folks in their 40's, 50's, even 60's get thrown a curveball and I'm betting their ability to continue earning income, rather than relying on their portfolio and market returns, alleviated some anxiety.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think the article's writer makes a lot of sense. By focusing on FI they can work at stuff they want to do not have to do. To much can happen in the years between the 30's and 60's to through even the best plan off track. One would have to be filthy rich (Like Warren Buffet's only heir who gets it all) to think otherwise. And even even then the government might decide to take most of it. Who knows?

 

[Milton]

While we might have enough saved in our late 30s to retire right now, I am not leaving my life to chance. My kids are only 7 and 9 years old, and we have our entire lives ahead of us.

That sentence alone tells us that she lacks basic math skills and has no business offering any advice even remotely connected with monetary matters.

FIRE enthusiasts tend to lose me when they talk about lifestyle. Many of them are making major sacrifices to stretch their nest eggs for the rest of their lives — sacrifices like never spending money or living in tiny homes or vans to avoid a mortgage.... Not only that, but most (sic!) of FIRE’s “early retirees” do work — just not in traditional 9-5 jobs.

Those characterizations certainly don't describe my lifestyle; how about yours?

No evidence was offered to support her hyperbolic assertions. She has zero idea what she is talking about.

 

[Milton]

Holly's a FinCon friend.

Nice for you that you're BFFs; but that doesn't make her nonsensical essay less of a "silly opinion puff piece about FIRE with no meat to it", as the OP so rightly characterized it.

She's a rockstar travel blogger and one of the Internet's biggest freelance writers. (BankRate paid her well for that article).

And Bankrate is an altruistic body, with no interest at all in deterring people from FIRE.