In the vestibule at the fork in the road

[greg]

So much for mixed metaphors. It seems to me that most everyone here is either on the road to retirement or in the actual retirement maze now. Are there one, two, or three ideas or things you did on your specific path that significantly helped you, changed your experiences for the better?

(T-Al, buying $2.99 Veggie Subs is NOT an answer.)

 

[REWahoo]

Are there one, two, or three ideas or things you did on your specific path that significantly helped you, changed your experiences for the better?

Yep.

1) Finding FIRECalc (Thank you Dory36!)
2) Finding this forum
3)[-] .......I'll have to get back to you on #3[/-] Finding Benadryl "Itch Releif Stick" for all the damn chigger bites.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

1) Prepared for a decent paying job (programming) in college
2) Maxing out 401k (from 1983-2006 in my case). Keeping it invested in stocks. This
alone provided me with enough to retire at 48, even if I had not saved another penny.
3) Saving additional $$, keeping most of it in stocks, paying off mortgage, LBYM.
4) Learning how to invest.

 

[OldAgePensioner]

1. UCLA Master's degree in Aerospace (mega buck jobs awaited).
2. Flying over 800,000 miles in Business Class at taxpayer's expense.
3. Being part of Echelon so that I have a realistic idea of what's happening.

 

[Eagle43]

1. Index Funds and Asset Allocation. Thank you Warren Buffett.

Here's a quote from the Oracle of Omaha: I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.

2. Tricare makes my retirement possible. No health insurance problems.
3. LBYM. But you knew that. Trite but true and it works 100% of the time.

 

[greg]

Yep.

#3 Finding Benadryl "Itch Releif Stick" for all the damn chigger bites.

Do they have that in a cream? Here in Minnesota we sometimes need to apply large quantities of the stuff all over our nekked bodies, especial when a certain Texan is on TV.

 

[RetireDon]

I agree with Eagle43 on the index funds and allocation principle. Make sure you have planned something to retire "TO" and you're not just in a big rush to reitre "FROM" something. You have a clean retirement slate and you will need to fill in the blanks and create you own lifestyle. If you don't, it will not be nearly as enjoyable!

 

[REWahoo]

Do they have that in a cream? Here in Minnesota we sometimes need to apply large quantities of the stuff all over our nekked bodies, especial when a certain Texan is on TV.

I'm not sure if it comes in a cream. However, I am surprised to hear you have such an unusual reaction to Anna Nicole Smith.

 

[kaudrey]

1) Learned from my parents how to LBMM, watched them retire at 57, and vowed to follow their examples.

2) Got my CFA charter, which helped my career and taught me more about all the good investing principles.

3) Divorced my spendthrift husband at 30, young enough to recover from his financially disasterous behavior.

 

[W2R]

It seems to me that most everyone here is either on the road to retirement or in the actual retirement maze now. Are there one, two, or three ideas or things you did on your specific path that significantly helped you, changed your experiences for the better?

Setting specific, ambitious financial goals and realizing them one after the other really helped.

1) My first goal was to get rid of all debt, and to buy a car in cash. Got that done in late 2000, though I started working on it in 1998.

2) My next goal was to start contributing the max (plus over-50 catchup when that became available) to my TSP and not stop doing that. Got that started in 2000 and haven't quit.

3) Finally, buying my house in 2002 and paying it off in four years was a tremendous boost to my morale. For me, this is a dream come true (above and beyond any financial or practical aspects).

By doing all of these, I proved to myself that I can set ambitious financial goals and reach them. Now, my expenses are very small, my nestegg is building, and I know I can get from where I am to a decent retirement income.

 

[Coach]

At age 30 I started working for an employer where participation in the 403B was mandatory. Without that I probably would have put off saving for retirement.

Coach

 

[Wags]

So much for mixed metaphors. It seems to me that most everyone here is either on the road to retirement or in the actual retirement maze now. Are there one, two, or three ideas or things you did on your specific path that significantly helped you, changed your experiences for the better?

(T-Al, buying $2.99 Veggie Subs is NOT an answer.)

For me it was setting realistic goals that could be attained.

I guess the biggest things for me was growing up while I traveled and lived in different parts of the world. Seeing poverty and realizing that life is not about $$$$, the title that one has, the size of one's house or how much one's car cost.

the goals that I set

1. retiring in my 40's (retired at 48 after 26 plus yrs of military/DAC service)
2. buying a house and a new car (done that)
3. moving to TX (going back to one's roots)and taking care of my parents (presently taking care of father & grandmother)
4. having time to spend with my wife, kids and grandchildren (doing that)
5. being able to give back to my community (volunteering with church & school events/activities)
6. being happy with what GOD has blessed us with and not wanting more than what we really need.

GOD BLESS

 

[FinanceDude]

Setting specific, ambitious financial goals and realizing them one after the other really helped.

1) My first goal was to get rid of all debt, and to buy a car in cash. Got that done in late 2000, though I started working on it in 1998.

2) My next goal was to start contributing the max (plus over-50 catchup when that became available) to my TSP and not stop doing that. Got that started in 2000 and haven't quit.

3) Finally, buying my house in 2002 and paying it off in four years was a tremendous boost to my morale. For me, this is a dream come true (above and beyond any financial or practical aspects).

By doing all of these, I proved to myself that I can set ambitious financial goals and reach them. Now, my expenses are very small, my nestegg is building, and I know I can get from where I am to a decent retirement income.

Not to hurt anyone's feelings, but this is the best post I have read on here in awhile......

 

[greg]

At age 30 I started working for an employer where participation in the 403B was mandatory. Without that I probably would have put off saving for retirement.

Coach

You adapt well to stress. That's a good thing.

 

[greg]

I'm not sure if it comes in a cream. However, I am surprised to hear you have such an unusual reaction to Anna Nicole Smith.

RETroublemaker

 

[dex]

Really believing that the later I retire the less opportunity I will have to enjoy an active life.

 

[TromboneAl]

T-Al, buying $2.99 Veggie Subs is NOT an answer.

Well, actually... If it's a metaphor for reducing expenses from 60K to 30K per year, which was prompted by finding this forum, it is my answer.

BTW, I forgot whether you and M are in the retirement waiting room, or have pulled the pin and made the jump.

 

[greg]

Well, actually... If it's a metaphor for reducing expenses from 60K to 30K per year, which was prompted by finding this forum, it is my answer.

BTW, I forgot whether you and M are in the retirement waiting room, or have pulled the pin and made the jump.

Yep, kinda. Martha doesn't go into the office, but she takes telephone calls sometimes and bills for um.

REMarthahoo
REGreghoo

 

[CuppaJoe]

Took a lot of classes for fun after college and developed many many interests outside of work–-things worth retiring to. Took about four months a year off for twenty years and did many things I may return to in retirement.

Ironically, a BA helped rather than hurt, never had high paying jobs along the way; always lived frugally. When I saw a job I really wanted, I had already developed a relationship with the people who hired me, a relationship based on those outside interests.

I bought low, held and kept buying for 35 years, and sold high; and am very surprised to have reached a FI goal.

 

[FinanceGeek]

1. Avoiding debt (except student loans & mortgage where were paid off ahead of plan)
2. LBYM (have only owned used cars, don't go out much)
3. Save >= 50% of net wages

 

[Khan]

Spending $25,000/year while earning $75,000.

 

[SteveR]

1. Living in a home with Depression Era parents with a frugal mentality.
2. Divorcing a wife that spent 10X what we made and had no concept of saving for college expenses or retirement.
3. Had the drive to take a lot of crappy jobs in a lot of out of the way places so I could climb the Mega Corp. ladder as high as I could stand it and reaped the financial rewards for sticking to it for over 33 years.
4. Read as much as I could on the stock market and investing and after the divorce, started saving and investing. I learned a lot the hard way and I had some great years and some disasters.
5. Kept my spending lower than my take home income.
6. Learned to pay myself first with each check and keep increasing my savings percentage both inside my 401k and in my after tax accounts.
7. Married a woman who shared my dream of FIRE and helped make it happen.
8. Did my job well and exited my career under my own terms and when I wanted to do so.
9. Found John Greaney's Early Retirement site (Thanks a Ton John!!!)The Retire Early Home Page.
10. Had the guts to save when every one else was spending; to invest when everyone else was leaving the market; to stay in a high pressure low esteem job to gain more $$ so I could retire early.

 

[twaddle]

1) Being born in the US
2) Pretty good genes
3) Good school with access to lots of computers at the start of the PC revolution
4) Riding the tech boom
5) Selling before the tech bust

 

[youbet]

1. Not divorcing. Or, in other words, modifying my fun loving ways to incorporate the appropriate "family values" so that DW didn't throw my sorry a$$ out on the street. 37 years and I still have her fooled!

2. Maintaining a stoic attitude about jobs that allowed me to press on through decades of inner city factory night shift work, dangerous surroundings, long commutes, etc., with a big smile on my blue collar face..... Eventually, I wound up with a day shift gig in the plush suburbs. What a relief!

3. Being too busy working to blow my whole paycheck....... at least not all at once.

 

[Nords]

Are there one, two, or three ideas or things you did on your specific path that significantly helped you, changed your experiences for the better?

1. LBYM.
2. Marrying a like-minded spouse and saving/investing from two paychecks for two decades.
3. Being forced to mature (temporarily) by parenthood.
4. Spending months on self-assessment and career-interest surveys & diagnostic exams. When they said that I'd make either an excellent nuclear engineer or a mid-level manager, perhaps both, then I knew it was time to ER.
5. FinancialEngines.com and, later, FIRECalc.
6. Bernstein's "Four Pillars", and for the very [-]masochistic[/-] curious, "Intelligent Asset Allocator".