FI verus RE - a Poll

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

FI versus RE - a Poll

What was the time interval between when you decided you were confidently financially independent, and when you actually stopped working (or went drastically part-time)? That is, how long was RE - FI?

 

[REWahoo]

Gotcha thinkin, eh Doc?

 

[REWahoo]

I felt I was FI as of the end of 2004 but needed to work three more months to be eligible for a bonus opportunity so I targeted that as my retirement date. As I got closer to the date I received a very nice financial offer to delay my retirement by 3 months and ended up compromising and working an additional 6 weeks.

Total time from FI to retirement: 5 months.

 

[Moemg]

I was FI in 1998 and I retired in 2006 . I enjoyed my job and I was not mentally ready for retirement .

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I reached FI in 2004, but work was in a sweet spot at the time, and I found work (programming)
very relaxing due to the type of tasks I was assigned. Situations like that always end eventually,
and 27 months later XP programming was introduced to the group I was in, triggering retirement
with about 60% more money than when I reached my FI goal.

 

[Gotadimple]

I was FI in late 2006, but so absorbed in what I was doing at work, I put off decision-making. Coming to the board helped me to see the 'other side,' which started to look even better than what I thought was a pretty interesting job.

So, preliminary discussion with the boss late 2007, a look at my options and benefit package in January. I gave official notice 2/1 that my official retirement date is 7/11, but my last day in the office is 5/9.

All told -- about 18 months between FI and RE.

-- Rita

P.S. Rich: You may think I understand you, but, Meadbh has you figured out.

 

[audreyh1]

FI is wonderful in that all of a sudden a world of options are available to you. You no longer have to work to earn a living, so you can step back and decide what you really want to do.

Even if you continue working while FI, the stress level reduces considerably, because you are no longer dependent on the job. This means you can seek out the work you prefer, and also makes one less willing to put up with the B.S. so you usually get less of it. Somehow the employers seem to sense when you are less beholden to the job and treat you a little more carefully.

But then, of course, you can always decide to walk.....

FWIW - I took almost two years. I felt a need to carefully manage the transition....

Audrey

 

[youbet]

I found the borderlines defining FI and RE to be a bit fuzzy. Hence, the time between the two is a range.

Megacorp asked me to leave with a buyout package in 2003 and I determined I was FI enough and would retire and not look for further employment. Then Megacorp decided there was a job they wanted me to do for an estimated three years (but with no guarantee of an equivalent buyout package then) and offered me the choice of staying or going. The job sounded interesting, I stayed, and it did turn out to be interesting. In 2006, they offered me a buyout package again, not as good as the first one but still attractive, and I retired.

So, three years more or less, but with complicating career circumstances impacting the decision.

 

[Cattusbabe]

I bailed out three weeks after FI. Resignation was on the boss's desk two hours after it was confirmed that we were FI. I stayed on the job just long enough to give them the required notice that I was leaving.

 

[Rambler]

I felt I was FI about a year ago, FI in my definition being able to live a comfortable if not luxurious lifestyle. A few problems: 1) I would have had to sell the dream house and live in the tract house we own (nice home and used to live there but have no intention to do so anymore), 2) DW has become too accustomed to certain luxuries she will not give up easily and I also would like a couple luxuries like an RV or at least a travel trailer which may have been possible but with perhaps too many trade-offs, and 3) DD had a little more than 2 years left in HS, a very good one, where we would like her to graduate (she has a little more than a year now), and alas #4) megacorp has my hands tied with some shiney yellow-colored handcuffs, which they have dutifully promised to remove and melt down into a nice gold bar for me if I stick around a little longer. So we have 1.5-2 years if things go right (from now) to 3 years if the markets play havoc with our plans.

R

 

[Khan]

I went to a retirement seminar in June '04 and discovered my pension would be enough to survive on if I took an early out offer.

Spotted early out offer in August. Applied immediately. Because of various complications, was not officially approved until mid November.

Official retire date: 31 December.
30 December was official process out day.
Was at work 29 December (and actually did stuff).

Was that a microsecond for applying?

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

as i've apparently a pushy horse and a cart that doesn't pull well, i had no idea what fi was until i decided to re. within about 6 months of realizing i had to get out, i came to the conclusion that i actually could manage it financially and so pulled the trigger. sure hope i didn't shoot the horse.

 

[Goonie]

My cola'd pension was the clincher for my ultimate FI. I couldn't get the pension w/o retiring, and I wouldn't have been totally FI or able to retire w/o the pension. So ER & FI were co-dependent on each other......the first enabled the second, which enabled the first. ER enabled FI which enabled ER which enabled....

So there was no gap.....instantaneous......"1 microsecond or less".

 

[Purron]

I waited about two years. Work was pretty good in terms of salary, interest of assignments, and some great co-workers. Then my boss got promoted and his replacement was a major tool. About 2 months after she arrived, I decided it was time to get out. I had worked for difficult bosses before. The difference was this time I no longer HAD to work. That's the great thing about FI.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

P.S. Rich: You may think I understand you, but, Meadbh has you figured out.

But she has a head start: we compare notes from time to time via PM. You get a handicap for that .

 

[Nords]

1 microsecond or less

I admit that for a short period in 2002 I was concerned that I had ER'd as soon as we were FI, only to still be ER'd when we were no longer FI.

By the time I got the "It's been six months, ready to come back to work?" phone call, though, everything was OK again.

Besides I'm sure spouse would've been willing to ramp up her workdays as necessary...

 

[unclemick]

Where is the negitive number - as in layed off, unemployed(in my mind/not ER), working at a temp job at 1-2 yrs and realizing - like duh(you dummy!) work sucks/is not reguired. I kept a low profile non label(except maybe unemployed between jobs) age 49 -55 when I took an 'official early retirement pension.'

Being a blockhead like Charlie Brown - it didn't dawn on me that I was FI let alone ER because my original plan was fixated on age 63 which I thought was real early given my thinking in 1993.

heh heh heh - my brain has been catching up with my actions ever since. .

 

[Alan]

We became FI about a year ago, but haven't ER'd yet as 2 more years will get me a significant non-cola pension starting immediately instead of at 62 plus HEALTH insurance.

While we could RE now it is a lot of money and security to give up, and we are only aged 52 & 53. 2 years, 2 weeks to go

 

[Spanky]

I waited about two years. Work was pretty good in terms of salary, interest of assignments, and some great co-workers. Then my boss got promoted and his replacement was a major tool. About 2 months after she arrived, I decided it was time to get out. I had worked for difficult bosses before. The difference was this time I no longer HAD to work. That's the great thing about FI.

Definitely a boss with whom you do not get along can make your life miserable.

 

[2B]

I was [-]fired for insubordination or something like that[/-] layed off in early 2002 and didn't realize I was actually FI until I got a j*b as a NASA contractor in late 2003 where I had 6 hours every day to surf the web until I found this forum. It would have required a minor lifestyle reduction but I thought it was manageable. I ended up getting a postion that pays well above my NASA gig. I now w*rk 4 day per week, have no stress, get 23 PTO days every year and can take unpaid leave as desired. DW and I are still wrestling with her father with Alzheimer's which keeps us tied to the Houston area. I'd rather go to a j*b than visit him 3 times a week as DW does.

DW and I are exploring our future possibilities and looking at added travel. I figure I'm retired when the oil boom busts. I just want us to get our act together before it happens from a lifestyle standpoint.

 

[Spanky]

We are very close to FI. DD #1 is in college and should finish in about 3 years. DD #2 has 3 more years to complete HS. It will take 5 more years to qualify for discounted medical insurance premiums from a megacorp. Therefore, my plan is 5 years before ER.

 

[growing_older]

FI seems to come in sizes. If I were to scale back lifestyle considerably, I am FI now. If I want to preserve my current lifestyle then FI is about 3 years away. If I want to raise my LBYM lifestyle to match some of my coworkers, then I'm likely decades away. I expect that as soon as I reach that middle FI, that I will want to RE as soon as possible. Maybe if there's a big bonus due or an external deadline like medical insurance I'll adapt that timing, but my plan is for these to occur as close to the same time as possible.

 

[mickeyd]

RE came at me in the form of being laid off. At the time I did not know that I was RE as I was sure that I could easily step into a comparable position due to my unique skill and experience. Hubris soon turned to reality and common sense told me otherwise. So after about a year of looking for a new j*b, I checked my bottom line and decided that I had enough of a stash to last about 40 years anyway. Hello RE!

 

[tightasadrum]

Rich, I'll bet I'm rowing in the same boat as you. I'm FI by most measures, have been for several years. However, I'm still hauling that ball and chain, although it's a lot lighter now that I know I'm FI, and I've cut back to two days-a-week. It's tough to let it go completely though. But here is my trap. I've begun taking on more projects as if I'm retired, but I'm still making that infernal commute two days a week to help brother in the transition. It's starting to ware me out. What I've slowly begun to realize is that my replacement probably won't arrive until I firmly disappear completely from the business. It's all within my control, so in a weird sort of way, it keeps me working.

I'll bet you could bale tomorrow too if you weren't emotionally tied to the work. Right?

 

[W2R]

If I could ignore health care, I would consider myself to be FI right now.

But since I can't ignore health care, that's fiction. I can't retire until next year, about one microsecond after I qualify for lifetime medical.