52 - Semi-demi Fire 4/30/2017

[cgarden]

Hola,
Very glad to have found this forum through the MMM blog.
DH and I are somewhat late to the FIRE party. Even though we violated three of the cardinal rules for early retirement (1) stick with the starter partner, 2) choose a high-earning career and 3) save like a Chicago voter - early and often, we are armed with the secret weapon of contentment without a lot of new and fancy stuff.
And I had a very good role model in my mother, who happily retired with husband #3 in her 50's, with the mantra, "It ain't what you have, it's what you have left over."
DH retired at the traditional age of 65ish six years ago; worked part-time two years and has been happily puttering since. And as an unabashed geezer-girl, I married an old guy so I can spend lots of time hanging out with him, not just evenings, weekends and the occasional vacation.
4/30/2017 is one annual bonus cycle after I am eligible to receive megacorp health bennies for life. IF I can hang on that long. It's not so much that I mind working but that there are so many more interesting things to do, especially in South Florida where we are surrounded by amazing flora and fauna.
I am not so much concerned with $$ though I am squirreling away as much as possible in my 401K, HSA and brokerage account. I became interested in finance the year before DH retired and after working through the maze of his pension, SS, 403B, etc. once, I feel comfortable that we can make it work.
Hanging on here at megacorp for another 909 work days is perhaps a different matter...I work with some pretty decent folks (many of them engineers ) but the leadership team in general and my immediate manager in particular are a nightmare of epic (but metric'd) proportions.
Keep me inspired, folks. I need it.
Carol

 

[pb4uski]

Have you considered/does mega offer a part-time option? The last few years that I worked I was at 80% and then 50% hours. As long as one was over 50% (1,040 hours a year) you were entitled to medical insurance like a full time employee and virtually everything else as pro rata (vacation time, pay, bonus, etc.). since I was FI at the time and didn't want to travel anymore it worked well for me (and for them).

It might make those 909 days go by quicker. Where I was any year where you had more than 1,040 hours was considred to be a year of service, but if the benes you are targeting are based on a combination of age and years of service you would want to see how they count years of service.

 

[obgyn65]

Why is choosing a high earning career a violation of ER cardinal rules ?

Welcome to the forum, Carol.

Hola,
Very glad to have found this forum through the MMM blog.
DH and I are somewhat late to the FIRE party. Even though we violated three of the cardinal rules for early retirement (1) stick with the starter partner, 2) choose a high-earning career and 3) save like a Chicago voter - early and often, we are armed with the secret weapon of contentment without a lot of new and fancy stuff.

 

[cgarden]

Why is choosing a high earning career a violation of ER cardinal rules ?

obgyn, you caught a copy error - should be NOT choosing a high earning career.
Writing/copyediting is my medium earning career...DH is a retired medical research librarian. Interesting crafts that play to our strengths, prior post notwithstanding, but we could have paid a little more attention in Math.