One Year of ER Under My Belt

[Mo Money]

I am at my first anniversary of ER as of today. For those pondering ER (or OMY), here are my thoughts:

1. Haven't missed the off*ce a bit. Not a smidgen. Not an iota. Have not been even back there (except once -- at 10pm! -- when I snuck in to drop off something for a co-w*rker). I many never go back again.

2. The year flew. Truly. That fact makes me determined to do even more meaningful leisure stuff during the coming years. If you are on the ER fence, keep that in mind. You are one step closer to the last great day with every passing second.

3. I was at 3.5% WR during this first year. I could have easily done 3%, and if needed 2.5%. The finances are managable, and I should actually spend less time managing them, not more. Index funds combined with occasional rebalancing makes for an "autopilot" portfolio. My time is better spent on living the dream, not spit-polishing the golden egg that is an ample diversified portfolio.

4. I had a huge temptation to do OMY because I was making very good money while w*rking. My decision to stay on schedule, and not go OMY, was a very good one.

5. If you are thinking about OMY even though your finances give you an 80%+ chance of success on FIREcalc (or some calculator like it), then screw OMY and jump! (I was at 100%, but now I think I was just polishing the cannonball....)

 

[YeahNo]

Thank you for the update Mo Money! So awesome to hear all of these success stories

 

[Al in Ohio]

You made me chuckle. Thanks for the input. Just 4 more months here. They are actually going fast. I worried the weeks would crawl as I got closer. Perhaps the realization that it soon won't matter makes the time pass easier.


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[Sasset]

Thanks for this post! I need to hear this as I am doing OMM(s) myself. I just changed my plan from 3/1/16 to 7/5/16 to be eligible for the fiscal year end bonus. I don't want to turn this into OMY!

 

[Senator]

1. Haven't missed the off*ce a bit. Not a smidgen. Not an iota.

I have met and spoken to many retirees over the past couple of years. This has been the mantra, 100%. NO ONE misses work. Even people that ran successful businesses, or people that flew all over the world, or people that just did minimal jobs.

Only 129 days left for... It seems like forever.

 

[braumeister]

My 15th year of ER, so I guess I shouldn't be using the "E" any more, but it's still just as good as the first year.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Thanks for this post! I need to hear this as I am doing OMM(s) myself. I just changed my plan from 3/1/16 to 7/5/16 to be eligible for the fiscal year end bonus. I don't want to turn this into OMY!

You are also going to miss another Spring, since you will be doing a OMM. No way ever that be worth it to me. Spring is the best time to be FIREd!

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[38Chevy454]

Thanks for the post, I have approx 3.5months to go and info like yours is encouraging. Many of my car buddies that are retired say they are plenty busy and don't know how they had time to work. I want to have that same problem!

 

[Tailgate]

+1 on just about everything said..... 2 years in and life is great.

 

[ejman]

+1. ER 13 years although I guess it's not ER any more since I'm 65...

 

[Lcountz]

I'm out three years January 4th, and the whole work thing seems like it happened to someone else....or at least, in someone else's lifetime!!!!

In other words, not only do I not miss it, pretty soon I won't even be able to remember it!!!!

Which is a shock because I "worked" longer in my life than I did NOT work!!!!

 

[psweath]

Tomorrow makes 4 years for me, and yes, the time has flown by!

We stayed in Colorado but moved to an active 55+ community, and the interaction with the residents there and all the new friends we've made - WOW - it has truly been a blessing.

Many discussions in one of the hot tubs or around the firepits and I discovered pretty quickly that folks didn't really give a rip about what you did in your working days - they want to hear about what you're doing now! I love it! Very occasionally someone will want to talk about past careers - usually they're wanting to talk about themselves, and so they'll float a question to get the ball rolling. I oblige them, we talk a bit, and then when I leave I feel a need to kind of shake it off and get on with more important things at hand.

This phase of life just feels more like a gift every day. Sure I worked 40 years to get here, but still...it's a gift.

 

[Options]

Coming up on a year. It's surreal that a year ago I was working, wasting my life furthering someone else's agenda at the expense of mine. Did I really do that? Was that me, or someone else? How did I find the time to work? Maybe it was a dream.

This past year fastest year of my life, and probably most productive (when you spend a lifetime neglecting your own agenda, there's much to do). An exhaustive estate and emergency disaster planning overhaul capped and ended a nonstop succession of projects after retirement, with me then getting sick, unable to get out of bed for a week. Now I've nothing to do!

Financially, further ahead than even a year ago, despite the market. Spend at most twenty minutes monthly updating financials, no more.

Ran into my replacement at work a week ago, told him it was great to see him, but that I didn't want to hear a word about it. That sums up the difference a year can make.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm a month away from 2 years and I barely remember working.


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[walkinwood]

Congratulations on feeling comfortable with the financial portion of ER so quickly. It took me longer, but then we ER's in 2008. We had friends who ER'd 8 months ago visiting this weekend and I could see them still adjusting to the lack of a paycheck - not that they miss working for it.

 

[candrew]

Just shared your comments with DW (a public school teacher) who has been struggling with being "on the fence" for OMY. Thanks to your post, she's in a much better place now and ready to take that next step to E.R. at the end of this school year.

Me - still straddling......

 

[OnTheBeach]

Thank you! I have 2 months left of work (4/29/16 is last day - age 46) and have started wondering if I made the right decision. Finances are in great shape - I am just concerned that I will miss my co-workers and having something to do. I know it is all in my head and I will not be thinking about work while I am playing golf.......

 

[whatnot]

Posts like this make me want to do OLY. Our plan is 4/1/2018 - so almost at the 2 year mark.

 

[MRG]

Thanks for posting. Been almost 3 and it keeps getting better.

 

[papadad111]

My one year anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks. Your post inspired me to reflect and post my first year experiences too. Thanks !

 

[foxfirev5]

This thread is encouraging. I'm at the 50 days to go mark and have stopped watching the business news and eliminating any negativity that regularly pops up at w*rk.

 

[Mo Money]

Just shared your comments with DW (a public school teacher) who has been struggling with being "on the fence" for OMY. Thanks to your post, she's in a much better place now and ready to take that next step to E.R. at the end of this school year.

Me - still straddling......

Glad I could help. (I'm just paying it forward; lots of people on this forum helped me to decide to pry my butt off my Aeron and bolt for the exit.) Your DW is smart to jump.

If you keep straddling, that fence rail can cause some major bruising after a while. Go live your real life.

 

[sengsational]

I've been retired 776.11 days. But the point is, at the 365 mark, it could have been me writing 1, 2 and 3 from the OP. Not missing it, time flies, and spit polishing the egg, yep, yep and yep. I did go to a reunion of sorts, but it was at a place that had 60 or 70 beers on tap... I never went back to the office!

 

[Fedup]

I don't know but one thing I noticed, I'm getting lazier than before I retired. Only 3 months so far. I need to get off my butt and do my tax.


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[Walt34]

I don't know but one thing I noticed, I'm getting lazier than before I retired.

I've noticed the same thing. Whatever "it" is, it can wait until tomorrow. Same thing happens the next day and so on....