Life Changing Events

[imoldernu]

Three or less....

for me...

Individual National Swimming Championship High School and College
Marriage... with 4 sons in 8 years.
Cancer 1989... leading to Early Retirement.

Strange as it seems, the first, was probably most important, changing from introverted and shy, with low self confidence, to normal... as the small town hero.

Yeah... everyone is different. Life changing events aren't necessarily good or bad, and sometimes may not seem important to others.

Probably will take some thinking to pick out just three, and maybe not something that you'd like to share, but it could be interesting to see what others may feel to be important points in their lives.

 

[aja8888]

Life changing events

1. First girlfriend.

2. Four years in the USAF during the Vietnam conflict.

3. Unplanned divorce.

 

[Aerides]

Probably have to say as far as major milestones/turning points:

Moved to US @12 via parents job transfer - staying in UK I might have been an entirely different person
Divorce @30 after a bad decision on the first H, freed me up for a different path and much wiser for the experience (and real appreciation for now DH)
Job Searching @35 (offer in hand, current employer countered with promotion) ended up with a significant career boost that enabled ER

One of those might have to bump after I actually ER in about 60 days

 

[Souschef]

1.First marriage
2 Divorce
3.Second marriage
4.Death of wife of 30 years
5.Third(hopefully last) marriage

 

[jjquantz]

1. 9th grade music class where I was exposed to the music of Bach. This was the spark for a life long hobby of music-making.
2. Choice of State University to major in Physics instead of going to a small school to play baseball like my father wanted.

These first two allowed me to:
3) Meet and successfully woo DW at State U by taking her to classical music concerts, singing in university chorus with her and basically convincing her that I had more class than I actually did. 38+ happy years later we are still making music together.

 

[Gumby]

1. Emigrating to the USA
2. Attending the US Naval Academy (and the subsequent active duty aboard submarines)
3. Getting married
4. Attending Yale Law School

 

[Marita40]

1. Death of a parent and sibling within a year of each other when I was a teenager.
2. Going abroad for my junior year in college
3. Getting my Ph.D. and launching a long and satisfying academic career

 

[Nemo2]

1.First marriage
2 Divorce
3.Second marriage
4.Death of wife of 30 years
5.Third(hopefully last) marriage

For a moment I thought this was me posting.....but for my #4 we were only together 20 years.

 

[AlbaCrush]

1. Four years in Marine Corps
2. Birth of daughter
3. Marriage
4. 26 year law enforcement career

 

[RE2Boys]

1. Having the opportunity to spend 5 years living in Germany, courtesy of the Air Force.
2. Meeting my wife at age 44.
3+ Birth of my sons, retired when they were 1 and 3 years old....proud to be a soccer dad (complete with minivan)

 

[REWahoo]

1. The Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. I was a few weeks from entering my Sr. year in HS, and this controversial incident started the chain of events that led to me being accepted into the USAF Officer Training School five years later, an "out of the frying pan, into the fire" maneuver to avoid the draft.

2. A blind date while attending college in the Fall of 1965. I fell in love - not with the blind date, but with her college campus - and transferred the end of the semester. There I would meet the young co-ed who would become my first (and only) wife.

3. Meeting a high school friend for dinner when he passed through town in 1980. While catching up on what we'd both been up to during the previous 15 years he told me about his plans to FIRE by the time he was 50. It was then (age 31) that I first began to understand early retirement was actually possible and I began to work towards my own FIRE date.

 

[Samething]

1. Moving out on my own and learning it isn't fun to live in poverty. Cut my hair and got to work.
2. Watching my mother battle a long term illness that redefined courage for me.
3. Discovering I have a 30+yo daughter I didn't know existed (a long and intensely personal story).

 

[ABQ2015]

1. My two brothers and I going to live with my dad when I was 9. My parents were divorced and we previously lived with my mom in the Projects of a large city. Unlike my mom, my dad valued education, discipline, and hard work. My life would have been very different if I had stayed with my mom.
2. The entire college experience and obtaining a degree in engineering. I was the first generation of my family to go to college.
3. My long time boy friend and my older sister died in 2008/2009 within six months of each other. This has made me appreciate my loved ones more but also caused a sadness that still lingers.

 

[akck]

1. During a college biology field trip, seeing a forestry group doing the same thing and deciding that day, I was changing majors to forestry.

2. The above led me to meeting and marrying my wife and later realizing I was working in a dying industry, so I went back to school and got an MBA degree.

3. The above led me to a job in Alaska, which led to government jobs with pension and retirement medical benefits.

The whole process has allowed me to retire at 60, which likely wouldn't have happened if any one event didn't occur.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Nemo2]

Couldn't wean it down to anywhere near 'three or less', and, over & above those in post #8, here are a few others:

1- Expelled, in England, from 2 schools before age 15.
2- Started menial work, age 15, operating small equipment at a laundry...that didn't last long.
3- Moved to Australia age 17
4- Pretty much circled the world a couple times before #5.
5- Came to Canada in 1965
6- Went back to school aged ~28.
7- Subsequently hired by Megacorp, which allowed me to work in Saudi for 7+ years.
8- Quit working forever age 46 when Saudi contract ended.

 

[pb4uski]

1. A part-time summer job between freshman year and sophomore year of college working in a tire shop. Prior to that I was a classic underachiever... smart but lazy. After working for a summer next to guys that were just a couple years older than me and we were all working our a$$es off for a bit more than minimum wage I decided that it would be in my best interest to make the best of my opportunity to attend college and I stepped it up and was Dean's List the rest of my college career.

2. My first review in my first job out of college... while I was working hard I was also partying hard... the managing partner started out the review telling me that they thought I was a smart young guy... I smiled thinking this is going to be good... and then he added .... but we also think you are lazy and not working to your full potential. Boiled down, he told me that in 6 months they would either promote me or kick my a$$ out of the building. It was a wake-up call that I needed to be more serious about my career (and yes, I was promoted 5 months later).

3. Serving on some professional committees developing accounting standards... very interesting and intellectually stimulating work and made some great contacts.... probably one of the highlights of my career.... one of those contacts ultimately because my boss when I changed jobs.

 

[jfn111]

1. Father disabled by brain tumor in 1964 (When I was 8)
2. Mother disabled by the degenerative effects of diabetes in 1968
3. Started college when I was 17 but got lost at the big campus of U of M
4. Older sisters boyfriend suggested I try UMD and I loved Duluth and the campus.
5. Met wife while bartending during college, about to celebrate 34 years.
6. Found job with megacorp right out of college and never left.
7. Youngest child came down with meningitis at 8 weeks old. 30 days in critical care and life long effects.
8. Retired at 55 to start a new adventure.

 

[nash031]

Chronologically...

1) Choosing to join NROTC college program... 16.5 years active duty and counting.
2) Marrying my wife (of nearly five years now)
3) Yet to come... but due this September.

 

[Idnar7]

1. Flunking out of college after 3 semesters, being re-classified 1-A, seemingly on my way to Viet Nam.
2. Draft lottery and a number of 300+.
3. Returning to school and eventually graduating from the college I had flunked out of.

 

[target2019]

In chronological order:
1. Stayed in college as mother said.
2. Met future wife.
3. Purchased a macintosh and laser printer.

 

[Totoro]

My life is (hopefully) not halfway yet, so others will likely displace these:

1. Intervention of school teacher to end bullying at age 10
2. Leaving academia for a consulting job
3. Leaving employer and strike out on my own

One of those happened to me, one I engineered myself, the last one is a mix.

My dad once said "choosing your wife will be the most important decision that determines your life and happiness". Right he is, although I'm sure he didn't intend to include the option of not choosing a wife at all (so far).

So sometimes the events that didn't happen are actually the most important ones. I narrowly escaped major accidents a few times for example. Could have died in a few of those, gotten severely injured or in one occasion would have lost a few fingers if not for last second lucky escapes.

 

[Options]

As someone who "dies" and turns into someone completely new every 10 years or so, my entire life has been a "life changing event". I guess you could say I've had multiple personalities, just not all at once (although there have been underlying, if not unifying, themes). Age 60, coupled with retirement, has been no exception. I haven't felt this excited and energized since I was 20.

 

[HillCountry]

Came to LA.
Started working in BA.
Got married.
Having kids.
Relocated to ATX.

Coming up events: younger daughter to graduate elementary school in about 1 month.

 

[Moemg]

Birth of my children
Death of my husband & son
Birth of my grandsons

 

[eytonxav]

college degree
getting married
having children
moving from Connecticut to Texas
serious illness last fall