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This will be year 16 for me! This site gave me the confidence to pull the plug, and really everything has gone as planned so far. 4% rule, modern portfolio theory, firecalc simulations, index funds have all worked as expected.

I ER'd in '09, and in '16 I thought I might buy a bar/tavern/restaurant for a fun adventure (right?). I had no experience, though, so I thought I'd get hired at some bar or restaurant, and start at the bottom to learn the basics. I looked everywhere, but couldn't get hired. I had gotten my...

Worth more than that -- sounds like you're in that business professionally? It's spot on with what we're going through with my 101-year-old grandmother's death last August. She had about $4MM all in a trust run by a local bank. It's definitely not a quick process. They said they had to put out...

My parents (mid-70's) over the past five years broke some ties with their long-term friends going back to High School, and found all-new friends more in their same situation (saved and lived frugally their whole life and now have enough to enjoy retirement). My mother said it's nice to go out to...

I also grew up in small-town MN and have lived in the DC Metro area the past 20 years. I too considered moving back to my hometown, where my parents still live and where I visit a couple times every year, but I've never been able to see a good reason. I don't care to socialize with my parents...

That's the crux of the issue I see with both the OP guy's and Grocery Store Guy's decisions to keep living like a college student the rest of their lives (they really have no option by RE'ing that young with that little): after their peers move upward beyond bachelor apartments, I think they're...

Does anyone follow the "Financial Independence" Reddit subforum? I have been for awhile, but get more and more convinced the average age there has to be in the low 20's and probably 99% nowhere near FIRE. The guy below says he's RE'd at age 32 with a $750K portfolio of which $500K is in real...

Also E-trade: https://us.etrade.com/e/t/home/accountfeatures?gxml=brk_insurance.html I have everything spread out through multiple brokerage accounts because SIPC insurance for each only covers up to $500K.

Maybe she is truly grateful, but in my experience people you don't know who you keep sending free money to will also write to you glowingly to keep it coming. As soon as the money stops, you'll never hear from them again. I'm just saying look out, it's a common tactic. Most people I think stop...

Hmmm, so to summarize: -- I slaved away in my crap job for 15 more years so I could pay my friends' vet bills -- I slaved away in my crap job for 15 more years so my brother would like me -- I slaved away in my crap job for 15 more years so my friend's distant cousin might have a good future...

I vote no because of these flags: -- You're counting on a part-time, web-based job: is that already lined up and contracts signed to last the next 40-50 years, or are you assuming it won't be a problem to find high-paying jobs you can do part-time over the internet? If part-time, home-based...

Alarm systems though often can include smoke and carbon monoxide sensors, and the monitoring company will call the fire department. That's all I use mine for -- I never arm the burglar alarm part because apparently false alarms are common enough that the local PD fines homeowners for those.

Well, this idea (yours and a couple others above) about slaving away in an office for more years when you don't have to, just so you can (for example) send lots of money to your local animal shelter I don't think would have as much impact as volunteering those same full-time years at the shelter...

I sold my business and de facto retired at 40 (46 now), but I don't tell people "I'm retired." I say I sold my company and now I'm working on new projects and looking for new opportunities. Nobody has ever questioned that, plus it's true for me. Maybe they're hobby projects, but they're...

You're lucky to have been able to leave at your peak. I too poured my life and life's work into a business and just as it was starting to blossom I got a purchase offer I couldn't refuse. I left feeling like I had a lot more to give and do, and for awhile felt melancholy about what could've...

I'm in the same situation as OP, mid-40's, no spouse or kids, live alone, and like OP I soon felt isolated after ER. For me it was mostly about feeling connected, not to just other people but to my community, society in general, and even my old profession (software engineering in a particular...

And the tricky thing is they don't ask you for money outright, but you always seem to find out about some calamity that's about to happen in their life if they don't get $X by Y, and that they just don't know what to do. They do know none of your suggestions they appear to be asking you for will...

Interesting, I've thought about law school too, but to actually become a lawyer and volunteer somewhere. It's expensive though. How do you justify spending $100K-$150K for your J.D. if you don't plan to do anything with it?

I tried something like that recently for part-time positions, thinking I could meet some people and learn a new industry, but got rejected by everyone. I met the qualifications, and didn't show anything that would indicate I'm overqualified. I think they figured my age (from my year of...

No, SS and Medicare taxes are only computed from what you report on schedule C (profit/loss from a business). If you're investing your own money, you wouldn't put that on schedule C, it would go under normal capital gains and losses in your schedule D. So no, the IRS won't come after you for SS...

Same here... never thought I could cook when I lived so long on takeout and microwaved meals, but it's been a lot of fun since ER. I like that I can just go to the grocery store every day or two if I want and get vegetables and meats, then cook it up the same day, all fresh.

Good summary of my experience too. It's something to try -- once.

I entered the workforce in the 80's, after PC's but before email, and just remember the big yellow intra-departmental mail envelopes with about 50 boxes of "to/from" printed on the front. To send a memo, you'd handwrite it on a company memo pad, or print it out using your word processor, stick...

I'm a similar age and financial situation and I retired just over five years ago. Regarding fear, I just think: what's the worst that could realistically happen over my remaining years? I figured health issues, which is why I'm happy to pay a lot for the best possible insurance. The other fear...

I'd add 3) OR willingness to take risks. My brother made his millions because he took the risk of working at a startup where he made very little salary (and went into debt just paying normal expenses) in return for equity in the company he believed in. They got bought out as a result of...