Are you the first to ER in your family?

[yAyA]

How many of you are second, third, etc. generation ERs?

I was just wondering because most of the people in my family don't seem to even think ER can be achieved. They act like this something for other people. I guess their cranky attitudes inspire me to not let HAVING to work make me act like I have a stick up my...ya know Most people get their attitudes about $$, life, retirement, etc. based on how they were raised. So, I was just wondering how many of you here had parents how ER too or are you the first.

 

[Honkie]

My father retired at age 53 (a couple of years ago). He took an early out package at 75% of final salary and $250k. Mum worked odd jobs between spells as housewife. With 33 years with the same Co. and a defined benefit pension scheme, plus a lot of voluntary additional pension contributions he always had a target of mid/late 50's for his exit. As it happened, a Co. buyout and subsequent restructuring provided a "Too good to miss" package and he jumped at it.

Cheers

 

[retire@40]

FIRE as a science is still in it's infancy, and this forum is part of the leading edge in developing that science. People may have RE in the past, but it was probably done as an indirectly as a result of Galtism rather than intelligent preplanning that most of us do here over many years or decades.

Asking if we as group here are the first, I would have to say yes. But that's just because we are helping to define FIRE here every day. Was there even anything published prior to the Terhorst book about the science of FIRE?

People go to the gym to work out, but can they say they were the first to work out in their family? Maybe the answer is yes as we define it today, but in generations past, people "worked out" in different forms and got their exercise indirectly by working the land and digging ditches.

 

[Nords]

How many of you are second, third, etc. generation ERs?

My father ER'd at 53 to take care of my mother's end-stage cancer. My FIL ER'd at 60 when CBS offered a major buyout. I'm not sure either of them would have considered it without those trigger events.

Aunts & uncles (those still alive) are in their 60s and still plugging away, with one exception who's selling his business and easing his way out the door at 60. My FIL's older brother (in his 80s) is still tending stock in a grocery store, although it's mainly for recreational cash. My FIL's younger brother (high 60s) has retired for the second time and is chasing movie & TV actresses auditions.

My grandparents (those that lived long enough) just kept on working into their 60s. I think the "earliest" retired at 65 but I had a grandmother who played the church organ and gave keyboard lessons well into her 80s.

 

[kz]

My father sold his business and retired at age 55. (38 yrs ago) He lived til he was 85 and had a long, fruitful retirement. Mother was a SAHM who raised 5 daughters and did a ton of volunteer work.

I guess FIRE funs in our family.

Sister #1--deceased.

Sister #2--retired at 62 although could have gone earlier. She's more high maintenance than the rest of us. State pension, not collecting SS yet. (mtg payment/considerable investments/savings)

Sister #3--retired at 55, teacher with state pension. Very low maintenance. (paid for condo/new vehicle/CDs, IBonds)

Sister #4--retired at 44, stock option payout along with one yr's salary. Working part-time in real estate til her partner retires in 8 yrs. (mtg. payment/low-seven figure investments)

Sister #5 (me)--stopped work at 39, technically retired at 50. Low maintenance. Married with husband who retired at 53/both with state pensions. The only one with children. (mtg. payment/savings/investments)

Hubby's family, OTOH, all older and still working with one exception.

 

[Andre1969]

I'm still working at 35, but I imagine I'll retire younger than my parents or grandparents.

My Mom, stepdad, and Dad are still working. Mom plans on retiring at 60, and soon thereafter they want to move to Florida. My stepdad will be 57 then, and I think he would plan on at least looking for part time work after they move. My Dad will probably be working for the forseeable future, unfortunately.

As for my grandparents, well on my Dad's side, Granddad retired at 60, and I think Grandmom retired around the same time and age. On my Mom's side, Granddad went out at 55. Grandmom retired just before her 56th birthday, about 9 years later, because the hospital she was working at closed down. She went back to work part time over the years, though. For awhile she worked out of the house, and for awhile she worked part time/on-call at another hospital, and finally got out completely when she turned 70.

 

[Dawg52]

My Dad retired at 58 but only because he was able to secure disability benefits. Would not have been able to otherwise. His last 10 years were horrible. Suffered with rheumatoid arthritis. Was on morphine his last 5 years. Not a very happy retirement.

 

[grumpy]

My dad retired at age 69 after suffering a heart attack on the tennis court. I asked him a few years later how he liked retirement and he said "if I had known how good it was going to be I would have done it much sooner". He continued playing tennis until age 85 when bad knees stopped him and he died at age 89. I think this was one factor that led me to ER. Mom never worked outside the home and began to show the signs of alzheimers in her mid to late sixties. Within a few years she was quite incapacitated. This was another factor motivating me to retire young enought to enjoy relative good health. I have had a number of health issues (major back surgery, cancer, etc., etc.) that make me feel older than I am. I may not have many active years left but I am enjoying them while I can.

Grumpy

 

[kat]

I'll be the first, for sure. My Dad loved his work as a civil servant (Assistant DA) and retired at 68 only because his tier in the state retirement system meant that if he died while still on the job my Mom would get a death benefit, and no pension. If he died when retired, she gets his pension. At 68, he decided not to push it, though longevity is in our genes. Financially, it didn't cost anything to retire, since he gets more in retirement than he earned working. But he sure loved his job. That's one thing we don't have in common.

Oh, and my grandfather retired at age 70 because it was mandatory, and lived to 102. He worked for the D & H Railroad, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[laurence]

Dad retired at 55, Mom just retired at 62 (they are both divorced and remarried). Mom is wealthier, Dad is happier. It's what got me on this path.

 

[SteveR]

Paternal grandfather died in his early 40's while doing manual labor job.
Paternal grandmother worked as a LPN most of her life and died at 91. She worked PT up to age 85.
Maternal grandmother was an invalid for 15 years until her death at 65 and did not work outside the home.
Maternal grandfather lost the farm during the Depression and did whatever work he could find up to the day he died at 67.

Father worked to age 65 and retired. He did at the age of 81.
Mother worked on and off as a teacher and retired at age 63; she is still living at age 83.

My only brother plans to work until 65.
I have ERd once at age 50 and plan on doing so again at age 54 or 55.
My DW is planning on ER at 55.
DW's father retired at 65; her mother died at age 40. Her sisters will most likely work until age 65.

So I guess that makes us the first in our families to ER.

 

[Mountain_Mike]

My Dad ERed from the corporate world at age 50. After taking off a year or so doing whatever, he got a job as a recreation supervisor at the school next door to his house. He really enjoyed that job, and all the kids loved him.

 

[usc_et]

Dad is 74 and still works full time, running his gardening/landscaping business. He has talked for almost the last 10 years of scaling the business back, but he enjoys it, so who are we to take that away from him.

Mom is 65 and is employed full time at the local high school as a secretary in the Vice-Principal's office. She plans to retire within the next year.

Grandparents were all immigrants and worked until they could no longer work.

 

[F M All]

Is this a yes or a no?

Father had severe insulin dependent diabetes (not due to obesity) from age 45. Retired at 62 after heart attacks - died 18 months later. As the professor said on another thread diabetes is a *****

I'm 51, no diabetes yet but not taking any chances on work induced stress screwing up my health. I'm probably the first to voluntarily ER.

 

[Robert the Red]

My father made some money in a business deal when he was 50, so he decided to retire. But he was too active to actually retire, so he started doing real estate development. Unfortunately, this was the early 1970s in the Pacific NW, which was pretty much in a depression for the whole decade. So he sank so much capital into the real estate project that he ended up going back to work about 1/2 time.

 

[MooreBonds]

Currently 28, but the first to consider true "ER".

My father's parents have always been the 'work till you drop' type, although his father/mother handed over the business when he was 60. So, techincally, they sold out just a tad early, but his mother still does some of the bookwork (currently 83), and his father passed on in 1999 at 81, and if his prostrate cancer hadn't slowed him down he would have still been running around picking up checks, taking out permits, buying tools, etc.

Before wandering across this website in September 2004 (my FIREd epiphany), my long-term financial projections had me stop working at about 60. I suppose I just never thought I'd have enough money to really call it off in my late 30s/early 40s like I hope to now...although, in all fairness, my models before assumed full financial funding if I were the sole breadwinner of the family for worst-case scenario, and I estimated I'd need about $3-4 million.

My brother (35) is too much of a 'enjoy life'-type that spends a vast majority of his funds, and would have no hope of ER unless he drastically cuts back (plus, he's marrying a 28 year old lawyer who, although makes a fair salary, spends even more of it).

My one sister (34) has financial problems from a divorce, plus has money management issues of her own, with 3 kids, and will work until she drops (and will piss through any inheiritance that she might get)

My other sister (32) is married with a child. They have good fiscal sense, but I don't know if they're looking to ER necessarily....but, if I put enough bugs in their ear ("Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to not have to wake up in the morning to go to work?" ), they might start to consider it.

My parents are 64, and partially retired a few years ago. So, they slightly nudged the ER stretch...but my father still comes into the office when he's in town, and still bids a few projects every now and then, so he's not officially ERed...but, then again, he's the type that can't sit still and enjoy a sunset, and he has difficulty thinking of things to keep him occupied. So, he relies on his career habits from the past 30 years to occupy some of the time.

But, I realize that just as much as I'd love being free from a job, some people love being free from 'idleness' and not knowing what to do with their lives.

 

[yAyA]

These post are so interesting. I was wondering is it considered ER if you're only working because you love what you do? I can't see myself doing nothing because I would love to get into real estate and do some more community work that doesn't pay or pays close to nothing. That's is what motivates me to build my wealth before I'm too old to enjoy life. I kind of consider that ER if you work but only because you enjoy it. Um... 8)

 

[AltaRed]

ER to me from the Corporate world (April 06 @ 57) will be doing what I want to do and that includes PT work for nothing, or next to nothing.  I will need to keep busy at doing something organized/scheduled at least part of the time, e.g. 1-2 days a week on average.. at least for 5 additional years or so.

Both my and DW's parents were ranchers/farmers and worked the land until 60-65 years of age. Both were active in the local town community organizations in retirement.

One brother was laid off from a corporate job when he was 40 and never worked again... too lazy really. But I guess that counts as the first to really ER.

 

[ERfantasy]

My dad retired at age 62 and my mom at age 58. Dad lived to age 84 and had a great retirement. Mom is still cranking at age 84, living in the family home, and will probably live a few more years although her mind is slipping now. Might have to move to a more controlled environment.

I'm shooting for ER at age 54 and will be the first in the family to retire that young.

As far as grandparents: both grandmothers were homemakers, not working outside the home. They never really retired from that role. One grandfather got cancer in his early 60s and was forced to retire then and died shortly thereafter; the other grandfather sold his business in his early 60s but kept his rental properties and farms going for another 10-15 years.

 

[Nords]

... is it considered ER if you're only working because you love what you do?

The problem is that many people use that as a code for "I'm broke."

However a friend of ours is in his early 40s, a Navy Reserve aviator who spends months on active duty alternating with teaching contracts at private schools. He's single, no kids, and is in very high demand because he will work active duty worldwide and enjoys teaching high-school math & science. He truly enjoys his avocation and will probably be doing this routine until he's forced to retire (Reserves at age 60) or drops at the whiteboard. He feels sorry for me because I don't get it.

I gotta admit that I'm jealous he's found his avocation and is able to live his life the way he wants, but of course our kid will be out of the house in just another four-and-a-half years...

 

[riskadverse]

My dad retired at 55 - there was a shuffle of positions at his work and he was screwed out of a position he was promised prior to a 2 year overseas stint.  They made good by giving him a full pension at 55 instead of the standard 65.  He worried a couple of years in the beginning about having enough money, but soon got over that.  He turned out to be an astute investor - bought company stock throughout his career - his first shares were split adjusted under a dollar and were around $85 at his death.   I ended up retiring at 56 -- I couldn't measure up to his schedule or his investing prowess. 

 

[Nords]

I ended up retiring at 56 -- I couldn't measure up to his schedule or his investing prowess. 

You make yourself sound like a real slacker!

 

[Big D]

Dad dead at 57. Forced retirement at 55 due to cancer. Worked for local government.

Mom still plugging away now at age 57 (she was 10 years younger). She plans to retire at 62. Works for local government.

Father-in-law retired at 65. Professor. Mother-in-law retired at 58. Teacher. They are having a great time between their houses in NH and FL

My paternal grandfather retired with disability at 55. Lived to 88. He was a flea market master. Really enjoyed his retirement.

My paternal grandmother retired from local government at 65.

My maternal grandmother never worked.

My maternal grandfather was an old money farmer. I think he retired soon after my mom was born - he was 50.

My wife and I are planning for retirement in 10 years at 45 and 48, sooner if we can do it, later if we can't.