Entering semi-retirement

[youngr12]

Hi everyone. I’m 54, married, and our son is on his own and also married. We’re about to start semi-retirement. Basically my wife and I are going to split a job. We’re teachers at a boarding school and this is our last term where we are both doing everything that comes with that life. Next term, we’ll cut back to just do the things that each of us enjoys. She loves teaching and I like coaching. We’re both excited to have more time to do other things that we enjoy while we are still healthy

Since she will be putting in more time than me, I’ll try to pick up more of the house chores. I’m also an options trader, so I’ll keep doing that to make some money and stay engaged in the market. After that, I’m hoping to get back into things that I’ve always said that I do, but I actually rarely do, like fishing. When we’re both not working, we’re pretty active. We both go to the gym regularly and love to hike or walk with the dogs.

Financially, I think we’re in a good place, but of course past performance is no guarantee of future results. We’re mostly in the stock market and we’ve shifted some to cash so we can implement the bucket strategy and are prepared to ride out a few years of a down market if needed. Options trading and dividend investing should add to that. In total we have about 3.4M in investments and cash. That doesn’t include the house, car, etc.
We have no debt other than a small car loan which we got because the rate was lower than the rate we’re making in our HSYA. Still, we’re paying it off faster than needed and it should be done this summer.

My interest here is that I’m looking for fun discussions about finance and retirement life. Hopefully I can contribute to some discussions and learn from all of you.
Many thanks!

 

[VanWinkle]

Welcome here, it sounds like you and DW are in a good place. Congrats on getting to the part of your life and being successful enough to consider retirement at a young age. I hope the fishing foes well!!

Best to you,

VanWinkle

 

[Ronstar]

Welcome youngr12! Good choice on going into semi-retirement! It's a great transition into retirement. Both financial and how you spend your time. After some time in semi-retirement, full retirement will be a breeze. You'll wonder how you ever had time to work.

If you ever have any questions, fire away. The group here is willing and able to help folks.

 

[Dtail]

Welcome to our site. Sounds like everything is going well for you. Keep enjoying life.

 

[Diogenes]

My interest here is that I’m looking for fun discussions about finance and retirement life. Hopefully I can contribute to some discussions and learn from all of you.

Doubtless there is much to say regarding options trading vs. a "Boglehead" 3-fund buy-and-hold approach... but likely not the ideal thread for that.

What prompted you to decide to semi-retire at 54, rather than say at 52, or at 56? I mean, was there a precipitating event, or did you just reach a feeling that enough-is-enough?

 

[Koolau]

Welcome. We look forward to hearing your progress. Your approach sounds relatively unique. Thanks for sharing.

Please come back often and keep us posted.

 

[youngr12]

Doubtless there is much to say regarding options trading vs. a "Boglehead" 3-fund buy-and-hold approach... but likely not the ideal thread for that.

What prompted you to decide to semi-retire at 54, rather than say at 52, or at 56? I mean, was there a precipitating event, or did you just reach a feeling that enough-is-enough?

Good questions. I'll look for threads that talk about different types of investing. Briefly, I live in both worlds and enjoy them both for different reasons.

In 2023 we were considering the semi-retirement situation, but an opportunity came up to lead an off-campus program in Spain, so we decided to take that and test out life in Spain. It was particularly attractive because we've enjoyed traveling in Spain and we had previously done 2 Camino de Santiago hikes. It was a good adventure and we're glad that we did it, but it was a lot of work and we know we like life in NH. Although next February we might feel differently!

Our current group of students leaves in less than 2 weeks and we'll head home. We're looking forward to the next stage and being home, but we'll definitely come back to Spain sometime to do another Camino de Santiago.

Thanks for the question!

 

[Koolau]

A couple of practical questions. Have you determined about how much you will spend in retirement? That's probably the key metric to help you decide that you're financially independent.

Next I always suggest that you run FIRECalc. It should give you further assurance that you're good to go.

Best luck!

 

[youngr12]

A couple of practical questions. Have you determined about how much you will spend in retirement? That's probably the key metric to help you decide that you're financially independent.

Next I always suggest that you run FIRECalc. It should give you further assurance that you're good to go.

Best luck!

Hi there!
I've been tracking our expenses for many years, so I think I have a pretty good handle on what our life costs at its current level. I've also figured out what we would spend if we had to cut back and what we would spend if wanted to be more luxurious. So I have our fat fire and lean fire expense range figured out and they both fit into our current finances.

I've run lots of those calculators and we're pretty much in the 99% success range unless we dramatically change our lifestyle. I add in cushions to expenses and try to account for inflation, emergency expenses, and the unknown, but in the end there is no guarantee.

I think we could retire completely as is, but we both like what we're doing, so we'll make some money, get health insurance, and have a little structure to our days. We'll see how we like our semi-retirement for a year.

Thanks for the conversation!

 

[Surewhitey]

Welcome to the club. I've been coasting along for ~6 years and we took some time off prior to this living abroad to test the waters. Funny how life evolves (now having 2 GKs). Full time retirement is in our future when DW no longer gets what she wants @w*rk. Until then, we travel enough to be retired...

 

[youngr12]

Welcome to the club. I've been coasting along for ~6 years and we took some time off prior to this living abroad to test the waters. Funny how life evolves (now having 2 GKs). Full time retirement is in our future when DW no longer gets what she wants @w*rk. Until then, we travel enough to be retired...

We don't have grandkids yet, but that could speed up our retirement plan.
Spain is great and we like a lot of things here, but it's not home. We like the woods and nature, but life here is all built around the cities. It's a perfect place if you love the café life of bars and restaurants. We'll come back and travel more in Spain, but we want to live in the US.

I think I have the same view as you do. Full time retirement will probably happen when DW is no longer enjoying her job.

 

[Surewhitey]

Spain is great and we like a lot of things here, but it's not home. We like the woods and nature, but life here is all built around the cities. It's a perfect place if you love the café life of bars and restaurants. We'll come back and travel more in Spain, but we want to live in the US.

Agreed on Spain, although we enjoyed Barcelona and the drive over the Pyrenees from the Atlantic side.

We thought a lot of the Bavaria region of France, Germany and Switzerland for the nature side of things. So many places to enjoy in the world.

When DW goes places for w*rk, I jaunt off to N AR and do some roughing it in the woods. That's a happy place, within driving distance.

 

[pacergal]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Diogenes]

Our current group of students leaves in less than 2 weeks and we'll head home. We're looking forward to the next stage and being home, but we'll definitely come back to Spain sometime to do another Camino de Santiago.

That's interesting! You had a definitive forcing-function. Time t = t_1 was the ideal time to semi-retire. An earlier time, say t = t_0, would have foregone an enticing workplace opportunity. A later time, t = t_2, would have meant sapping of energy and likely some additional opportunity cost, that being stuff that you couldn't do, had you still been working full-time.

I think that FIRE is most successful when we have such forcing-function. If each year blends and melds into the next, there being neither compelling reason to stay, nor to go, then we're mired in either "OMY" or and enfeebled self-realization upon actually deciding to retire (second-guessing).

 

[Koolau]

Hi there!
I've been tracking our expenses for many years, so I think I have a pretty good handle on what our life costs at its current level. I've also figured out what we would spend if we had to cut back and what we would spend if wanted to be more luxurious. So I have our fat fire and lean fire expense range figured out and they both fit into our current finances.

I've run lots of those calculators and we're pretty much in the 99% success range unless we dramatically change our lifestyle. I add in cushions to expenses and try to account for inflation, emergency expenses, and the unknown, but in the end there is no guarantee.

I think we could retire completely as is, but we both like what we're doing, so we'll make some money, get health insurance, and have a little structure to our days. We'll see how we like our semi-retirement for a year.

Thanks for the conversation!

I completely agree that you should do what you enjoy. If that is going to w*rk then, by all means, enjoy. I had several years where I stayed at Megacorp because I was enjoying what I was doing. When it stopped being fun, I left. Having that freedom is the most important thing.

 

[youngr12]

Learning the system....
I'll try and see if I can figure out how to delete double posts.

Sorry

 

[youngr12]

That's interesting! You had a definitive forcing-function. Time t = t_1 was the ideal time to semi-retire. An earlier time, say t = t_0, would have foregone an enticing workplace opportunity. A later time, t = t_2, would have meant sapping of energy and likely some additional opportunity cost, that being stuff that you couldn't do, had you still been working full-time.

I think that FIRE is most successful when we have such forcing-function. If each year blends and melds into the next, there being neither compelling reason to stay, nor to go, then we're mired in either "OMY" or and enfeebled self-realization upon actually deciding to retire (second-guessing).

Hi Diogenes, I had not thought about it in those term, so that's very interesting to consider. It makes sense. We were effectively ready (I was, not so much my wife), then the opportunity came up to test out life in Spain and we took it. Now that we've done that, we're (still me more than her) are ready for something else and I really don't want to get stuck in a "just 1 more year" cycle that never ends. It felt like we could have fallen into that if the Spain adventure had not come up when it did.

Did you have a similar forcing-function situation?

I'm going to go read your other posts about forcing-function...

Thanks

 

[youngr12]

I completely agree that you should do what you enjoy. If that is going to w*rk then, by all means, enjoy. I had several years where I stayed at Megacorp because I was enjoying what I was doing. When it stopped being fun, I left. Having that freedom is the most important thing.

That's what I'm thinking. I'm not enjoying the full teaching load, but I still find coaching meaningful. Freedom is the key.

 

[youngr12]

Agreed on Spain, although we enjoyed Barcelona and the drive over the Pyrenees from the Atlantic side.

We thought a lot of the Bavaria region of France, Germany and Switzerland for the nature side of things. So many places to enjoy in the world.

When DW goes places for w*rk, I jaunt off to N AR and do some roughing it in the woods. That's a happy place, within driving distance.

Northern Spain has been our favorite so far. We did the Camino del Norte and loved it. Pais Vasco to Galicia all had great terrain, nice weather, and some interesting cities. San Sebastián and Oviedo were probably our favorite cities, but the small towns all throughout were great.

In NH, the White Mountains is where we do most of our hiking although we get to Colorado once in a while to explore those.

 

[Markola]

Welcome and congrats. My wife and I also planned for semi-retirement, leaving full time work at ages 54. Now 59 and 61, it has proven a satisfying way to be at this stage.

 

[Diogenes]

Did you have a similar forcing-function situation?

It's complicated. I started my "professional" career unusually early, in an environment where it was common and expected to be thinking about early retirement. The job was of mixed and mottled interest; some things enjoyable, some banal, some downright exasperating. Then came a crushing blow, jarring many things, including career prospects. That was a forcing-function to rethink life, the universe and everything... but premature to retire.

I partially recovered, with OK salary but unrewarding job... exactly the sort of midlife drudgery that prompts desire for FIRE. The intent was to ride that for n-number of years, then to declare finality. But that job also ended prematurely. The current setup is "barista fire", where the work is largely enjoyable but the compensation is meager. Financially I am effectively retired, but by hours and attention to the workplace and commuting and so on, it's definitely back into the gray flannel suit. My next forcing function looms. Either this barista-thing morphs into a real full time job, in which case I'll do it for 5-8 years and then FIRE for real. Or it peters out, probably by the end of 2026, in which case I'll concoct my own forcing function: leave a VHCOL, high-tax area, and buy a small house in Cheapsville.

 

[youngr12]

Welcome and congrats. My wife and I also planned for semi-retirement, leaving full time work at ages 54. Now 59 and 61, it has proven a satisfying way to be at this stage.

Good to hear! Do you think you enjoy your work more now? If so, why do you think that is? I'm wondering if not needing the job lets you appreciate it more or if maybe you've shaved it down to just the parts that are meaningful or enjoyable for you.

I expect that we'll both enjoy and find more meaning in our work since we should be doing the things we want to do and not the stuff that we had to do. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Diogenes]

Do you think you enjoy your work more now? If so, why do you think that is? I'm wondering if not needing the job lets you appreciate it more or if maybe you've shaved it down to just the parts that are meaningful or enjoyable for you.

That's the ideal. But what more likely happens, is that employees who no longer feel "desperate" are regarded askance by management. Management would take a such feeling of relaxed and breezy independence as indifference or disrespect, resulting in rather abrupt end of the, ahem, workplace relationship.

The lesson is that we should plan for a short time-frame, from initial feeling that we no longer need the job, to no longer having said job.

 

[youngr12]

That's the ideal. But what more likely happens, is that employees who no longer feel "desperate" are regarded askance by management. Management would take a such feeling of relaxed and breezy independence as indifference or disrespect, resulting in rather abrupt end of the, ahem, workplace relationship.

The lesson is that we should plan for a short time-frame, from initial feeling that we no longer need the job, to no longer having said job.

I haven't told many people what I'm doing yet, but those that I've told seem confused when I tell them. It was like they didn't know if they should be happy or sorry for me. Everyone else will figure it out soon, so I'll see how the reactions go. The people that I've told in Spain don't get it at all. Everyone I know here is planning to retire on a government pension.

1 week to go!

 

[Koolau]

That's the ideal. But what more likely happens, is that employees who no longer feel "desperate" are regarded askance by management. Management would take a such feeling of relaxed and breezy independence as indifference or disrespect, resulting in rather abrupt end of the, ahem, workplace relationship.

The lesson is that we should plan for a short time-frame, from initial feeling that we no longer need the job, to no longer having said job.

I think this is well said. I noticed both sides of the coin when I reached Financial Independence.

At about the time I "relaxed" because I was FI, Megcorp made it clear that (even though "official" ageism is illegal) they still held a lot more cards than I did.

Eventually, they figured out that I was enjoying myself way too much and decided to put a stop to it by changing my assignment. It was to their strategic advantage to do so (putting older employees in their "place") though it cost them my expertise in a j*b I'd more or less created to help Megacorp accomplish something they didn't originally know they needed to accomplish. They were willing to take that hit. Heh, heh, I was not and I left. Win/win! I retired on my terms and Megacorp reestablished its dominance over (aging out) employees. Balance in The Force was again achieved.