I finally FIRED today - Got my last paycheck

[Katiek]

Congratulations and best wishes for this next stage. The trip sounds wonderful.

 

[monte1022]

Congratulations!!!!!!! I'm +127 days into my retirement journey. I do not miss w*rk at all.............

 

[mystang52]

Congrats, and welcome to this most glorious stage of life.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, fantastic! Congrats!

 

[street]

Congratulations!! I wish you the best in ER.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

You're a role model that proves what can be done with planning, hard work and self discipline.

I'm a firm believer that people make their own luck.

You won!

 

[nhcycling]

Congratulations! Enjoy retirement life, it’s wonderful!

 

[Exchme]

Congratulations! You may want to have the larger earning spouse wait to claim SS. When one of you passes, only the higher benefit continues for the surviving spouse so a common strategy is to "buy" some insurance for the surviving spouse by waiting for the larger earner to claim, allowing the bigger benefit to grow. It can be especially important if one of you lives a long time. Opensocialsecurity.com is a great, free resource to investigate.

 

[KB]

Congratulations.

When I retired, it was on June 30th also. It was so nice to have the rest of the summer to enjoy without working. I hope you have a wonderful retirement.

 

[Kabowest]

Congrats!

I just started my fifth year of retirement. Walked away at 58 and never looked back!

Enjoy!

 

[pacergal]

Enjoy that first retirement trip to Italy--no worries about work piling up or 100's of emails to respond too!
Welcome to the retirement club

 

[Montecfo]

Thanks Gumby, looking forward to that.

But very strange, today, I still think "Did I leave something at work that somebody might complain about my work later." I guess I just need to forget it.

Yes. That feeling will pass eventually. You know the first 90 days post FIRE I found my mind returning to my old company fairly often. But that faded over time.

59 is a great time. Congrats Cyber888!

All the best.

 

[ut2sua]

Congrats.
Your FIRE math is simple and all the numbers look great. Enjoy starting your very secured FIRE journey.

 

[tricky88]

Great job! Enjoy it. I do.

 

[cyber888]

Retired in your 50’s too. Awesome. What’s next? Party like a rockstar?

That's exactly what I want to do

 

[cyber888]

Congratulations. I left at 59 also almost exactly 8 yrs ago. Some will say 59 is not really early. PFFFT on them I say. Savor every moment. You are wealthy because you own your own time…all of it!!!

I agree with you Jazz4cash.

I also prepared my Health for retirement. I lost 20 lbs. the last 6 months in preparing for being in great health when I retire.

I'm jogging 5 Miles on the treadmill around 4X a week at least.
5 Minutes Warm Up Walk, 60 Minutes Run/Jog, 3 Minutes Cool Down Walk = 68 minutes. I can run faster, but this is comfy for my knees.
I don't really feel old and I'm pretty sure I can run a half a marathon now.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

That's exactly what I want to do

Puts a new meaning to the upcoming 4th of July. Freedom.

 

[Exit 2024]

Awesome news! Congratulations!
It is very inspiring to see posts like that for us - who are still on the treadmill, different one, you know

 

[HI Bill]

Congrats! It will take a while to shift from saving to spending mode. It sounds like you can afford to increase your level of spending. Might want to check out the "Blow that Dough" thread if you need some ideas!

 

[cyber888]

Congrats! It will take a while to shift from saving to spending mode. It sounds like you can afford to increase your level of spending. Might want to check out the "Blow that Dough" thread if you need some ideas!

Right. My current yearly spending with vacations is around $56K-$57K.
I did put $70K per year spending on Firecalc today and I'm still at 100% success.

We save a lot on vacations because we have a Timeshare which generates 4 weeks of vacation for us, and we pay $1000/year in maintenance.
If we exchange it for other timeshares, in the US, Europe and Asia, we pay $200-300 per weekly exchange. This is how we save on travel and vacations.
Like the first half of 2023, we spend 1 week in a Marriot resort in S.Carolina (beachfront), 1 week in Gatlinburg TN (luxury mountain resort run by Westgate), and 1 week in Virginia Beach (beachfront). Each of this resort charges $300+/night, but we only spend around $700 to stay in these resorts for 3 weeks (21 nights). If we did not have a timeshare, we would be spending $6500 instead of $700. Next year, my cousin, who works at an airlines company for 30 years, will give me her companion pass, so we can travel to Europe first/business class. I still have to pay taxes on it, but it's like paying for a regular ticket.

 

[Budatx]

Mission Accomplished!!

Congratulations!!I really like your simple, focused, straight-forward and disciplined approach to retirement (especially, the non-material aspect). You're an inspiration!! Best wishes to both of you!!

 

[walkinwood]

Congrats - Welcome to the Life After ER forum.

 

[Flyfish1]

Congrats ! I retired at age 59 also - just about 6 weeks ago.
It's great - but is taking time to adjust. Go and have fun!!

 

[Luvtoride]

I'm joining the Retired club also this month. I think 2 more paychecks from my company before Pension starts in August. I feel very calm and ready for it.

Today, someone at our beach club called me a PHD (I have no doctorate degree) meaning that group of grandparents like me...."Pop-pop (or papa) Has Dough". LOL

Congratulations to all the other recent retirees!

 

[Murph]

Congratulations and welcome to the fraternity!