One Year of ER Under My Belt

FlyBoy5 said:
You are also going to miss another Spring, since you will be doing a OMM. No way ever that be worth it to me. Spring is the best time to be FIREd! ;)
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+1

I had been debating March or June (to boost the pension that last little bit). Finally I decided that the weather in here in Florida is just too nice to be working in spring.

OTOH, about October 1, when the hellish summer breaks, would have been okay too.
 
Great post (commenting a bit late since I'm too busy being retired to stay up to date on the forum!). It's "only" been 9 months for me but your entire post rang true.
 
I am 10 months in retirement and I echo all the positive comments. I couldn't be happier. We don't spend as much as I thought we would, thankfully. What has surprised me is that my urge to travel isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. We've been on a couple of two week trips, but I don't yearn to get away like I did when working a stressful job.


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It's our 1 yr FIRE anniversary and we're not missing w*rk either. Just sparse contact with a few folks, but this is all the better. Too many not so great memories...

We're spending below budget, but this is good because our WR is a bit above 4% before we hit SS in a handful of yrs. The biggest reductions come from our vastly improved tax situation/ACA subsidy (living on after tax savings for now) and a huge reduction in travel.

We budgeted for about 20% more travel than when we were w*rking, assuming we would have more time to kill. We have more time, but the prospect of dealing with the travel headaches (airports/planes, long drives, bad road food) has actually cut travel by almost 70% in FIRE. I guess we love living where we're at. Life is great :dance:

Welcome aboard FIRE Classs of 2016!
FB
 
Ally said:
I am 10 months in retirement and I echo all the positive comments. I couldn't be happier. We don't spend as much as I thought we would, thankfully. What has surprised me is that my urge to travel isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. We've been on a couple of two week trips, but I don't yearn to get away like I did when working a stressful job.
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+1 Exactly! :D
 
I am over three years into ER and do not miss the work at all. I do occasionally miss some of the social interaction. One surprise is I have done very little travel, probably because I don't have the need to get away from everything like I used to.
 
No contact from me to folks from work here. My secretary called and complained about the new boss. I didn't want the headache because I've already retired, LOL, so I have not initiated any call to her yet. However, she is free to call me, I'm always here to lend her support.


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Great to hear - I am just two weeks from my FIRE escape. Can't wait!!
 
This is a great post! I pulled the plug almost 17 months ago.

Just yesterday I did a recap of my investments and withdrawals from the day I retired. My investment totals are higher than when I retired. My withdrawals have been less than 3%, and I have not sold any investments to live off of. (You gotta love dividends!) Six months ago, the results wouldn't have looked so good.

After being a million mile flyer during my w**king years, we have only stepped on airplanes to go to and from Europe. We throughly enjoyed a driving trip from Colorado to Virginia so we could take care of the grandkids while their mom and dad went on a cruise.

I have stayed in touch with several of the people I worked with. Two guys that retired about the same time I did and the owner of the company are coming out next September. We will rent a house in Estes Park to enjoy the autumn leaves changing and the hopefully 1000s of elk coming to lower elevations for the annual rut.

It is enjoyable to read about the many others on this site that have had similar experiences. Life is good!
 
Ally said:
I am 10 months in retirement and I echo all the positive comments. I couldn't be happier. We don't spend as much as I thought we would, thankfully. What has surprised me is that my urge to travel isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. We've been on a couple of two week trips, but I don't yearn to get away like I did when working a stressful job.


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FreeBear said:
+1 Exactly! :D
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I very much agree. Nothing I want to see, nowhere I want to go, nothing I want to do. Strolling to the library today the sky was the bluest of blue, with what seemed to be tufts of cotton balls for clouds. Later, after a brief midday nap, I went out for a treat of afternoon coffee and leisurely reading at my favorite cafe, noticing the sky had changed texture again. I couldn't experience any of that a year ago in an extremely sterile, climate controlled, sealed, inner office working on what now seems insanely inane...stuff.

Retirement reminds me of The Matrix movie, where you wake up and realize the whole time you were working your life was being sucked out of you and you didn't even know it.
 
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Thanks for the update, Mo. I'll be gone a year in May. Everything you said could've been written by me. Can't imagine going back.
 
I'm at about 18 months.

Don't miss work one bit, though have to admit, left at a lucrative time in the industry.

My budget for the first full year was the largest it's ever been, a lot more on travel than I expected to spend, yet it was about 2% of my retirement assets.

Have a big tax payment coming up but also some trips I'm looking forward to (spent 3 weeks in New Zealand in February already).

Income would have been nice if I kept working but I prize time far more.
 
This is how most of my days are with the addition of spoiling my dog to make up for all those years I worked long days and he had to wait for me to come home. My dog loves my ER as much as I do.


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