+1. The OP may have quit his day job at 34, but he w$rked actively during the next 5 years, taking on significant real estate investments and risk, to apparently have to do no w@rk starting at 39 (last two years, if I understood correctly).
I think what I said was "zero work since July of last year".
We did wrap up a side hustle earlier in 2018, and before that had some years with no "work" and some years with (details below). I certainly don’t want to leave out any facts that could be misconstrued.
I think a few people feel misled as, after a bit of digging, the narrative evolved/clarified away from the first impressions implied in post #1.
Im trying to keep up as best I can, but I still fail to see what is “misleading” about the first post...
but it seems like you're saying/suggesting the same as:
I guess in my opinion they are not FIRE'd, just free lance workers. To me that is not being "retired" but still being in the work force. They just aren't working for megacorp anymore. The story then is not all that interesting to me. It's not a "look at me I'm FIRE'd and traveling the world story". BS, they are traveling a lot but still working and hustling a great deal. So no RE.
IF it's the age that’s somehow 'misleading' some of you in the first post (because oh my have I provided every possible detail time and time again ever since)… you guys tell me.
I honestly never know how to refer to it/describe our scenario either.
Life, as it turns out simply isn't that black and white (or at least hasn't been for us).
Quit the jobs and became free to do whatever we want whenever we want when I was 34… that’s why that number sticks out in my mind and its (by far) the easiest way to describe things.
In reality here’s every possible detail about every possible hour ive worked (if they somehow matter):
2012-13 - on "sabbatical" driving Mex and Central America
worked 0 days
2014 - built out a home-base for ourselves (in our former garage). It was kind of like building ourselves a cabin in the woods, but we prefer to live in the city and it gives us the ability to come and go as we like in between travels so we don’t have to kick out a tenant or put out our friends/family during visits (and will likely be our eventual home if/when we ever go back...
I doubt extremely that you would tell every FIRE'd member on this forum that if they spend any time moving and preparing a new house for themselves at any time after RE that they are no longer FIRE'd, but what do I know... i'm the new guy.
It did also increase the value of the investment and is currently rented out while we’re away, so if you prefer to label that as work its fine by me….
Worked 60 days
2015 - similar project on another property, but other than a few things we did ourselves mostly managed over about 2 months. Ill be extremely generous, lets say
Worked 20 days
2016-17 - I took a few “architectural design projects that we did accept money for, so im sure you’ll want to count that.
We're talking about stuff I did while traveling/adventuring and in the middle of the night while DW was sleeping (meaning it certainly didn't impede on any fun… but I know you’ll want to count that. All projects combined were less than 200 hours total. Thats less than 25 work days…
Worked 25 days
2018 - We had to pick up the slack from our business partners in side hustle2 in order to save face and keep promises made to others - lets go big and say
Worked 75 days
2019 -
Worked 0 days
SO, lets do the math…
From the time I quit the job in 2012 until this very minute I have “worked” by whatever possible definition you use (ive already described all these projects as ones o would have done for free/fun without money, but it’s your forum, so we’ll play by your rules) a grand total of
180days
Thus my dilemma.
Should I have titled the thread “Quit the world at 34 (but also worked on and off about 180days worth of hours cumulatively over the next 7 years on passion projects and those that helped ensure our investments created passive income as fast as possible)”
I don’t, know… maybe. But honestly, what difference does it make??
Combine all those hours and i’ve "worked" are less than another half year total in small bits and pieces over the last 7 years on projects I love and would do (often do) for free.
Call it whatever you want, or I can go back and change the title of the thread to
"Quit the world at 34 1/2years old" if you like, or maybe
"RE after working a cumulative total of 12.5 years out of life to date" is more accurate.
Whatever works best for each of you is fine by me (and I don't actually see where I can edit the title...so I would need some coaching after you all taker a vote).
But as ive already said elsewhere (yes, im stealing a page from another poster and about to quote myself)
But luckily I didn’t come here looking for your sign-off of what I should call our status, or whether we’re somehow worthy of the term FIRE in your eyes.
Call it whatever you like actually…
We no longer work for anyone else, we no longer have to take projects for money (but I reserve the right to take one because it sounds like fun and fulfills a passion I haven't used enough in my life), and I sometime choose to spend my free time helping neighbors back home achieve a better state of FI and helping our friends reach happiness and/or RE sooner.
If you have a better acronym for that, by all means please send it along...
until then I think we’ll continue to use the labels FREE and HAPPY!
For what it's worth...
In between responses I've had a little bit of time to start browsing other "I am" posts... and frankly lots of other threads in general.
And while im learning a LOT about the forum and patterns in general of the forum overall (and the people within it) -
I've yet to stumble upon even one other thread where the poster has been put under this level of scrutiny and asked for (much less offered to reply to) this level of detail about their work, life, RE and time spent after.
Anybody have an example of others so I can learn from them?
Honestly, Im happy to keep doing so if its actually helpful to the community (ive been nothing if not transparent)... but it does seem oddly out of sync with the other threads i'm reading/responding to.