NotSoonEnough
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2007
- Messages
- 192
Hello everyone, long-time lurker, first time poster, you have all been a great encouragement for me, thank you for your contributions to my sanity through your posts here.
I am a 47yo programmer. Crunching code and stomping bugs was once all I wanted to do, but these last two or three years have put me into full career burn-out and looking for a change.
I am a bit of an oddball (relatively speaking?), I have had several intentional unemployed periods during my adult life, typically months in length. I have often worked for extended periods (months or years), saved money, and then suddenly quit to take long vacations, only returning to work when the money ran out. At age 28 I decided to go back to school, got a degree, and have been on the treadmill ever since.
Details...
- I am single, never been married, no kids that I am aware of
- I am debt free, literally
- I own my home, no mortgage (market value is around $150k)
- $100k in tax-deferred accounts (IRA & 401k)
- $250k in taxable accounts
- I would rather be cycling, hiking, or sitting in a park reading a book
If things go well (the market doesn't completely collapse) I hope to retire at the end of 2008. Certainly, I will not have enough income to travel extensively or participate in expensive hobbies…but…I did enough traveling when I was younger to satisfy my curiosity and my hobbies (including but not limited to cycling, hiking, reading) are relatively inexpensive.
A large part of my hurry to ER is my health. My list of things to accomplish includes hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and Idaho's Centennial Trail, if I wait too long those things may not happen (a family affinity for arthritis has me concerned).
I would appreciate any comments on my current sanity, will I be pulling the trigger too soon? Life is short, but I realize it could get really long if I miscalculate and end up working as a cart-wrangler for a big-box store...
-Rob
I am a 47yo programmer. Crunching code and stomping bugs was once all I wanted to do, but these last two or three years have put me into full career burn-out and looking for a change.
I am a bit of an oddball (relatively speaking?), I have had several intentional unemployed periods during my adult life, typically months in length. I have often worked for extended periods (months or years), saved money, and then suddenly quit to take long vacations, only returning to work when the money ran out. At age 28 I decided to go back to school, got a degree, and have been on the treadmill ever since.
Details...
- I am single, never been married, no kids that I am aware of
- I am debt free, literally
- I own my home, no mortgage (market value is around $150k)
- $100k in tax-deferred accounts (IRA & 401k)
- $250k in taxable accounts
- I would rather be cycling, hiking, or sitting in a park reading a book
If things go well (the market doesn't completely collapse) I hope to retire at the end of 2008. Certainly, I will not have enough income to travel extensively or participate in expensive hobbies…but…I did enough traveling when I was younger to satisfy my curiosity and my hobbies (including but not limited to cycling, hiking, reading) are relatively inexpensive.
A large part of my hurry to ER is my health. My list of things to accomplish includes hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and Idaho's Centennial Trail, if I wait too long those things may not happen (a family affinity for arthritis has me concerned).
I would appreciate any comments on my current sanity, will I be pulling the trigger too soon? Life is short, but I realize it could get really long if I miscalculate and end up working as a cart-wrangler for a big-box store...
-Rob