The countdown has ended

[AS2019]

And this. The day has finally arrived. I'm not a new member of the forum, but I am a newly retired member. I'm taking 3.5 months off and then I'll work 1 week a month. I know technically that counts as "partially retired" but hey, it's good enough for me. I get to work as much or as little as I want, and it's 100% on my terms. Meanwhile, I'll have 3 weeks of vacation per month! It seemed like this day took forever to get here, and it was a very surreal experience leaving work at 5:00 today, knowing that I don't HAVE to go back at all, and when I do decide to go back, I get to choose the dates and the duration.

Thanks to all of those forum members who have offered advice in the past. And thanks for giving me a safe place to discuss these things!

 

[WyomingLife]

This is fantastic. So very happy for you; and envious.

 

[Calico]

Congratulations!

I have a coworker who is retiring one week from today, and another coworker who is retiring in one month. I have a ways to go before I hit all zeros:

 

[CaptTom]

Congrats!!

Here's the screenshot of my countdown clock reaching zero in May, 2016:

I think I'd set it up about a year and a half before.

 

[kimcdougc]

Congratulations.

 

[Toocold]

Congratulations!

 

[omni550]

Congrats and welcome to the best of your life.

omni

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Love it! Congrats.

 

[mystang52]

Bravo!

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, wish I’d had a countdown clock, but iPhones didn’t even exist back then!

Congrats!

 

[Dtail]

Retirement just happened, so no countdown for me.
Congrats and welcome to the best part of your life.

 

[Golfquest20]

That sounds wonderful! Very exciting indeed

 

[levindb]

Congrats on what you have achieved...
next step, try to get 52 weeks of vacation each year. You have come this far, look towards the light, Grasshopper, and you will free yourself of those chains that bind you...small chains, made of plastic, or folded wrappers from sticks of gum (if you are old enough to know about that)

 

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

A former workaholic told me after he drastically changed his work schedule, the less you work, the more you will loath work. I have to agree.

 

[AS2019]

Thanks for the encouragement and the advice. And I do suspect that once I start having all this free time to do as I please, that the 1 week per month will feel very painful. But it's a way for me to ease into it and relieve some of the stress of "do I really have enough money for this?" even though all the calculators and budget spreadsheets tell me that I could have retired a year ago.

Again, thanks for the advice. Now I have to go pack for my first post-retirement travel adventure in 2 days.

 

[Cassius King]

Congrats and enjoy the trip. I'm confident that the 1 week a month ain't gonna last too long.

Cheers!

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

I used this one for about five years to track "Days Until FIRE". It showed "0" days left on the day of my actual retirement; but afterwards it rolled over and started to count up from 0--the number of days after FIRE. That was unexpected. But I decided to make use of it.

I calculated that I had about 10,000 days until the "FINAL" retirement, so to speak. Now, I check in occasionally to see how far I've come along (and thus how much remains in my calculation) and remind myself to not sleepwalk through any precious day! It's an app called "Big Day" I use the free "Big Day Lite" version.

As you can see in the image, as of today I have used 1,781 days of my projected 10,000; about 18%. I better get cracking on my novel, learning how to play the accordion, and winning a grammy. Time's a wastin'.

 

[fishvt]

Congrats!!

 

[Pellice]

It's such a feeling, walking out at 5 pm and knowing you never have to come back! I sang all the way home at the top of my lungs in the car (Sirius Sixties Channel). "Blow your mind girl, look inside girl, let the sun take you awaaay!"

 

[RioIndy]

View attachment 33860
I used this one for about five years to track "Days Until FIRE". It showed "0" days left on the day of my actual retirement; but afterwards it rolled over and started to count up from 0--the number of days after FIRE. That was unexpected. But I decided to make use of it.

... remind myself to not sleepwalk through any precious day! It's an app called "Big Day" I use the free "Big Day Lite" version.

Oh I really like that! And that background just gives a wonderfully peaceful feeling.

 

[RioIndy]

It's such a feeling, walking out at 5 pm and knowing you never have to come back! I sang all the way home at the top of my lungs in the car (Sirius Sixties Channel). "Blow your mind girl, look inside girl, let the sun take you awaaay!"

Haha amazing. Big congrats and enjoy the feeling.

 

[pacergal]

Congratulations! And enjoy your trip

 

[DRC726]

And this. The day has finally arrived. I'm not a new member of the forum, but I am a newly retired member. I'm taking 3.5 months off and then I'll work 1 week a month. I know technically that counts as "partially retired" but hey, it's good enough for me. I get to work as much or as little as I want, and it's 100% on my terms. Meanwhile, I'll have 3 weeks of vacation per month! It seemed like this day took forever to get here, and it was a very surreal experience leaving work at 5:00 today, knowing that I don't HAVE to go back at all, and when I do decide to go back, I get to choose the dates and the duration.

Thanks to all of those forum members who have offered advice in the past. And thanks for giving me a safe place to discuss these things!

Congrats! I hope retirement is everything you hoped it would be. I'm right behind you with a countdown date of 3/31/2020. Can't wait!!

 

[klondike8]

A former workaholic told me after he drastically changed his work schedule, the less you work, the more you will loath work. I have to agree.

I can't agree more. I was a workaholic too. I don't even want to open my email in the morning. Can't explain why this happens.

 

[Dd852]

I can't agree more. I was a workaholic too. I don't even want to open my email in the morning. Can't explain why this happens.

Me too. My DW says my extreme laziness now is simply a reversion to the mean after years of frenetic workaholic activity.