Today is the 10 year anniversary of my freedom. I'm still relatively young (62) but definitely feeling the need to do more with my freedom, sooner.
10 years ago I had sons who were 13 and 11 yo.
Today they are in college, doing well, and their independence is in sight. Looking forward to them being off the payroll (car insurance, health insurance, misc expenses that can't be paid by 529). One will graduate next June, the other in June 2026.
When I retired I had tested my financial plan with every calculator I could find, but was still super nervous. Our plan required maintaining a frugal lifestyle, especially while the kids were under roof and eating us out of house and home. But the market was very nice to us, and we no longer worry as much. I'm still frugal (my sister and kids call me cheap), but I'm more relaxed about it than I was in the beginning.
One of the first changes I made when I retired was to start walking the dog at the beach most mornings. I figured I had to walk the dog anyway, and the beach makes me happy. 10 years later I still get up early to walk the dog at the beach. It still makes me and the dog happy. Unfortunately, the dog has a time limit on him... an inoperable tumor in his stomach... But the beach is still his happy place, and it makes me happy to see him spending his last months or weeks being happy at the beach.
We bought a van from the estate of my BIL when he died. We painted it like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and have taken it camping all over the south west and up and down California. It's a beater van... and has broken down on us on two trips... but it's been fun, and it allows us to camp without sleeping on the ground. We are considering selling it... we'll decide after our Mammoth/Sierras camping trip later this summer. But it's been a fun retirement low-cost RV.
Our goal was to travel a lot as soon as the kids were off at college. Covid put a dent in that, to an extent... but we've done several long trips to Europe and South America. We weren't planning on other life changing issues to impact our travel... Perhaps we should have.... We were 2 weeks into a 4.5 week trip in Asia earlier this year when we found out DH's mom had died, so we had to cut the trip short. Then our plan to spend a few months in Italy while I immerse in Italian classes and take the citizenship language test this fall/winter looks like it's on hold due to DH's health issues that require treatment here. So we're rolling with the punches and shifting our plans to next year. Delayed, but not denied. Travel will remain a priority, since we enjoy it. We have a bucket list and will work on the more active trips first while we're still mobile and nimble.
Retirement has given me the time to dive into community involvement... serving on land use committees, community associations, helping with the library book sales, etc. It feels good to give back to the community after so many years of being too busy while I worked and raised kids.
Ten years has gone by fast. No regrets about walking away from income at age 52 (DH was 62).... It's been great.
10 years ago I had sons who were 13 and 11 yo.
Today they are in college, doing well, and their independence is in sight. Looking forward to them being off the payroll (car insurance, health insurance, misc expenses that can't be paid by 529). One will graduate next June, the other in June 2026.
When I retired I had tested my financial plan with every calculator I could find, but was still super nervous. Our plan required maintaining a frugal lifestyle, especially while the kids were under roof and eating us out of house and home. But the market was very nice to us, and we no longer worry as much. I'm still frugal (my sister and kids call me cheap), but I'm more relaxed about it than I was in the beginning.
One of the first changes I made when I retired was to start walking the dog at the beach most mornings. I figured I had to walk the dog anyway, and the beach makes me happy. 10 years later I still get up early to walk the dog at the beach. It still makes me and the dog happy. Unfortunately, the dog has a time limit on him... an inoperable tumor in his stomach... But the beach is still his happy place, and it makes me happy to see him spending his last months or weeks being happy at the beach.
We bought a van from the estate of my BIL when he died. We painted it like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and have taken it camping all over the south west and up and down California. It's a beater van... and has broken down on us on two trips... but it's been fun, and it allows us to camp without sleeping on the ground. We are considering selling it... we'll decide after our Mammoth/Sierras camping trip later this summer. But it's been a fun retirement low-cost RV.
Our goal was to travel a lot as soon as the kids were off at college. Covid put a dent in that, to an extent... but we've done several long trips to Europe and South America. We weren't planning on other life changing issues to impact our travel... Perhaps we should have.... We were 2 weeks into a 4.5 week trip in Asia earlier this year when we found out DH's mom had died, so we had to cut the trip short. Then our plan to spend a few months in Italy while I immerse in Italian classes and take the citizenship language test this fall/winter looks like it's on hold due to DH's health issues that require treatment here. So we're rolling with the punches and shifting our plans to next year. Delayed, but not denied. Travel will remain a priority, since we enjoy it. We have a bucket list and will work on the more active trips first while we're still mobile and nimble.
Retirement has given me the time to dive into community involvement... serving on land use committees, community associations, helping with the library book sales, etc. It feels good to give back to the community after so many years of being too busy while I worked and raised kids.
Ten years has gone by fast. No regrets about walking away from income at age 52 (DH was 62).... It's been great.
