Wondering if there is anyone on here that has retired early (FIRE Movement)

[Green Bullet]

What an absolutely pathetic and senseless existence some people must live when they have to have a job to give their life meaning.

Talk about having over-conformed and given up any sense of individual purpose and identity…. Sheesh.

If you need a job to not be bored, you are a pathetic excuse for a human being: have no sense of passion or creativity and just sleepwalked through your life. I reckon these must be the same people who apparently lack an inner dialogue.

From what I can tell the only pathetic thing on this thread is your response. 40 is way too young. it’s prime earning years and value creation.
I’m in the 55 camp. Still early but much lower risk in multiple ways including financially.

 

[Billinsd]

Retirement isn't what it's cracked up to be. Most folks that retire around where I live get bored in a year and are looking for work. Work as long as you can would be my recommendation.

Bored!!! Not me, when I retire in 2.5 years my concern is having enough money to not be BORED. People are bored sitting at home all day staring at their ugly wives.

 

[Billinsd]

Evil Knieval said "I heard Julio Iglesias has so much money he can't ever spend it all. I said, hey Julio send me a check I'll spend your money!!!" Evil spent his time jumping motorcycles and women.

 

[mlevimadden]

Awesome thread. I got turned onto Mr. Money Mustache and the "FIRE movement" about 8 years ago (I'm 32 now). My wife and I had been out of school for a couple years, earning good salaries, were both raised frugally, and didn't know what to do with all the extra income.

We both love travel, hunting, backpacking, and adventures in general but didn't place a high-value on material goods and having the latest-and-greatest. I think it's important to do some self-reflection about what you really value in life before committing to early retirement. There are people who define a major part of their self-worth from their career and professional accomplishments. There are others who are "working to live" as others have mentioned in this thread (I put myself in this camp). I can't possibly imagine being bored in retirement with everything there is to do and see in life.

We have maxed out retirement accounts most of our working careers, bought crappy houses that needed remodeling as our primary residences, fixed and flipped the houses ourselves, and kept our last house as a short-term rental on AirBNB. We had our first daughter last year and are already taking steps towards early retirement by only working 50 hrs/wk combined to avoid daycare costs and spend that time raising our daughter. We don't live on a Dave Ramsey "rice and beans" budget by any means and still spend $50k/yr excluding housing costs covered by the AirBNB income for a family of 3 in Denver.

We are on-track to have our expenses covered by investment income "FI" in 2-3 years by the time I am 35. I do plan to step away from my 30 hr/wk W2 job at that point to have the increased flexibility and autonomy over my own time.

A major aspect of the "FIRE movement" is would you really work your entire adult life (45 years from 20-65) if you didn't have to? And what financial decisions are you making that are forcing you into the 45 year working career (brand new $80k truck every 3 years, brand new bow/rifle every year, 3 vehicles instead of 1 for a family, oversized house in the suburbs that makes you drive an hour each way to the job you hate, crappy college degree that's income potential doesn't offset student debt, etc.) and are these purchases worth the time from your life you are spending at work to afford them.

I know this thread de-railed for awhile with everyone deep-diving into the methods of achieving early retirement, but I see "FIRE" as more of a mentality of being intentional with your financial goals and spending, and making sure those decisions are aligned with your values in life. It's amazing how much happier we are now then when we were aimlessly wandering with our finances. Just my 2 cents and YMMV.

 

[MattB]

TO answer one of your questions, yes being debt free is one of the most important benchmarks you can achieve (for obvious reasons).
One of the most eye opening things he taught me is how inflation can decimate the power of your savings in the future.

Devil’s advocate here, but the worst financial decision I have made was to de-lever in advance of retirement. Debt can be a valuable financial tool, and I believe the desire to be debt-free actually limits the financial success of many people.

We sold a rental in 2021 and used the proceeds to pay off the 2.5% fixed rate mortgage on my primary residence. That rental property has appreciated ~$150k from then to now (approximately the amount of the mortgage we paid off) and the monthly cash flow from that rental would almost cover the monthly payment on the loan had we kept it in place. That loan would have been paid in full in 2025 and the cash flow from that rental would have been gravy.

While inflation can reduce the value of savings, having long-term low fixed rate debt on income-producing assets in an inflationary environment has the opposite effect. It is pretty nice to have the monthly debt payment amount locked in when rents have gone up ~25% over the past 2 years.

 

[Marble]

For the last few years I have been following and reading and listening to podcasts on financial independence retire early (fire).

I have been living well under my income level for 5 years now and on course to semi retire
In 10 years. I will be 40 years old if all goes to plan…

So I am curious if any fellow rock sliders that share the same lifestyle have done this or currently making it happen? And if it’s just a pipe dream with how the cost of living is changing


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I think 40 is too young to really retire and not work. Now if there was another career you had in mind then that's different. A lot of people retire at a normal age, 59-65, and then continue to work in some capacity.

I rented at 46 last year. I actually could have stayed retired as I had good investments and my wife made well into the six figures. My medical was covered and I have plenty of things to do to keep me busy. But I've started a new career. Probably go until 59 at least and then decide from there. It was just too good of an offer to refuse.

I did not work for 18 months. And I was plenty busy with all of life's day to day stuff.

Have a plan, execute the plan and be open to altering it as life goes on.

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[roadrunner]

The only reason 60 is the "normal" retirement age is because we've been duped into thinking that, which stems from playing the shell game of a company 401k. Thank you gov't.

Even those at 60+ aren't necessarily truly retired as their income is based largely on economic stability and the stock markets, unless you convert everything to cash. Most retirees depend on Social Security to bridge the gap where their shell-game money falls a little short. Without Social Security, most people could never retire.

While you're young, build assets and not liabilities. When doing this, you will turn liabilities into assets.

Passive income is when you can measure yourself as financially independent and retired.

I can FIRE myself today. But that could all change tomorrow...

 

[Dos Perros]

Have a plan, execute the plan and be open to altering it as life goes on.

That's the thing, how can someone account for more than half a life's worth of uncertainty? I manage large programs for a living and stuff can radically change in just a few years time--and that's with the benefit of many programs' worth of historical data.

A firm leading in retirement portfolio management services couldn't even provide me an estimate for health care costs during my retirement years. They had no idea. If you Google it you're going to find about 1 million different answers. That alone would contribute enough uncertainty to give me pause.

Anyway...when you're young you should invest in yourself, in your skills and abilities, which will help you overcome the one dozen or more shifts in plan over the course of a long retirement. The freest I have ever felt is after going through a few rounds of shit, coming out the other end, and realizing I had a good chance of surviving most anything life could throw at me.*

*-talking about like job/career stuff, market downturns, etc. Not stuff like cancer, other extreme stuff. That stuff scares me.

 

[william schmaltz]

The only reason 60 is the "normal" retirement age is because we've been duped into thinking that, which stems from playing the shell game of a company 401k. Thank you gov't.

The main reason is that social security was meant to be a small band aid to get people through the last few years of life. The age was set in 1935 when life expectancy of males was 61 and 65 for females. And it has never been changed. One of the largest problems of SS. It was meant to be a 3 year assistance program and not a 30 year gravy train.

 

[roadrunner]

The main reason is that social security was meant to be a small band aid to get people through the last few years of life. The age was set in 1935 when life expectancy of white males was 61 and 65 for females. And it has never been changed. One of the largest problems of SS. It was meant to be a 3 year assistance program and not a 30 year gravy train.

The main reason it's at 60, really 59-1/2, is the tax exempt retirement investment savings per the IRS tax code and that we've been fooled into thinking we cannot function without it and then full benefit of SS after 65 That is what my post was about.

SS "pensions" are barely enough to survive on, but coupled with tax advantaged savings, is a pretty good haul for not being useful to society any longer...

 

[DangerRanger]

55 is my plan, but I dont think that counts as fire. I’ve always thought of fire as extreme savings and overworking in your late 20s and early 30s that to me seemed almost miserable. I should read up more on it and give it more of a fair shake

 

[Fly-N-Feathers]

I'm 40 and I've come to the conclusion retiring is not a main goal of mine. Hunting, fishing, and making my life all about me isn't really what this life is all about. It's good to give back, it's good to help people and make a positive difference in this society. While I love to hunt, fish and be apart of nature, it can be a very self centered activity. I have chosen to focus on a career that I can make decent money, have a good work life balance and give back and help people have a better life. I plan to work well into my late 60s or even early 70s. In the meantime I'm also going to hunt and fish and enjoy nature. To me it is really about a balanced life.

 

[5MilesBack]

One of the largest problems of SS. It was meant to be a 3 year assistance program and not a 30 year gravy train.

And that's the problem. Everyone is taking out way more than they ever put into it, including Medicare. I'd have no problem with the government changing it all to "proceeds are whatever you put in plus interest.......and not a penny more". Anything more than that is just government welfare.

 

[rayporter]

i wish i had not had to pay into SS and that i could have put it all into my own account!!!!

 

[LostArra]

It was meant to be a 3 year assistance program and not a 30 year gravy train.

That's the first time I've heard of getting your own money back in monthly increments if you are fortunate enough to not die first as a gravy train.

 

[Michael Rankin]

And that's the problem. Everyone is taking out way more than they ever put into it, including Medicare. I'd have no problem with the government changing it all to "proceeds are whatever you put in plus interest.......and not a penny more". Anything more than that is just government welfare.

I pay 6.2 percent and my employer pays a 6.2 percent tax on my wages for my entire life.

That’s a 12.4 percent “contribution” of all my income over a lifetime to fund my social security.

I started a job on pay roll the day I could get a work permit, at age 14.(started working before that)

If all that money was in a regular brokerage account I would have a huge sum of money

It shouldn’t take a 12.4 percent tax on all my lifetime earnings to pay me a small amount of money for 3 years when I’m old.

 

[Weldor]

That's the thing, how can someone account for more than half a life's worth of uncertainty? I manage large programs for a living and stuff can radically change in just a few years time--and that's with the benefit of many programs' worth of historical data.

A firm leading in retirement portfolio management services couldn't even provide me an estimate for health care costs during my retirement years. They had no idea. If you Google it you're going to find about 1 million different answers. That alone would contribute enough uncertainty to give me pause.

Anyway...when you're young you should invest in yourself, in your skills and abilities, which will help you overcome the one dozen or more shifts in plan over the course of a long retirement. The freest I have ever felt is after going through a few rounds of shit, coming out the other end, and realizing I had a good chance of surviving most anything life could throw at me.*

*-talking about like job/career stuff, market downturns, etc. Not stuff like cancer, other extreme stuff. That stuff scares me.

I found a healthcare broker, went from $1300 a month down to $600 . That is for 2 wife and myself, includes dental and optical. The insurance is better than we had a our employer a couple of years ago.

 

[Pezboat]

Obviously every situation is different. Every family is different. Even every city. But what’s a realistic number for a husband and wife to retire at 45 in this day and age (no real estate) and live comfortably?

 

[thegrouse]

Obviously every situation is different. Every family is different. Even every city. But what’s a realistic number for a husband and wife to retire at 45 in this day and age (no real estate) and live comfortably?

Way too many variables for anyone to give an accurate answer. Some can do it on 25k, I cannot, others need much much more. I keep a spreadsheet yearly and I know what it takes to live my life and that is the baseline for my planning.

 

[Traveler]

Obviously every situation is different. Every family is different. Even every city. But what’s a realistic number for a husband and wife to retire at 45 in this day and age (no real estate) and live comfortably?

It is more complicated because money you’re using still earns but a good starting point.

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