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

[go_deep]

I do Medishare as a quasi high deductible plan. Will kick in at 100% after I reach a $14k deductible. I then do a direct primary care MD for the whole family for day to day stuff. This combined costs me about $900 a month total for a family of 4, and Direct Primary Care is amazing. I can get same day (same hour really) appointments, no waiting in lobbies, I get all my medications at his cost plus 3% which is way cheaper than anywhere else, and pick them up from him at my appointments. It’s basically like having a “concierge” doctor on call for pretty cheap because he doesn’t have to deal with all the BS insurance overhead.

When you say you are doing self pay and want an itemized receipt, Medical bills drop significantly. I recently dislocated my foot (basically worst sprain imaginable). ER visit, full X-ray and MRI imaging, shots, etc. bill was going to be over $10k. Asked for self pay discount and itemized receipt and it magically became $1,100 total.

Not saying this is perfect, and I haven’t had to deal with anything truly catastrophic like cancer to test the Medishare yet, but this is my plan going forward.

$14k per person, or family total deductible?
The $900 a month is just your premium a month?

 

[Fowl Play]

Pair this with an HSA you've contributed to for 20 plus years and thats not such a bad deal.

For sure. HSA's are an extremely powerful tool. Honestly its upsetting that you cannot just open an HSA by itself. The fact that HSA's are essentially "gate-kept" behind expensive high deductible plans is frustrating. A true HDHP for my family of 4 STARTS around $15K per year.

$14k per person, or family total deductible?
The $900 a month is just your premium a month?

$14K is total family deductible for my Medi-share plan. I just checked and my "premium" went up to $475 a month total for my family of 4 this year. The Direct Primary Care is separate, you can search for practitioners near you that do this model. I pay $100 each a month for my wife and I, and $75 a month for each of my 2 kids. Essentially unlimited doctor appointments, etc. for that monthly price. So this takes care of my typical medical needs throughout the year. So, all together I actually pay $825 a month for this. $1,800 a year worth of my direct primary care fees can actually be applied to my Medi-share deductible.

You could probably skip the direct primary care if you wanted and just find a low cost doctor near you and do self pay whenever you need an appointment. Honestly, its a nice "luxury" for my wife and I, but 100% absolutely worth it for my kids as they seem to catch another sickness every other month.

Do a little research on these "cost sharing" models to see if they are right for you. There are a few companies that do this. Overall they behave like insurance but are not true insurance. They are essentially a not-for-profit company that pool everyones money together and invests the pool of money in pretty low risk investments so the total "pool" of money grows.

If people hit their deductibles it then pays out of the pool of money. The main thing here is they are not paying millions of dollars to CEO's and stuff, so your money goes further, but they are also not legally beholden to pay out should the pool run out of money, etc. (which has never happened and they put out financial reports every year to show the health of the "pool", but it is important to know the difference.)

 

[HunterGatherer]

Its not uncommon to sacrifice one's body for money and then sacrifice said money to save/fix ones body

I hadn’t heard of this FIRE concept by name before but I guess I fall into the “Barista FIRE” model
( terrible name, I am NOT a barista )

I’d rather die in poverty, after having completed most of my bucket list early in life, than spending all my best years selling my body and soul, saving for a plush retirement I may never see due to unforeseen circumstances.

A good way to hedge your bets is to raise excellent children that can become successful enough to help take care of you in old age if your portfolio isn’t as fat as it needs to be to live on residuals. Working less and investing more time in your kids is a good investment either way. Not that you can’t raise excellent children while working 60hrs a week but it’s a lot harder. Many men in my life have destroyed their own families by trying to work too hard for financial success. I suffered from workaholism for 15 years before I realized it was self defeating.

If I make it to 70 , my “retirement years” might not be as plush as the guys who focused more on financial success, but I’ll have already done most of what those guys are wanting to do in their retirement, in my youth. At least, that’s the strategy. I’ll let you know how it goes

 

[Elkbelch]

I thought it was called the rule of 55, not the rule of 54?

Congrats on your retirement!

Actually you are eligible the year you turn 55, in my case I turn 55 on July 15 2026 so I was eligible on 1/1/26. We were selling our house and I planned to stay until April to get the 10% bonus. I couldn't take it and walked away from the bonus and I don't regret it.

 

[Svivian]

A good way to hedge your bets is to raise excellent children that can become successful enough to help take care of you in old age if your portfolio isn’t as fat as it needs to be to live on residuals. Working less and investing more time in your kids is a good investment either way. Not that you can’t raise excellent children while working 60hrs a week but it’s a lot harder. Many men in my life have destroyed their own families by trying to work too hard for financial success. I suffered from workaholism for 15 years before I realized it was self defeating.

Im not sure if youre being serious with this or just being sarcastic. But I'd hope you would choose not to burden your children financially because you wanted to have more fun in your youth.

 

[ckt3]

Im not sure if youre being serious with this or just being sarcastic. But I'd hope you would choose not to burden your children financially because you wanted to have more fun in your youth.

Yea one of the best gifts you can give your child is not needing to care for you financially in your old age.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Im not sure if youre being serious with this or just being sarcastic. But I'd hope you would choose not to burden your children financially because you wanted to have more fun in your youth.

I don’t consider it an undue burden considering all their mother and I will have provided them in their lives. I hope in the end that my sacrifices add up to enough for them to be willing to sacrifice some time for our sake. My wife and I spent a ton of time with our grandparents and parents, caring for them along with other family members in their later years. I think elderly care should be up to families - not just waving goodbye to grandpa at the rest home.

I’m not saying we’re going into our twilight years with nothing. I’m not counting on the kids to take care of basic financial necessities or anything. The point was more about investing in your family as much as your portfolio. We paid off our house before we were 40 and have no debt to burden our children with. They’ll inherit our house and our life’s work. Just hoping my kids get filthy rich with all the knowledge we gave them and take old dad on some fancy guided trips

 

[MallardSX2]

I don’t consider it an undue burden considering all their mother and I will have provided them in their lives. I hope in the end that my sacrifices add up to enough for them to be willing to sacrifice some time for our sake. My wife and I spent a ton of time with our grandparents and parents, caring for them along with other family members in their later years. I think elderly care should be up to families - not just waving goodbye to grandpa at the rest home.

I’m not saying we’re going into our twilight years with nothing. I’m not counting on the kids to take care of basic financial necessities or anything. The point was more about investing in your family as much as your portfolio. We paid off our house before we were 40 and have no debt to burden our children with. They’ll inherit our house and our life’s work. Just hoping my kids get filthy rich with all the knowledge we gave them and take old dad on some fancy guided trips

They are going to put your ass in a cheap smelly nursing home. Enjoy bingo hour pal.

 

[Rich M]

Or actually enjoyed what they did for a living. Which, judging from this thread, is EXTREMELY rare.

Why do folks want to keep working when they could be doing other stuff. Are they trying to avoid spending time with their wives and families or just have no interests outside of work? Are they Type A's who need to control things? What is it?

 

[Rich M]

Wife and me are incorporating elder care in the whole retirement planning thing.

Health care is the hiccup in the retirement planning. I have to work a few more years cause of that.

 

[Elkbelch]

I don’t consider it an undue burden considering all their mother and I will have provided them in their lives. I hope in the end that my sacrifices add up to enough for them to be willing to sacrifice some time for our sake. My wife and I spent a ton of time with our grandparents and parents, caring for them along with other family members in their later years. I think elderly care should be up to families - not just waving goodbye to grandpa at the rest home.

I’m not saying we’re going into our twilight years with nothing. I’m not counting on the kids to take care of basic financial necessities or anything. The point was more about investing in your family as much as your portfolio. We paid off our house before we were 40 and have no debt to burden our children with. They’ll inherit our house and our life’s work. Just hoping my kids get filthy rich with all the knowledge we gave them and take old dad on some fancy guided trips

Why do folks want to keep working when they could be doing other stuff. Are they trying to avoid spending time with their wives and families or just have no interests outside of work? Are they Type A's who need to control things? What is it?

I have no idea, I retried from power generation industry in February. We had a fella that was 74 working with us. He was having to take RMDs and SSI and making six figures plus. Long story short he contacted 4160v and it all ended. He had lost his first wife to cancer and I think we were the only thing he needed. It was horrible. I know he had the money to call it. Some guys just can't

 

[Rich M]

I have no idea, I retried from power generation industry in February. We had a fella that was 74 working with us. He was having to take RMDs and SSI and making six figures plus. Long story short he contacted 4160v and it all ended. He had lost his first wife to cancer and I think we were the only thing he needed. It was horrible. I know he had the money to call it. Some guys just can't

That was probably it. I don’t want to be old and alone either.

 

[HunterGatherer]

They are going to put your ass in a cheap smelly nursing home. Enjoy bingo hour pal.

They gotta catch me first ! ‍

 

[Yaremkiv]

Why do folks want to keep working when they could be doing other stuff. Are they trying to avoid spending time with their wives and families or just have no interests outside of work? Are they Type A's who need to control things? What is it?

You got it buddy; people who love their jobs do so because they're control freaks that neglect their families and have no hobbys or interests. Just go ahead and roll with that.

 

[CorbLand]

Why do folks want to keep working when they could be doing other stuff. Are they trying to avoid spending time with their wives and families or just have no interests outside of work? Are they Type A's who need to control things? What is it?

I am sure there are a lot of reasons. Lack of planning and preparation financially for retirement is one. A lot of baby boomers did not save enough to retire. Many it is their identity. It’s who they are and they don’t know any different and can’t give that up. There are definitely some that are control freaks and need that continued authority over others.

None of it makes sense to me. I like my job but I will not work a minute longer than I absolutely have to.

 

[Yaremkiv]

I am sure there are a lot of reasons. Lack of planning and preparation financially for retirement is one. A lot of baby boomers did not save enough to retire. Many it is their identity. It’s who they are and they don’t know any different and can’t give that up. There are definitely some that are control freaks and need that continued authority over others.

None of it makes sense to me. I like my job but I will not work a minute longer than I absolutely have to.

See that doesn't make sense: "I enjoy doing X but I will not do X a minute longer than I have to". Let me teach you something for free my man: you dont actually enjoy doing X. You may relatively "like your job", as in its not as bad as other jobs but usualy I look to prolong doing what I truly enjoy doing. It's wild to me that those who didn't have a career they enjoyed find is so difficult to fathom that there are, in fact, people out there who genuinely enjoy doing what they do for a living.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I have no idea, I retried from power generation industry in February. We had a fella that was 74 working with us. He was having to take RMDs and SSI and making six figures plus. Long story short he contacted 4160v and it all ended. He had lost his first wife to cancer and I think we were the only thing he needed. It was horrible. I know he had the money to call it. Some guys just can't

A guy I worked with complained that the government was forcing him to take money out of his 401K when turned 72 I think it was. He retired the next year and died.

 

[CorbLand]

See that doesn't make sense: "I enjoy doing X but I will not do X a minute longer than I have to". Let me teach you something for free my man: you dont actually enjoy doing X. You may relatively "like your job", as in its not as bad as other jobs but usualy I look to prolong doing what I truly enjoy doing. It's wild to me that those who didn't have a career they enjoyed find is so difficult to fathom that there are, in fact, people out there who genuinely enjoy doing what they do for a living.

I said I like my job. Not I love my job. Not I enjoy it. I like it. I enjoy doing a lot of other things far more than I like my job.

But thanks for “teaching” me something. Damn good thing it was free because I would have been pissed if I had to pay to “learn” what your post taught me.

 

[Yaremkiv]

I said I like my job. Not I love my job. Not I enjoy it. I like it. I enjoy doing a lot of other things far more than I like my job.

But thanks for “teaching” me something. Damn good thing it was free because I would have been pissed if I had to pay to read your post.

Semantics. Definition of LIKE is "to feel attraction towards or take pleasure in". The synonym is "enjoy" so not sure what you're saying, but I made my point. Hope you have an enjoyable retirement. Genuinely.

 

[CorbLand]

Semantics. Definition of LIKE is "to feel attraction towards or take pleasure in". The synonym is "enjoy" so not sure what you're saying, but I made my point. Hope you have an enjoyable retirement. Genuinely.

Personally, I hope I have an enjoyable life. I am not waiting until retirement to do the things I enjoy.