My ditching the rat race 14 year anniversary is just days away. This was a transition year for me as I aged into Medicare eligibility and what a great year it has been. I find myself both celebrating and reflecting on the early retirement to retirement ride. The obstacles to employment liberation are well documented and loudly shared. So are a lot of successful FIRE stories.
I can count my early retirement to retirement journey as a success while understanding that others may not exactly see it that way. The great thing about financial freedom is that it doesn’t matter what others think. We get to decide the life we want to live, how to live it, and work towards honoring OUR goals and what we value. Here’s a walk through my approach and experience.
My Ditching The Rat Race 14 Year Anniversary Tips For The FIRE Bound
First off, I wasn’t blessed with a mega salaried position. As a telecom engineer It was decent, but not one where I could squirrel away a million dollars plus before I was an old man, if ever. But that’s OK. I created an enjoyable lifestyle that many would call frugal. I also know many people wouldn’t consider my lifestyle at all frugal. It doesn’t matter what others think. What matters is we need to create an enjoyable and sustainable life we want to live.
By embracing a purposeful spending lifestyle we can reach our financial goals. It also lets us know what it takes to support it once we give the middle finger to the machine feeding employment system.
Of course on this ditching the rat race 14 year anniversary there are aspects that aided in the success of my early retirement to full retirement ride. There were times I took on opportunities to retire early and often, made sure we had a viable healthcare strategy, built a vibrant social life, and always strived to stay active both physically and intellectually.
Here are a couple of my retirement experiences that come to mind as being important in making my early retirement and today’s lifestyle possible and successful.
The amount of money needed
I never succumbed to the common ramblings of the million dollar minimum for an early retirement crowd. It could be true if that’s what’s needed to support your lifestyle and if so, then go for it. We had a known lifestyle and budget. With that actual number plugged into a trusted retirement calculator we found our real early retirement portfolio number to shoot for.
When mentally transitioning from paychecks to portfolio distributions, the ups and downs of the markets did cause some stress. But I can say as time goes, trust in the plan is subconsciously earned and worry subsides. That’s even for someone like me who wasn’t blessed with a massive portfolio. After 14 years of IRA distributions through various market gyrations, the numbers still hold up. I can still pull 100% success on the retirement calculator when plugging in the latest variables.
Locking in secure housing
My ditching the rat race 14 year anniversary has me more convinced about this issue than ever. Making sure the roof over your head is secure, is as financially important as the portfolio for overall early retirement success. We bought a modest home when I was forced into a corporate relocation and still had a mortgage when I jumped into early retirement. We had cleared all other debt long before and have never allowed that back into our lives.
Once I decided it was time to leap, I quickly refinanced the mortgage while still on the job. It was only for a slightly lower interest rate at the time. We kept the same balance and redid it for 30 years to drop the monthly obligation. We had been making extra mortgage principal payments for years, but I wasn’t willing to delay retirement to wait out the mortgage. Setting a minimum payment obligation was a retirement budget booster. A couple of years later after accepting a retirement gig opportunity, I used all of its income to pay off the mortgage over an 18 month period.
As housing costs increase everywhere, securing and locking in our preferred housing is now even more important. I have always considered our home ownership as a hedge against inflation, not an investment. Although that aspect is welcome.
The reality of our finite time should loom as a positive influence
My unknown lifespan was an ultimate motivator for me to stop wasting time. Our time shouldn’t ever be dictated by others. Sadly we spend a lot of our life powerless to object to that.
Everyone should be interested in changing the way they can improve their personal finances to gain freedom and how they can improve how they spend their finite time on the planet.
It was key in getting me to early retirement. As I age it’s key in motivating me to keep moving forward, living for and making the best of today and an unknown future.
Cheers!
Well done Tommy. Very best wishes to you and your family in 2024.
Thanks for the comment Paula. Best wishes to you and yours 2024 too.
Tommy
Your thoughts remind me of those of Amy Dacyczyn, who wrote The Tightwad Gazette back in the ‘90s. Although her newsletter was only a dollar a month, she was ultimately so successful that she and her husband were able to retire early. They had six kids and a big house, but due to a lifestyle of doing things for themselves and thrift, they were able to do it. In her last newsletter she talked about her decision to quit The Tightwad Gazette. She valued her lifestyle and her time, and she talked frankly about not knowing how long she would live due to her family health history.
I wish both of you were more well read because you are both examples of how ordinary people can get the life they want. Most people aren’t dot com zillionaires. I hear young people worrying about affording having children. And that is a valid concern. But there are also ways to have children and have a normal job and still be able to have a life and retire. So I think you are doing a very important thing with your writing. I enjoy hearing your viewpoints.
Thanks for the very kind comments Susan. I appreciate that feedback. I often worry about the future for my kids and grandkids too because of the obstacles to family life, from childcare costs to housing affordability. Something that has always been there but today there are so many distractions and in-your-face messaging of what is ideal. Often getting defined as anything else means you are a failing, setting mental traps for misplaced blame and grievance that solves nothing. I try to make the case that enough is enough and non-showy simplicity often leads to a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle. Wishing you and your family all the best…
Tommy