In just five weeks, on my 38th birthday, I will walk away from a job paying close to six figures to start a mini-retirement that could last as long as a year.
Wow, is that a scary and exhilarating sentence to type.
I am ready for some change, friends.
Regular readers know I’ve been struggling with my current IT administration gig. It’s not that I totally hate the job or the people or anything like that. The people are great. The organization is great. I have a boss I believe acts with integrity and is trying hard to make a big difference.
I just don’t feel connected to the work or the results. I feel stagnant, uninspired, and unchallenged. I feel complacent. On top of that, my daily commute clocks in a little under three hours, leaving little time to really recharge before it’s time to go to sleep and do it all over again.
I’m forcing myself out of that situation to propel myself into a better one – I just don’t know what that will look like.
Over the past year or so, as I’ve gotten more into this amazing personal finance community and the personal development space, some themes have really struck me.
The first is that money doesn’t buy happiness. That’s a well-worn cliché, but the FIRE community actually asks you to really look inside yourself and ask what makes you happy, and then you’ll know how much money you need to support that life. (Yes, if you’re living in poverty money goes a long way toward buying happiness. That’s a different situation than where I’m coming from.)
I’ve been on the financial independence path with the knowledge that I don’t know what I would do if I were FI tomorrow. There’s nothing wrong with making good decisions that enable you to make better ones in the future. But I can’t indefinitely punt on finding out what I want to pursue with my energy and time.
The second is that we are all in control of the direction our lives take. If we aren’t happy with the current direction, it is up to us to take action to change it.
Are you crazy?
So why not just change jobs? Why take a mini-retirement?
Because right now I don’t totally know what would make me get up in the morning excited to work. I suspect I’m suffering from burnout. I don’t feel like there’s enough space in the rhythm of my life to really explore the important questions. I have some ideas I’d like to explore.
I should say right here that I don’t want this to be looked at as complaining. I am incredibly grateful for all that I have and all the opportunity and comfort I have enjoyed. It is precisely because I am so blessed that I have the ability to not only acknowledge my shortcomings, but also to take rare action to address them.
When you hang around the personal finance community you realize the importance of intention. These people look at everything they do through the lens of time. By making smart decisions with our money, we buy back our time. By making smart decisions with our time, we lead a higher quality of life. Squander your money and you may get short-term pleasure, but you’re unlikely to find happiness.
I need space and time to make a quality, intentional decision about the direction of my life for the next little while. This mini-retirement affords me both. My current 12-hour day – from the time I get up to get ready for work to the time I get back home – does not.
This also could seriously delay my FIRE dreams. But what’s the price you put on trying to find what makes you happier day in and day out? And who’s to say this move won’t eventually lead me to an even better financial position anyway?
Incredible support and an opportunity fund
I am not financially independent. My wife and I are making great strides toward that, but it isn’t in the immediate future.
She enjoys her job and will continue working, which takes care of all the insurance issues and provides stability for our finances. We purposely live well below our means. Our expenses are engineered so that if one of us lost our job it would not send us into panic. Her side of our financial picture won’t change much.
On my end, instead of collecting a paycheck, I’ll be drawing down an opportunity fund I’ve been squirreling away money into for a possible rental house. I’ve run the numbers, and if I stay within my very reasonable budget, I have enough runway to go 12 months before I have to think about changing my spending or dipping into a different pot of money.
I don’t really expect to go a full year at this point, but that gives me a ton of freedom to do this right and get out of it what I want to in order to make these next years amazing. You read it all the time in personal finance blogs, and it’s true: The more you save, the more options you have available to you.
I could never pull this off if we inflated our lifestyle over the years to match our incomes. It also helps that we’ve had college and daycare expenses over the past several years to help keep that spending in check.
I’ll be open to trying new things during my mini-retirement. I could do this on the Great Salt Lake, right?
What am I going to do?
I will continue to write on I Dream of FIRE. In fact, I hope to actually be able to spend real time on it and dig into some ideas that just require more focus than I have been able to muster. That’s exciting. I would like to get away from sitting down at 8:30 p.m. to figure out what I’m going to publish at 6 a.m. I hope you’ll notice the increase in quality come May.
I will read books, listen to more podcasts, and really settle down with big questions for awhile.
I’ll find places to volunteer in the community.
I’ll walk my daughter to and from school, and in the summer I’ll take care of her instead of paying for summer care.
We have several family trips lined up, and I might find more reasons to travel.
I’ll be open to opportunities I might not have been able to take if I were still working all day.
I’ll try new things to see what interests me.
I’ll work on being present instead of thinking about the next thing on my calendar.
Mostly, I’ll be intentional and strive to live into each day rather than live through it.
I have taken the mini-retirement course that Jillian at Montana Money Adventures offers. I speak regularly with Chris at Keep Thrifty, who is in the middle of his own mini-retirement. I am in a mastermind with the Dad Edge Alliance group that can help inspire me and hold me accountable at the same time.
The only time I’ve been unemployed in 22 years is when I took my last semester of college off from the newspaper. I haven’t had more than three consecutive weeks off in 16 years. This is going to feel weird. It’s going to be uncomfortable for awhile. But I’m really excited to see the person I am and the lessons I learn at the end of this experience.
I hope you’ll come back and see how I’m doing along the way.
Have you ever taken time off from working, whether for a mini-retirement or to be a stay-at-home parent? What advice can you give me? What was the hardest part? Tell me in the comments and I’ll be eternally grateful!
An exciting time for you and your family! Cheers, Garrich T
Thanks, Garrich! You know it’s been a long time coming.
IDOF,
I went through a recent ‘mini-retirement’ that lasted about 4 months. Mine was due to losing my job, but I approached it in a similar fashion. This is an opportunity, not a hardship. It’s great your wife can take care of the insurance stuff because that was a major drag on me. You’ll get to spend some high-quality time with your daughter, especially the walk to school. I loved taking my son to the bus everyday when I was home.
The advice I’ll give is that the novelty quickly wears off. You need to be very intentional with your time. Plan your days the night before. Prioritize exercise and reading, etc. Don’t fret if you feel unproductive. Leave the house when you feel in a rut. Stay off social media! I wrote a piece called 10 Lessons I Learned From 4 Months Of Unemployment that details my experience. Lots of unexpected outcomes during my time off.
Enjoy it! Congratulations for taking the leap!
-RBD
Wow, thank you so much for that advice, RBD. I went and read your piece. Great stuff in there. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
I’m sure I’m going to have to turn off wifi a fair amount to keep on task, especially when writing for the blog. And I think you’re right about needing to get out of the house every so often. I’m planning to take a walk and listen to podcasts at least once a day, so hopefully that will help.
Different people work in different ways, but I got out for a walk every day when I volunteered walking dogs at my local shelter. There was one in particular who waited just for me. It felt awesome, I was doing good AND doing well ? I recommend it.
First of all, have all my respect. I don’t share the American style grinding work ethic (my preparation+commute+work tops at 9 hours daily but I even consider that as too much for a balanced and happy life). I see your accomplishments as a great win and a great sacrifice, I could never do that if only it would not be absolutely necessary. You clearly deserve this mini-retirement and the time to reflect and search for the important answers. The only thing I can wish to you is to figure out the things in this year in a way which makes you able not to return to mandatory work 🙂 Will keep an eye on your journey 😉 Good luck!
Thanks! Part of this will be seeing whether I feel like entrepreneurship is a path I would enjoy. Having complete control of my time and what I work on is not something I’ve had before, so I can’t say for sure how I’ll respond. If I find I love that style of work, I’ll definitely consider sticking with it!
Wow, huge news! Congratulations on making the leap. I can’t wait to see how it goes. Just looking at your goals I have a feeling it’ll be awesome.
Thanks, Adam. Hopefully I’ve got enough direction to be productive and enough space to be open to serendipity.
I was burned out at my last job. I quit and took some time to figure things out. I thought it might be a mini-retirement, but it ended up being more like a sabbatical. I only had 2 months off before getting a new job, but it did wonders for me. Quitting allowed me to study for interviews, work on my resume, and to really devote myself to finding a job. This was one of the articles that helped me make this decision: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/quit-your-job-before-you-have-next-one-bestadvice-heather-zynczak/.
Thanks for the link, Adam. Feeling re-energized is something I’m really hoping comes out of this process early so I can put my best into whatever comes next.
Congrats. Wish you all the best in your new direction. Life is about the journey not the destination so if it doesn’t hurt your long term situation and it’s what you want, then go fo it.
Enjoying the journey more is something I need to work on 🙂 Thanks for the well wishes!
I’m trying to engineer my own mine-retirement right now now and am incredibly envious of you! Best of luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Side question … where in the world do you live/work in Utah to come up with a 3 hour commute? Are you doing a Logan to South Utah County commute? Sheesh – that’s a long commute and I’d be trying to get away from it as well.
Thanks Ty. Come on in to the retirement pool. The water is warm ? i do a 15 minute walk from home to the train, 45 train ride and 10 to 15 minute walk to the office, then reverse. I usually have to wait a little bit on the platform so I don’t cut it too close and miss a train. If I drove, I could shave some time, but rush hour traffic is messy where I live. It would be a lot of stress compared to riding the train, plus it would cost more for gas, parking, wear and tear, etc.
Thrilled for you! We’ll compare notes in a couple months. Congrats and all the best!
Thanks, Amy! Yes, we’ll have to commiserate once I get some time under my belt.
Congrats!! Very exciting… and to your point about sitting down at 8:30 PM to figure out what you are posting at 6 AM the next day is such a familiar feeling.
Spending half your day at work isn’t optimal, and you’ve realized that and are taking action! Very excited to see how you are able to transition in the next few months!
Thanks, Erik! In my younger years I probably wouldn’t mind starting a post at 8:30 the night before so much. Now I’m just wiped out by then and thinking about getting enough sleep before I start the next day! It will be so good to build that time into my day before I’m in zombie mode and see if I can’t get my thoughts organized in a better way while the mind is still sharp 🙂
Whoa, that is big news. Certainly a bold move but very well thought out. I’ve had thoughts similar to yours about not knowing what I’d do with my time if retirement kicked off tomorrow. I think this could experiment could benefit the PF community because obviously you aren’t the only one with that question.
Looking forward to hearing more about your experience. – Cato
The idea of a mini-retirement isn’t even something I would have thought about had it not been for seeing the conversations in this community and the successes of others. That helped give me both the financial wherewithal and the confidence to take the leap. I will definitely keep everyone posted about what I learn to help others who are considering doing the same.
Great write up and huge Congrats on making this bold move! I’ve been in a similar situation.. working since the age of 14 and feeling burnt out after nearly 30 years in the workforce. At 43, I was recently laid off. I can easily find work, but I’ve built a mini portfolio of rentals, so I am able to live freely without the stress of working for another person for the first time in my life. It’s only been 2 weeks and I’m kind of struggling with the extra time as I’m used to staying busy. I may do a little day trading and volunteering. Eventually, when the kids are off for the Summer, we will travel and bond as a family. I have a garden that I will tend to and heck, I may even learn to make beer at home! Looking forward to hearing your progress!! Congrats again???!!! #FIRE
Sounds like you’ve got some good plans in the offing! Good for you for taking some time to enjoy things before getting back to it. I would love to hear how it’s going along the way for you, too!
Congrats man! Like others said, this will be exciting and I can’t wait to see what comes of it. Taking time off tor efocus is never a bad thing and maybe you find an option you hadn’t even thought about yet because your brain is too tired from work and life stresses.
That’s what I’m hoping happens. That’s also why I’m leaving space for the unknown to come into my life.
WOW CONGRATS! You are already living the dream, in my opinion. The whole point of this community is to inspire thoughtful choices that engineer the lifestyle you truly desire, and you are doing it. Super exciting, and scary, but we are all rooting for you! I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for, or at least fall in love with the searching. Looking forward to the next years’ posts on what you find/think/discover.
Thanks! I was definitely inspired myself by others. Hope I can do the same.
I’m so excited to see what unfolds as you take the time to step back from the 9-5! It is amazing what a bit of intention, financial freedom plus community can help make happen. =)
Cool! Im happy for you. You’ll love it.
It took me a little while to be OK with more idle time than I was used to. It was a little overwhelming at first, but it soon started feeling good instead of making me anxious. Enjoy it!
Congrats! Taking a mini break is also in the works for me and my husband, but we haven’t figured out the healthcare and other costs yet.
While I too am feeling extremely burned out and uninspired with my current job, they did introduce a new benefit that kept me holding on for now — a Roth conversion plan that allows me to save more for FIRE.
It is a stupid reason to keep staying employed, but with no children and without my husband (as a travel buddy), I don’t really see the fun of going on a mini break without him (he just recently changed jobs/industry so still wants to work) So still chugging along with FIRE, even though it sucks sometimes.
Thanks for the light at the end of the tunnel – maybe mini breaks are the answer instead of chugging furiously at FIRE in order to get some happiness and balance back
Thanks! Not having to worry about healthcare coverage makes it much easier for sure! Jillian from Montana Money Adventure has a great guide on covering the healthcare options. You might go check out her site (I don’t know if it’s on her site, or just part of her mini-retirement course).
I tried to figure out what I wanted to do next without going full tilt, and I did enough self-reflection to realize it would be better if I took the break than to just pick something that seemed OK. Hopefully you can find something more exciting in the meantime if a mini-retirement doesn’t totally make sense either. I hear ya, it’s no fun going to work burned out and just trying to get through the day!
I did exactly the same thing! Congrats!!!! This was the first week of sabbatical for me. Analysis paralysis is the only surprising thing. I covered the whole paradox of choice thing in a previous blog post but I can say that all these choices make decisions about what to focus on next is difficult. Terrible problem to have? Not so much.
Smart financial decisions lead us to options and choice so I won’t quibble that my head is spinning from all the options. I am trying to narrow down 3 short term goals and one longer term goal to obtain some focus.
I keep thinking I need to look for a job…lol. Like you, I haven’t really ever stepped off the hamster wheel except for a 2 month stint traveling while waiting on my Nurse Practitioner board certification. And the feeling about time compression – you know the feeling you have about having to get everything done on a weekend BEFORE you have to go back to work Monday? – well, that’s still a thing. I guess it will take a bit to sink in that I don’t have an end to the days off ?
Have fun and hope that this is exactly what you need to help you find your next move.
I’ve added you to my list of people I need to keep in touch with during this time. I want to learn as much as I can from people who are doing or have done this. You’re not too far ahead of me, so it’ll be nice to see what might be just around to corner! Congrats on your own sabbatical. I like the three short-term and one long-term goal idea.
Hello, I saw this post in the Rockstar Finance newsletter! I can totally relate to your experience. I quit my job in Sept of 2017 (a similar IT Admin role), and have been “min-retired” for 7 months now.
Like you, my wife continues to work – and thanks to her awesome health insurance, I don’t have to worry about that side of things. My wife has been incredibly supportive of me on this journey, and in fact, without her support and encouragement, I may not have left my job when I did.
Also like you, I saved up a cash cushion of about a year’s worth of spending. I’m happy to report that, on my current track, it will actually end up lasting me about 18 months. A big help with this was downsizing our apartment and saving hundreds per month in rent.
I’ve had a blast these last 7 months. It hasn’t been without the ups and downs, but that’s life. It’s really powerful to pay attention to those ups and downs, and notice how some of the same feelings recur but may have been projected onto my job, etc. Helps to figure out what really makes you tick and offers great insight.
Congrats, and I look forward to following your journey through this new stage!
That’s a great insight, noticing which feelings you were projecting on your job vs. actually came from it. Since your circumstances mirror mine in many ways, have you come to any thoughts around what you want to do next? Back to IT, or something different?
Haha, sometimes “what I want to do next” changes on a daily basis. As an example, just this week I was approached about a remote IT job that is right up my alley – doing the kind of IT work I enjoy. I interviewed this week and things went really well. But before that, I was planning on staying away from IT.
In my dream world, I could make a living freelancing – ideally freelance writing and perhaps dabbling in some technical work since I have all that IT experience. And I’ve also thought about doing financial coaching, and in fact have already coached some friends and family members, which I enjoyed immensely.
The problem is that, I’m not sure how long it would take to build a replacement income on any or all of these freelance ambitions. Sometimes I think it’s attainable in 6-12 months if I really put my head down and do the deep work. Other times, I’m not as confident. So it’s when this confidence wanes, that going back to an IT sounds more appealing.
It’s like you’re me from the future bringing back messages. I’m starting to do some financial coaching now myself.
That’s hilarious. Perhaps we can support each other on this coaching journey! Sending you an email now so we can chat more outside this comment thread.
I’m really excited for you – this is going to be a life-changing leap. Your discipline has finally paid off and now you get to do something most people can only dream of.
It won’t be easy – the mini retirement has stretched me in ways that were definitely uncomfortable – but I have grown so much as a result.
Looking forward to hearing how it all goes!
Thanks, Chris. You’ll get to hear all the non-blog-worthy stuff, too.
Kudos to you for taking this jump!
So many of us stay complacent in our jobs because it pays the bills, yet few of us actually prioritize our happiness over the money. You are definitely taking a leap into the unknown, but I am sure it is going to be rewarding for you and your family! You are going to discover things you never would have dreamed of, and I wish you the best of luck!
Thanks Sean! It is a leap, for sure.
Congratulations! I might have to do this if I decide to move to a different state. Video is MUCH different than IT in that it’s a little harder to get a job…especially on in another location. Sounds like you planned ahead and it’s nice to have another spouse working for medical benefits! Hope you find what you’re looking for!
Thanks, Tonya! Planning ahead made all the difference for me. I definitely need to feel safe about how I’m going to make ends meet to be able to do this. Having a solid plan, both in math and in how I’m going to spend my time, helps. But I’m open to following the muse 🙂
Congrats! Taking your life in your own hands is an act of courage most never risk. If you do return to a full time job in the future I’d be much more selective. Nobody has to endure a 3 hr daily commute just to have a good job. Consider getting out of the metro rat maze. I made several six figures and had an eight minute commute and most days a nine hour or less day home to home in a rural fly over state. Plus work was usually fun. Geoarbitrage to rural America can be incredibly profitable. You lose Starbucks and museums but you gain the great outdoors and friends who move at a leisurely pace. Thoreau didn’t write Walden about Central Park for a reason.
Haha, nice Steve. I could definitely find good work much closer to home. A much shorter commute (or a remote work job) is definitely going to be a high priority in whatever I do next.
Good luck on you mini-retirement. I imagine it will be amazing. I know many people who have taken a one year sabbatical and it recharged their battery for when they returned to work. Enjoy it!
That’s what I’m looking for. Thanks, Dave!
Congrats! I wish you the best of times during your mini-retirement. Hopefully, someday I will be able to take a mini-retirement of my own!
Congratulations ahead of time on your future mini retirement! It’s almost like a gap year during college lol except during your professional working life. I’ve taken approx. 2 years worth of these “gap years” once during college and once after college and it really did help shift gears and re-energize my purposes in life lol. Wish you the best! Have fun
Big congrats. This is awesome. I’m excited to see where this takes you and follow along.
I can only imagine your excitement.
Best of luck… make the most of it.
IDOF,
This is the first post I read from you thanks in part to Rock Star Finance. This decision intrigues me because I recognize some of the challenges you are facing. I had those challenges a couple of times during my career (I also work in IT).
I wish you all the luck and look forward to the journey and how you will come out victorious from this situation.
Best regards,
Carlos
Thanks, Carlos. Glad you could find me. Always a good day when I end up on Rockstar 🙂
It will be nice!! Have fun and do things you always wanted to do. As a teacher each summer I get a mini retirement experience and it is nice to step away from the pattern of work, eat, sleep, work again. You will be lost for the first week then you will get into a new pattern of productivity. I bet you come out of this busier than ever. Again, have fun!!
Thanks Josh!
Congrats! Excited to follow your journey over the year.
Wow, your story resonates with me so much! I would like to do a mini-retirement because I truly don’t know what I want to do next and really need the time to figure it out. My wife does not understand this. She keeps trying to get me to find another job(I’m not interested in another similar 9/5). I tried job switching a couple times and its just about the same.
The people I work with are nice and the job is fine, but its a grind everyday. I also can afford this. Question – how did your wife react, and did she approve? Mine is always scared the economy is going to fall apart again and that I won’t ever get another job. I have never taken more than 2 consecutive weeks off in 30 years(I’m 50).
If it were up to my wife I would have stepped away four months ago. She’s incredibly supportive, which makes this so much easier. She sees I need a change and wants that to happen so it doesn’t start to affect my attitude and outlook in other parts of life.
Having the financial stuff solid enough that it won’t drastically change our day to day obviously helps.
Congratulations! I too am working with Jillian at Montana Money Adventures, and am currently looking at doing something similar (only for me, it’s a year+ move from full time (20yr+) bureaucracy to part-time FUN jobs instead). Woohoo!
I am so excited for you!
Good luck! I hope you find something that will make life more enjoyable. That’s tough with corporations these days. I think you’ll find mini retirement busier than you imagined. ?
I took a couple of long sabbaticals and they were great. However, they weren’t mini retirements. I knew I was going back to work. That put a big damper on it.
I work in the same field as you, and I’m at that same point. I just turned 43 and have been really considering doing the same thing. Great inspiration to turn up the savings and get it done!
Go for it. It’s great to have options instead of golden handcuffs!
I understand the burnout factor. I went through similar phase. Though, I got a paid sabbatical every 7 years, which I was able to take twice in my last job of 17 years with the same company.
Once you burnout, you lose interest in your job and career and it’s hard to get back. Sabbaticals did help, but each time it was harder to get back to the daily grind. So, now I’m retired for good.
Anyway, I’m thinking maybe your mini-retirement is really a long sabbatical or it could be a full retirement in case you are so burned out that you don’t want to back into the same job/career. 3-hour commute doesn’t help either.
Well, all the best to you and hope you regain your energy and find more interesting things to do with your time.
Kudos to you! As someone in IT industry who often works 60 hours / week and being on call, I can feel the burn out as well while working for the corporation.
My number one goal now is to become a stay at home dad.
Thanks for sharing this inspiration.
Kudos to you on your decision! You know it’s time when your wife thinks you should have months ago…
For encouragement’s sake, I did a similar thing a while back: best decision I have made in years. It wasn’t a retirement in any sense of the word. I opened a new business, watched every TED talk imaginable on career/vocation, read up on those things, sought some new directions, and had a brief rest, too. (Like you, my wife supported us that year and pushed me towards the idea even with no firm plan for my next gig for the first time since my teenage years.)
I’m now in a *much* happier place, with a *much* firmer direction on life and what I intend to do with it. And a new job that I love.
You can do it. (And Chris is great, no?) Feel free to email me if I can be of any service to you as well – there are some resources I would highly recommend, as someone who traveled that path too. I wish you the best.
Everyone should try to do this at least once! At least that’s how I felt after I took 8 months off. Best experience of my life.
Embrace not knowing things. When something makes you uncomfortable, assuming it’s not for negative reasons, do more of it. Do something that scares you. Follow your curiosities.
Oooh, good thoughts. I’m definitely not one to push too far outside my comfort zone just for giggles, but hoping to do that during this time.
That is awesome that you are doing this. I am 59 and love the work I do but as you stated it gets to be a grind because of the time constraints on freedom to do what you want instead of doing what someone requests of you. Good luck in this part of your life adventure. Wish I had done the same many years ago.
I’m actually set to quit my job for a a mini-retirement in a few months as well! I’m in the same situation as you where my job is good, but I’m completely uninspired by the work and just not sure what I want to do next. It sounds like you’re doing all the right things: travel, reading, writing, leaving free time for creative thought.
Let’s keep in touch during our time off!
For sure, let’s chat! I’d be interested to see what your plans and experience turn out to be.
You are so cool for doing this! I admire people who take their life back and do incredible things with it… instead of whining about it but not doing anything to change. It really is what life is about, enjoying the little time we have been blessed with on this earth… and using our resources to strategically do so is the other part of this #YOLO lifestyle! Haha.
I will be taking mini-retirements throughout my working life too because it’s a must! If I were to die tomorrow, I want to go bed every night loving what I have created and done. My next “mini-retirement” is a 4-6week trip I’m hoping to take later this year to check out Fiji, New Zealand and a bit of Australia. But I have been going on so many trips lately my friends are like, what’s the difference from what you’re doing now? Haha! When they said that, I realized I’m already living my dream life.
Good luck to you friend and I will be checking to see what fun troubles you get yourself messed in!
Thanks, Jaymee! I guess I hadn’t thought of a mini-retirement as a YOLO moment, but you’re right, it really is.
Your trip sounds fabulous. All my travel so far has been in the Americas and Caribbean. Some day I’d like to get over to Scotland. After that, who knows! Enjoy your travels.
Best of luck, man!
Most people, including yours truly, wouldn’t have the courage to make such a move. I hope it brings you happiness and a clear direction.
Cheers!
-PoF
Thanks, PoF! I have high hopes and am putting myself in a good place to see them come to fruition. I’m sure it will give me blog fodder for months 🙂
Early retirement is not a good trend to follow as you could make a lot more money income until you get retire. But it may differ for people who have enough money to enjoy life and get retired early while they are young and healthy.
Congrats! And I’m joining you! Well, maybe technically you are joining me since I’m three weeks into my mini retirement with no clear defined plans. I’m excited to see what you choose to build with your time and energy ?
Thanks, and you as well! We’ll be on a crazy, semi-planned-out journey together.
I am currently going through something similar and loved reading your article. I felt it gave my hiatus more purpose than I was previously feeling was evident. My 24-year-old son died in a car accident 17 months ago and as of the end of 2017 we were finally in a financial position that allowed me to quit my job that was sucking the very life out of me. I am trying real estate on for size (not my fit I don’t think) and learning more baking techniques. I am hoping to also move to another state before restarting in the work force so I am sprucing up our current home. Something I would have not had time for working full time. I am hoping to be in a mental position to join the working world again in 2019, if not before.