Early Retirement Thread: Age & Activity related!

I'll turn 50 this summer, my initial goal (when I was 48 ) was to gtfo of the consulting engineering biz within 5 years (by 53). That's still possible, but more likely it'll happen at 55. Honestly, if I got laid off next month I wouldn't be crying on the drive home. Severance package plus the buyout for my ownership stake in the firm would set me up pretty well for minimum 10 years, and a lot longer if I invest well. Sadly, the discipline of engineering I do has few experienced people, so if I got shown the door, my replacement would be hard to find. Hell, we spent 4 years just to find a junior eng with the right basic experience.

Plan for now is to keep the spending down, throw pots of cash into solid investments, then walk away for good. Might decide to start up a small biz designing home automation systems, though. That shit is pretty fun.

Kn.

I have done a few outdoor jobs to stay in shape and I would NEVER touch a computer again, I think if they can afford it people should do something completely different than what they did …reinvent themselsves

I talked to a retired dentist from salmon arm (or somewhere nice down there) on the chair who comes up and does locums, buddy obviously has enough coin that he can quit sticking his hands in peoples mouths so I asked why …he said well it would be a shame to waste all that knowledge and expertise

the ski buds couple I am staying with over here has done and been very sucessful at completely different jobs/businesses every 8 years and the perspective is very interesting

edit: 50 is the time to lose all excess weight and get into the BEST shape you can

i worked my brains out in my 20 s and 30s made lots of money and spent lots of money….on things that just get old and worthless. Had the big house new cars trucks toys blah blah and was stressed the hell out. And its all gone now.
Been working about 4 months a year for the last four years and life is good, have a house paid for in asia and do lots of fun traveling and stuff.

But i do miss just going down to the shop a buying a brand new motorcycle or something…

I never want to actually retire, making money in your own business doing something fun is needed to keep active.

My Dad's plant shut down when he was 58. He worked a few jobs for awhile then took early retirement from the IWA at 60. He's now 82 [HTML_REMOVED] living the life. It was tough at first for him to not be working, but now he's doing well. Goes where he wants, when he wants [HTML_REMOVED] laughs at all the working morons driving to work in rush hour traffic. I figure, you only go around once, so why spend any more time working than you have to?

if you do not believe that go to a party where you meet someone the 1st thing they ask you is "what do you do" I always said "nothing" so I was actualy known as the guy in Smithers who does nothing but I have since redefined myself as "a skier" .

skiing is serious business for sure.

well it is something certainly [HTML_REMOVED] sitting around getting fat, skiing is the only thing I turn up for on a regular basis and actualy I do take it fairly seriuosly … it is the job

how much $ do y'all think you need what do the experts say?

guy on " carts of darkness " figures 20 bux a day , but he's living in a trailer on what looks to be somebody elses' land . he doesn't have much or do anything that costs money , but he seems pretty content . some other folks
would tell you
they'd need a lot more to maintain their
lifestyle , make payments on toys , keep the partner happy and the dog fed .
i seriously don't know what it costs to keep my empire running … my wife handles all the financials .

Freedom 40. Riding my bike around the world til 50.

Freedom 40. Riding my bike around the world til 50.

Are you two planning on blogging your travels?

well it is something certainly [HTML_REMOVED] sitting around getting fat, skiing is the only thing I turn up for on a regular basis and actualy I do take it fairly seriuosly … it is the job

how much $ do y'all think you need what do the experts say?

oh I know; try explaining to a non-ski bum why they havn't seen you around town for 3 months in the winter, whats with the funny goggle tan and why you smell like you havn't done laundry in weeks while buying 20kg of rice and beans make it to the end of the season. Not everyone understands how big a thing it is to wake up and live the dream every day, I know :lol:

Skiing is really just a strenuous outdoor job with no pay no vacation no weekends and you don't get no sympathy

Nice my GF and I describe as dream jobs as pro atheletes (we are still working on it)

My wife loves her job and will likely work well past 65 as a consultant. I'm going to ride that train until the wheels fall off.

I'm still a hell of a long ways off, but I'm aiming for somewhere between 55 and 60.

That doesn't necessarily mean I won't work, but it is more likely to be the odd consulting gig, rather than 50 hrs a week like every other engineer out there.

Or, say fuck it at any moment, get a masters in geology, and work exploration during the summer, ski bum all winter, travel, see the world and then work until I die when I'm done.

too young for early retirement. too old for the jersey shore.

that's the brown bear dilemma.