Waiting for retirement
I wanted to share our FIRE experience because it's something I wish I had read years ago.
My wife and I had been saving diligently for a long time when we had a windfall ~10 years ago in our mid 30's. It was the result of a lot of hard work but also a lot of luck, and we felt extremely fortunate.
After a lot of deliberation, we decided we wanted to retire early. We spent a ton of time learning about investing, tax law, retirement strategies. We set three retirement numbers: lean, moderate, and plush. We've now surpassed our plush number by 10%. But we're both still working. So what gives?
Well, we found a wonderful period of life "waiting for retirement." Each time we passed an early retirement goal, we used our financial independence for a quality of life we never imagined when we started on this path. We moved to a dream location. We take an irresponsible about of time off from work, and use that time adventuring in the outdoors like never before. We have little stress about how we spend our income, allowing us to say yes to a lot more. And we can still stop working at any moment.
I worry we keep moving the goal posts, just waiting for the stock market to bring us to next retirement number. The only thing you can't buy is more time, after all. But, overall, we have found that between FI and RE is a great time to pause and invest in life for a while.