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Make sure you are financially prepared to step away from a high-paying job. You will be able to get a job later, if needed, but probably at 30-40% lower comp.
Know how to fill your time. Fitness, hobbies, time with the kids, boards, volunteer work. Be prepared that many of your friends are still working and have less free time than you, so make new ones among those who already retired, at a pickleball court, in the gym, or someplace else. If you have no kids or they already left for college, enjoy traveling off-holidays. It is amazing.
Think about family dynamics. Will your spouse retire with you? Then you will see a lot more of each other at home. Will he/she keep working? This may create its own set of issues to work through.
Enjoy decompression. You will physically feel stress leaving you in the first 2-3 month. Your sleep will improve and Sunday evening blues will go away.
All in all, I enjoy it. I did it with open eyes, so did not have many surprises. It feels great to be in control of my time and do what I want. I feel financially secure knowing that a large share of our spending is discretionary and can be cut in case a black swan comes along. The lack of social interaction sometimes bothers me, but I also made new friends. No regrets.
If you can, test drive retirement by taking a 6-9 month sabbatical and see how you feel. Good luck!
Thank you so much, P1. Lots of insights in your response. I really appreciate it.
Reddit r/FatFIRE. You will probably get more responses and wisdom there.
My personal observations of fellow partners are:
a) Surprisingly, the level of financial knowledge is somewhat inadequate for early retirement, eg., many assume safe withdrawal rates in excess of what historically has been possible, do not optimize for future taxes, etc.
b) For many, their egos are very strongly tied to their jobs, which makes it hard to step away and enjoy retirement. Having a more balanced life before retirement helps. As they say, retire to something, not from something.
Agree. Chubby fire is a lot more relatable.
Not myself but a friend. Echoes many of the advice from Partner 1 with the addition of friends group. His biggest hurdle to overcome was that none of his friend were in the same position so he spent quite a bit of his early retirement planning trips that no-one else could go on. Having a friends group that are in the same position as you is important; you need someone to share it with otherwise you’ll be doing a lot on your own. As an aside, his early retirement was due to a windfall trust his wife received so while they both retired she went into full time philanthropic work so his spare time was lonely to begin with.
Thank you. Makes sense.