Today we continue my “interview” with one of my Millionaire Money Mentors who detailed his journey into retirement.
If you missed the first post in this series, check out Retirement Countdown Interview 3, Part 1.
If you’re getting close to retirement, actively working on several steps in that process, and interested in doing an interview, please drop me a note.
Now let’s continue the story from “Mickey” and his wife, “Minnie”…
February 13th, 2022 – T minus 48 and counting!
[A Mentor here] asked a few very important questions on this thread that fundamentally can be summed up to “What are you retiring to?”.
All of those who retire, retire away from something. For example Mickey is retiring away from a W2 driven life. However, most early retirees advise that you consider in detail what you are retiring to. Great question!
I have considered this quite a bit and found it useful to leverage the work of Ernie Zelinski in doing so. Ernie wrote How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free and a few others that focused on the non-financial aspects of early retirement. I highly recommend it.
In his work Ernie describes his “Get-A-Life Tree” which is basically a fishbone diagram that breaks out spokes focused on:
- Activities that turn me on now
- Activities that have turned me on in the past
- New activities that I have thought about doing
- Activities that will get me physically fit
- Travel activities
Mickey has even enhanced his Get-A-Life Tree further by adding a spoke for “Addition by Subtraction”. These are things that will add to my life when they are subtracted away. Waking to an alarm clock is one example.
Minnie is slowly working on her tree. It will be interesting to see how much or how little overlap there is on our trees.
Obviously a person’s (or mouse’s) tree is personal and no two will be the same. There is no “right” tree and as far as I can tell your tree is always growing and evolving. There is no finish line.
Well, here is Mickey’s Get-A-Life Tree as of this morning…the engineer in me could not help but color code the tree limbs:
So while I do not have a canned answer to the annoying, frequently asked question of “What are you going to do all day?”, I have quite a bit that I am retiring too!
February 15th, 2022 – T minus 46 and counting!
There is a lifelong challenge in the corporate world that I have struggled with throughout my career and that I still struggle with today. In brief that struggle is “Just how upfront and direct should you be with leadership?” I have largely tried to be as open, honest and direct but I find so many times that the emperor does not want to be told that he has no clothes.
As I draw towards my departure I am even more twisted on this topic. Do I just smile and wave as I leave (ala The Penguins from the movie Madagascar) or do I try to be forward and constructively critical? I am thinking the former but open to suggestions here.
February 20th, 2022 – T minus 41 and counting!
Unsurprisingly I am getting a bunch of questions at work along the lines of “How can you retire at age 56?”. People want to sit down and pick my brain for what that is worth.
While I am trying to help as many of my coworkers individually, I realize that repeating some of the reference materials repeatedly is terribly ineffective. Thus I am creating some formal responses that I can share repeatedly. Given this, I thought I would post the resources here as well. So here goes:
- I consume a great amount of personal finance content. I have mostly limited superpowers but my relentless nature is likely one. When I get a hold of a topic that interests me, I devour it.
- The world is full of amazing FIRE and personal finance content in various presentation formats including books, blogs, Youtube presentations and podcasts. Do not be overwhelmed by the volume of solid information, just get started on your journey regardless of where you start leveraging the media that you enjoy the most.
Today we tackle books!
Here are my FIRE Content Resource Book recommendations which I have added to periodically as I traveled along my FIRE journey. This is not the list of the greatest personal finance books ever written but rather these are the books that have helped me along my journey to early retirement. Try one or more and better yet, borrow it from the library (yes, they still exist) or buy it used to save a few $$.
Books Recommendations
- Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robins and Joe Dominguez: Timeless book that I often give to recent college grads as a graduation gift. If you want to read one book to kick you in the a$$ to get started, this is it IMO.
- The Millionaire Next Door or The Next Millionaire Next Door: Amazing look into how true millionaires behave. Either version will do.
- The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins: Fantastically simple approach to wealth creation that anyone can follow.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki: Despite the controversy around this book, I find that it offers many valuable lessons about the differences between assets and liabilities and is worth the read.
- The Snowball – Warren Buffett: An excellent autobiographical look into the mind of one of the greatest investors of all time. The audiobook is excellent!
- How To Retire Wild Happy and Free by Ernie Zelinski: Great non-numbers book that helps you to focus on retiring to something and not just from something.
- How I Invest My Money by Joshua Brown and others: Fantastic short stories about how financial “experts” invest their own money. Great read.
February 21st, 2022 – T minus 40 and counting!
Healthcare. Ahhh Healthcare.
I don’t think there is any topic that causes an early retiree more angst than healthcare. While I am not flipping out on the topic, it is near the top of my early retirement riddles to nail down. We have a few months to get the balance of 2022 coverage set up and we are purposely starting our discussions early so that we do not drive up the stress to ludicrous speed!
Had a discussion today with a healthcare broker who we have used in the past for our grown sons coverages. IMO it is super helpful to be able to pick the brain of someone with a working knowledge of our completely screwed up healthcare industry.
Current plan for June 2022 through the end of the year is a heavily subsidized ACA plan that is high deductible and has an HSA that we can contribute to on a prorated basis (currently we do not have an HSA eligible plan). Will update as we get closer but that appears to be the winner for us for the balance of 2022. Well that and try like heck to stay healthy… 🙂
February 26th, 2022 – T minus 35 and counting!
Today I am taking my last significant work vacation.
Yep, I planned my 8 week notice so that I had a pre-approved vacation week in the middle so that I could unwind a bit during these stressful 8 weeks.
In hindsight, I think it a brilliant move and would recommend anyone do so if they are being generous enough to give extended notice. However, I am not that brilliant but mostly just got lucky in planning!
Heading down to Florida to see family and then the REAL Mickey!
March 6th, 2022 – T minus 27 and counting!
I’m BACK! 🙂
Right before I departed for vacation, my boss unveiled in a piecemeal fashion his plans to backfill my role. There are portions of his plan that have some merit and there are portions that I would project to be a train wreck. Since I am trying to make the transition a positive one, I openly shared my thoughts with him. Unsurprisingly he was not that interested in my thoughts even though just a few short months ago he listened to me fairly well.
I think this is one of the harder portions of the transition away from a workplace in which you deeply care about the people. You have to let go. You try to contribute till the end but the truth is, the organization just moves on for good or bad. So you need to move on as well. I need to move on as well.
So tomorrow I am back from vacation and into the arena for my last 26 days in W2 Land. All I can do is contribute as sincerely as possible and be as helpful and continue to be as helpful as possible. No worries! 🙂
I have attached my 6 month checklist. Admittedly it is highly imperfect but it has helped us to keep many items on our radar as we transition. Hopefully it helps some of you generate your own personalized list.
Sunday Bonus Material!
Per a great suggestion from [member] I am adding a link to a Google Sheet version of the check list:
6 Months To Retirement Check List
I have made the Google Sheet accessible to all to view and make a copy.
March 9th, 2022 – T minus 24 and counting!
I have been super fortunate to work with many amazing people over my career. Overall, I have generally enjoyed 98% of all the people I worked with on a very personal level.
What is super heartwarming is that for some very odd reason many people apparently enjoyed working with me as well. Just this weekend, a past coworker and vendor who heard I was retiring surprised me by taking me to lunch. I worked with these folks 5+ years ago. They shared such heartfelt, almost embarrassing stories of how I had impacted their life over the years. It was unnecessary but so very kind.
I share this thought because so often we do not make the time to realize how significantly we impact those in our lives. We just don’t slow down to realize it. Likely Jackie Robinson said it best:
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
March 11th, 2022 – T minus 22 and counting!
I had an epiphany yesterday regarding my company’s lack of drive to leverage me much during my final 8 weeks. That fact has left my workdays really very dull and somewhat boring.
That doesn’t work for me so I decided yesterday that I needed a CRUSADE to lead for my final 3.5 weeks. Something worthwhile that will make me feel better about contributing to the end.
I think I found my crusade goal yesterday — I am going to get as many people (salary and hourly) signed up and engaged in our company 401K. It is shocking how many people are missing out on this benefit. I will have my final legacy be financial literacy!!
So I am pestering and encouraging a small village to sign up at least until they get the company match! Free Money!!!
I am off to conquer!! I will let you know how many people I help!!
March 14th, 2022 – T minus 19 and counting!
Previously I posted a list of some of my favorite personal finance books that helped shape our journey.
I also consume and have consumed a zillion blogs. I like this media format very much as it fits my short attention span. Below is a list without links but you should be able to Google any of these and find them easily.
Some of these are more for beginners, some are much more advanced. At one time or another I have found all of these useful and 8 to 10 I still read religiously even as we transition to our early retirement.
My advice is to not get overwhelmed with the list. Just check out blogs until you find a few or more that resonate with you. Many of these will allow you to sign up for periodic new posts to be sent to your email. Easy peasy.
Personal Finance Blogs That I Think Rock
- A Wealth of Common Sense
- Humble Dollar
- The Retirement Manifesto
- Choose FI
- The Retirement Answer Man
- The White Coat Investor
- Physician on FIRE
- New Retirement
- ESI Money
- The Simple Path to Wealth
- Early Retirement Now
- Nerd’s Eye View
- All-Star Money
- Accidental FIRE
- The Behavior Gap
- Route to Retire
- Retire by 40
- The Mad Fientist
- Go Curry Cracker
- Financial Samurai
- Mr Tako Escapes
- The Finance Buff
- 1500 Days to Freedom
- Mr Money Mustache
- CampFIRE Finance
- Slightly Early Retirement
March 18th, 2022 – T minus 15 and counting!
Just got a fresh dose of life’s fickle, almost twisted nature.
My company has large product launches about 8 times a year. During these times we swell from processing 3,000 orders a week to 35,000+ orders that week. It is pretty insane. It is super stressful but also at times a rush and can be fun if you embrace the madness.
Well, my last week of work was a scheduled launch week. No worries for me, I like the pace of launch week. I am sure the company was pleased that I would be there to help assure that the train did not go off the rails even if I was not the train conductor any longer.
Well…the company screwed up the launch and the required limited edition collection boxes are delayed due to a complete lack of vision and planning. So they had to push the launch back a week. Yep, I no longer have any stress for my last two weeks. Smooth sailing to April 1st…
Too funny… 🙂
March 20th, 2022 – T minus 13 and counting!
I have previously posted regarding my annoyance with the “What are you going to do all day?” question. That annoyance remains.
Today I am going to add my 2nd most frequent annoyance. That is people repeatedly telling me that there is no way that I will not get another job. There are even people telling me that I will not get out of April without looking for another W2 job!
I have perpetually said that if I feel the urge to get another W2 job, I will, but I suspect that I will not feel like doing so. However, that door always remains open. That is the joy of being FI — you have options.
So why do all kinds of friends feel the need to poke me with the “there is no way you do not get another job”?? I know there is no malice in them saying so but it is Super Freakin’ annoying.
It is like they are saying “You don’t know what the freak you are doing”!
Ugh!
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That’s is for today. Lots of great insights IMO.
The retirement checklist is very worthwhile for anyone looking at retirement within the next couple of year. I suggest you check it out!
For the final part of this series, check out Retirement Countdown Interview 3, Part 3.
The Crusher says
Love any and all comments so keep them coming. I will try to answer all individually! Happy to help!!
DTB says
Thanks for gifting your story to the community. It manages to be inspiring, entertaining, funny and heartfelt.
MI 228 says
I love reading this. I believe that what is revealed in your friends’ annoying questions is simply their own lack of vision and preparation for life after W2 work. For the past 5 years I have spent around 10 hours per week preparing to retire early (reading, saving, calculating, aligning with my husband and financial planner, running various scenarios with upsides and downsides). So if the time comes that others can’t understand or believe that I am retiring early, I can’t imagine caring. 🤣😂
Looking forward to your next post!
The Crusher says
Thank you. It was actually soothing to document the details to share and of course I am happy if doing so helps/entertains folk.
I agree that long-term planning and a holistic view are keys to a successful pivot to a FIRE life. Good for you for recognizing this and taking action.
And for the record as I meet new friends or friends, I still get the “Retired? How can you be retired? How old are you?” questions. I just had a professional financial advisor ask me those very questions. He is coincidently the same age as me. My quick (oversimplified) response – I invested wisely. 🙂
Truth be told we took and ESI approach over a long time period and started long before I found this great website!!
Steveark says
A lot of times I just told people I inherited a lot of money. I did but the fact is it didn’t matter, I was already financially independent. But it did give them an easy answer that didn’t make them feel they’ve failed to do something right, it just sounds like I got lucky.
Dave says
I’m 66 and retired 10 years ago, so here’s a report from the road ahead. Great decision! Like you, I had a long transition with a vacation in the middle (Jamaica). Like you, I watched the organization move on like a train receding into the distance. My favorite retirement resource is also Retire Happy, Wild, and Free btw. I too am an engineer who worked in operations leadership my last 20 years. Several years after retirement I was approached re: a part time engineering gig among old friends. It was a blast! I did two of those gigs over five years. An agency deposited money in my checking account every week, unbudgeted funds that encouraged splurges on toys/experiences and let me hire chores/projects to buy time, like “skills barter’ really. Ignore the people saying you’ll seek W2 work. It might find you, but never let it become a job. You’d be shocked at what you recall from decades earlier. One of my retired buddies calls these gigs brain floss.
The Crusher says
Wow Dave, very similar experiences so far. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to the future regardless but one without any serious W2-like commitments sounds great!
OL70 says
I can second doing some part time work or consulting after a few years of being retired. It’s actually kind of fun to dip your toe back in the water while not having the need go work nor the pressures/time commitments that go along with full time jobs.
D says
“Brain Floss”… I like that… Definitely will add that term to my vocabulary… 🙂
RE@54 says
“I think I found my crusade goal yesterday — I am going to get as many people (salary and hourly) signed up and engaged in our company 401K. It is shocking how many people are missing out on this benefit. I will have my final legacy be financial literacy!!
I am off to conquer!! I will let you know how many people I help!!”
I look forward to hearing how many people you helped regarding the 401K and the responses you received.
In 25 years at my workplace I have encouraged many to sign up and maybe 15% did that I know. Most brushed it off or maybe they signed up later. Granted, we do have a pension, but most work to 65-67 to get it with max benefits. So they would sacrifice years to get the full benefit and not contribute to 401K. I figured contribute to 401K along with the pension and retire at 55. Win Win.
The Crusher says
Good for you for reaching out to help others as well. I was really a very worthwhile crusade and one that I have led at many of my organizations. This last crusade (we should make a movie by that title) was particularly rewarding as many of the people that I helped were financially challenged, lower income friends.
MI-226 says
I’m really enjoying this series! It’s bringing back some awesome memories from my own FIRE journey.
Your crusade…” I think I found my crusade goal yesterday — I am going to get as many people (salary and hourly) signed up and engaged in our company 401K. It is shocking how many people are missing out on this benefit. I will have my final legacy be financial literacy!!”
This reminded me of a conversation from my final work week with a much younger employee. I had directly managed this young man early in my MegaCorp career. He was less than 20 YO when he came to work at MegaCorp, and I was about 30 YO at the time he worked for me. He had no degree and was fairly fresh out of high school in a very entry level role. During annual employee reviews, I would always end reviews by mentioning our 401k program to my employees. I always brought up our fantastic 401k matching program (it was up to 10% dollar for dollar). It was a personal objective for me (even early in my career) to help others understand the importance of saving in their 401k’s. I asked this young man if he was at least taking advantage of our company match, and he just laughed and said, “uh…no!” “Why would I? I’m only 19 YO and retirement is like a hundred years away”, I can still hear him saying…
So in my final week, this now middle aged (still young to me!) man (now approximately 40 YO) approached me to thank me for giving him occasional guidance over the years. He pulled me aside, and into a narrow corridor, and quietly whispered, “ You made me a millionaire!” Somewhat surprised by his comment, I said, “what do you mean? He reminded me of our first 401k conversation over twenty years earlier. He said, you’ll always be my favorite boss for giving me that kick in the butt to start my 401k. I’m now married with two kids, and I’m leading a life that I never thought I’d live. My 401k has over $1M in it! Thank you…
I went home that day knowing that I’d made at least one difference in someone’s career, and it made my final week feel incredibly complete. It’s amazing the small, but substantial impacts we can make on others. I’m betting your series is having that very impact on many readers still in their journey. Nice job!
The Crusher says
Thank you for sharing. Your story is inspirational! What you did for that person, and I am sure others, was so genuine and kind. WOW, I just love it!!
BRAVO!!!!
The Crusher says
Thank you for sharing. Your story is inspirational! What you did for that person, and I am sure others, was so genuine and kind. WOW, I just love it!!
BRAVO!!!!
The Crusher says
Too many reply buttons for this early retiree! Never seem to get the right one! 🙂
Andy Wierling says
Great stuff – thanks for sharing. I am hopefully not too far behind you!
I tried to access your 6 Months To Retirement Check List google doc, but getting an error saying it’s been deleted. Is it still available? Would love to see it!
Matt M says
I love your retirement story Crusher. Thank for all the uplifting details. I particularly appreciate the lists of recommended books and blog sites – thank you!
Do you have any financial / FIRE audio podcasts that you can recommend? Thank you in advance.