Congratulations! You’ve retired early. Now what? Consider walking with me through a 9 week process to explore the big questions: who am I? why am I here? and how shall I live in retirement?
Category: FIRE
It’s been a year since I retired at 46. My biggest surprise is the gap between my experience and the pervasive myths about early retirement.
Happy “Quitter’s Day”! In case you’ve never heard of Quitter’s Day, it’s the day most people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions. And it’s notable because it’s only 17 days into the new year. In honor of Quitter’s Day, I’m adding the third installment to my series on Annual Planning That Works. I already…
I’m delighted to see how many people have used our annual planning process this year to reflect on 2018, clarify your desired vision for every area of your life, and create goals for 2019 that will move you towards your optimal life. I’ve received many sweet thank you notes and lots of pictures of planning…
If you’re planning to replace resolutions with “one word” for 2019, make sure you avoid these three mistakes.
Since I retired, I’ve been having lots of conversations with people about the idea of early retirement generally, and the FIRE movement specifically. While many can’t imagine it’s possible to retire early for financial reasons, it’s also the case that many people scoff at the idea of early retirement because of how they feel about their current…
After we quit Christmas 12 years ago, my husband and I started traveling to Mexico every December. And in place of all the holiday rituals we left behind (decorating, parties, baking, shopping, etc….), we created a brand new ritual of our own. We call it our “annual retreat”. I’ll warn you now, it’s intense! I’m…
Everywhere I go this week, I’ve faced the usual holiday small talk: What did you buy on Black Friday? Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? Did you get a real or fake Christmas tree? Are you hosting a Christmas party? Are you putting up lights outside this year? Do you want some Christmas…
Today’s Thanksgiving holiday got me thinking about the role of giving in the journey toward Financial Independence and Retiring Early (FIRE). When I searched the mountain of writing by FIRE bloggers, I found surprisingly little describing how people conceptualize and practice giving. I’m not sure why bloggers who are comfortable sharing all their financial data online don’t…
I’ve been traveling this month through Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal. For me, traveling means meeting lots of new people. And sooner or later, they all ask: “so… what do you do?” When my husband and I respond “we’re retired”, it inevitably generates lots of questions. And the most frequently asked question on this trip has…