Author Topic: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!  (Read 3247 times)

Dan408

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1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« on: September 10, 2017, 04:03:01 AM »
If there's one thing I have to say straight off the bat it's this: I can't believe all this stuff actually works! Why isn't everyone doing it???

I've been living with the FIRE-philosophy for 6 years. Saving, investing and learning, with what I think is a common but relentless obsession for checking then rechecking the numbers (and MMM... come on we need a new post already!). I'm now at a situation where I'm happy to give up full time employment at the start of 2019 and spend my days at the beach, travelling with the missus, mountain biking and learning.

For background: I've been employed in a high paying (Australian) air force job since I was 18 (2008). I missed out on the being able to do the job I signed up for because of an injury in 2009, and decided - "well, why don't I just become rich?". Luckily I stumbled on the Early Retirement Extreme from the get go and then MMM, so I didn't fall for any get-rich-quick BS!

Right now I have a portfolio that isn't huge, but I have a property that has rapidly appreciated (to be sold soon), index funds that are leveraged and paying terrific dividends (Australian companies pay awesome, tax effective dividends), and I'll have continual assistance from my job for accommodation. It's all about dat passive income.

What it all means is that, from the start of 2019, I will quit full time service, take long service leave, then join the Reserves and work 3 months per year! I'll be 28 and my dividends will cover my cost of living in total, and the Reserve work will cover beer money/transport/travel/lift tickets etc. Woo hoooo!!! Is it a safe plan for >40 years? Maybe. But to me the greater risk is not seizing the opportunity to be young, free, and alive!

Thank you MMM, Jacob from ERE, all other retirement bloggers I read, and to everyone on the boards. The lives we are all living are a reliable path to happiness, satisfaction, health, and low-impact living: but it's more than that. Frugality hurts no one. It takes advantage of no one. You don't need to be a genius (I'm a case in point) or manipulative in business. You just need to display self-control and make deliberate actions. In the words of Neil geGrasse Tyson, "That makes me want to grab people in the street, and say- Have you heard this?!?"

HappierAtHome

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2017, 04:05:42 AM »
Congratulations!!

Adventine

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2017, 04:17:05 AM »
Amazing job! Congratulations from a fellow 28 year old :D

soccerluvof4

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2017, 04:57:57 AM »
Congrats! thats a long retirement!!!

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2017, 03:55:07 PM »
Is it a safe plan for >40 years? Maybe. But to me the greater risk is not seizing the opportunity to be young, free, and alive!

You're asking the right questions, AND providing the right answers :-)  Congratulations!

Financial.Velociraptor

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2017, 05:02:57 PM »
w00t!

Well done, sir!

Dan408

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2017, 07:25:28 PM »
Thanks all! It's pretty unreal to consider all the time I'll have to actually be outside in the sun, rather than in an fluro-lit office with frosted glass windows (if at all). I'm already thinking about "What will I achieve each day?". I dont really want to think like that though, at least not for a while. I want to be able to appreciate my life, my family and my surroundings without constant mental accusations that I'm wasting my time.

That said, I have been known to sit on my ass drinking beers in the backyard for hours at a time so maybe I have nothing to worry about.

Can I ask though, for the folks on here who have FIRE-ed at 40, 50 or 60 years old - What do you think your careers gave you that you would've missed out on if you had cut them short before 30? That kind of makes me hesitant about doing too little career work after next year.

steveo

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2017, 09:34:02 PM »
Well done Dan. I'm a fellow Australia and I'm currently 44. I could probably retire now if I cashed in on my house but I intend to work another 3 years.

I see two benefits of my career. One is the self learning that comes from copping crap and learning how to deal with it and two is good friendships that I've had.

Ozstache

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Re: 1 Year and 3 Months from Semi-Retirement - at 28 years old!
« Reply #8 on: September 12, 2017, 03:51:34 AM »
Can I ask though, for the folks on here who have FIRE-ed at 40, 50 or 60 years old - What do you think your careers gave you that you would've missed out on if you had cut them short before 30? That kind of makes me hesitant about doing too little career work after next year.

I retired from the RAAF at 30 years, age 45. I was pretty burnt out by the time I left, so much so that I have done zero Reserve days as I still dread going back, even after 4 years away. Don't get me wrong, I loved the RAAF and am appreciative of the great people I met, the good postings I had (including 2 OS), the high income and allowances I had, and the great financial gift it gave me as I walked out the door (thank you DFRDB!). My career had just happened to head down a path I was very good at, but gave me little satisfaction, so my last 10 years was a rather soul sucking experience.

From this, you can gather that I think 20 years would have been a better exit point. I think at 10 years in I did not have enough life experience, but of course youthful I thought I did at the time, and that second 10 years I grew quite a bit professionally. In your case, you are proposing to semi-retire and the Reserves gives you the option to scale your part-time career up or down as much as you like, including the option to get back in if it turns out you made a horrible mistake in retiring so soon, so I say go for it!
« Last Edit: September 12, 2017, 04:01:50 AM by Ozstache »

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!