Author Topic: 2020 FIRE Cohort  (Read 539913 times)

IslandFiGirl

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1500 on: March 08, 2020, 02:51:45 PM »

I am so sorry you have been sick.

When I was in undergrad I was super stressed and worked really hard. After finals were over each semester I wouid get sick, like clockwork. I finally decided that it was when all the stress let up it was like my body finally realized it was okay to let its guard down and then I would catch some bug that would force me to take it easy and rest. Maybe something similar is happening to you?
[/quote]

Yeah, I think that's what's going on, hopefully now that I've been sick a few times and I'm really not even stressed (not even about corona virus or the market) I can start getting back into my life! 

MoneyTree

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1501 on: March 08, 2020, 03:37:56 PM »
^yep, this is a thing.

Here is an article on it: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/let-down-effect-sickness_n_568d60e0e4b0a2b6fb6e510b

I used to get this all the time. For some reason it doesn't happen to me as much anymore.

Maenad

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1502 on: March 09, 2020, 05:06:38 AM »
Yep, DH and I have all our favorite sick foods ready, and I told my elderly parents I'm self-quarantining for the last 2 weeks of March.

IslandFiGirl

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1503 on: March 09, 2020, 10:18:10 AM »
Yep, DH and I have all our favorite sick foods ready, and I told my elderly parents I'm self-quarantining for the last 2 weeks of March.

That's a good idear!

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1504 on: March 09, 2020, 12:36:12 PM »
01/01/20  Linea_Norway (@46)          CONFIRMED
01/01/20  firebrand                   CONFIRMED
01/01/20  Nancy                       CONFIRMED
01/01/20  openroadadventure (@53/50)  CONFIRMED
01/03/20  nwa-non                     CONFIRMED
01/07/20  alienbogey's wife           CONFIRMED
01/15/20  Nifty
01/15/20  Nickel (@55)                CONFIRMED
01/15/20  GettingClose's husband      CONFIRMED
01/31/20  ATS (@52)                   CONFIRMED
01/31/20  DisplacedHoosier (@57)      CONFIRMED
02/03/20  grobinski (@52/53)          CONFIRMED
02/03/20  IslandFIGirl                CONFIRMED
02/07/20  JumboShrimp                 CONFIRMED
02/??/20  RetireAbroadAt35
03/01/20  Bmjohnson (@50)             CONFIRMED
03/06/20  damyst                      CONFIRMED
03/07/20  Fresh Bread                 Swami
03/13/20  CrazyIT                     CONFIRMED
03/13/20  ysette9 (@38)               CONFIRMED
03/13/20  Padonak                     CONFIRMED
03/??/20  Maenad                      Given notice
03/20/20  Mmm_donuts                  Given notice
03/??/20  FInding_peace (@38)       
03/??/20 or later 20  Beeboy (@46)
03/31/20  texxan1
03/31/20  wildatheart (@53)
04/02/20  CptCool 
04/09/20  rab-bit's wife              Given notice
04/14/20  MarcherLady
04/17/20  Ottawa
04/??/20  DreamFIRE   
04/??/20  Exit2019
04/??/20  Pennycounter   
04/24/20  aspiringnomad (@37)         Given notice
04/??/20 or later 20  robtown   
04/??/20 - 07/??/20  JoJo
05/01/20  Fresh Bread's husband
05/01/20  Much fishing to do 
05/15/20  SailingOnASmallSailboat's DH (@50/51)
05/15/20  BeanCounter
05/15/20  Lucky13 (@44)
05/22/20  Body Surfer                 Given notice
05/31/20  Dee18
05/??/20  Rcc     
05/??/20  Lady Stash (@45)
06/01/20  Albireo13 (@64)
06/05/20  thelyon19
06/05/20 (or April) rab-bit (@59)
06/16/20  Kteach
06/??/20  Farmgirl (@61)
06/??/20  ixtap (date uncertain)     
07/01/20  FireLane (@38)   
07/01/20  Unique User (@50)
07/??/20  SugarMountain
07/??/20 or later 20  MMM123
07/??/20. bas5252 (@55)
07/??/20  2sk22 
07/??/20  SpreadsheetMan
08/07/20  HappyCheerE (@55)           Given notice
08/??/20 or 2021  Bateaux
09/25/20  apurplelife
09/??/20  Dan23
10/??/20  Rubyvroom   
11/01/20  Alienbogey
11/20/20  Alternatepriorities
11/30/20  Itchyfeet
12/31/20  BFGirl
12/31/20  Freedomin5 (@38)
12/??/20  david_shin   
12/??/20  MoneyTree (@36)   
12/??/20  Nora (@42)   
12/??/20  TheFIExplorer     
??/??/20  EscapeVelocity2020   
??/??/20  BlueMR2     
??/??/20  catccc   
??/??/20  DadzillaGorilla (FI@35, RE@40)   
??/??/20  FIREstache (@55)     
??/??/20  LadyMaWhiskers   
??/??/20  letsdoit   
??/??/20  onlykelsey     
??/??/20  tooqk4u22     
??/??/20  Fresh Bread
12/??/20  desk_jockey
??/??/20?  Gumption

 
To be decided: tipster350

OLY:   
meatgrinder   
Life in balance (end of 2019)
2Birds1Stone (autumn 2019)
Firebrand (second week of December 2019)
   
OMY:   
RedefinedHappiness   
FIREby2021 (Q1 2021)   
TheContinentalOp (2021)
Sand101
   
FIREing later:   
FIPurpose (date to decided)   
ToughMother (date to be decided)
GettingClose working 50% and not in management from 04/01/2020 for another year.
Katmandew (@54), parttime from 02/29/2020.

Steevven1 (@29): parttime from 01/2020.

« Last Edit: March 16, 2020, 12:59:20 AM by Linea_Norway »

Alternatepriorities

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1505 on: March 09, 2020, 12:46:57 PM »
You can put 11/20/20 down for me unless the market crashes for real or DW and I decided to buy a lake front lot we've been watching and I need more cash for DIY house construction summer of 2021...

Body Surfer

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1506 on: March 09, 2020, 07:37:05 PM »
We decided to take profits from our non-IRA equities the other day. Our AA was 50/50, now 33/67. Biggest factor for us is the uncertainty of where we will live in the future. Most likely moving from current house. I want the cash on hand and am unwilling to risk this $ to this very unstable market. Just not worth it to worry about. The $ we have in the market now won't be touched for 12-13 years. 

Hopefully you folks are happy with your AA.

Best of luck to all of us.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1507 on: March 10, 2020, 01:50:35 AM »
We have about one year of cash available now that the cash flow has stopped. I am very happy that we don't need to sell our stocks now.
In the third week of July we will receive all the cash for the selling house, about 875K. I wonder how the market will  be by that time. Hopefully not at a new all time high. We plan to put about 50% in the stock market. The other half will be set aside for buying a new house after renting for a year.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1508 on: March 10, 2020, 02:10:47 AM »
Don't worry Linda, the stock market will not be anywhere near new highs for the remainder of 2020. The economic ripple effect of this will unfortunately take a while to play out. For someone with a huge chunk of their NW in a pending home sale, this is great news.

I'm revisting this thread to encourage you all to avoid fear from preventing your dreams from being realized. I know that if I hadn't done a OLY and FIRE'd in 2019, I would definitely be second guessing myself right now.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


SailingOnASmallSailboat

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1509 on: March 10, 2020, 06:17:37 AM »
DH has May 1 as his "notice date" in our calendar. He's freaked by the coronavirus and mentioned putting off his retirement so we can be assured of healthcare. I reminded him of a few things:
1. We're likely doing COBRA for the rest of 2020 anyway, as we're over the level of income for subsidy and any plan I can find is at or above what our COBRA cost is
2. We are healthy and fine and not in a high risk group. We're not likely to need more medical care because of this virus than anything else. If we were not worried before this, being worried now makes no sense.
3. We live more isolationist lives as a matter of course; our plans to move onto the boat aren't a change from this.

I'm also listening to his worries and trying to help alleviate them, mostly by restocking the house with food (we've been trying to eat down everything so we have less to move when we sell the house).

He's back on board with May 1 as his notice date.

Sand101

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1510 on: March 11, 2020, 10:29:47 PM »
I went from being 0.3% away from "safe" to a long, long way away.  Safe to say that I can be removed from this list. 

ysette9

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1511 on: March 11, 2020, 10:34:31 PM »
I went from being 0.3% away from "safe" to a long, long way away.  Safe to say that I can be removed from this list.
My condolences

MoneyTree

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1512 on: March 11, 2020, 11:17:52 PM »
I went from being 0.3% away from "safe" to a long, long way away.  Safe to say that I can be removed from this list.

I'm in a similar boat. I have no doubt that stocks will eventually recover, but it i'm guessing it won't happen in a timeframe that would allow me to FIRE by the end of 2020.

But I'm not too bummed about it. This is precisely why i'm still working, so that I can accumulate enough buffer and safety margin to absorb big corrections like this one. I wasn't quite there yet, but I'm very thankful for the timing of this recent sell off. If major market corrections are inevitable, I'd rather it come while I'm still working and not after I quit.


CptCool

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1513 on: March 12, 2020, 08:36:30 AM »
I went from being 0.3% away from "safe" to a long, long way away.  Safe to say that I can be removed from this list.

I'm in a similar boat. I have no doubt that stocks will eventually recover, but it i'm guessing it won't happen in a timeframe that would allow me to FIRE by the end of 2020.

But I'm not too bummed about it. This is precisely why i'm still working, so that I can accumulate enough buffer and safety margin to absorb big corrections like this one. I wasn't quite there yet, but I'm very thankful for the timing of this recent sell off. If major market corrections are inevitable, I'd rather it come while I'm still working and not after I quit.

I'm also in a similar boat, but think we're still going to go for it. At first I was seriously debating on delaying giving notice (partner gives it tomorrow and I will next week), but we are both quite young so if we go into a bear market followed by stagnation we can come back to the workforce in a year or three after taking some extended time off.

itchyfeet

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1514 on: March 12, 2020, 01:26:14 PM »
I’m not committing either way on FIRE for now. Decision parked till the summer.

MarcherLady

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1515 on: March 12, 2020, 02:39:23 PM »
I'm probably pushing my timeline out, right now I can't say with confidence that we are even still FI. I need to sit down and do some serious spread-sheeting, but my heart really isn't in it.

Body Surfer

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1516 on: March 12, 2020, 02:43:28 PM »
I am still retiring in late May. We have CD ladders set up until we take SS. I do not believe we need to touch our equities until 2033 at the earliest. Of course if bad inflation hits who knows?

BFGirl

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1517 on: March 12, 2020, 03:36:09 PM »
Keep me on the list for now, but it is looking less and less likely for me this year.

aspiringnomad

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1518 on: March 12, 2020, 03:39:07 PM »
I'm past the point of no return, and keeping with our plans for now. It's certainly been a good stress test for our mastery of stoicism.

rab-bit

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1519 on: March 12, 2020, 04:02:33 PM »
I had been planning on giving my notice next week, but now having second thoughts. We have moved into our retirement home but have had no luck so far selling our old home and I'm worried that buyers will start getting scared. We may end up having to rent it out for a while if we can't sell it.

The new plan is to take it month-by-month. If we accept an offer for the old home and things start to calm down a little with the virus and the markets, then I'll pull the trigger. But there are just too many unknowns right now.

Maenad

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1520 on: March 12, 2020, 04:07:10 PM »
Today was my last day in the office. Tomorrow I have my exit interview over the phone. Laptop, badge, and exit paperwork were all left on my boss's desk today.

I'm not bothered by what the market is doing. I remember 2008, when it felt like the entire world banking industry was imploding. This is serious, and we need to be cautious, but it's just not the same, regardless of how the market is reacting.

We have several years of living expenses in cash assuming we are frugal, which is not a hardship and is the plan for now. If I get nervous, I can call up my former boss, she said she'll figure out a way to get me back into the group.

I am so happy right now, it's like the sun is shining and the little birdies are chirping and there's not a damn thing that can change that. I'm going to just ride the endorphin/oxytocin rush!

Fresh Bread

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1521 on: March 12, 2020, 07:07:24 PM »
Congrats!!

itchyfeet

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1522 on: March 12, 2020, 10:41:13 PM »
I was at 97% of my FIRE number. Now at 83%.... I guess it’s not all doom and gloom.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1523 on: March 13, 2020, 01:49:00 AM »
I had been planning on giving my notice next week, but now having second thoughts. We have moved into our retirement home but have had no luck so far selling our old home and I'm worried that buyers will start getting scared. We may end up having to rent it out for a while if we can't sell it.

The new plan is to take it month-by-month. If we accept an offer for the old home and things start to calm down a little with the virus and the markets, then I'll pull the trigger. But there are just too many unknowns right now.

When I was 5 years old, my parents were in this situation, bought a bigger house and couldn't sell their previous for two years. That was an economic challenge for them. Renting it helped a bit, but they lost money in total. I hope your situation will be better.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1524 on: March 13, 2020, 01:54:37 AM »
Today was my last day in the office. Tomorrow I have my exit interview over the phone. Laptop, badge, and exit paperwork were all left on my boss's desk today.

I'm not bothered by what the market is doing. I remember 2008, when it felt like the entire world banking industry was imploding. This is serious, and we need to be cautious, but it's just not the same, regardless of how the market is reacting.

We have several years of living expenses in cash assuming we are frugal, which is not a hardship and is the plan for now. If I get nervous, I can call up my former boss, she said she'll figure out a way to get me back into the group.

I am so happy right now, it's like the sun is shining and the little birdies are chirping and there's not a damn thing that can change that. I'm going to just ride the endorphin/oxytocin rush!

Congrats. Cash is king right now.

ysette9

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1525 on: March 13, 2020, 05:17:15 PM »
Today was my last day at work, lucky Friday the 13th. Work was a ghost town and I turned in my laptop and badge without seeing or talking to anyone I knew at work. Very surreal. There was no goodbye, just walking out of the building and not looking back.

Padonak

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1526 on: March 13, 2020, 08:54:51 PM »
Today was officially my last day at work though I've been "working" from home for the last couple of weeks.

I was laid off from my office job and knew about the upcoming layoff since last fall. I was going to quit anyway so the layoff was timely. The severance isn't great but hey, it's money, I'll take it.

I'm in my late 30s, single, lean FI, frugal. I was planning to leave the HCOL area where I'm currently staying, slow travel internationally for awhile, then choose a place where I want to stay longer whether it's a lower COL area in the US or overseas. However, now I'm stuck here because of this coronavirus situation and don't know how long I'll have to stay put, hopefully not too long. I was going to stay here another couple of months anyway to finish some personal projects and get ready to travel. Hopefully a couple of months from now the situation will get better.

I don't know how to feel about what happened to me and whether I should even call it retirement. I rebalanced last year and created a "bond tent" of 30% cash + bonds, which is by now 40%, so I am not too worried about running out of money anytime soon even if the stock market keeps puking. Still, looking at the current portfolio does not inspire confidence even though I'm not freaking out and definitely not selling low.

I guess you can call me semi retired. I'm pretty sure I'll return to work at some point in my life, maybe out of boredom if nothing else. What's important that if and when it happens, it will happen on my terms. For example, working from home as opposed to sitting in a stupid open plan office. Working on something I'm interested in as opposed to doing what I'm told. Perhaps working for myself as opposed to having a boss.

These are interesting times for all of us, but I'm sure things will get better.
 

Bateaux

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1527 on: March 13, 2020, 09:41:58 PM »
Today was my last day at work, lucky Friday the 13th. Work was a ghost town and I turned in my laptop and badge without seeing or talking to anyone I knew at work. Very surreal. There was no goodbye, just walking out of the building and not looking back.

Had to be a strange way to go.  Good luck going forward.  You are no doubt the envy of those who will have to come back.

Lucky13

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1528 on: March 13, 2020, 10:49:38 PM »
Nine weeks left!  I’m “working from home” with the rest of my office due to corona virus. So far I’m enjoying being home all day, which is good practice for being retired. ;) I’m sad my stash value is sliding down along with the stock market, but I’m also relieved the long-expected “correction” is finally here. I lived through 2001 and 2008 and knew it was coming. I don’t plan to delay quitting because of the market drop but might stay for the health insurance if infections spread in my region. What a crazy turn of events, no one could have predicted this, hope all of you are healthy.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2020, 11:17:16 PM by Lucky13 »

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1529 on: March 14, 2020, 02:02:31 AM »
Congrats, @Yvette9 and @Padonak .
How about you, @CrazyIT ?

Mmm_Donuts

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1530 on: March 14, 2020, 06:08:44 AM »
My last day is next Friday. I'm also going to be working from home for the next week. Then back to freelance work.

I am afraid to look at our accounts but I believe we are down to about 70% of our goal FIRE number now. DH is still working and I will still be working PT so it's unsettling but I'm not too worried about the numbers right now.

On the outside it seems like the craziest time to quit. But I was also freelance during 2008 and made it through without panic selling. I remember the feeling that the world was collapsing and that civilization as we know it would soon be over. Somehow though, we made it through all that. At that time I had a huge mortgage - we were worried about losing the house. This time we have no mortgage, a decent amount of cash to see us through, some pretty solid investments, and incomes. Like others have said above it's quite devastating to see what is happening throughout the world and I certainly wouldn't have wished a pandemic to be the cause but at the same time am relieved that the correction is finally happening.

rebel_quietude

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1531 on: March 14, 2020, 06:18:19 AM »
Chiming in to support this year's graduating class. I know whatever decisions you make on timelines and allocation, will be the right ones for you. You all have been working toward this for years and know how to balance pragmatic finances with what's best for your health and happiness.


HappyCheerE

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1532 on: March 14, 2020, 09:32:45 AM »
I gave 6 month's notice at the beginning of February and all along I'd been planning on the market dropping 50% as soon as I stopped working. This is a much better scenario since I'm still employed now - I figure each month of work is worth 2x the salary since we're not spending down, as we would be if I was already done. So sticking to the plan for now at least (@Linea_Norway, when you get a chance my stop date is 8/7/2020 so that 8/8/2020 is my first day of freedom - love auspicious numbers). I've been slowly working my way through Living Off Your Money, which is very reassuring. We had already adjusted our AA to 55/45 partly because the closer we got the more upset I knew I'd be if FIRE got postponed... we'll be rebalancing gradually over the next few months to be back at 55/45 in August, which turns out to be exactly what McClung recommends.

So FIRE isn't much of a concern, but I am very worried about how well the US navigates these choppy waters when we have no idea how far community transmission has already progressed. I'm afraid we're going to be much worse off than Italy. I hope this prompts some needed changes (like universal health care and paid sick leave!) and that we pull together as communities. Stay safe, everyone. We are so fortunate to have modern medicine, the Internet, and each other.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1533 on: March 14, 2020, 12:50:16 PM »
Chiming in to support this year's graduating class. I know whatever decisions you make on timelines and allocation, will be the right ones for you. You all have been working toward this for years and know how to balance pragmatic finances with what's best for your health and happiness.

Even though my Nowegian stock is down with 25% since I bought them, I am still optimistic that this will go up again at some point, hopefully after we received the cash for the home sale.

I am very worried about the corona restrictions and the fact that we must leave our home in July. How to organize that. It also sucks thatbifvthis lasts for months, we cannot have the trips we would like to make. We didn't FIRE to sit at home all the time.

I hope that many of the others here also see this crash as something tempirary and dare to FIRE.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1534 on: March 14, 2020, 12:54:42 PM »
I gave 6 month's notice at the beginning of February and all along I'd been planning on the market dropping 50% as soon as I stopped working. This is a much better scenario since I'm still employed now - I figure each month of work is worth 2x the salary since we're not spending down, as we would be if I was already done. So sticking to the plan for now at least (@Linea_Norway, when you get a chance my stop date is 8/7/2020 so that 8/8/2020 is my first day of freedom - love auspicious numbers). I've been slowly working my way through Living Off Your Money, which is very reassuring. We had already adjusted our AA to 55/45 partly because the closer we got the more upset I knew I'd be if FIRE got postponed... we'll be rebalancing gradually over the next few months to be back at 55/45 in August, which turns out to be exactly what McClung recommends.

So FIRE isn't much of a concern, but I am very worried about how well the US navigates these choppy waters when we have no idea how far community transmission has already progressed. I'm afraid we're going to be much worse off than Italy. I hope this prompts some needed changes (like universal health care and paid sick leave!) and that we pull together as communities. Stay safe, everyone. We are so fortunate to have modern medicine, the Internet, and each other.

Even here in Norway, some people are not fired, but sent home in a situation where their employer cannot pay them. Like people in hotel or airplane jobs. One person said he would only get 62% of his basic wage, which was extremely low.

But in the US, companies should send their employees to work from home, those who can. And give paid sickleave to others, so that people don't come to work if they are sick.

CrazyIT

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1535 on: March 14, 2020, 03:43:07 PM »
Congrats, @Yvette9 and @Padonak .
How about you, @CrazyIT ?

YES!!!

Went in around 9.  Locked myself out of all the systems (if you could maybe tell by my name),  handed in my badge and key.  Said my goodbyes and bolted for the door.

I am concerned like many about the Coronavirus but not at all financially.  Unless we have a 50% drop for many years I am considering myself Fat FIRE'ed.  I am sure the transition from saving to spending will be weird at first but not worried.

First order of business will be seeing my new Granddaughter several states away. 

Thank you all for this great community and support.  No question hours of reading hundreds of posts help me more then I will probably ever realize. 

MarcherLady

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1536 on: March 15, 2020, 01:10:54 AM »
Congratulations!

Freedomin5

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1537 on: March 15, 2020, 09:44:05 AM »
Congrats, @Yvette9 and @Padonak .
How about you, @CrazyIT ?

YES!!!

Went in around 9.  Locked myself out of all the systems (if you could maybe tell by my name),  handed in my badge and key.  Said my goodbyes and bolted for the door.

I am concerned like many about the Coronavirus but not at all financially.  Unless we have a 50% drop for many years I am considering myself Fat FIRE'ed.  I am sure the transition from saving to spending will be weird at first but not worried.

First order of business will be seeing my new Granddaughter several states away. 

Thank you all for this great community and support.  No question hours of reading hundreds of posts help me more then I will probably ever realize.

Congratulations!

I hope you’re planning to drive to see your new grand baby, and not planning to fly. The airport is a great place to pick up someone else’s germs, especially with all the American travelers returning from highly infected areas. And then spending a few hours breathing recirculated air in an enclosed space will likely not help either. Even if you’re healthy and not in a high risk group and don’t show symptoms, your grand baby probably doesn’t need to be battling a virus during her first few few weeks of life.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2020, 09:45:49 AM by Freedomin5 »

apurplelife

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1538 on: March 15, 2020, 01:19:51 PM »
Hi @Linea_Norway - You can update my last day to 9/25/20. Full steam ahead over here. Good luck everyone!

ysette9

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1539 on: March 16, 2020, 10:18:08 PM »
We rebalanced our portfolio tonight, selling bonds to buy stocks. My husband was rather shocked to see what our stash is at now. We are down something like $400k. I am serene because i always felt that this sort of thing would happen, just the universe’s way of being perverse. Naturally, the crash would come just as I retire. But he is working another year and we have more bonds now than we ever did during accumulation phase, so it isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

Alternatepriorities

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1540 on: March 16, 2020, 10:41:43 PM »
It’s good to hear you’re doing alright going into RE in the middle of this ysette9. I think the last few weeks have given me a better appreciation for what having a stash is good for and also when it just doesn’t mean a thing.

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1541 on: March 17, 2020, 01:30:06 AM »
We rebalanced our portfolio tonight, selling bonds to buy stocks. My husband was rather shocked to see what our stash is at now. We are down something like $400k. I am serene because i always felt that this sort of thing would happen, just the universe’s way of being perverse. Naturally, the crash would come just as I retire. But he is working another year and we have more bonds now than we ever did during accumulation phase, so it isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

I feel also quite relaxed about and expect it to go up again. But I think this might turn out to be a real 1929 event. We can expect 1 to 2% of the population to die and many to loose their jobs. Still, I expect the stock market to go up again after a vaccin has developed (and spread world wide, not just US).

DH wondered yesterday whether he should sell some stocks, to claim the profit he still has. He used to have 20% profit and has now 6% profit left. I think that means he has lost 14% and should therefore not sell. I did manage to talk him out of it. We will go in with a lot of money in July, or later if there is a good reason for it. Maybe I am quite relaxed because we have 2/3 of our stash in our home which we sold just in time. We just won't receive the cash before July when we must have moved out.

ysette9

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1542 on: March 17, 2020, 10:07:06 AM »
I’m glad you got lucky on the timing of your house sale!

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1543 on: March 17, 2020, 10:09:18 AM »
I’m glad you got lucky on the timing of your house sale!

Yes, we are extremely lucky for that. Allthough it might become an issue when we need to move out and need to hunt for another place.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 10:25:57 AM by Linea_Norway »

Trifle

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1544 on: March 18, 2020, 06:19:03 AM »
Congrats on selling your house @Linea_Norway  -- that was some great timing.  :)

rab-bit

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1545 on: March 18, 2020, 07:27:26 AM »
I had been planning on giving my notice next week, but now having second thoughts. We have moved into our retirement home but have had no luck so far selling our old home and I'm worried that buyers will start getting scared. We may end up having to rent it out for a while if we can't sell it.

The new plan is to take it month-by-month. If we accept an offer for the old home and things start to calm down a little with the virus and the markets, then I'll pull the trigger. But there are just too many unknowns right now.

When I was 5 years old, my parents were in this situation, bought a bigger house and couldn't sell their previous for two years. That was an economic challenge for them. Renting it helped a bit, but they lost money in total. I hope your situation will be better.

Good news for us, we accepted an offer on our townhouse this morning! I have the feeling that we may have gotten lucky selling now before the economic effects of this virus fully impact the real estate market. Our buyers seem solid, so hopefully they won't have any trouble getting a mortgage and won't get scared or lose their jobs.

We were also invested pretty conservatively in preparation for retirement so we're fortunate that our stash has declined "only" about 13% so far. I have been rebalancing and gradually increasing our equity exposure as the market has declined, so hopefully that will pay off later on.

The townhouse sale is a huge relief for us so I now plan to give my notice in mid-April with an expected last day of work on May 8th. The dream is still alive!

ysette9

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2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1546 on: March 18, 2020, 08:02:39 AM »
Congrats on the offer. I hope the close process is smooth
« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 10:03:00 AM by ysette9 »

Linea_Norway

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1547 on: March 18, 2020, 10:26:51 AM »
I had been planning on giving my notice next week, but now having second thoughts. We have moved into our retirement home but have had no luck so far selling our old home and I'm worried that buyers will start getting scared. We may end up having to rent it out for a while if we can't sell it.

The new plan is to take it month-by-month. If we accept an offer for the old home and things start to calm down a little with the virus and the markets, then I'll pull the trigger. But there are just too many unknowns right now.

When I was 5 years old, my parents were in this situation, bought a bigger house and couldn't sell their previous for two years. That was an economic challenge for them. Renting it helped a bit, but they lost money in total. I hope your situation will be better.

Good news for us, we accepted an offer on our townhouse this morning! I have the feeling that we may have gotten lucky selling now before the economic effects of this virus fully impact the real estate market. Our buyers seem solid, so hopefully they won't have any trouble getting a mortgage and won't get scared or lose their jobs.

We were also invested pretty conservatively in preparation for retirement so we're fortunate that our stash has declined "only" about 13% so far. I have been rebalancing and gradually increasing our equity exposure as the market has declined, so hopefully that will pay off later on.

The townhouse sale is a huge relief for us so I now plan to give my notice in mid-April with an expected last day of work on May 8th. The dream is still alive!

Congrats!

MarcherLady

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1548 on: March 18, 2020, 03:18:00 PM »
Congratulations on the sale rab-bit, best of luck for closing.

exit2019

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Re: 2020 FIRE Cohort
« Reply #1549 on: March 18, 2020, 09:26:40 PM »
I'm probably not going to hit April 10th even though I already resigned.

If we only drop another 20% or so, I will still pull the trigger this year, but I have the option of extending my current employment another 3Q which will net me +5% of my (current) net worth.  so ... we are in a holding pattern.

I fully expect we'll see another -30+% from this point, though, by end of summer at the latest.  the entire world economy is shutting down.