DH and I have been “officially” pursuing FI since sometime in 2016, but only now have I been reading the forums more and more (mostly to keep myself sane during long downtime hours at work, and to keep myself motivated). Now seems like a good time to jump in, as I think the next couple years are going to be very exciting for all of us.
Our target is May 2022 and most days I feel in a weird state of disbelief about two completely opposite things: 1) I can’t believe we made it this far! And 2) OMG, this is taking so long! Even so, though, it feels that from this point on we’re going to be hitting milestone after milestone like a pinball machine.
And even though 2.5 years still feels far away in many ways, I’m already starting to realize that I need to start figuring out better specifics AFA withdrawal strategies and such. Weird to actually think about in specifics.
DH will definitely retire or give notice on his 40th birthday in early May 2022. I don’t want him to have to work past that date. He’s in a skilled trade, so he won’t have to give more than two weeks’ notice.
I’m OK with working a little past that, maybe finishing out the end of 2022 (and giving a few months notice towards the end) just to make things easier for ACA/health insurance reasons. Plus it’ll give us a little extra cash flow during the transitional period for moving/selling expense, etc. DH can take the reins on selling the house, dealing with the realtors/lawyers/inspectors, etc, and any repairs that need to be done while I’m at work. I will also enjoy having myself a nice house husband during those final months who can take all the household chores off my plate and hopefully take the sting out of sticking around those last few months.
We’re not sure yet if we’ll move into a rental for a year to detox and shop for our “forever” home in a LCOL area, or move right away to a new permanent home. If we see something we’re excited about, we’ll jump on it, but I also think we’ll need that post-work 6-12 months to really clear our heads and figure out what we really, truly want outside the context of work burnout. I’m pretty sure it’s going to involve some level of quasi-homesteading, though, so it’s really just figuring out the scale we want to take on, and what other projects/pursuits we want to leave room for.
Anywho, those are our “best laid plans”. DH and I work for different companies, but in very closely related industries, which are experiencing a downturn right now. There are no guarantees that everything will stay status quo with our jobs, but here’s hoping….