Glad to hear you're doing well! I don't spend as much time on here as I did before I retired, and haven't felt the need to quit cold turkey.
To Dicey, seattlecyclone, soccerloveof4, spartana and the rest of the old timers who expressed similar sentiments, I didn't mean to suggest that you
have to jump ship once you're retired, only that it turns out to be totally awesome if you do. Time is a limited resource for all of us, which is kind of the driver behind pursuing ER in the first place, right? I can't imagine finally achieving that goal, after years of diligent effort, and then just half-assing that golden opportunity by frittering away my newfound freedom. Go! Live free!
And honestly, I feel like I have less to contribute to the forum these days anyway. In 8000 posts I think I've kind of said my piece on a few key topics. Nobody should be confused about my feelings on market timing or shitty overpriced kitchen appliances, for example. That horse is dead. I used to write in detail about the process of putting solar panels on my house, but they're still there and they still work great and they're still making me money. I used to write about why I chose an electric car, but I still have the same one and probably will for ten more years and it still works great and I have no regrets about it. So what's to write? I read less news these days than I used to, so I don't have the same burning desire to eviscerate whichever politician or media figure is currently making an ass of themselves. I've learned a
ton of stuff since retiring but just about non-financial topics, and while I'm still overflowing with unpopular opinions about those topics I don't think anyone here really cares about them as much as I do. Mostly what I've learned in retirement is how to kick back and live in the moment, and that's probably helped smooth over some of the rough edges that once made me so eager to pound the keyboard for all of the forum participants every single day.
You know how they say "you can't go home again", because the home you remember has changed so much in your absence as to be unrecognizable? This community has changed a bunch since we started it, but more importantly so have I. I'm not the same person I was way back then, the new me isn't really an internet forum person anymore, and I'm pretty happy about that. I do miss some of you, but then again I have a bunch of new IRL friends too so it kind of balances out.
So keep at it, my FIRE friends. The burning desire for financial independence is a beautiful and transformative thing. It can change your life for the better, and this community can help you do it. In my case, all of the advice and guidance I received here set me on a path that freed me from a cubicle, but also from giving a shit about most of the other things that people give shits about. Most of it just doesn't matter! Work hard, stay healthy, cultivate your relationships, and pretty much everything else is like three levels below that. We're all gonna die eventually, but in the meantime I'm grateful that I was able to be part of this community. You give a little, you take a little, and hopefully everyone has fun along the way. Then once it stops being fun, or as fun as the alternatives, you move along.
I'm moving along.
