I have been pondering for a while the FIRE plan in my life, and it has become so stressful to think about retiring early. What will I do with my time, how long will I live, how can I save more and more and more and more within my current budget. I have minimized all I can, shrunk my spending budget as much as I can, and CAN retire early, but it has caused me so much stress that my husband and I realized that we don't HAVE to retire early. I think that the act of trying to will definitely help us save more, but I have decided that I would like to do a few more fun things while I'm young (I'm 37 now) and can actually enjoy it. Planning for retirement like this is what my dad did, and he was such a miserable human, still is, that I really don't want to live that way. I like working, my husband likes working... and we like to save money... I think that's a pretty good combo, honestly.
My godmother lived to 104, and the last 4 years of her life were in a nursing home, costing over $4K a month. She retired early, worked as a teacher, and ended up having nothing to leave any relatives when she passed because she had to give her house and all belongings to the bank to cover her medical costs and funeral. Granted, she wasn't a burden on her family, but she really didn't do much on a daily basis that cured any boredom. She chose to live on a shoestring budget for over 60 years, and again, wasn't a very happy person.
I'm curious about those of you who are trying to 'win' and retire at 40... are you really happy? Do you have hobbies that fit in to this plan that actually make you look forward to getting up, or are you stressed deep down and fear your future? Or maybe you hate your job so much you've adopted this plan to make it all worth it, I've seen that on here, too. But please share, this is just a thought and that's what these boards are for :)