Hey everyone,
I'm super interested in how folks are actually doing after leaving full time employment. Specifically folks with no kids who are not starting a business or engaged in some similar high-intensity entrepreneurial endeavor. What did you find yourself engaged with? How's it generally going, how long have you been out of work, how do you feel about drawing money out of your accounts, have you been able to do the things you "couldn't do" while working, etc. Has retiring early met your expectations? Why or why not? Regrets? The more sharing the better! I apologize if this has been covered somewhere already. I've searched forums and it seems like the number one reason people want to RE is related to their younglings. (Which is great! I just don't have that specific driver. I'm in the camp who just doesn't feel the need to work all of the time and craves more balance in life.)
I suppose it might help to give a little more info. I'm 36, I have the FI in FIRE licked, and lately I've been spending most of my planning time figuring out what I'll be doing after I stop working my regular job. It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time. (I still am, of course, this part hasn't changed a bit. Even though my job is nearly always tolerable, I just don't love it.) The whole thing feels pretty surreal and I alternate between feeling giddy and then pulling back, telling myself to keep working for a while as I firm up some plans for what I'll be doing next. Another way to describe the situation is that I'm transitioning from thinking about how to achieve FI (check!) to thinking about the RE side of the coin. Note that I don't really think of it as RE, more just having the opportunity to spend my energy in different ways. It's not my goal to eat all day and watch soaps ala Peggy Bundy. I spend some time exercising every day, and I love to cook, read, and play guitar so those activities will eat a bunch of hours in a satisfying, productive, healthy way/ I tell myself I'll volunteer, that I'll pick up new interests, etc, but I'm a little concerned that without a really strong external driver, I'll just do nothing and after a while my hobbies won't be enough. I'm probably being ridiculous, but these thoughts continue to nag at me anyways.
I think that part of my doubts come from the fact that I'm pretty young to be doing this and everyone in my circle has a full time job. My SO will likely leave her own employment around the same time as myself, we're in the same boat together, which is good -- I'm sure we'll do some activities together, hiking, some traveling, spending more time with her family. (BTW, we're also not having kids for medical as well as personal preference reasons, so this isn't something that's going to change at some point in the future, unless we both a) have a big attitude shift and b) try to adopt)
As a bonus question, I'm a little nervous about talking to my parents about this life change. They have little to no indication of my net worth and they don't know this is coming. I think they'll be baffled and will likely think that what I'm doing is somehow irresponsible, immature, or just plain wack-a-doodle. Any suggestions here? I also really don't want to start going into the nitty gritty of our finances with them. I'm sure they'll start asking all of the usual questions. Just thinking about getting into it makes me exhausted and defensive.