Author Topic: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?  (Read 11537 times)

austin944

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #50 on: June 26, 2018, 08:50:07 AM »

We love to travel.  If it were me we would do it on a shoestring.  My wife, however, appreciates the finer things and travel is more expensive.  This is one of the reasons I plod on and add to the stache.

Hobbies -- I would like to paint, write and help folks with basic financial literacy.  My all consuming job leave little time and less energy for these pursuits.  It isn't just the work, it is the travel heaped on top of the work that robs me of time (driving, not flying, or I could at least write).

Would you be able to fill all or most of your retirement time with travel and those hobbies?  Could you plan your daily schedule now, starting from when you wake up until you go to sleep, for each hour? 

Exactly how much time would you spend goofing off each day, and would you feel uncomfortable if it was more than you had originally planned?  (When answering, assume there's nothing inherently wrong with goofing off).

Do you have a burning desire for ER, or is it a more vague feeling that ER might be better for you than working full-time?

Is your wife on-board with ER?  How much have you discussed it with her?

I found that I am much lazier than I had imagined myself.  I goof off way more than I had originally planned, and it does make me feel uncomfortable about myself, like I should be more productive.  I'm still trying to figure that out, whether that's decompression mode, or my childhood up-bringing makes me feel guilty about it, or the time in my 20s when I was flat broke and nearly homeless.  The questions above, are the ones I should have asked myself more deeply before going to ER.

BTW, my COBRA coverage was actually $100/mo less expensive than the cheapest Obamacare plan, and COBRA had a much lower deductible, so it was an easy choice for a traditional insurance plan.  I am guessing the COBRA coverage is being subsidized by my former employer (big tech company). 

I am not too worried about healthcare costs now, since my expense rate is less than 1% of my net worth (not including taxes), and I am very healthy.  But who knows what will happen in the future?  I am also single with no dependents for whom I need to worry about.

« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 08:57:44 AM by austin944 »

The Happy Philosopher

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #51 on: June 27, 2018, 03:30:46 PM »
Healthshare is all the rage these days, but reading the fine print makes me a but nervous. If the ACA is still alive and viable when I retire I will adjust MAGI to obtain optimal subsidies within reason - the beauty of frugality and flexible income sources. The nice thing about traditional insurance is the insurance company usually negotiates a pretty good rate for you, even if you have to pay due to high deductibles. Self pay is insane without substantial discounts.

Nice to hear from you.  I appreciate your excellent work.

I work in healthcare as well and can relate to your perspective.  Have you given Samaritan or Liberty a look to see if either will fulfill your family's insurance needs?  I am pondering them both at this point but cannot say if I would use them or the ACA (our state has not lost its mind yet).

Cheers.

As mentioned previously health care is our biggest hurtle.  With the federal government salivating daily to destroy the ACA, Medicare and Social Security how can you not worry?  We have very good and affordable health care while working.   With a cancer surviving child we've used more health care benefits than many families will earn in a lifetime.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, when you get sick or when you get so old that 24 hour nursing care is required, the Republicans simply want you to die and go away.  I dream of FIRE in 2019 or 2020. Unless the midterm elections change the current make-up in Congress, there is no way I'm leaving my high paying job to be at their mercy.  I hate the fact that we've got plenty to retire on saved up but know that the next illness could bankrupt us.  It is amazing that a voting majority of people would want to create that reality.
I'm watching my grandmother die right now in the nursing home.  The costs have wiped out her savings and her home will be lost to pay the bills.  This is the reality young people cannot grasp, twenty years ago in my youth neither could I.  It's a sad system.

Fear of leaving a high paying job is a legitimate thing. The higher the salary and greater the difficulty of re-entering the job market the worse the fear becomes in my opinion. I'm not worries about missing my job, becoming bored or any or that stuff, but I am fearful of a medical disaster or some other factor in life that forces my spending much higher than it is today. Even worse, I work in medicine, so I have the bias of seeing people get hit by unexpected medical disasters every day. It is really easy to dismiss this stuff if you are young and healthy. If I could have reasonably priced guaranteed health insurance to get me to medicare age I would probably retire within the year, but these days even with insurance, health care costs can be absurd.

chasesfish

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #52 on: June 28, 2018, 05:29:50 AM »
@austin944 Your COBRA plan is likely less expensive because it has a healthier pool of people generating lower loss rates.  Most big companies self-insure, so they hire a big four insurance carrier to manage their plan, but they reimburse the insurance company monthly for all claims.

I am also going on COBRA.

Not meant to be political, but its tough when its anything involving healthcare.  The lack of enforcement of the individual mandate by both the last and current administration allows a lot of healthy people to hold off on buying insurance until their sick.  This drives up the cost for everyone on the exchange.

rolliefingers

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #53 on: July 04, 2018, 06:35:37 AM »
I guess I would envision goofing off to include the reading, working out, painting, et al.

Work to me has always been a "tough task" with moments of joy infrequently co-mingled.  I am in sales and it is a pressure cooker.

My wife is totally onboard with early retirement/another mode of life.  I believe we would utilize a healthsharing ministry if we pull the plug.




We love to travel.  If it were me we would do it on a shoestring.  My wife, however, appreciates the finer things and travel is more expensive.  This is one of the reasons I plod on and add to the stache.

Hobbies -- I would like to paint, write and help folks with basic financial literacy.  My all consuming job leave little time and less energy for these pursuits.  It isn't just the work, it is the travel heaped on top of the work that robs me of time (driving, not flying, or I could at least write).

Would you be able to fill all or most of your retirement time with travel and those hobbies?  Could you plan your daily schedule now, starting from when you wake up until you go to sleep, for each hour? 

Exactly how much time would you spend goofing off each day, and would you feel uncomfortable if it was more than you had originally planned?  (When answering, assume there's nothing inherently wrong with goofing off).

Do you have a burning desire for ER, or is it a more vague feeling that ER might be better for you than working full-time?

Is your wife on-board with ER?  How much have you discussed it with her?

I found that I am much lazier than I had imagined myself.  I goof off way more than I had originally planned, and it does make me feel uncomfortable about myself, like I should be more productive.  I'm still trying to figure that out, whether that's decompression mode, or my childhood up-bringing makes me feel guilty about it, or the time in my 20s when I was flat broke and nearly homeless.  The questions above, are the ones I should have asked myself more deeply before going to ER.

BTW, my COBRA coverage was actually $100/mo less expensive than the cheapest Obamacare plan, and COBRA had a much lower deductible, so it was an easy choice for a traditional insurance plan.  I am guessing the COBRA coverage is being subsidized by my former employer (big tech company). 

I am not too worried about healthcare costs now, since my expense rate is less than 1% of my net worth (not including taxes), and I am very healthy.  But who knows what will happen in the future?  I am also single with no dependents for whom I need to worry about.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2018, 06:37:29 AM by rolliefingers »

austin944

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #54 on: July 04, 2018, 11:47:45 AM »
Work to me has always been a "tough task" with moments of joy infrequently co-mingled.  I am in sales and it is a pressure cooker.

Have you thought about working in some other field besides sales?  Or do you feel negatively about working in general, due to the pressure of the sales work, and/or because of some other factor(s)?   Do you think it would help to write those negative factors out on a piece of paper, and what positive benefits you seek instead (whether being FIREd or still working)?

I got asked that question by a friend, and I had a hard time envisioning working in any other field besides Engineering.

For me, I have always enjoyed helping other people.  And so I've started dabbling in volunteer work.  I am still undecided on whether it's right for me going forward, but the experiment continues.

mjr

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #55 on: July 04, 2018, 07:36:48 PM »
I have a very similar situation going in another thread.

Yes, "who gives away a career with a salary north of $300k ?", I am asking myself.

I love the money coming in every month.  I love watching it grow.  I love the identity that comes with a decent job and the respect of peers and the international travel and the convenient structured socialisation.

I am scared to death of chucking it all in.

and yet, I know that it's the right thing to do.  What is the single biggest emotion associated with thoughts of staying ?  Fear.  Saying it out loud is good, acknowledging that the main reason I agonise over this decision is that I'm frightened at what could go wrong and what I'm giving up makes it nothing to be proud of.

The right thing to do for my personal development is give the job up and see where my life goes.  I sure as hell would be furious with myself if I contract some awful disease in 5 years and face the fact I wasted the last 5 years on a stupid office job.

I rather suspect that your situation is similar.

rolliefingers

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #56 on: July 17, 2018, 02:57:14 PM »
Thanks for the suggestion - I will give this exercise a shot

Work to me has always been a "tough task" with moments of joy infrequently co-mingled.  I am in sales and it is a pressure cooker.

Have you thought about working in some other field besides sales?  Or do you feel negatively about working in general, due to the pressure of the sales work, and/or because of some other factor(s)?   Do you think it would help to write those negative factors out on a piece of paper, and what positive benefits you seek instead (whether being FIREd or still working)?

I got asked that question by a friend, and I had a hard time envisioning working in any other field besides Engineering.

For me, I have always enjoyed helping other people.  And so I've started dabbling in volunteer work.  I am still undecided on whether it's right for me going forward, but the experiment continues.

rolliefingers

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #57 on: July 17, 2018, 03:07:14 PM »
I have a very similar situation going in another thread.

Yes, "who gives away a career with a salary north of $300k ?", I am asking myself.

I love the money coming in every month.  I love watching it grow.  I love the identity that comes with a decent job and the respect of peers and the international travel and the convenient structured socialisation.

I am scared to death of chucking it all in.

and yet, I know that it's the right thing to do.  What is the single biggest emotion associated with thoughts of staying ?  Fear.  Saying it out loud is good, acknowledging that the main reason I agonise over this decision is that I'm frightened at what could go wrong and what I'm giving up makes it nothing to be proud of.

The right thing to do for my personal development is give the job up and see where my life goes.  I sure as hell would be furious with myself if I contract some awful disease in 5 years and face the fact I wasted the last 5 years on a stupid office job.

I rather suspect that your situation is similar.

We do appear to be in very similar spots.  I do think about the regret I would feel if I continued in this same lane, increasingly, only for the money; I do hold some social relationships dearly but those will continue with some effort.  With the resources we have amassed a much different and, I am 99% certain, a more vibrant existence awaits. 

This decision is crystallizing and I am more and more certain that the end of 2018 will be my time.  As many have said in this forum, if living on my terms does not live up to expectations then I can always get another job.  Albeit, it will be a less stressful and likely lower paying job.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #58 on: July 17, 2018, 07:38:29 PM »
Just wanted to chime in with an "I can relate". Making a lot, and have really struggled to pull the plug. But, I took two weeks off in June, and it really cleared up my perspective & I found it super challenging to come back to work. Meeting is scheduled for Friday to talk to my manager. This is after OMYing for years. :-) I will likely work for a few months to give my team time to find a replacement.

LifePhaseTwo

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #59 on: July 17, 2018, 09:48:41 PM »
This thread really resonates with me. I’ve been FI for the past year but scared to RE - for all the reasons that other folks have mentioned. DH retired 2 years ago and is loving life. I think I need to give myself a push... like jumping out of an airplane...knowing that I’ve prepared and have a parachute...my push might be actually telling my boss that I’m planning to RE and start the succession planning process in earnest. After working in the same organization for 26 years in progressively higher positions, the idea of leaving is a big psychological adjustment, especially for those of us that overthink everything - LOL - but reading the posts from others in this and other MMM forums has been extremely helpful.

sui generis

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #60 on: July 17, 2018, 10:09:32 PM »
This thread really resonates with me. I’ve been FI for the past year but scared to RE - for all the reasons that other folks have mentioned. DH retired 2 years ago and is loving life. I think I need to give myself a push... like jumping out of an airplane...knowing that I’ve prepared and have a parachute...my push might be actually telling my boss that I’m planning to RE and start the succession planning process in earnest. After working in the same organization for 26 years in progressively higher positions, the idea of leaving is a big psychological adjustment, especially for those of us that overthink everything - LOL - but reading the posts from others in this and other MMM forums has been extremely helpful.
I'm, like, not really one to talk, given that I could beat my own artificially set FIRE date and am hemming and hawing.  But, you might consider seeing a Life Coach (or similar) about the psychological aspects of FIRE-ing.  I did that, partly as a way to address real concerns and partly as a way to bide my time before I got to that artificial date, and it was super valuable in helping me see other, really legit ways of thinking about the topics that were blocking me.  I had a really great Coach and all may not be so great, but seeking objective assistance may really be what you need if you aren't comfortable with just throwing yourself out of that airplane.

LifePhaseTwo

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Re: Has Anyone Been Afraid to FIRE?
« Reply #61 on: July 17, 2018, 10:30:41 PM »
@sui generis - that’s a really good thought - I admit that I’ve spent way more time planning out the financial aspects of FIRE and I need get more of a handle on the other aspects. I know we have access to life coaches through our Employee Assistance Plan, so that might be a place to start. Thanks!