Author Topic: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements  (Read 124501 times)

Classical_Liberal

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #250 on: September 28, 2018, 01:55:22 PM »
Cool des999!!

Couldn't you pay COBRA through mega corp for up to 18 mos if need be?

letsdoit

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #251 on: October 01, 2018, 08:32:36 AM »
I pd COBRA for 12 months and I almost threw up every time I thought about it

CRAZy expensive like 450$ /mo for one person

des999

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #252 on: October 01, 2018, 10:57:46 AM »
Cool des999!!

Couldn't you pay COBRA through mega corp for up to 18 mos if need be?

yes, that is one option in my back pocket, but as letsdoit said, it's a rather expensive option.  But, I guess I need to weigh both.  Thanks for the reminder. 

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #253 on: October 01, 2018, 01:27:27 PM »
When I left my job in August Cobra was quoted at $1400 for 2 young people........crazy.

Legg-Stache

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #254 on: November 07, 2018, 08:21:27 AM »
Update on Semi-ER for this thread. Been about 8 months since my last post. Gotta keep the downshifting Semi-ER dream alive.

-       Quit my full-time job after being asked to teach more hours at a local college
-   About 12 hours per week + 3 to 10 at home depending on prep/marking time + if any consulting hours come in
-   Spend at least afternoons+evenings every day with DW and Baby, playing, going to the park, library, gym, crafts, yada yada yada
-   Currently drawing down on cash portfolio at about $1-1.5K per month, yup you heard that right, I’m actually eating into my savings in order to Semi-ER at 28 and be at home with the fam more while the babes are young.
-   Not worried much as we've got a whole bunch of outs, although the drawing down does make me a little sad when I calculate it at the end of each month (maybe I shouldn’t watch it so closely??)
-   The unexpected drawndowns have occurred because we actually increased our expenses in the past year by moving to a new place, out of a basement apartment. Lifestyle change is worth it with a baby in particular.
-   This has actually dropped our years to 13x-ish and increased our SR to 7.5% if we stopped working entirely. But we aren't and expenses are almost covered.
-   DW has started a business as well which will bring in some income over the years, she also loves it. Probably takes about 5-10 hours a week and is more of a paid hobby than anything else. Considering adding in a bit of before-after childcare to the mix as a little simple income boost.
-   Spent 4 weeks at various cottages this summer after being able to say yes to any opportunity that came up, it was pretty sweet. Also led to a bit of increased spending.

My advice to anyone considering going part-time or serial mini-retirements, who has a gig on the side they enjoy significantly more than whatever they are doing (for me it’s teaching, for DW it’s babies). Run the numbers, create 2 or 3 back-up plans and then do it.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #255 on: November 07, 2018, 08:49:21 AM »
Thank you for you update @Sustainable Happiness, gives us the courage to pull the trigger in the coming 18 months =)

des999

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #256 on: November 07, 2018, 10:29:11 AM »
thanks for the update Sustainable Happiness, always good to hear others stories, especially when they are similar to mine :)

I know it's been repeated a million times, but it is so true.  Flexibility is the key, and is what makes this all possible.  With a nice size nest egg, it just frees you up to do things like this. 

The hardest part for me is finding that 'side gig' that I would enjoy more than my day job.  I like my day job, I just don't like 5 days a week, every day.  I'll get there soon, thanks again for the motivation!

coffeefueled

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #257 on: November 15, 2018, 08:56:48 AM »
PTF. Great to hear the many ways people are making this work. Super inspiring

WorkingToUnwind

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #258 on: November 16, 2018, 10:03:36 AM »
This is a great thread. It helped and inspired me to take the plunge with a year off to travel. I had an awful experience of burning out last fall and ended up convincing my husband to quit his job with me and move into a 2002 Sprinter van. We've been traveling North America for the past seven months and even got to attend the MMM Moab Meetup last month.

It's been a really incredible experience to travel, though not without it's challenges. We're living in 30sq ft space with a dog, which isn't easy! However, I've learned so much about how to rest and enjoy life. I've always been busy busy busy, and our life in a van is so much more relaxed. It's hard to leave behind a career that gives you a clear sense of purpose and switch to what seems like a very indulgent travel lifestyle. It's been pretty cool though and like I said, an awesome learning experience.  I would definitely recommend it!

We'll probably go back to work next spring, but this time off has helped us reprioritize what's important. We definitely will take a pay cut when we go back to ensure more free time. I think it's important to live life now, not sacrifice current well-being for some future date. It takes time to learn how to live well, so I want to practice that now.

We've got about 550k in retirement/vanguard savings, so we could FIRE now if we can get our spending down to 22k-ish a year. Realistically, not happening any time soon. It's nice to know this money, if left untouched, is an excellent fire nest egg. We've practiced living frugally quite a bit in the van, and it's been a wake up call to how tough it is for us. I think for the year of travel we'll end up spending about 45k. To support our lifestyle in a brick and mortar home, I used to think 80k was necessary (also to cover 1,700 mortgage) but I think we can bring that down to 65k. Anyhey, it's gotten me thinking about the option of working fewer hours when we get home to avoid future burn out while still adding a little to the stash.

Omy

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #259 on: November 16, 2018, 12:03:50 PM »
At age 35, I took a 7 year sabbatical. My then-husband and I had a net worth of $800k and decided to hop on our sailboat and cruise for awhile. We had a series of adventures, but the marriage broke at year 5. We divided our net worth by 2 and moved on.

I floundered for a bit, started a new career and met my now-husband. We've been working toward FI for the past 14 years (and reached it a few years ago). The mini-retirement/sabbatical was good since it gave me time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Now I'm trying to get over "one more year" syndrome and retire for real. It was much easier to quit at age 35 - at that time I assumed I would be able to jump in and out of the work force as needed. It seems a lot more daunting at age 56 - even with a much larger net worth.

FIREby35

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #260 on: February 24, 2019, 07:31:37 PM »
I'm on my third mini-sabbitical in a row!

This year we are spending time in Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende and Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Plane tickets are less than $300 for the family of five due to my wife being a rewards genius. This year we are gone for 31 days.

Oh yeah, and they just received more than a foot of snow that is in drifts after days of blizzard winds back home...

I just thought I'd update/shout out to the original people on this thread :)

Legg-Stache

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #261 on: May 20, 2019, 10:56:00 AM »
Been a while since I updated here. I've fallen back into full time work 1.5 years after semi-ER-ing. I fluctuated from no work (9 months off with babe and DW) to freelancing and consulting for a former employer (still doing a little) and teaching and then got offered a job that finally fit what I like to do, teach at a college

Money is a solved issue in our minds and we keep socking some away. Baby 2 is now on the way as well which will throw everything through a loop again.

It was interesting while Semi-ER-ing experiencing our NW drop some months to see how resilient I was emotionally to that experience and actually hardened me to the idea of draining capital. I also learned I prefer some more structure if I am going to continue working, the tugging and random asks that accompanied consulting are not really up my alley.

The teaching gig is great because for the time being I am >75% working from home. I feel like I am helping some of the people I teach and I get 2 months contiguous off each year in the summer, so practically mini-retirement anyways.

DW and I have had conversations about what we'd like to do if we actually came to be fully financially independent and it's pretty much what we are doing now but with half the required money. The biggest challenge is sleep while the kids are young, but that has nothing to do with money...

Since no one cares where I am at any particular time, I usually have a super productive mornings (8-lunch) and that gets what I want to get done done for the day and then play or do personal life stuff for the rest.

Anyways thought I'd report I went back to work kinda-FT and am happy about it.

FIREby35

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #262 on: May 21, 2019, 06:18:08 PM »
Very cool :)

Classical_Liberal

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #263 on: May 22, 2019, 12:33:57 AM »
I'm semi-retiring on Sept 14th of this year. I have two options (actually many more but two leading contenders), one that would peg me at about 25% full time, the other at about 50%.  The first would give me a bit more control over my schedule when I'm actually working, but either way I will have about 6 months completely off work every year for mini retirements.  The first would cover about 80% of my current total spending, the second close to 200%.  Either way my stash should grow over time, I have about 20-25 years to normal retirement age.

des999

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #264 on: May 28, 2019, 08:09:25 AM »
I'm semi-retiring on Sept 14th of this year. I have two options (actually many more but two leading contenders), one that would peg me at about 25% full time, the other at about 50%.  The first would give me a bit more control over my schedule when I'm actually working, but either way I will have about 6 months completely off work every year for mini retirements.  The first would cover about 80% of my current total spending, the second close to 200%.  Either way my stash should grow over time, I have about 20-25 years to normal retirement age.

awesome, congrats.  I think either option is excellent.  I'd probably lean toward #1  :)

arebelspy

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #265 on: June 16, 2019, 06:05:39 PM »
Just binge caught up on the last 18 months of this thread. Super awesome!

Keep the stories coming. :)

@2Birds1Stone  -- How about an update on your story for this thread?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

capoevename

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #266 on: July 01, 2019, 08:03:30 PM »
3 years have passed. Still no mini-retirements. But stash grew from 250K to 830K. We have to thank the market and good raises for that. I'm glad we are making the best use of these years to build our foundation of "wealth" instead of taking mini-retirements because (a) it has been fun in all areas I care about, work, travel, family, friends, learning, etc; and (b) most likely, these are the most hassle-free years we are gonna have to reach FI.

I think we have pretty much paved the way for FI at this point. The more our stash grew the more we realized full early retirement is not of great interest to us (at the moment). Instead, we plan to make use of the stash to "buy" flexibility into our work. Perhaps a life of mini-retirements, perhaps something else.

We are turning 30 this year. We want to have kids a couple of years down the line. The current plan is to take a mini-retirement at the end of next year and then start trying.

FIREby35

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #267 on: July 02, 2019, 06:51:11 AM »
I'm with you in the sense that building your stash creates amazing flexibility with our work. My stash keeps on marching upward and onward and I have created many liberties in my work because of the stash I have. It makes it a lot easier to keep working, that's for sure!

I don't know if you have ever been exposed to this thought, but it sounds like you are past the point of retirement inevitability.

https://frugalvagabond.com/the-point-of-retirement-inevitability/

Plina

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #268 on: July 02, 2019, 07:58:14 AM »
I took a miniretirement from August last year to may this year. I spent August and part of march and april at my parents place and september to beginning of march traveling from Moscow to Singapore. 10 countries and a little more than 6 months on the road. I got a little tired of traveling so I came home a bit earlier than planned. After one month back at work working halftime I was ready to leave the company. One month later I have a new job offer that will start in november if I pass the securitytest which should not be a problem.

I learned that I don’t want to be a digital nomad because it takes a lot of energy to be always on the move. I lived the fact that I had summerweather for 10 months so I could live in a warmer climate in the future. I also came to the conclusion that I like my field but don’t want to work as a lawyer. So even though I will be the legal expert in the new company it is not a similar consultant position that I have today but rather a projectleader position. And it is in a new company so hopefully without all the adminstration crap that comes with a big company.

limeandpepper

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #269 on: July 18, 2019, 03:03:40 AM »
I learned that I don’t want to be a digital nomad because it takes a lot of energy to be always on the move.

I can relate to this! I used to think being a digital nomad would be fun, but I've realised it would be a lot of work and I'd rather just concentrate on exploring the places I'm visiting. Maybe I'd consider it for very slow travel (e.g. staying in the same city for at least months), but not otherwise.

steevven1

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #270 on: July 24, 2019, 01:48:37 PM »
Just came here to say that my wife and I have been doing this whole "mini retirement" thing throughout our 20s and are LOVING it. Both 29 now. Our goal with each one is to have a net worth change of $0 or better (never dip into savings for mini retirements).

First one was 6 months in Hawaii; wrote about it here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/zero-dollar-hawaii-honeymoon/

Second one we're in the middle of right now - Seven months visiting every US National Park. Writing about that here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/nationalparks/

Best part is that actual FIRE isn't too far in the distant future, even after doing these big trips!

dblaace

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #271 on: July 24, 2019, 02:42:45 PM »
Just came here to say that my wife and I have been doing this whole "mini retirement" thing throughout our 20s and are LOVING it. Both 29 now. Our goal with each one is to have a net worth change of $0 or better (never dip into savings for mini retirements).

First one was 6 months in Hawaii; wrote about it here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/zero-dollar-hawaii-honeymoon/

Second one we're in the middle of right now - Seven months visiting every US National Park. Writing about that here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/nationalparks/

Best part is that actual FIRE isn't too far in the distant future, even after doing these big trips!

Did you convert the van yourself? Pics? I've got a Promaster City that I want to convert.

steevven1

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #272 on: July 24, 2019, 03:05:02 PM »
Just came here to say that my wife and I have been doing this whole "mini retirement" thing throughout our 20s and are LOVING it. Both 29 now. Our goal with each one is to have a net worth change of $0 or better (never dip into savings for mini retirements).

First one was 6 months in Hawaii; wrote about it here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/zero-dollar-hawaii-honeymoon/

Second one we're in the middle of right now - Seven months visiting every US National Park. Writing about that here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/nationalparks/

Best part is that actual FIRE isn't too far in the distant future, even after doing these big trips!

Did you convert the van yourself? Pics? I've got a Promaster City that I want to convert.

"Convert" is probably an overly generous word for what we did, haha. Basically just rigged up the back with a wooden platform that supports a full-size bed on top and provides four storage quadrants beneath. Nothing more. Total cost was probably like $400 including the brand new (Allswell) bed itself. It's simple but has worked out great. Personally, I think a lot of the other van conversions out there are really cool, but totally overboard for what you actually need.

We should have an article all about the van within the next month. If you sign up for email updates at the bottom of the page, or just follow the blog on social media, you'll see it when it comes out!

dblaace

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #273 on: July 24, 2019, 05:07:21 PM »
Just came here to say that my wife and I have been doing this whole "mini retirement" thing throughout our 20s and are LOVING it. Both 29 now. Our goal with each one is to have a net worth change of $0 or better (never dip into savings for mini retirements).

First one was 6 months in Hawaii; wrote about it here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/zero-dollar-hawaii-honeymoon/

Second one we're in the middle of right now - Seven months visiting every US National Park. Writing about that here: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/nationalparks/

Best part is that actual FIRE isn't too far in the distant future, even after doing these big trips!

Did you convert the van yourself? Pics? I've got a Promaster City that I want to convert.

"Convert" is probably an overly generous word for what we did, haha. Basically just rigged up the back with a wooden platform that supports a full-size bed on top and provides four storage quadrants beneath. Nothing more. Total cost was probably like $400 including the brand new (Allswell) bed itself. It's simple but has worked out great. Personally, I think a lot of the other van conversions out there are really cool, but totally overboard for what you actually need.

We should have an article all about the van within the next month. If you sign up for email updates at the bottom of the page, or just follow the blog on social media, you'll see it when it comes out!

Yea, some of the builds are over the top. Currently I just have a carpet, pad and sleeping bag. I have plastic bins for storage but I need something fixed and better organized, the bins move around when I'm driving. I also need some kind of ventilation and  probably insulation. And solar down the road.

Allthecolors

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #274 on: August 30, 2019, 10:48:02 AM »
We are totally doing this!  Taking a year off, WITH three kids and RVing the US and traveling to South America and Europe.  It won't delay retirement too much (if the markets cooperate, we should have roughly what we went into it coming out of it).  And those kids grow so darn fast!

WalkaboutStache

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #275 on: September 02, 2019, 10:38:23 PM »
Going on mine after CoB this Friday until March!  I plan to come back, but am considering the possibility that I might not or may at least dedicate myself fully to the little side gig that makes me happy and earns me a little bit of money.


2Birds1Stone

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #276 on: September 03, 2019, 07:56:07 AM »
Just binge caught up on the last 18 months of this thread. Super awesome!

Keep the stories coming. :)

@2Birds1Stone  -- How about an update on your story for this thread?

I just saw this bat signal! And I'm glad I looked back to read the entire thread..........things have progressed quite nicely.

This thread is awesome, thank you for sharing everyone.

I originally planned to work till 40 and hit my $1M full FIRE #.
I have a feeling once I crack the $400-500k mark I will be looking to do this type of arrangement.....$18-20k/yr is enough to live comfortably in most LCOL/MCOL areas, and many countries.

Investable assets cracked the $500k mark for the first time in July, and then back and over a few times since! So success here.

Thanks to this thread I am planning for my first sabbatical March 31st 2020 :)

From that point on, it very well could be a bunch of mini retirements till full blown FI is reached. This is sounding more and more appealing the older I get and the more I run the #'s.

Right on target for this! Less than 7 months away. Taking 12 months off to travel Europe and SE Asia.

Eh, my NW is only ~$275k right now all in. I'm hoping to be in the $400-500k range when I take that 6 months off.

That would put me at barebones FI, where I could easily cover my needs, but not my wants. From there it's a matter of, is work worth whatever I "want"?

The biggest question I have is how it will effect my relationship with SO. She is 4 years my junior and has only been working full time for ~2 years now. I have a feeling she will want to take off with me, but will have a lot less accumulated by that point. Time will tell.

SO (soon to be wife) is totally on board, and ready to leave right now if the opportunity presented itself. We are actually forgoing a traditional wedding in favor of a 12 month honeymoon, during which we will elope.

We have a rough idea of what the next few years will look like. It's more like early retirement w/ serial mini work stints

~April 2020 - Leave for 6 months of backpacking in the EU
~September 2020 - Come back to US for a wedding/month of family time
~October 2020 - Leave for 6 months of backpacking in SE Asia
~Spring 2021 - Come back to USA for 9-12 months of work
~Spring 2022 - 6 month thru-hike of Appalachian Trail
~Fall 2022- Get PT jobs while building a camper Van
~Spring 2023 - Leave for 1+ year of exploring the USA/S. America by camper van

Planning anything more than 3-4 years is silly imho. And even the order of things above may change, or we like/dislike a particular style of travel which changes things up completely.

I guess the biggest realization is, now that we are at ~15-18x combined annual expenses, we don't want to slog at FT jobs for another 5 years to reach full blown FIRE, the semi-FIRE approach of coasting for a decade or two sounds way more appealing, especially since we can't know what/how we want to live more than a few years in advance. The option to go back to career work will always be there (at least for the next 10-20 years) at which point we won't even be *that* old :)

Keep on posting people! This thread is a huge inspiration.


Legg-Stache

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #277 on: June 02, 2021, 10:04:20 AM »
Been a while since I updated here. I've fallen back into full time work 1.5 years after semi-ER-ing. I fluctuated from no work (9 months off with babe and DW) to freelancing and consulting for a former employer (still doing a little) and teaching and then got offered a job that finally fit what I like to do, teach at a college

Money is a solved issue in our minds and we keep socking some away. Baby 2 is now on the way as well which will throw everything through a loop again.

It was interesting while Semi-ER-ing experiencing our NW drop some months to see how resilient I was emotionally to that experience and actually hardened me to the idea of draining capital. I also learned I prefer some more structure if I am going to continue working, the tugging and random asks that accompanied consulting are not really up my alley.

The teaching gig is great because for the time being I am >75% working from home. I feel like I am helping some of the people I teach and I get 2 months contiguous off each year in the summer, so practically mini-retirement anyways.

DW and I have had conversations about what we'd like to do if we actually came to be fully financially independent and it's pretty much what we are doing now but with half the required money. The biggest challenge is sleep while the kids are young, but that has nothing to do with money...

Since no one cares where I am at any particular time, I usually have a super productive mornings (8-lunch) and that gets what I want to get done done for the day and then play or do personal life stuff for the rest.

Anyways thought I'd report I went back to work FT and am happy about it.

Been a year or two since logging on here. Thought I'd update since for our family, dropping out of the "FIRE race" which I define as the pursuit of a single number then being done entirely, has been a terrific decision.

It led to:
- My wife and I both finding and pursuing professions that bring us more happiness with a mandatory requirement of "Life First, Work Second", i.e. the work better aligns with our values and typically more flexible daily schedule.

- A "no extra effort"-required path to FIRE. I stopped tracking a monthly NW/expenses recap for over a year. I started it back up recently when we moved into a new house to see where our new yearly expenses sit, but I do my best to NEVER go over expenses with a fine tooth comb. After removing all caring for the little things, like, should we buy a coffee for our long drive to X, our expenses went up ~$1500 a year....Yes that's right, 90% of the things I used to think twice about, now we just say yes and our expenses barely went up.

- Took on a mortgage, aiming to pay it off within 5 years, but if we don't hit that goal...whatever.

- A destruction of all "hard and fast" financial goals (i.e. that mortgage one is a loose one) was a very weird mindset shift that went on for a couple of years.

- Now onto 3rd baby, kids haven't raised our expenses that much 4 years in. We take everything used that we can and buy everything used that we aren't given. I've nailed down a simple, nutritious set of meals that average at about ~$1 per serving per meal, so groceries will grow a lot still (as they turn into teens!), but it'll be fine. TBD long term, but it'll be fine because we can always adjust.

- Kids are a challenge whether you are FI or not!!!! Trying telling a 6-month-old who won't sleep that it's ok, we have a nice stash in the bank, you don't have to cry. They'd be like, F you dad, give me some boob.

- The NW snowball was already started as we were at about 50-60% on the way to FI. It's continued snowballing. NW has continued to grow rapidly overall considering we no longer hold FI as the be-all and end-all.

- Taking my 2nd true Mini-retirement later this year for a full year off on paternity leave. Looking forward to it.

That's the update...now for my guru sentence. Don't follow my path, or MMM's path, follow your own path. A singular focus on one target without taking into account systems-based thinking may lead to a broken life. Obviously, it also may not too. Duh.

DW and I every once in a while ask ourselves, "what would we do differently if we were fully FI tomorrow?"... The only answer we could think of was, "go somewhere warm for the month of February" (we live in a very snowy climate). Guess what, we just booked a month down south in February of this year because I'll be off!

We'll be leveraging friends and other efficient pathways to make it a relatively cheap month too!

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #278 on: June 02, 2021, 12:05:26 PM »

SO (soon to be wife) is totally on board, and ready to leave right now if the opportunity presented itself. We are actually forgoing a traditional wedding in favor of a 12 month honeymoon, during which we will elope.

We have a rough idea of what the next few years will look like. It's more like early retirement w/ serial mini work stints

~April 2020 - Leave for 6 months of backpacking in the EU
~September 2020 - Come back to US for a wedding/month of family time
~October 2020 - Leave for 6 months of backpacking in SE Asia
~Spring 2021 - Come back to USA for 9-12 months of work
~Spring 2022 - 6 month thru-hike of Appalachian Trail
~Fall 2022- Get PT jobs while building a camper Van
~Spring 2023 - Leave for 1+ year of exploring the USA/S. America by camper van

Planning anything more than 3-4 years is silly imho. And even the order of things above may change, or we like/dislike a particular style of travel which changes things up completely.

Well you know what they say about "best laid plans"......

I left my job about a month after making that last post. Enjoyed 13 months of galivanting around the globe, before returning to a remote-work position in October of 2020. After continuing to work and geo-arbitrage our way around the SE USA (we are from the NE) for 6 months, we are both back to full time jobs which will have us tied back to our original location until we leave yet again.

Sadly we never made it to SE Asia, but all in all still managed to execute the plan.

Oh and for anyone worried about employability......after over a year off work, it took us only 6 months to get income back to what it was before we left.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #279 on: August 08, 2021, 08:51:26 PM »
Hi. I speed read/skimmed my way to the end of this thread, mostly looking for someone doing what I am thinking of, but also catching a few excellent posts from @kmcanoeist (who seems to have never come back to the forum), @2Birds1Stone who I always try to read, @Classical_Liberal who seems to be promoting the version of FI that I am just starting to understand and a few others who have kept this thread alive since 2016.  I am thinking of stepping back from work to take advantage of government assistance programs and spend more time completing home improvements, raising the kids and generally structuring more of my days to not be in front of a computer.

In 2012 I took a 6 month leave of absence from my job to hike the Appalachian Tail.  I never thought of it as a sabbatical, but it definitely was an itch that needed to be scratched, as Classical Liberal describes.  The AT was a turning point in my life. It was the first time I saved a significant amount of money ($10,000, ha!).  It was also about three months too long like someone described their bicycle adventure to be.  When I came back, my job was still there and promised to be better because the company was bought by a larger firm.  It wasn't better, but I was changed.  I met my wife, started really budgeting and embarked on the next 8 years of adventure - co-habitation, home ownership, marriage, kids, kids, kids, COVID, farm animals, and finding MMM.

Before kids, it seemed reasonable to take time away from work, but once the kids came, and the mortgage I guess, it did not occur to me to stop working for more than 3 weeks after a baby was born.  Even when I changed jobs, I didn't take more than a week off.  I missed an opportunity to take time off through unemployment insurance at the start of COVID.  My last job laid me off, but at that time, it seemed safer to get this job that I like and do fairly well.

Now I have the job, I want to keep it, but I don't want to work 40 hours per week.

I don't have 10x expenses.  We are at something like a $40,000/year spending level, maybe a little less and a 30% savings rate, maybe a little more.  The scheme I am contemplating is to earn $30,000, reducing spending through use of government assistance programs, primarily SNAP, and continue saving (thought much less total) with money from tax refunds like the CTC and EITC.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #280 on: August 09, 2021, 06:49:45 AM »
Howdy SE!

This may be a bit of a grey area with things like SNAP, which some states include an asset test for (I haven't looked too deeply into it). There is also the question of whether voluntarily dropping your income and taking advantage of a program designed for needy families aligns to your moral compass. I'm generally of the attitude that you should take advantage of programs which are designed to benefit you, and have used FMLA in an advantageous way.....but did have a legit family medical reason to do so. Ditto with unemployment benefits.

If your current income allows you to spend $40k/yr and still maintain a 30%+ savings, the math definitely works assuming positive market returns. If you add nothing to the stache and just earn enough to cover expenses, that 10X you have saved should theoretically double every 10-15 years, getting you to a full 25X in ~20 years. This is not a terrible plan if you foresee yourself/family wanting to live on $30k/yr and enjoy more time off. What's to stop you from going back to work to earn money faster if things don't pan out? Some fields of work are easier to get back into than others.

Many here and in the FIREsphere post about 15-17.5X annual expenses being the pivotal point of critical mass being reached where the stache does more of the work than new contributions. It may be prudent to stack those chips while figuring things out. Would reducing your expenses to $30k/yr also increase your 10 years saved to 12.5X+?

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #281 on: August 09, 2021, 08:16:39 AM »
Hi 2 birds. 

My state does not have an asset test. My family is determined to be eligible (because we receive the State's EITC) but our income is too high to receive any benefit (though the kids would get free lunch if they had started school yet).

We do not have 10x expenses saved.  We have about 4x saved, so not really in the realm of what I have seen people talk about as a relatively comfortable place to be. And not exactly a position of retirement inevitability.  The idea would be to go back to work. I am in an industry that hasn't practically changed for 100 years.  I could easily come back and be useful well into my 60s without increasing my current level of experience or knowledge.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #282 on: August 27, 2021, 08:02:52 AM »
The first time I decided to take time away from working, I set myself a limit of 2 months.  I got stressed as the end of that 2nd month approached... and then nothing happened.  With money saved up, spent about a year away from working before returning.

At the time, I realized if I wait to retire at 65, I might not be in the same physical condition as when I was younger.  So that could be a consideration with several early mini-retirements: the activities you can do now, that you might not later.

So I've taken time off between jobs since then, and so far have been fortunate to always land a job afterwards.  I see others have situations where family depends on them, or maybe have professions that aren't easy to exit and return.  So it might not fit every situation, but it works well for me.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #283 on: August 27, 2021, 08:13:00 AM »
The first time I decided to take time away from working, I set myself a limit of 2 months.  I got stressed as the end of that 2nd month approached... and then nothing happened.  With money saved up, spent about a year away from working before returning.

At the time, I realized if I wait to retire at 65, I might not be in the same physical condition as when I was younger.  So that could be a consideration with several early mini-retirements: the activities you can do now, that you might not later.

So I've taken time off between jobs since then, and so far have been fortunate to always land a job afterwards.  I see others have situations where family depends on them, or maybe have professions that aren't easy to exit and return.  So it might not fit every situation, but it works well for me.

I knew a guy doing this in the late 90s. I have often wondered what became of him during the crashes.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #284 on: August 28, 2021, 06:23:53 AM »
I’ve read through this thread before, and find it utterly fascinating. In some ways, this is pretty much exactly what I imagine the good life to allow.

About me: dual income family, 4 kids, I work as a pastor, and my current position has written into it that I am eligible for a sabbatical after 6 years of service. I also have a pension, and various other things distinctive to my job (huge amount of flexibility, 6 weeks vacation annually, community engagement, a sense of purpose) that make it worth it to me to do this rather than anything else.

Over the course of over a decade of work, I have often had the opportunity to take time (from 3 months to 6) between positions to chill and rest and do other things. This time around I plan to stay where I am for the next 8 years or so, and my sabbatical is a part of that. My partner is eligible for sabbaticals too (different profession, but also flexible) and I would love to be able to line them up.

I think the only thing stopping me from taking off more often is the worry that my community and the job I love will struggle in an extended absence. That is the downside of what I do: you tend to identify really closely with the place you work, not always for the better.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #285 on: August 28, 2021, 09:26:38 AM »
So I've taken time off between jobs since then, and so far have been fortunate to always land a job afterwards.  I see others have situations where family depends on them, or maybe have professions that aren't easy to exit and return.  So it might not fit every situation, but it works well for me.
I knew a guy doing this in the late 90s. I have often wondered what became of him during the crashes.
Wow, his entire working life - and a long life at that.  Did his return to work coincided with crashes?

If I recall correctly, I wasn't working when the dot-com crash started.  But money I needed for expenses was in cash anyways.  So while my retirement accounts took a hit during the dot-com crash, my savings/expenses were safe.  Overall I took 3 mini-retirements before being lucky enough to retire.

ixtap

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #286 on: August 28, 2021, 09:40:07 AM »
So I've taken time off between jobs since then, and so far have been fortunate to always land a job afterwards.  I see others have situations where family depends on them, or maybe have professions that aren't easy to exit and return.  So it might not fit every situation, but it works well for me.
I knew a guy doing this in the late 90s. I have often wondered what became of him during the crashes.
Wow, his entire working life - and a long life at that.  Did his return to work coincided with crashes?

If I recall correctly, I wasn't working when the dot-com crash started.  But money I needed for expenses was in cash anyways.  So while my retirement accounts took a hit during the dot-com crash, my savings/expenses were safe.  Overall I took 3 mini-retirements before being lucky enough to retire.

He was doing this in the 1990's, not his 90's. As I recall, he was probably in his late 20's at the time. Since we were in the same foreign city in 1999, he may have been ready for another break in 2001 for all I know! If your name is Eli and this sounds like you, let me know how it all turned out.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #287 on: October 17, 2021, 01:28:00 PM »
We are totally doing this!  Taking a year off, WITH three kids and RVing the US and traveling to South America and Europe.  It won't delay retirement too much (if the markets cooperate, we should have roughly what we went into it coming out of it).  And those kids grow so darn fast!

We did a 6-month unpaid sabbatical very like this earlier this year (Feb-Aug).  We bought a 32-ft Class C RV and drove it through 20 of the 22 states west of the Mississippi.  We stayed in national and state parks, private RV parks, and even in the middle of a vineyard.  Our kids were on remote learning, so we kept up with school via WiFi hotspots (we're not really a homeschool family), and lived off of selling stock from non-retirement accounts.  In spite of the withdrawals, our NW was higher at the end than the beginning (thank you, Mr. Market), even with paying to COBRA (and so much gasoline).  Our DDs (10 and 14 y/o) still enjoy spending time with us, and we know that's going away soon.  They had a blast, though missed their friends.

I have done two previous stints away from paid work since starting my professional career.  One was a planned 4-5 months off between jobs after a move.  Loved it.  The other was acting as stay-at-home dad for 2.5 years while we lived in Rwanda for my wife's work.  I've discovered that I have no ego about not having a professional identity, and am perfectly suited for lots of free time.  I do love my job, but know that my march toward FIRE will inevitably draw me away from it.  In the meantime, sabbaticals have been really good for happiness, including allowing me to appreciate my work more when I return!

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #288 on: October 17, 2021, 05:44:04 PM »
We are totally doing this!  Taking a year off, WITH three kids and RVing the US and traveling to South America and Europe.  It won't delay retirement too much (if the markets cooperate, we should have roughly what we went into it coming out of it).  And those kids grow so darn fast!

We did a 6-month unpaid sabbatical very like this earlier this year (Feb-Aug).  We bought a 32-ft Class C RV and drove it through 20 of the 22 states west of the Mississippi.  We stayed in national and state parks, private RV parks, and even in the middle of a vineyard.  Our kids were on remote learning, so we kept up with school via WiFi hotspots (we're not really a homeschool family), and lived off of selling stock from non-retirement accounts.  In spite of the withdrawals, our NW was higher at the end than the beginning (thank you, Mr. Market), even with paying to COBRA (and so much gasoline).  Our DDs (10 and 14 y/o) still enjoy spending time with us, and we know that's going away soon.  They had a blast, though missed their friends.

I have done two previous stints away from paid work since starting my professional career.  One was a planned 4-5 months off between jobs after a move.  Loved it.  The other was acting as stay-at-home dad for 2.5 years while we lived in Rwanda for my wife's work.  I've discovered that I have no ego about not having a professional identity, and am perfectly suited for lots of free time.  I do love my job, but know that my march toward FIRE will inevitably draw me away from it.  In the meantime, sabbaticals have been really good for happiness, including allowing me to appreciate my work more when I return!

What a fantastic story, thanks for sharing.

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #289 on: October 18, 2021, 03:51:51 AM »
Lovely story and how wonderful to have that time with your children.

I did love the comment about being perfectly suited for lots of free time - I hear ya!


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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #290 on: November 30, 2021, 07:23:46 PM »
I'm a 20+ year serial semi-retiree.  Take as many as you can while you still can.  In my experience gaps in employment, filled with interesting adventures, are preferred to a full time grunt work. This is conditioned by the fact that I've worked in right to work states most of my career, meaning one can be fired without cause at any time and fun plan B's were always in the front of my mind.  Occasionally I've been pressed on "Why did you (hike Mt ___ for a year or surf in Indo) instead of grinding away like I've been doing for the last X years?" question during an interview and usually answer with "I lost a bet" or "Let fate make a decision for once" and most non-assholes laugh off my gaps in employment.  I've also rarely returned to the same profession after several "gap" years, but would not change my semi-retirements, if anything I would have taken more and longer.     

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #291 on: February 22, 2022, 01:07:43 AM »
I'm a 20+ year serial semi-retiree.  Take as many as you can while you still can.  In my experience gaps in employment, filled with interesting adventures, are preferred to a full time grunt work. This is conditioned by the fact that I've worked in right to work states most of my career, meaning one can be fired without cause at any time and fun plan B's were always in the front of my mind.  Occasionally I've been pressed on "Why did you (hike Mt ___ for a year or surf in Indo) instead of grinding away like I've been doing for the last X years?" question during an interview and usually answer with "I lost a bet" or "Let fate make a decision for once" and most non-assholes laugh off my gaps in employment.  I've also rarely returned to the same profession after several "gap" years, but would not change my semi-retirements, if anything I would have taken more and longer.     

Think I'm going to have to take this route. My body is starting to fail me due to burnout. What did you do for health insurance during your gaps? Did you ever, or ever think of, trying to negotiate with an employer to have a 9 month on/3 month off yearly schedule or something like that?


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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #292 on: February 22, 2022, 12:42:32 PM »
I'm a 20+ year serial semi-retiree.  Take as many as you can while you still can.  In my experience gaps in employment, filled with interesting adventures, are preferred to a full time grunt work. This is conditioned by the fact that I've worked in right to work states most of my career, meaning one can be fired without cause at any time and fun plan B's were always in the front of my mind.  Occasionally I've been pressed on "Why did you (hike Mt ___ for a year or surf in Indo) instead of grinding away like I've been doing for the last X years?" question during an interview and usually answer with "I lost a bet" or "Let fate make a decision for once" and most non-assholes laugh off my gaps in employment.  I've also rarely returned to the same profession after several "gap" years, but would not change my semi-retirements, if anything I would have taken more and longer.     

Think I'm going to have to take this route. My body is starting to fail me due to burnout. What did you do for health insurance during your gaps? Did you ever, or ever think of, trying to negotiate with an employer to have a 9 month on/3 month off yearly schedule or something like that?

Used United Health Golden Rule, but was made illegal under Obama, so Biden might do the same.  Was also self-employed for a lot of that time and could just use same insurance.  ACA is a good option for older workers without income and what I will do starting in 2023. 

Never tried to extend or postpone the pain.  If an employer would pay healthcare/vesting or something like while one "ponders future" then take it, but I would not return to a bad situation.  At one of my worst employment situations a friend was granted a reprieve, but shortly after coming back, he had a nervous breakdown.  He was a much better person than myself, but still cracked (or maybe why he cracked and I didn't).  Most corporate jobs expected everyone to drink the Kool-Aide and asking to leave the cult was a rejection of the chanting, one almost was looked at as a spy or leper upon return.

One has to retool and learn something new in a new field, returning to the same grind is seem as insane (doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome).             

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #293 on: February 26, 2022, 03:43:06 AM »
Been 8 months since last update.

- Had a 3rd baby in the fall. Been off work since Oct and am off until September on a parental leave.

- Figured I've been off work 2.5 out of the past 5 years with DW and the kids. I believe that is the most valuable way to flex our stash. Buy time.

- Hasn't resulted in a NW decline, but that of course is boosted by market gains and a lucky RE investment gain.

- Closer to FI (probably 75%?), but no intention to leave work because I quit a job I didn't like 3 years ago (Corporate blah blah 101) and found one I did like (teaching).

- Parenting can still be challenging even though we have more moola. It's also an excellent way to spend time. Yoga every morning with my 2 y/o?! Yes, please. Lego and Marble track building for an hour a day with my 4 y/o?? Yes, please. Getting bored staring at our baby for another hour a day? Yes, please.

We would 10000% have more money if we continued working as much as we can all the time, at least double. We'd also have more if we continued with a RE investment plan we didn't enjoy (rentals), but we sold them and are happy with what we have.

If you were in a position to know that you will always have more than you need, what do you do with that information? For us, it's buy time. No desire for vacation property, no desire for investments that take time to manage, no desire for things that add stress. We do eat more take-out now that we have 3 kids and I (the grocery buyer) have moved away from always just buying the cheapest option available. Probably added a 1 to 2K more in spending each year and it feels like we are living high on the hog!

Anyways, hopefully, the story is useful to anyone considering working less instead of pushing rapidly towards a number that is generally meaningless for your daily life...P.s. Not too judgement there. I am pushing for a paid-off mortgage to feel debt-free and unlock cash flexibility, so I guess we pick our poisons. (oh yeah, I know that investing would almost certainly be a better financial outcome).

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Re: Early Retirement vs Serial Mini Retirements
« Reply #294 on: February 26, 2022, 09:02:57 AM »
I think one of the earlier posts talking about taking leave of absences is great. I've done it myself too (also in tech industry) and just leave for 2-3 months at a time. Most tech companies don't have like a 1-2 months sabbatical anymore after a 5 year tenure (which, I don't wanna build up to a 5 year tenure), so I substitute it for like a 2-3 months at a time every couple years or so.