Post your ages when you started saving for, and reached FIRE - Permanent Edition

[k290]

I'd like to see what the average amount of time it took everyone here to reach FIRE. :)

Post how old you were when you actively and consciously started saving for FIRE (and possibly your net worth at that time if you don't mind divulging)
Also, Post how old you were when you reached FIRE  (and possibly your net worth at the time)

Look forward to some of the responses.

Edit: I've updated this thread to be the Permanent Edition. Come in here and share your FIRE story. It will be a collection of inspiration as that is what most people coming in here are getting out of it.

 Post your stories if you've reached or are very close to FIRE!

[Jon_Snow]

Took me about 10 years...when I was 32 the "idea" of FIRE hit me like a bolt of lightening out of the sky. It was LONG before I discovered this forum - thank god the basic tenets of Mustachian were already part of my life then. Way back when I started the journey, I had FIRE at 45 as a goal...so I beat that by 3 years, having pulled the plug 6 months ago at 42.

What is a bit depressing is the fact that, from what I have since learned, I was probably FI at 37...but then again, being someone who HATES stressing about money (or the lack of it), the extra buffer in my Stache is probably a good thing...

[Calimandc]

What were the criteria you used, how did you measure it at 37, and how did you measure it at 42?  What did you realize afterwards that points to the FI at 37?

Thanks,

Jeremy

[waltworks]

Let the humblebragging begin!

Seriously, what is the point of asking this? You can be FI at birth. You can never be FI if you have horrible enough luck. You can make choices about relationships, kids, pursuing athletic goals, etc that can significantly delay FI. Some folks make $500k/year, others make $30k. And there's no standard at all (nor should there be) for what RE itself means. ERE Jacob does fine on $7k a year or so, others need $100k+ to be happy. 

So the only thing that is going to happen here is that people will try to one-up each other with their fast FIRE stories. Which is pointless.

-W

[arebelspy]

Seriously, what is the point of asking this?

I think OP wanted real life examples of how long FIRE takes to achieve once you focus on it.

(Not theoretical simple math.)

Many people get encouragement or inspiration out of this sort of thing.

[waltworks]

Yeah, ok, if the goal is inspiring stories, fine. Mine is just boring, though. No debt, never liked to spend money on stuff much, but also no jobs that ever paid more than about $25k/year ("professional" athlete/grad student.) Once I actually vaguely started paying attention to money/investing (early 30s, conveniently when everything was on sale) it was about 5 years. I'm now 38, and we're FI, though I'm not planning to quit work anytime soon. So basically through a combo of moderate ingrained frugality and a large dose of luck, not very long at all. We have 2 kids and might have another one in the next few years.

I could easily see FI being doable in your late 20s (starting from zero) with a little luck, a lot of frugality and some smart investment choices. I spent those years riding a bike up and down mountains and teaching undergrads to do statistics, though, so the almost total lack of income precluded it.

-W

Seriously, what is the point of asking this?

I think OP wanted real life examples of how long FIRE takes to achieve once you focus on it.

(Not theoretical simple math.)

Many people get encouragement or inspiration out of this sort of thing.

[Spork]

complete financial reset (divorce) at about 28.
remarried at 30 and we started working on debt & savings.
Around 32: we talked to a financial advisor that really got us thinking.   "You make a combined salary of $x a year and you don't know where that money goes."

so: 32 was probably the start.
I will retire this year at 50.

I do (knowingly) spend slightly more than most badasses around here.  Hence: it both took me longer to reach full FI and it takes more to maintain that.  (My spending is not off the scale.  It just doesn't qualify me as a badass.)

[2Birds1Stone]

Many people get encouragement or inspiration out of this sort of thing.

This, I am one of these people!

In for more responses.

[Cookie78]

Many people get encouragement or inspiration out of this sort of thing.

This, I am one of these people!

In for more responses.

+1

I like to hear everyone's stories too.

[k290]

Seriously, what is the point of asking this?

Many people get encouragement or inspiration out of this sort of thing.

Yup, that is exactly why I posted it! The couple of posts so far have been great. In for more

[Exflyboy]

Feb 1997.. $160k in debt (mortgage)
Jan 2014.. FIRED at $1.25 to $1.3M (not including house equity, house paid off)
Today a little over $1.5M.. I'm 53 years old.

[Less]

Let the humblebragging begin!

Seriously, what is the point of asking this? .....(see above for full text)

So the only thing that is going to happen here is that people will try to one-up each other with their fast FIRE stories. Which is pointless.

I think one of the best thing about this community is that it is possible to have a little brag. Don't interpret it as one-upmanship, but in a world where 'wealth' is shown in all the wrong ways and finance is seldom talked about, it is a great thing for people to be open and proud of their achievements. The huge turn around stories and small net worth FIRE peeps are just as inspirational as the steady considered course and Big Money success. I find that there are things to learn from each.

The average person on here is able to think for themselves and knows that the realities of reaching FIRE depends on many factors, some of which com down to luck. Give everyone some credit and choose to see the good side.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

I got the idea I wanted to retire early in undergrad 1998.  I had some detours because of my mother being terminally ill and keeping me out of work for a couple years.  I walked out the office door for the final time on 5OCT2012 (40 yrs old).  Roughly 15 years from conception to completion.  Could have done it faster if I had been smarter about investing at the time.

[deborah]

I went to a financial planner, and she told me I could retire tomorrow if I wanted to. I thought she was kidding. Took 5 years for me to believe that I was FI. Retired a couple of months later. So I guess I started saving for it 5 years before it happened.

[goodlife]

I started working at 25 after finishing undergrad + grad school back to back. I saved a shitload of my income every year, but at the time I didn't know about FIRE. When I was 27/28, I had this crisis of wondering what on earth am I doing with my life: I have this really high paying super stressful long hours job that I hate. At the same time a lot of money is accumulating in my bank account and I have absolutely zero idea what I even need it for. So I started googling, read a ton of self help books and somehow in this process I came across the FIRE concept. I will be FI under 3 years from now when I will be 33. So it will have taken me 8 years by that point.

[soccerluvof4]

around 27 i started saving but nowhere near what i should or could of. 40's Got done playing around , cracked down and will be fully retired May 31st at age 50.

[cpthammer]

Got my first job at age 30 (lots of postgraduate education!), FIRE'd at 37 three months ago, so 7 years 5 months of work.  My wife is 34, we did it together. 

People get very confused when I tell them I'm retired.

[dude]

So I started contributing to my employer 401k (federal TSP) as soon as I was eligible, and up to the match (5%).  I was 32 at the time, having started my career late as a result of 6 years of military service, followed by 7 years of schooling (undergrad & law school).  But I was still horrible with money.  I had credit card debt that eventually got to around $12K, and about $80K in student loans (which could easily have been far less had I been Mustachian then), which I deferred my first year out of law school because I wasn't making diddly (in truth, had I been Mustachian then, I could have made those payments).  About 2 years out of law school, I got serious about eradicating the credit card debt, taking out a fixed personal loan @10% to do it.  Got it paid off in 3 years.  But I continued to make TSP contributions and to increase my contributions with each pay raise/promotion.  Made some more financially stupid decisions when it came time to make an honest woman out of my longtime girlfriend, in the form of borrowing to pay for the ring (a stupidly expensive ring, but I felt guilty for having waited 16 years to pop the question) and spending an insane amount of money on our wedding ($15K of our own money, which we saved, $25K from her parents -- UGH).  Yet despite all that stupidity, I continued to save in my TSP, until around 7 years into my career, I began maxing it out and have ever since.  Over the past decade, I got way better about managing money, and over the past couple years since finding MMM, I improved dramatically more.  My FIRE date is set (Jan 2020), and it's always been a function of my job, which will allow me to retire with a pension at that time, and likely with a fat TSP balance, at age 54 (well, 53, if I really wanted to). 

I'm extremely happy with how everything's turned out despite my missteps, but can't help looking back sometimes and thinking about how much better off I'd be financially had made more sound financial decisions earlier in life.  Hell, even in my 20's when I was in the military and school, I could have been making IRA contributions each year had I chosen to.  But that's all water under the bridge now.  But hopefully those of us around here who are a little longer in the tooth can serve as an example to the young Mustachians on this website.

[DragonSlayer]

Started with my fist post-college job at 21, net worth 0 since I worked my way though college, got scholarships, and had no debt. Just married, and hubby was the same. No kids, and didn't want any.

Fire'd at 33. Net worth: around 1.5 mil. We both quit working for two years, but hubby really wanted to work in his field, so he went back (to a different company), even though we had more than enough stashed that he didn't have to. (He does have a sweet deal, though, where he can work remotely so we can travel pretty much any time we want to.) I occasionally take on some freelance projects for clients I really like just to give me some variety in life. The retirement police would argue we aren't retired, but I know we are. We work as a choice, not as a have to.

At any rate, it took 12 years to get to the point where we were completely clear.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

24/40

[k290]

Thank you for the great posts everyone.

[seattlecyclone]

When I started is an interesting question. I've always been pretty frugal. When I was a senior in high school I decided to go to the college that gave me the best scholarships, since I figured it was probably better to graduate from a good university with no debt than a very good university where I had to take out loans. Due to well-paying software internships I was able to save some money during college. I started to learn more about investing at that time, since I wanted to make sure that money I had saved was working as hard as possible for me. During my senior year I opened a Roth IRA and maxed it out. Through hard work, good choices, and a more than a little bit of luck, I graduated with a positive net worth.

I spent two years after college earning a master's degree. I put most of my teaching assistant pay into the university's 403(b), living off the savings from my summer internships. After that I moved out to the west coast with my girlfriend for our first "real" jobs. We maxed out our 401(k) plans from the start, bought a house, got married, and kept saving. I had the good foresight to join a local software company about two years before the IPO, which did give a nice little boost to our net worth.

I had done some simplistic extrapolations and determined that we would likely have a metric buttload of money at age 65 if we kept working and saving for that long. Since our current path was likely to lead to a super-comfortable retirement, I didn't pay extra special attention to keeping our spending low, but my natural frugality did do a pretty good job of moderating things. I thought I might retire "early" at 55 or so, depending on how the investing went over that time, but I didn't give it too much thought because that was still a few decades out. The idea that retiring in your 30s was a thing that could be done simply never occurred to me.

Then about two years ago I discovered MMM and saw a lot of parallels between him and myself. I looked over our investments and spending history in Quicken and determined that we actually weren't that far from FI ourselves. I made a renewed effort to keep our spending under control now that I saw how it related to a more near-term goal. I switched our retirement contributions from Roth to traditional now that I realized we probably wouldn't have a ridiculously high income in retirement after all. Now we're targeting FI at around age 32, give or take depending on market performance. I'm not sure if I'll jump into the RE part right away after FI. We're planning to have kids by then, and I'm sure that will help me make up my mind one way or the other. I do enjoy my job pretty well most of the time and would love to have a chance to earn a bit of extra money to give to charity, but I might decide I value extra time with kids more.

[scottish]

Took about 25 years here.   I never really focused on it until about a year ago though.   I just had this habit of investing money regularly instead of spending it on sports cars and vacations.   I looked at the portfolio a couple of months after finding this site and realized we were FI.

[AlexK]

Discovered ERE blog at age 34 in 2007 with NW around $30k. Now I'm 41 with NW at $820k and FI but not RE yet.

Lowish engineer salary of $60-80k during this time plus side gigs on eBay and craigslist. Spending about $15k/yr. Invested 60% rentals and 40% S&P500.

It has never been a sacrifice. I do tons of fun stuff, international travel, was dating now married.

[Livewell]

40, aiming for FI at 47 (5 years out).  Maybe sooner depending on market and my highly variable commission based income.

Had always been a saver and relatively frugal, but didn't have the bug until stumbling across this community while developing a retirement plan mid-career (I had always thought the ambigious "mid 50s" as when I would retire). 

I thank you all for opening my eyes to the much earlier possibility!

[kib]

Was always financially conservative and came from reasonably well-off background, so saving is in my blood. I guess.  I was saving for the long haul from the time I started working, but with the "understanding" that I'd need at least a million in the bank and that only bad little girls stop working before they're 65, married mommies, or dead. (Eye roll).  Epiphany experience showed me that I could live on proceeds of much, much less than that and - gasp - be happy and - gasp - this wasn't a terrible irresponsible thing.  This realization occurred in 1996, I quit high paying SSJ in 1998 at age 35.  I have been back to work a few times since then to tweak the numbers, haven't worked for a paycheck since 2006.  My nest egg balance not including assets I use - house, cars - is about $850,000, or about $1,100,000 if I sold everything but the clothes on my back.  So I guess I wound up with the million after all, but I could have done it at half that much.

[Dicey]

I knew I wanted to stop working as early as possible after I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22. However, I live in a very high COLA and it took me a long time to RE.

I'm sure I could have saved harder and retired sooner, but I was told my rare cancer had "a propensity to recur". I always wanted to make sure I enjoyed the moment while saving for the hoped-for future. I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of the Fifty (United) States. I said yes to every wedding and special occasion possible. I've enjoyed the theater and a fair number of concerts and other live events. Lots of good restaurants, a nice house and pretty clothes, too. I am grateful that I have been able to donate generously to causes I care about and help friends in times of need.

Truthfully, I was afraid to RE because I was worried about paying for future healthcare/insurance costs. I FINALLY got married at age 54 and that's what gave me the impetus to finally pull the job rip cord. Two years, three months and twenty-two days later, I am loving every minute of retirement and marriage. Even if I'm not loving what I'm doing every.single.moment, I'm so happy that there is no longer anything to dread on Sunday night. Sweet, and so worth the effort.

[MsRichLife]

Have been a saver all my life. Decided at 22 that I wanted be retired by 40. I'll achieve that goal. Probably could have happened sooner if not for life events that came along. I've been making it up as I go along. Only discovered MMM 6 months ago so this is this first time I've had like minded people to bounce off and it's been a great source of inspiration during the final few years before FIRE.

[Pooperman]

Not FI or even close! But I can give a start date. 24. Aiming for 40, same as raptor.

I came up with something similar to the 4% rule. 4% inflation, 2% real return, I would need 3 million I told myself. Wasn't sure how to get there and kindof forgot about it for a while. The. Last year, lost my job and lived on the emergency fund for 5 months before getting a new position. Right after I got the new position, my fiancée wanted to make sure that never happened again. So I found MMM and started for real in August last year. Not sure how feasible 40 will be, but it'll be close at current projections (no kids in the projections, but we intend to have 2). Worst case scenario is that we get close and my parents start gifting us the yearly limit and that pushes us over the edge into FI.

[arebelspy]

I knew I wanted to stop working as early as possible after I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22. However, I live in a very high COLA and it took me a long time to RE.

I'm sure I could have saved harder and retired sooner, but I was told my rare cancer had "a propensity to recur". I always wanted to make sure I enjoyed the moment while saving for the hoped-for future. I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of the Fifty (United) States. I said yes to every wedding and special occasion possible. I've enjoyed the theater and a fair number of concerts and other live events. Lots of good restaurants, a nice house and pretty clothes, too. I am grateful that I have been able to donate generously to causes I care about and help friends in times of need.

Truthfully, I was afraid to RE because I was worried about paying for future healthcare/insurance costs. I FINALLY got married at age 54 and that's what gave me the impetus to finally pull the job rip cord. Two years, three months and twenty-two days later, I am loving every minute of retirement and marriage. Even if I'm not loving what I'm doing every.single.moment, I'm so happy that there is no longer anything to dread on Sunday night. Sweet, and so worth the effort.

Wow.  If you had posted that whole story elsewhere on the forums, I missed it.  I loved reading it.  Beautiful.  Thank you for sharing.

[k290]

I knew I wanted to stop working as early as possible after I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22. However, I live in a very high COLA and it took me a long time to RE.

I'm sure I could have saved harder and retired sooner, but I was told my rare cancer had "a propensity to recur". I always wanted to make sure I enjoyed the moment while saving for the hoped-for future. I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of the Fifty (United) States. I said yes to every wedding and special occasion possible. I've enjoyed the theater and a fair number of concerts and other live events. Lots of good restaurants, a nice house and pretty clothes, too. I am grateful that I have been able to donate generously to causes I care about and help friends in times of need.

Truthfully, I was afraid to RE because I was worried about paying for future healthcare/insurance costs. I FINALLY got married at age 54 and that's what gave me the impetus to finally pull the job rip cord. Two years, three months and twenty-two days later, I am loving every minute of retirement and marriage. Even if I'm not loving what I'm doing every.single.moment, I'm so happy that there is no longer anything to dread on Sunday night. Sweet, and so worth the effort.

Awesome story. People, like you, with this mindset are the greatest.

[fartface]

Thanks for starting this thread. I enjoy reading anecdotal experiences.

Here's ours.

In June 2013, my husband got a punch to the gut while we were out west on a family vacation. His boss called to tell him his entire department had been outsourced.

After living in a fog the whole month of July - more or less panicking -  consulting labor attorneys (he had a signed contract with them through June 2014), and working out a severance deal. We decided, after calming down a bit, the severance and unemployment would give him a few months to decide next steps. He was 43 at the time.

Then, in October 2013, I discovered MMM. After essentially reading his entire blog in a weekend, I started doing calculations. Our net worth at that time was around $550K. We had been - more or less - living off one paycheck for most of our marriage.

Both our mindsets started to change. I looked at DH and said, "You know...you can just be retired...you don't ever have to go back to a full-time job again if you don't want to."

This mindset allowed him to start his own business. A business with little start up costs and lots of flexibility. He started volunteering at kids' school, our church, and Habitat for Humanity. The business started making a little money. Then a little more. Best part of all, if he had another commitment -- he'd just turn down the work or tell his customer, "I'm not available the week of the 5th, but can help you on the week of the 12th if you'd like." Most people were happy to wait for HIM. His work is quality, so one referral leads to another and another. We also recommitted to saving.

Today, our net worth is ~$780K. I'm 40. I'd like to FIRE at the 1.5M mark. With our current savings rate, that's about 5-7 years away.

[HappyMargo]

First of all, thanks to everyone who participates on the Forum.  Very inspiring stories!!

This path to FIRE actually started for me when I got interested in Simple Living & Minimalist blogs.  I looked around my home & wondered why I'd ever thought I "needed all this stuff."  So I've been lightening up since.  And I simply went cold turkey on all buying (pretty much only spend on consumables now, like groceries, toothpaste, dog food, etc.) 

Then the money started just piling up in my savings account, which of course has ridiculously low interest.  So I decided I'd better start learning about investing appropriately.  Ended up accidentally on MMM & ERE, which flipped the switch for me. I never knew there was such a thing as "retiring early."  What?!?  My parents both worked till at least 72 years old. 
Now DH & I are on a mission! For two years now, DH & I ratcheted up our savings further, we fully max our 401k, HSA, Roths & send any extra into Vanguard.
 
I'll be fully ready to FIRE in just 3 more years.  Since I actually enjoy my job, I plan to switch to part-time on my 53rd birthday.  Down-shifting to per diem allows me to only work the shifts I want (2 or 3 per week) and have the freedom to travel (volunteer for international medical missions!) & pursue other interests.   

TL;DR   The full time frame from "awakening" to saving-with-a-passion to full FIRE will be 5 years.

[TheFrugalFox]

2 years - but had always been frugal and we had bought our house cash. My little business was going down but had a lightning bolt moment when I worked out the selling all the stock and investing in the stock market  would allow me to live on the dividends - barely. But on paper it JUST worked. Only found MMM and all the other FIRE sites about 3 months from the end - was relieved to find others where on the same page!

[Exflyboy]

I knew I wanted to stop working as early as possible after I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22. However, I live in a very high COLA and it took me a long time to RE.

I'm sure I could have saved harder and retired sooner, but I was told my rare cancer had "a propensity to recur". I always wanted to make sure I enjoyed the moment while saving for the hoped-for future. I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of the Fifty (United) States. I said yes to every wedding and special occasion possible. I've enjoyed the theater and a fair number of concerts and other live events. Lots of good restaurants, a nice house and pretty clothes, too. I am grateful that I have been able to donate generously to causes I care about and help friends in times of need.

Truthfully, I was afraid to RE because I was worried about paying for future healthcare/insurance costs. I FINALLY got married at age 54 and that's what gave me the impetus to finally pull the job rip cord. Two years, three months and twenty-two days later, I am loving every minute of retirement and marriage. Even if I'm not loving what I'm doing every.single.moment, I'm so happy that there is no longer anything to dread on Sunday night. Sweet, and so worth the effort.

I just wanted to add my respect and admiration Diane.

I wish you a long and happy future...:)

[MountainManMustache]

Started at 29, FIRE at 49.  FIRE trigger was layoff by last employer, planned by me as the trigger for FIRE.  Hoped for another year of employment before layoff but now that FIRE (a month now) I don't know what I was thinking…I should have done this earlier, although getting medical insurance paid by them and a nice severance payment truly helps the comfort level.

Everything paid off, no debt.  Fortunately had purchased the two houses (one in Rockies the other on a lake in MI) I will live in for the next decades long ago and paid them off one month before layoff (whew).

Best advice I received was to save early and save often.  Did not live a meager life but have practiced frugality all my life due to my parents' guidance and principles (Thanks Mom and Dad), buying what I wanted but never at full boat, retail.

A friend recently replied after I told them that I was FIRE and loving it that, "you finally took the wrapper off".  I agree as everything which I encounter in my day (sounds of birds, smell and sound and feel of a breeze, views etc) are now more present, crisp and sexy than before.

YAHOO!

[WYOGO]

Thanks for the posts so far. Interesting stuff.

I am hesitant to post much in this forum section because I am not technically post fire but enjoy gaining insight from those of you ahead on the sea of freedom. With that said, I have always saved some money because it seemed logical to do so. Some of us are just wired this way. It was not until about the last four years specifically that is has become a crazed frenzy culminating in current savings rates consistently above 80% and with a few months where more money actually is saved then earned from employment due to subsidies and various optimization scenarios. I have worked consistently and with stability since my very early 20's.

I made a few poor financial decisions along the way like buying a really large home even though I was single and lived alone and have owned multiple new leased and purchased vehicles which have slowed the process.

Nonetheless the cumulative impact of good decisions, lack of an addictive personality, and blessings undeserved beyond my control outweighed the brief periods stupidity and I am pleased to be crossing the FI threshold this year.

A few severe threats to my livelihood about 5 years ago got the wheels spinning in overdrive to ensure I would never again be a victim or at the mercy of any person going forward.

There are a number of benefits to my current employment arrangement that make me reluctant to leave but it is nice to have the option. The vacation trips I can combine with work trips are pretty awesome and my expenses would actually increase by at least 25% if I FIRED today due to the sheer amount of costs covered or subsidized by my corporation.

My quality of life is decent and my work/life balance is certainly agreeable. Still, I would be surprised if I am working in this way beyond the age of 35, but the future is not fundamentally knowable and what I want today may not be what I want tomorrow. I tend to bore after a while and always am onto the next interesting thing or place.

In the meantime I am traveling more, taking longer weekends and further defining what I want the rest of the journey to look like. To be single is the epitome of simplicity and certainly has the potential to help the process along even with a number of mishaps.

[Maxman]

Went through an expensive divorce at 46. Married well and retired at 56.

[dryster]

Emigrated to Canada from the UK at the start of 1988. We owed a few thousand bucks to various places. So we started below the zero point. Various things led us to understanding the need to save for retirement by 1991-92 so that was the starting point. I was 35 years old when we started. The "Wealthy Barber" was our stimulus and we had a couple of financial advisors between 1992 and 1999 who really did not serve us well. However, in 2000 we started managing our own money and what we call "Honing" began.

I could list off all the things that are considered honing, but they've probably been discussed here. Two very important things were the spreadsheet and the goal and writing the goal down. It was also important that we enjoyed life while we saved.

Magnetic numbers on the refrigerator counted down our last 60 months, which reduced to about 45 months as momentum built.

We retired in September 2007. Three Weeks before my 50th birthday, my wife would be 44 in the November.

Here we are seven and a half years later and we cannot see the flaw in the plan, in fact, as some have already said here, perhaps the only wrinkle is that we could have gone a few years earlier, but that's just water under the bridge.

Great work MMM and for everyone else who can forego an expensive boutique coffee for a delicious home brewed wonder.

[dryster]

I was asked by Exflyboy to elaborate on our position after seven and a half years. So here is the rough guide.

We own the house, have owned our houses since 1995 (started small, townhouse and worked our way up) and have avoided the mortgage game. We owned a few rental units in the early 2000s but being landlords was uncomfortable, so we stopped that. 

In Canada, we have RSP savings that can be turned into RIF and are taxed when withdrawing, however, we withdraw below the lower tax threshold so are paying no taxes "on the way out" up to now. Our dividend income within our RSP and RIF accounts is 140% of our yearly draw.

How much do we spend? - I would state that we spend less than C$25k per year and a good portion of that is on West coast travel, beer and happy times.

As our drawdown is less than dividend income, the timeframe is perhaps perpetual. In addition, in the next decade we will be recipients of numerous pensions, which of course will complicate our zero tax position, but it's sort of a good problem.

[pom]

Just got my FY number (FI if you want to stay polite) a few weeks ago at almost 43.

Started to think about it at age 20 in undergrad, the plan then was to retire at 65 with $3m. Started saving after graduating at age 24.

It was not linear, here is roughly how it went:

8 years in the US: save some, travel some.
 - got lucky with my company stock and ended up with about $250k in savings
 - started to think about early retirement but it was still a vague idea
 - what I was mostly thinking about then was to have enough money for retirement and then go work around the globe for fun.

2 years in Belgium: travel mostly, save very little; this is when I realized a few things
 - with 2500€ a month I could have pretty much everything that I want
 - 2500€ a month would require "just" 750k€ in assets so there was no point in accumulating $3m
 - decided to reach it by 40

3 years in the US: save mostly, travel some

7 years in France
- financial crisis and some bad decisions (real estate at the wrong place/wrong time + double down on bank shares), I got delayed 3 years.

Just two months from my 43rd birthday I hit 750k€ (but it is 745k€ now).

Got married recently and have a little one now so I am not sure if I will really RE soon but it is all MY choice now.

[FIRE me]

I'd like to see what the average amount of time it took everyone here to reach FIRE. :)

Post how old you were when you actively and consciously started saving for FIRE (and possibly your net worth at that time if you don't mind divulging)
Also, Post how old you were when you reached FIRE  (and possibly your net worth at the time)

I started saving in 2004 when I had a negative $20,000 net worth. I anticipate FIRE in January 2017. I will be 59, so with Social Security only a few years away for me, my stash will be smaller than average for this forum. My net worth should be just under 300k.

[Trudie]

According to our advisor and my own calculations, we're probably FI now, but not RE.  Expect to be FIRE in 5-6 years.  Husband is 53; I am 44.  I probably could quit tomorrow and we'd be fine, but am not there psychologically yet (working on it).

I've had frugal habits my whole life.  I can remember reading the "Tightwad Gazette" while still single and living in Chicago and carefully watching my pennies.  I remember shopping for groceries on $25/week and keeping a spending journal out of necessity.  Mom and Dad offered to help me out when I was first out of college, but I turned them down.  I told them I'd live within my means, but just knowing they were there in an emergency was reassuring.  And I am lucky that such an emergency never happened.  Dad got me started on IRA investing at 22.  I remember him explaining real estate investing to me on a notepad when I was in junior high  (although I never caught that bug).  "And this dear, is how leverage works and depreciation reduces your taxes!!!"  At some point it dawned on me that emotionally I sort of got a "rush" from saving my money -- probably because I am a security-oriented, risk-averse person.


I am not pointing out all these "good" choices out of sanctimony because I can't underestimate the role that others have played in helping educate us along the way and establishing good habits.  I also recognize that growing up in a pretty solidly middle-class family where my parents invested in my education and welfare gave me a jump start on life.  I realize some kids don't have this.  I must thank my parents immensely for my debt-free college education.  I also had a full ride scholarship for graduate school and was able to take a bunch of classes later in life for next-to-nothing (because my husband works at a college) that enabled me to sit for the CPA exam and has led me to better job prospects.  We have inherited money from family over the years and are likely to inherit more.  Sometimes I feel guilty about this.  But during our working years -- despite modest incomes and some years of minimal employment -- we have stashed quite a bit.  We have not used the financial gifts on toys. We've used them to pay down our mortgage and fund Roth IRAs.  At the same time, we have maxed retirement savings and have made particular strides in the last 5 years or so.

It's quite relevant, financially speaking, that my husband and I don't have kids.  I have nephews who've had significant help from parents, grandparents, and (to a much lesser extent) us in funding college educations.  I hope that someday they realize what a gift that is.  I won't fault them for not "getting it" at age 22.

[AmbitiousCanuck]

Lots of great stories here!  Replying to follow along.

[sequim]

We will be RE this May, not sure of exact date just yet.  62 and 52.  I got a late start in the make good money field so my early years were like RE, just odd jobs and whatever sounded like fun with low expenses.  Not until I got my C.S. degree in my mid-40's and a tech job did I start making headway on savings.  I knew I had to make up for lost time and having had a frugal Mother, I had the skills for saving money and stretching a dollar!

Some lucky breaks helped out the bank account: retention bonus from company being bought out by another, riding the property ladder for a few houses, having two parents getting older with health problems put the brakes on much travel except locally, to support them so not much money going out for travel, and finally a nest egg from my Mom once she passed away a few years ago.  Of course unlucky breaks included stock busts now and then, selling an underwater property for all I put into it, having a student loan to pay off after getting the C.S. degree, and not willing to climb the ladder into the really good money because I didn't want to lose my free time.

The idea of RE didn't occur to me until I started reading this blog almost a year ago.  Retirement had always been a dirty word for.... just waiting for death, obsolete and worthless!  How my ideas have change.  It's refreshing to see people much younger thinking about this and stepping off the treadmill that is American life these days - so workaholic and consumeristic.  The American workplace is non-conducive to leading an enjoyable life, with it's long hours and little PTO given or taken.  Yet many of us get paid quite well and that's the key.  Take the money and stache it!

[k290]

after getting the C.S. degree, and not willing to climb the ladder into the really good money because I didn't want to lose my free time.

I also have a CS degree, but I'm only 25 and have been struggling with the idea of climbing the ladder for more money or having somewhat less stress than those higher on the foodchain.

[Pooperman]

after getting the C.S. degree, and not willing to climb the ladder into the really good money because I didn't want to lose my free time.

I also have a CS degree, but I'm only 25 and have been struggling with the idea of climbing the ladder for more money or having somewhat less stress than those higher on the foodchain.

So climb and negotiate as much time off as you can. Win/win. Plus, you'll FIRE faster. I'm in your boat (tech, not C.S. major). I deal poorly with stress so looking around at new positions for steadier work hours and higher pay and more time off. Given what I do and my experience, it can be done (NYC area).

[steveo]

Feb 1997.. $160k in debt (mortgage)
Jan 2014.. FIRED at $1.25 to $1.3M (not including house equity, house paid off)
Today a little over $1.5M.. I'm 53 years old.

This is impressive.

[CryingInThePool]

Googled 'really early retirement' circa 2008-2009 which lead me to ERE at 34.  Greatest disruptor of my life. 
I had some savings but also credit card debt & a mortgage on too much house.  Jacob and then MMM completely reorganized my life around a new priority; save so I could stop working forever which had never really occurred to me as something one could do in their 30s and 40s.  My first plan that I obsessed over got me to FIRE in 2-3 years but called for RV living and growing my own food.  After some due diligence I realized that while it might be OK for an emergency that wasn't how I wanted to live anymore than cubicle drudgery was.   Next plan was to FIRE at closer to MMM expense levels by 40 in 2014. 

It didn't seem possible but my thought was if I shoot for 40 and miss it I'll still be better off; which I am.   I was FI in 2012 and while here in 2015 I'm still doing the spastic dance between OMY and SWAMI I consider it the best 7 year journey of my life (so far!).

I count myself in the class/cohort of 2016-2018 so for me it will end up being no more than 10 years from ERE/FIRE discovery to walking away.   And like most I just wish I stumbled upon all this a few years sooner.

[sequim]

I think it's great so many younger people on this site who are doing FIRE! To see that it's not just an option for older people who are tired of working but those who just reject the whole workaholic tendency of our American culture.  I love reading about all kinds of FIRE, some involving work, but where work doesn't own you, you own the work.

I agree with you, CryingInThePool, about not wanting to live the ultra frugal life and we don't want that either.  I can squeeze a dollar like nobody's business but I don't want the spartan life all the time.  My husband and I love good food and nice restaurants plus we want to travel.  Of course, I'm always looking for a deal to help out with those things.