Author Topic: Today is my last day at work  (Read 8356 times)

TheMoneyBadger

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Today is my last day at work
« on: March 31, 2015, 08:10:30 AM »
Today is my last day of work.  Tomorrow will be my first day of retirement and I'm planning to spend it with my three year-old hiking, eating a picnic lunch, and generally having a good time.  I'll be officially retired at 39.  I came to Mustachianism relatively late and the day I found Mr. Money Mustache changed my life.  It was the kick I needed to get my brain thinking about options other than working until I was 65 and then enjoying the more traditional retirement that so many of my peers are planning.

It hasn't escaped my notice that the first day I won't have a job in the last 2.5 decades will be April Fool's day.  I have a fair number of friends that don't know, yet, that I'm retiring.  I think I'll post something on Facebook tomorrow and see how many people think it's an April Fool's joke :)

Over the last couple months, since I announced my impending retirement, I've had some really great conversations with coworkers about financial independence, early retirement, and Mustachianism.  Several people have become readers of Mr. Money Mustache and it's exciting to see people challenging their assumptions about personal finance.  We're having "going away cake" later today and I'll be very curious to see how I feel walking out the door for the last time!

Middlesbrough

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2015, 08:59:53 AM »
That is awesome! Congrats!

Don't forget that money badger don't care!

Gone Fishing

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2015, 09:21:18 AM »
SA-WEEEEEET!!

Tomorrow, be sure to spend some time laying on your back watching the clouds go by!

Keep the details coming! They are like manna from heaven for us working folk!   

Cookie78

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2015, 09:39:08 AM »
Keep the details coming! They are like manna from heaven for us working folk!

+1

Congrats :)

kathrynd

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2015, 09:43:12 AM »
take some cake home :)

SenoritaStache

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2015, 10:06:42 AM »
Congratulations! Come back and tell us FIRE stories, we would love to hear them!  Enjoy!!

forummm

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2015, 10:31:08 AM »
Sweet! I'm jealous!

Neustache

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2015, 11:04:11 AM »
Congrats!  And I agree - keep the posts coming (if it doesn't detract too much from your lovely retirement!).  The Post-FIRE section is my favorite!

StacheinTX

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2015, 11:30:39 AM »
Wow! How does it feel? Are you at all nervous or do you feel confident? I can't imagine how I will feel on my last day!

steveo

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2015, 03:11:20 PM »
Well done. I'm 41 and I feel I have 5-10 years until I get to that point.

AlwaysBeenASaver

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2015, 04:04:21 PM »
Congrats!!

SMCx3

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2015, 07:07:45 PM »
Retired at 39......very impressive!

Enjoy the picnic tomorrow!

Exflyboy

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2015, 08:24:24 PM »
Nice job!...:)

TheMoneyBadger

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2015, 08:37:44 PM »
Well, it was an interesting, and mostly enjoyable, day.  I didn't have all that much "real" work to do so most of my time was spent chatting with folks.  I left on very good terms which was nice and made for a mellow last day.  The cake was great and I did indeed bring some home.  After the cake was done I walked out with a friend and drove away.

I was feeling good going into the day and I felt good leaving.  I didn't have any second thoughts throughout though there was a point where I realized just how many relationships I had at work and how much those would change.  To be honest, I don't think it's really sunk in yet.  After more than seventeen years there, there's a part of me that feels like I'm just going on vacation and that I'll be going back.  I imagine that'll change in the coming days, weeks, and months.   

One interesting thing that came out of the day was a suggestion that a group of us should get together once a month and talk about personal finance.  Four or five people expressed interest so it looks like we're going to give it a shot.  It could be a really cool venue to talk about financial topics and possibly help out some of the folks who are a bit further behind the curve.  As an added bonus, I think it'll be a nice way to stay in touch with some of the folks I like to talk to. 

Anyway, off to bed.  I'm not setting an alarm - though my three year-old will take care of making sure I don't stay in bed too long. 

Cookie78

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2015, 08:01:53 AM »
One interesting thing that came out of the day was a suggestion that a group of us should get together once a month and talk about personal finance.  Four or five people expressed interest so it looks like we're going to give it a shot.  It could be a really cool venue to talk about financial topics and possibly help out some of the folks who are a bit further behind the curve.  As an added bonus, I think it'll be a nice way to stay in touch with some of the folks I like to talk to. 

That's really awesome to hear some positive feedback from coworkers about financial topics, and to hopefully be able to make a difference. :)

DecD

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2015, 08:25:50 AM »
Congratulations- hope you're enjoying your first day of retirement!

Candace

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2015, 08:35:17 AM »
Congratulations!

TheMoneyBadger

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2015, 12:49:10 PM »
Wow great job!!!
Congrats :)

Care to share a bit of the actual financial planning, if you haven't done so?

Sure, happy to share.  My wife and I currently have an investment portfolio worth approximately $1.4M with about 40% of that in taxable accounts and the rest in tax-advantaged retirement accounts.  We don't have any consumer debt but we do have a mortgage on our house.  There's about $120K left on the mortgage and, while part of me would like to pay it off, it's just not a great financial plan since the mortgage is at 2.875%.  I'll happily keep the inflation hedge it offers and pay it off as slowly as possible.

Our average monthly expenses are approximately $4,000 including the mortgage payment (we have a ridiculously lavish lifestyle).  With a 4% SWR we're well under where we need to be to make it work but we have a couple other very nice safety nets in play.  First, my wife loves her job and strongly doesn't want to retire so we have no immediate plans to withdraw from the portfolio.  Second, I'm planning to do some side gigs as handyman/computer guy to keep myself from getting bored and that may bring in some extra cash.

My wife and I are both fairly frugal though, after finding MMM, our spending dropped precipitously and our savings rate shot upward.  For the last year or so our savings rate was over 65%.  In anticipation of my departure, I maxed my contributions to my 401(k) and ended up fully funding it earlier this year.  We consider ourselves very fortunate but I continue to be shocked by the number of my former coworkers who should have the resources to do as well or better but who don't manage to do so and who lament the fact that they can't yet retire.

Congratulations- hope you're enjoying your first day of retirement!

It's been an awesome day so far!  We spent the morning hiking through a bird sanctuary followed by lunch with the wife and kiddo at her work (which is a bit more like a park than a normal workplace).  The munchkin is napping away in the other room and I'm catching up on email (and of course checking the forums).  I realized while we were hiking that the work email is NOT piling up while I'm gone which was an awfully nice feeling.

Check2400

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2015, 01:32:30 PM »
Congratulations!  If you don't mind me piling on, I have a question I think many of us have about what I call the "gap period." (maybe other people call it that too and is why I use that term, but anywho...)

The Gap period for me is the time after you stop earning income until you can take 401k Withdrawals.  For my question I'm assuming your retirement is all 401k, just for clarity of the issue.

If you have 1.4 million, with 40% in taxable accounts at $560,000, and $840,000 in 401ks, the good news is that in 20 years at a conservative growth rate you'll have almost 3,000,000 in the 401k. BUT in the meantime, you only have access to 560K.  A 4% SWR means 22,000 a year, but come 59 1/2 years of age, you don't need to have any of it left. 

Is the plan to tap the 560K principal throughout the 20 years as you near 401k withdrawals?  I know you've got your spouse's income, but I'm sure you've done a worst case scenario.   It seems like a $4000 a month withdrawal off 560K would last most of the way to 401k age, but wanted to know if that was the actual plan or not.

Kansas Beachbum

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2015, 02:53:15 PM »
Many congratulations MoneyBadger!  Most impressive.  I also have the same question as the prior post...how do you make it work until you can start tapping your qualified accounts?  You mentioned the Mrs. MoneyBadger will continue to work, makes sense as she really likes her job, plus I'm assuming she will continue to carry health insurance via her work for your family.  We probably could retire now if we had access to our qualified accounts, but they are ~80% of our $1.3M stache.  Currently we plan to work until 62 (we are 54 currently) as that's when we can first draw SS, although working at much less demanding, more fun kinds of jobs.  The jobs downsizing is already in the works.  Once we hit 62 we're golden, I just can't really figure out how to do it before then and make it work.  Best of luck!  Can't wait to hear more post-FIRE stories!

Gone Fishing

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #20 on: April 01, 2015, 03:03:47 PM »
Congratulations!  If you don't mind me piling on, I have a question I think many of us have about what I call the "gap period." (maybe other people call it that too and is why I use that term, but anywho...)

The Gap period for me is the time after you stop earning income until you can take 401k Withdrawals.  For my question I'm assuming your retirement is all 401k, just for clarity of the issue.

If you have 1.4 million, with 40% in taxable accounts at $560,000, and $840,000 in 401ks, the good news is that in 20 years at a conservative growth rate you'll have almost 3,000,000 in the 401k. BUT in the meantime, you only have access to 560K.  A 4% SWR means 22,000 a year, but come 59 1/2 years of age, you don't need to have any of it left. 

Is the plan to tap the 560K principal throughout the 20 years as you near 401k withdrawals?  I know you've got your spouse's income, but I'm sure you've done a worst case scenario.   It seems like a $4000 a month withdrawal off 560K would last most of the way to 401k age, but wanted to know if that was the actual plan or not.
Many congratulations MoneyBadger!  Most impressive.  I also have the same question as the prior post...how do you make it work until you can start tapping your qualified accounts?  You mentioned the Mrs. MoneyBadger will continue to work, makes sense as she really likes her job, plus I'm assuming she will continue to carry health insurance via her work for your family.  We probably could retire now if we had access to our qualified accounts, but they are ~80% of our $1.3M stache.  Currently we plan to work until 62 (we are 54 currently) as that's when we can first draw SS, although working at much less demanding, more fun kinds of jobs.  The jobs downsizing is already in the works.  Once we hit 62 we're golden, I just can't really figure out how to do it before then and make it work.  Best of luck!  Can't wait to hear more post-FIRE stories!

In an effort not to derail Badger's celebration thread, I am not going into great detail, but an IRA conversion ladder (see first link in my signature below) is a common strategy to access retirement accounts before 59.5.  Kansas, start another thread with your details and we might be able to come up with some ideas that may help!

Check2400

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2015, 03:23:48 PM »
Good point-I don't want to thread jack a celebration, so back to the point of: Congratulations to Money Badger!  I will shower you with the most appropriate gift I can think of--my pure and unrequited envy. 

TheMoneyBadger

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #22 on: April 01, 2015, 04:01:58 PM »
Many congratulations MoneyBadger!  Most impressive.  I also have the same question as the prior post...how do you make it work until you can start tapping your qualified accounts?  You mentioned the Mrs. MoneyBadger will continue to work, makes sense as she really likes her job, plus I'm assuming she will continue to carry health insurance via her work for your family.  We probably could retire now if we had access to our qualified accounts, but they are ~80% of our $1.3M stache.  Currently we plan to work until 62 (we are 54 currently) as that's when we can first draw SS, although working at much less demanding, more fun kinds of jobs.  The jobs downsizing is already in the works.  Once we hit 62 we're golden, I just can't really figure out how to do it before then and make it work.  Best of luck!  Can't wait to hear more post-FIRE stories!

The topic of early withdrawal from retirement accounts has come up a number of times with my coworkers as well.  I'm fortunate that in all likelihood I won't need to withdraw early but, being somewhat paranoid, I ran the numbers for that scenario and a number of others before I pulled the trigger.  It was probably overkill but I wanted to be REALLY comfortable that I understood the numbers.  If my wife decided to retire immediately after all AND my taxable accounts weren't adequate to bridge the gap AND I wasn't comfortable reducing spending levels, I'd probably favor the  Roth IRA conversion ladder as So Close suggested. 

The only real challenge there is that the government could, in theory, eliminate that very nice conversion option before I needed it.  If that occurred, I'd probably fall back to withdrawing contributions from the already existing Roth IRAs.  If THAT failed, I'd rollover the 401(k) to a rollover IRA, split that into two IRAs to segregate the appropriate amount, and start a 72(t) early distribution plan.  If the government closed all of those options, I'd suck it up and pay the penalty if I had to - a fairly unlikely circumstance.  Even if that occurred, a combination of spending flexibility and ability to pay the penalty would make it workable.  Long story short, there are more ways to get money out of retirement accounts without penalty than most people think.  I know of at least two coworkers who were shocked that they could tap them earlier and are now seriously considering their options.

mandy_2002

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Re: Today is my last day at work
« Reply #23 on: April 01, 2015, 04:12:53 PM »
Great job, on both the retirement and fully funding the 401k in the last three months!  I'm thinking I will be ready to do similar in 1.5 years, but waiting until April 1st does seem to have a certain humorous appeal.  I may consider stretching a little :). 

 

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