2021 FIRE Cohort

[boarder42]

Not officially in this group yet, but my last day was 7/9. Can I join belatedly??  Gave notice in mid June.  I’m drained/exhausted after a 4 week notice period and I still didn’t even get everything totally transitioned!  Oh well.  Someone’s else problem now I guess.

I’m 44 years old and a drop out from 2019, so didn’t want to jinx things by committing to a class again in advance.  But I pulled the plug finally on that shit.  Quitting is hard, but I got nothing but supportive messages from colleagues and management when I told them my plans. I had individual conversation with over 40 people (I was at my job for well over a decade so had a lot of long standing relationships).  I wanted my colleagues to hear it straight from the horses mouth and not second hand, so that process of communicating with everyone took a long time and was pretty draining.  I did not message it as retirement but rather a long break to travel and spend time with family before I figure out my future plans next year.  Truth is I do expect to work for some money again but not at a white collar type office job.  People I spoke with seemed to really relate to and understand a long break vs. calling it retirement.   I had a number of supportive messages from people who have taken time away.  I also got 3 informal job offers from various people outside my company as well, so even though I have zero interest in those jobs, it was a nice compliment.

Congrats. I feel like you have to call it something other than retirement pre 50 still. Helps keep the door open some as well as not getting a hard sell to stay on full time or part or what have you.

[Trifle]

Not officially in this group yet, but my last day was 7/9. Can I join belatedly??  Gave notice in mid June.  I’m drained/exhausted after a 4 week notice period and I still didn’t even get everything totally transitioned!  Oh well.  Someone’s else problem now I guess.

I’m 44 years old and a drop out from 2019, so didn’t want to jinx things by committing to a class again in advance.  But I pulled the plug finally on that shit.  Quitting is hard, but I got nothing but supportive messages from colleagues and management when I told them my plans. I had individual conversation with over 40 people (I was at my job for well over a decade so had a lot of long standing relationships).  I wanted my colleagues to hear it straight from the horses mouth and not second hand, so that process of communicating with everyone took a long time and was pretty draining.  I did not message it as retirement but rather a long break to travel and spend time with family before I figure out my future plans next year.  Truth is I do expect to work for some money again but not at a white collar type office job.  People I spoke with seemed to really relate to and understand a long break vs. calling it retirement.   I had a number of supportive messages from people who have taken time away.  I also got 3 informal job offers from various people outside my company as well, so even though I have zero interest in those jobs, it was a nice compliment.

Congrats @Pylortes!  Enjoy!

[Poeirenta]

Today is the first day of my "sabbatical of unknown length"! I forget who I stole that from, was it @Chaplin? I've also gotten nothing but support and a few "I've been thinking about that..." from colleagues and friends. Also a few offers to do contract work. Said no thanks to the one from my boss!

It's a bit of a soft departure since I agreed to help with the hiring process for a replacement, which hopefully will not drag out too long. But no more staff meetings and all my projects and files were handed off on Thursday! Woo hoo!

Thanks to all of you on Team MMM Forum for the discussions and advice that got me this far. Onward!

Sent from my Z5157V using Tapatalk

[Chaplin]

Today is the first day of my "sabbatical of unknown length"! I forget who I stole that from, was it @Chaplin? I've also gotten nothing but support and a few "I've been thinking about that..." from colleagues and friends. Also a few offers to do contract work. Said no thanks to the one from my boss!

Buttercup: Westley, what about the S.O.U.L.'s?
Westley: Sabbaticals of Unknown Length? I think they don't exist.

[RetireAbroadAt35]

I took a swing at 2018 and 2020 but didn't quite connect. 

But the plug is pulled as of April '21.  No more OME over here.  Now what?  I dunno but I've got the time now to figure it out!

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

The roster is updated for everybody through post #1318.

So far we have 110 folks here who will be FIRE in 2021 and 5 have gone OLY into the 2020 Cohort. 

Average age of 2021ers is 44.91 (based on those 78 members who provided an age at FIRE date).  2020 average age was 48.32.  2019 average age was 47.38.

Name Age (at FIRE) FIRE Date Aldi Early 50s 1/23/2020 OLY CrazyIT 56 3/13/2020 OLY Mmm_Donuts 3/20/2020 OLY Marcher Lady 49 12/15/2020 OLY Zinnie 38 10/22/2020 OLY Matz_70 50 1/1/2021 BikeFanatic 55 1/4/2021 Confirmed Sciurus 1/8/2021 Confirmed ScreamingHeadGuy 41 1/22/2021 Confirmed 12321 35 1/23/2021 Confirmed moneypitfeeder 42 1/29/2021 Confirmed Sultan58 1/31/2021 Confirmed fireflye 50 2/1/2021   goat_music_generator 27 2/2/2021 Confirmed dividendman 38 2/5/2021 Confirmed texxan1 2/15/2021 Confirmed Buffaloski Boris 56 2/28/2021   dreams_and_discoveries 39 February   fiStressRelief 40 3/1/2021 Confirmed Dreamer40 40 3/3/2021 Confirmed Farfetchd 33 3/7/2021 Confirmed skyrefuge 43 3/12/2021 Confirmed TheContinentalOP 55 3/19/2021   logjammin 39 3/26/2021   Mrs. Healthywealth 42 3/26/2021 Confirmed Blindsquirrel 3/31/2021 Confirmed ronsbusa3 50 4/1/2021 Confirmed HumanAfterAll 44 4/2/2021 Confirmed Trede 51 4/2/2021 Confirmed marque 47 4/8/2021 Confirmed sailingTowardsFI 43 4/9/2021 Confirmed Abe Froman 4/16/2021 Confirmed simmias 47 4/16/2021 Confirmed Ottawa 49 4/16/2021 Confirmed OmgLmg 4/16/2021 Confirmed Tipster350 60 4/16/2021 Confirmed justchristine 4/27/2021 Confirmed bluebelle 4/30/2021   Need2Save (Mr.) 4/30/2021 Confirmed FireTheWorldOver 42 4/30/2021 Confirmed RetireAbroadAt35 April Confirmed LightTripper 45 April   traveler 5/3/2021 Confirmed LD_TAndK 29 5/6/2021 Confirmed Peter Parker 5/7/2021 Confirmed cdn5cents 53 5/8/2021 Confirmed Geographer 30 5/10/2021 Confirmed aethonan13 33 5/14/2021 Confirmed MoStash 53 5/14/2021 Confirmed amberfocus 36 5/22/2021 Confirmed SheWhoWalksAtLunch 56 5/28/2021 Confirmed Chaplin 47 5/28/2021 Confirmed CoffeeR 55 5/31/2021 Confirmed SWAMI Mrs. Sloth May Confirmed gary3411 30 May   WildJager 35 May   80Westy 50 May   EricEng 36 May   rightstuff 55 6/1/2021 Confirmed ItalianGirl 52 6/1/2021 phildonnia 50 6/2/2021 Confirmed JoJo 48 6/4/2021 Confirmed icebox92 36 6/4/2021   crazy jane 55 6/7/2021 Confirmed Sisto 52 6/7/2021   Arbitrage 43 6/10/2021 Confirmed Coast-FI Newstart103 40 6/11/2021   highlandterrier 47 6/25/2021 Confirmed YoungGranny 31 6/30/2021   Ladychips 55 6/30/2021 Confirmed mld 33 June SunniD June   lukebowles 7/1/2021   Eurotexan 7/1/2021 Confirmed boarder42 (Mrs.) 34 7/7/2021 Confirmed Need2Save 48 7/8/2021 Pylortes 7/9/2021 Confirmed Dusty Dog Ranch 7/12/2021 Confirmed S.O.U.L. Jack0Life ('s wife) 32 7/31/2021   CarolinaGirl 50 July   Norsky July     FireLane 39 July   Malee55 55 July force majeure 45 8/11/2021   asauer 43 8/20/2021     Bownyboy 49 9/7/2021     Well Respected Man 56 9/10/2021 ospreyjp 56 9/27/2021 frugalecon 9/30/2021 GBRS 36 September Nazar 10/1/2021 the_fixer 49 10/1/2021 damo October Boyband 37 October 4tify 54 October snowball 40 11/4/2021 Money Badger 53 12/1/2021 SmartyCat 12/17/2021 Accountant007 48 12/23/2021 Ulysses Everett McGill 55 12/31/2021 dblaace 60 12/31/2021 NoVa 12/31/2021 boarder42 35 12/31/2021 effigy98 43 December Wadiman December Morning Glory December mindfulrun 43 spring lightmyfire June-Sept monarda 61 TBD lemonlyman TBD dsw TBD MoneyTree TBD exit2019 TBD zombiehunter TBD SmartyCat 59 TBD

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Congratulations @highlandterrier @Eurotexan @Ladychips @Dusty Dog Ranch ! 

Welcome and congratulations to @RetireAbroadAt35 @Pylortes and @boarder42 (mrs.)!

Welcome to @SmartyCat @Morning Glory and @boarder42 . 

Here's a shout-out to @gary3411 @WildJager @80Westy @EricEng @ItalianGirl @icebox92 @sisto @newstart103 @YoungGranny @mld @SunniD and @mindfulrun asking for a status update - we would love to hear how you are doing. 

[Arbitrage]

Started my new (coast-FI) work situation this week at 20 hours, remote.  So far, so good, and I wasn't even dreading it!  Hard to get too worked up over 2-day work weeks, 5-day weekends, with my gorgeous backyard right outside my desk.  The move was even more stressful than anticipated with a crazy record-setting heatwave greeting us in the PNW and daily findings of new things to fix in the house, but we're getting much closer to a reasonably settled situation.  Thankfully, we're out of the emergency phase and can just tackle the projects bit-by-bit at this time.   

[Need2Save]

Congrats to my fellow 2021 graduates!  July 8 was indeed my last day. I'm trying really hard to leave all that work-related B.S. behind me and I think doing a pretty good job so far (it's only day 6). The first couple days, a few of the work-related disappointments were still fresh on my mind (I have always struggled to let things just be). but I think by day 3 I was doing very good at relaxing.

I am so immensely happy to be done with work. YIPPEEEEEE! Freedom is glorious. I don't have to worry about staying up too late and having to wake up early for anything. There are no emails pinging my phone all day long. I don't have to time my run/walks with the dog around bull-shit meetings. I don't have to pretend to be busy and wiggle my mouse every so often so it looks like I'm on line......Just absolutely loving it! 

[Well Respected Man]

I'm in the home stretch now, just 7 work days before I give notice. My new retirement date is 8/6/21. I'm not planning to give more than 2 weeks, nor to offer to help out after I leave. We are hiring a couple of people for the team already, but for much more junior positions, so in a way, I'm helping find my replacements.

We ended up buying a house in the country very quickly, so I have a long list of projects to keep me busy while I get used to not working. It has a large barn, so plenty of room for future projects as well. I'm really looking forward to working on whatever I want.

I've been identifying "lasts" and items with expiration dates past my retirement date. It started a couple of years ago with credit cards and canned goods, and now has advanced to last vacation days, last haircut, last meetings of a particular series, and soon will include lettuce and milk 😀

[friedmmj]

I've been identifying "lasts" and items with expiration dates past my retirement date. It started a couple of years ago with credit cards and canned goods, and now has advanced to last vacation days, last haircut, last meetings of a particular series, and soon will include lettuce and milk 😀

I laughed out loud at your post.  I've been doing this for a few months too, but mostly with holidays and work related annual tasks like performance reviews.  I did calculate how many more haircuts until retirement recently though.  I'm not retiring until next Feb, so I've got 4-5 of them left

[Malee55]

Yesterday was my last permanent shift. When I have finished my paid leave I will probably continue nursing on a casual basis. So now I need to catch up on sleep and unwind and try settle mind down.

[sisto]

The roster is updated for everybody through post #1318.

So far we have 110 folks here who will be FIRE in 2021 and 5 have gone OLY into the 2020 Cohort. 

Average age of 2021ers is 44.91 (based on those 78 members who provided an age at FIRE date).  2020 average age was 48.32.  2019 average age was 47.38.

Name Age (at FIRE) FIRE Date Aldi Early 50s 1/23/2020 OLY CrazyIT 56 3/13/2020 OLY Mmm_Donuts 3/20/2020 OLY Marcher Lady 49 12/15/2020 OLY Zinnie 38 10/22/2020 OLY Matz_70 50 1/1/2021 BikeFanatic 55 1/4/2021 Confirmed Sciurus 1/8/2021 Confirmed ScreamingHeadGuy 41 1/22/2021 Confirmed 12321 35 1/23/2021 Confirmed moneypitfeeder 42 1/29/2021 Confirmed Sultan58 1/31/2021 Confirmed fireflye 50 2/1/2021   goat_music_generator 27 2/2/2021 Confirmed dividendman 38 2/5/2021 Confirmed texxan1 2/15/2021 Confirmed Buffaloski Boris 56 2/28/2021   dreams_and_discoveries 39 February   fiStressRelief 40 3/1/2021 Confirmed Dreamer40 40 3/3/2021 Confirmed Farfetchd 33 3/7/2021 Confirmed skyrefuge 43 3/12/2021 Confirmed TheContinentalOP 55 3/19/2021   logjammin 39 3/26/2021   Mrs. Healthywealth 42 3/26/2021 Confirmed Blindsquirrel 3/31/2021 Confirmed ronsbusa3 50 4/1/2021 Confirmed HumanAfterAll 44 4/2/2021 Confirmed Trede 51 4/2/2021 Confirmed marque 47 4/8/2021 Confirmed sailingTowardsFI 43 4/9/2021 Confirmed Abe Froman 4/16/2021 Confirmed simmias 47 4/16/2021 Confirmed Ottawa 49 4/16/2021 Confirmed OmgLmg 4/16/2021 Confirmed Tipster350 60 4/16/2021 Confirmed justchristine 4/27/2021 Confirmed bluebelle 4/30/2021   Need2Save (Mr.) 4/30/2021 Confirmed FireTheWorldOver 42 4/30/2021 Confirmed RetireAbroadAt35 April Confirmed LightTripper 45 April   traveler 5/3/2021 Confirmed LD_TAndK 29 5/6/2021 Confirmed Peter Parker 5/7/2021 Confirmed cdn5cents 53 5/8/2021 Confirmed Geographer 30 5/10/2021 Confirmed aethonan13 33 5/14/2021 Confirmed MoStash 53 5/14/2021 Confirmed amberfocus 36 5/22/2021 Confirmed SheWhoWalksAtLunch 56 5/28/2021 Confirmed Chaplin 47 5/28/2021 Confirmed CoffeeR 55 5/31/2021 Confirmed SWAMI Mrs. Sloth May Confirmed gary3411 30 May   WildJager 35 May   80Westy 50 May   EricEng 36 May   rightstuff 55 6/1/2021 Confirmed ItalianGirl 52 6/1/2021 phildonnia 50 6/2/2021 Confirmed JoJo 48 6/4/2021 Confirmed icebox92 36 6/4/2021   crazy jane 55 6/7/2021 Confirmed Sisto 52 6/7/2021   Arbitrage 43 6/10/2021 Confirmed Coast-FI Newstart103 40 6/11/2021   highlandterrier 47 6/25/2021 Confirmed YoungGranny 31 6/30/2021   Ladychips 55 6/30/2021 Confirmed mld 33 June SunniD June   lukebowles 7/1/2021   Eurotexan 7/1/2021 Confirmed boarder42 (Mrs.) 34 7/7/2021 Confirmed Need2Save 48 7/8/2021 Pylortes 7/9/2021 Confirmed Dusty Dog Ranch 7/12/2021 Confirmed S.O.U.L. Jack0Life ('s wife) 32 7/31/2021   CarolinaGirl 50 July   Norsky July     FireLane 39 July   Malee55 55 July force majeure 45 8/11/2021   asauer 43 8/20/2021     Bownyboy 49 9/7/2021     Well Respected Man 56 9/10/2021 ospreyjp 56 9/27/2021 frugalecon 9/30/2021 GBRS 36 September Nazar 10/1/2021 the_fixer 49 10/1/2021 damo October Boyband 37 October 4tify 54 October snowball 40 11/4/2021 Money Badger 53 12/1/2021 SmartyCat 12/17/2021 Accountant007 48 12/23/2021 Ulysses Everett McGill 55 12/31/2021 dblaace 60 12/31/2021 NoVa 12/31/2021 boarder42 35 12/31/2021 effigy98 43 December Wadiman December Morning Glory December mindfulrun 43 spring lightmyfire June-Sept monarda 61 TBD lemonlyman TBD dsw TBD MoneyTree TBD exit2019 TBD zombiehunter TBD SmartyCat 59 TBD

You can add me to the confirmed list. I accidentally went early. Haven't worked since 2019 and officially retired from MegaCorp now too. Just signed up for COBRA.

[Dicey]

Congrats on 2LY, @sisto! Care to share your thoughts on Cobra vs. ACA?

[icebox92]

Congratulations @highlandterrier @Eurotexan @Ladychips @Dusty Dog Ranch ! 

Welcome and congratulations to @RetireAbroadAt35 @Pylortes and @boarder42 (mrs.)!

Welcome to @SmartyCat @Morning Glory and @boarder42 . 

Here's a shout-out to @gary3411 @WildJager @80Westy @EricEng @ItalianGirl @icebox92 @sisto @newstart103 @YoungGranny @mld @SunniD and @mindfulrun asking for a status update - we would love to hear how you are doing.

Thanks for the bump!  I am actually still working, I was asked to stay on until August 6, so I guess I should have updated my date with the group.  I was also asked to sign a consulting agreement which was quite a shock to me.  I agreed to sign on to that... we will see how it pans out.  That's my update... 2.5 weeks of work left.  These may be the longest 12 days I've experienced since waiting to go into labor with my kids!

[bownyboy]

So this is an interesting one. I was all set to FIRE end of august when my current contract finishes. Today the company I’m working with asked me what my plans were and if I would consider an extension.

Now with all the covid that’s still going on I have at the back of my mind that we still can’t really plan any slow travel, but really want to head off as soon as we’re allowed. Also I’m just about done with working 5 days a week.

So with that in mind I said I’d consider an extension if a) I could go part time to 3 or 4 days a week and b) if I could take 3-4 weeks off together once covid allows travel.

They said yes to both, result!

So I may be jumping into the 2022 thread… We’ll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.

[asauer]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@asauer - I'm not there yet (Feb, 2022 is my expected date), but I too am struggling with this. I'm a long time "achiever" at work, and lately have been struggling with the basics. I make an actionable to do list every day, focus on the things I can do (in your case, maybe mostly transition related?) & remind myself that I built a long career & a great reputation, and am not interested in risking that for a few months.

Good luck!

[dblaace]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

I've been having similar problems. Mostly with office politics or anything that goes beyond the end of the year. Running out of f*cks to give.

My replacement starts Monday so things may change.

[LaineyAZ]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

Are you going to be handing off your workload to someone else?  One thing I did before I left was to leave a "procedures manual" (for lack of a better term) which gave a rough listing of the steps to take for certain types of work, and also the internal people who were knowledgeable about particular work-related things.  Basically a resource for the day-to-day stuff that isn't usually written down anywhere else.
Even though I had several weeks overlap with the person who took over my job, they were grateful to get my "brain dump" before I left.

Would that be something you could spend time on? 

[boarder42]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

I've been having similar problems. Mostly with office politics or anything that goes beyond the end of the year. Running out of f*cks to give.

My replacement starts Monday so things may change.

this is how i feel on FMLA today, I am going to go back to the office for 4 months at the beginning of sept and i can't fathom how awful i'll be at things.  Not that I did much before I am incredible at delegation.  My GAF is about as low as its ever been.  And I don't have the energy to put my brain on paper so who ever takes over will have fun.

[anotherAlias]

So I had another, thank God I'm not working moment this week.  6 months ago my routine mammogram showed calcifications and they recommended a 6 mo. follow up.  On Friday, I had the 6 month follow up and they wanted a biopsy to rule out cancer.  It was such a relief to not have to worry about work and being able to focus 100% on me. Thankfully everything came back benign but what a stressful few days.  I think I will be reassessing my health insurance at open enrollment.

[Malee55]

Thank goodness it was all okay justchristine. You are right, it is good to be able to focus on what is important in your life when you need to.

[LightTripper]

Wow, that sounds very stressful but glad it had a good outcome in the end, and that you didn't have work to juggle too!

Even though I've so far only dropped to part time, with school/nursery closures for Covid and from a general management of life perspective it's still made a massive difference!  I suspect going to zero (or close to zero) will now slip to 2022, but I'm already seeing the benefits of FI.

[sisto]

Congrats on 2LY, @sisto! Care to share your thoughts on Cobra vs. ACA?

@Dicey I'm not going to be able to get subsidies for ACA due to income levels. I ended up being disabled from a car accident and am currently receiving SSDI and LTD. I will be able to get Medicare in December so for now it's best to just pay the premiums for COBRA. I will look into what will be best for my wife during open enrollment, but probably just keep COBRA for her until it runs out. I also have a special account from MegaCorp retirement that helps pay premiums. It works like an FSA for getting reimbursed for COBRA premiums. I can use it until the funds are gone. I'm not complaining, having too much money is not a bad thing. Thankfully my accounts have continued to grow and I haven't had to dip into them.

[Dreamer40]

So I had another, thank God I'm not working moment this week.  6 months ago my routine mammogram showed calcifications and they recommended a 6 mo. follow up.  On Friday, I had the 6 month follow up and they wanted a biopsy to rule out cancer.  It was such a relief to not have to worry about work and being able to focus 100% on me. Thankfully everything came back benign but what a stressful few days.  I think I will be reassessing my health insurance at open enrollment.

I’m so glad you’re ok! I had the same feeling this week when, after a routine mammogram, I had to go back for more images to rule out what looked like a potential mass. I’m also fine. There was nothing there. I was also so relieved that I could take the first appointment without consulting a work schedule.

In other news, I think I’m going to try my hand at fiction writing. I don’t feel terribly committed so I’m trying to dedicate 30 minutes a day to it for this first week. I’d like to think of myself as a fiction writer, but I don’t have a commitment bone left in my body after retiring from my shitty lawyer job. We’ll see if I stick with this. I’m slowly working my way through the Gotham Writer’s Workshop book and following their writing prompts. After writing legal briefs for years, I feel like I need to prove to myself that I could write something fun that people would actually want to read. Prove that being a lawyer didn’t break me.

[Well Respected Man]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

Yes, I'm getting more and more pissed that I have to work. My boss has really descended into micromanagement, and it will not end well for him. I'm giving notice on Monday, can't wait!

I've found that focusing on my immediate future projects and hobbies helps some.

[anotherAlias]

So I had another, thank God I'm not working moment this week.  6 months ago my routine mammogram showed calcifications and they recommended a 6 mo. follow up.  On Friday, I had the 6 month follow up and they wanted a biopsy to rule out cancer.  It was such a relief to not have to worry about work and being able to focus 100% on me. Thankfully everything came back benign but what a stressful few days.  I think I will be reassessing my health insurance at open enrollment.

I’m so glad you’re ok! I had the same feeling this week when, after a routine mammogram, I had to go back for more images to rule out what looked like a potential mass. I’m also fine. There was nothing there. I was also so relieved that I could take the first appointment without consulting a work schedule.

In other news, I think I’m going to try my hand at fiction writing. I don’t feel terribly committed so I’m trying to dedicate 30 minutes a day to it for this first week. I’d like to think of myself as a fiction writer, but I don’t have a commitment bone left in my body after retiring from my shitty lawyer job. We’ll see if I stick with this. I’m slowly working my way through the Gotham Writer’s Workshop book and following their writing prompts. After writing legal briefs for years, I feel like I need to prove to myself that I could write something fun that people would actually want to read. Prove that being a lawyer didn’t break me.

Im glad you got the all clear too. Cheers to healthy boobs.  I've also struggled with committing to big projects.  I'm nowhere near as far along with my landscaping as I thought I would be.  I really want the finished result but just haven't had energy to follow through.  Since the kid finally decided she wanted a graduation party, I have some incentive to get the yard looking decent.  I have 2 weeks to get 2 more foundation beds planted and to clean out the garage so we have room for all these people.

[asauer]

Thanks for this, it's a good idea.  I am a freak about documentation so all of that already exists in an organized way and all of my staff know how to go on wit hit.  Not really more I can do there.

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

Are you going to be handing off your workload to someone else?  One thing I did before I left was to leave a "procedures manual" (for lack of a better term) which gave a rough listing of the steps to take for certain types of work, and also the internal people who were knowledgeable about particular work-related things.  Basically a resource for the day-to-day stuff that isn't usually written down anywhere else.
Even though I had several weeks overlap with the person who took over my job, they were grateful to get my "brain dump" before I left.

Would that be something you could spend time on?

[asauer]

Friends...I am struggling.  I have 4 weeks until I give notice, 6 weeks until I leave.  I am having a very hard time schlepping myself into the office everyday and doing the things.  Anyone else struggled with this?  How can I shake the blahs so I can go out on a high note?

Yes, I'm getting more and more pissed that I have to work. My boss has really descended into micromanagement, and it will not end well for him. I'm giving notice on Monday, can't wait!

I've found that focusing on my immediate future projects and hobbies helps some.

Thanks! pretty sure this is the route I will have to take.  Focus on the future!

[asauer]

@asauer - I'm not there yet (Feb, 2022 is my expected date), but I too am struggling with this. I'm a long time "achiever" at work, and lately have been struggling with the basics. I make an actionable to do list every day, focus on the things I can do (in your case, maybe mostly transition related?) & remind myself that I built a long career & a great reputation, and am not interested in risking that for a few months.

Good luck!

Yes!  I am a very goal oriented person so that probably is part of why I feel so bleh now. 

[YoungGranny]

My husband got laid off in June of 2020 - 5 weeks before our daughter was born. It actually worked out and he just went ahead and quit working a year ahead of schedule so our daughter didn't have to go to daycare. I secured a full-remote position with my company which gives me a lot of flexibility. Long story short, I'm moving my FIRE date back to 2022 (ugh I know the dreaded 'one more year' update) but my husband won't be returning to work and my daughter gets to stay home for now so it's a win :)

[sisto]

My husband got laid off in June of 2020 - 5 weeks before our daughter was born. It actually worked out and he just went ahead and quit working a year ahead of schedule so our daughter didn't have to go to daycare. I secured a full-remote position with my company which gives me a lot of flexibility. Long story short, I'm moving my FIRE date back to 2022 (ugh I know the dreaded 'one more year' update) but my husband won't be returning to work and my daughter gets to stay home for now so it's a win :)

Sounds like it's the perfect thing for your family!

[Malee55]

For me the whole idea of FIRE is to live your life how you want to. So that sounds like a win YoungGranny.

[rightstuff]

Here's a big group congratulations to @SheWhoWalksAtLunch @CoffeeR @Chaplin @Geographer @Mrs. Sloth @crazy jane @Arbitrage @rightstuff @phildonnia @JoJo - you are all awesome and have earned your reward.

Welcome to the cohort @newstart103  and @SmartyCat . 

General updates made to the list.

Thanks, it's been a great 50 days being retired.  I dont miss the office or work in the least bit, DW isn't regretting her decision to retire either, we've seen alot of family and friends that we usually don't get to visit with for any length of time. The fun thing is how various neighbors have stopped us on the street concerned about why we are in the yard or on a walk during normal office hours. 

Congrats to everyone who has been able to pull the plug and good luck to the rest of the cohort, You can do it!

[Well Respected Man]

Gave notice today; boss was shocked, but recovered. Should be an easy two weeks. Last day will be 8/6.

[RWTL]

Gave notice today; boss was shocked, but recovered. Should be an easy two weeks. Last day will be 8/6.

Congrats! 

[Dicey]

DH has been eligible to retire since May. When queried, he's never given me a straight answer. He just told me he had an appointment with the retirement counselor. In order to get the most optimal benefits package, he needs to give 5-6 weeks notice. When I retired in 2012, there was no cohort, so I'm throwing his name in the 2021 group, because I hope he'll pull the plug this year, not next. Just for grins, let's call it October 31, 2021 and see how close I get. In my journal, he's known as IKAG, which stands for "I know a guy..."

[Morning Glory]

DH has been eligible to retire since May. When queried, he's never given me a straight answer. He just told me he had an appointment with the retirement counselor. In order to get the most optimal benefits package, he needs to give 5-6 weeks notice. When I retired in 2012, there was no cohort, so I'm throwing his name in the 2021 group, because I hope he'll pull the plug this year, not next. Just for grins, let's call it October 31, 2021 and see how close I get. In my journal, he's known as IKAG, which stands for "I know a guy..."

Congratulations IKAG!!! Oct 31 is my favorite holiday.

[asauer]

I'm starting to wrap up some things quietly.  Giving notice on 8/19, last day 8/31.  I'm so excited to have the fall season off- it's my favorite!

[CarolinaGirl]

Hello All!  I’ve been out on leave since June but am supposed to be back at work in August.  So it doesn’t look like I’ll make July since I can’t not give a 2 week notice.  I guess I’ll be OMMing it.  :)

[professordough]

Just adding my name to the list! FIRE’d as of 7/2/21.  I’m 44, wife is 43 (I’ve been a quiet follower/lurker of this site/forum since 2013).

Thanks!

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

The roster is updated for everybody through post #1354.

So far we have 110 folks here who will be FIRE in 2021, 5 have gone OLY into the 2020 Cohort, and one has 2LY into 2019. 

Average age of 2021ers is 45.08 (based on those 78 members who provided an age at FIRE date).  2020 average age was 48.32.  2019 average age was 47.38.

Name Age (at FIRE) FIRE Date Sisto 52 2019 2LY Aldi Early 50s 1/23/2020 OLY CrazyIT 56 3/13/2020 OLY Mmm_Donuts 3/20/2020 OLY Marcher Lady 49 12/15/2020 OLY Zinnie 38 10/22/2020 OLY Matz_70 50 1/1/2021 BikeFanatic 55 1/4/2021 Confirmed Sciurus 1/8/2021 Confirmed ScreamingHeadGuy 41 1/22/2021 Confirmed 12321 35 1/23/2021 Confirmed moneypitfeeder 42 1/29/2021 Confirmed Sultan58 1/31/2021 Confirmed fireflye 50 2/1/2021   goat_music_generator 27 2/2/2021 Confirmed dividendman 38 2/5/2021 Confirmed texxan1 2/15/2021 Confirmed Buffaloski Boris 56 2/28/2021   dreams_and_discoveries 39 February   fiStressRelief 40 3/1/2021 Confirmed Dreamer40 40 3/3/2021 Confirmed Farfetchd 33 3/7/2021 Confirmed skyrefuge 43 3/12/2021 Confirmed TheContinentalOP 55 3/19/2021   logjammin 39 3/26/2021   Mrs. Healthywealth 42 3/26/2021 Confirmed Blindsquirrel 3/31/2021 Confirmed ronsbusa3 50 4/1/2021 Confirmed HumanAfterAll 44 4/2/2021 Confirmed Trede 51 4/2/2021 Confirmed marque 47 4/8/2021 Confirmed sailingTowardsFI 43 4/9/2021 Confirmed Abe Froman 4/16/2021 Confirmed simmias 47 4/16/2021 Confirmed Ottawa 49 4/16/2021 Confirmed OmgLmg 4/16/2021 Confirmed Tipster350 60 4/16/2021 Confirmed justchristine 4/27/2021 Confirmed bluebelle 4/30/2021   Need2Save (Mr.) 4/30/2021 Confirmed FireTheWorldOver 42 4/30/2021 Confirmed RetireAbroadAt35 April Confirmed LightTripper 45 April   traveler 5/3/2021 Confirmed LD_TAndK 29 5/6/2021 Confirmed Peter Parker 5/7/2021 Confirmed cdn5cents 53 5/8/2021 Confirmed Geographer 30 5/10/2021 Confirmed aethonan13 33 5/14/2021 Confirmed MoStash 53 5/14/2021 Confirmed amberfocus 36 5/22/2021 Confirmed SheWhoWalksAtLunch 56 5/28/2021 Confirmed Chaplin 47 5/28/2021 Confirmed CoffeeR 55 5/31/2021 Confirmed SWAMI Mrs. Sloth May Confirmed gary3411 30 May   WildJager 35 May   80Westy 50 May   EricEng 36 May   rightstuff 55 6/1/2021 Confirmed ItalianGirl 52 6/1/2021 phildonnia 50 6/2/2021 Confirmed JoJo 48 6/4/2021 Confirmed crazy jane 55 6/7/2021 Confirmed Arbitrage 43 6/10/2021 Confirmed Coast-FI Newstart103 40 6/11/2021   highlandterrier 47 6/25/2021 Confirmed Ladychips 55 6/30/2021 Confirmed mld 33 June SunniD June   lukebowles 7/1/2021   Eurotexan 7/1/2021 Confirmed professordough 44 7/2/2021 Confirmed boarder42 (Mrs.) 34 7/7/2021 Confirmed Need2Save 48 7/8/2021 Confirmed Pylortes 7/9/2021 Confirmed Dusty Dog Ranch 7/12/2021 Confirmed S.O.U.L. Malee55 55 7/17/2021 Confirmed Jack0Life ('s wife) 32 7/31/2021   Norsky July     FireLane 39 July   icebox92 36 8/6/2021   Well Respected Man 56 8/6/2021 force majeure 45 8/11/2021   asauer 43 8/31/2021     CarolinaGirl 50 August   Bownyboy 49 9/7/2021     ospreyjp 56 9/27/2021 frugalecon 9/30/2021 GBRS 36 September Nazar 10/1/2021 the_fixer 49 10/1/2021 Dicey ('s husband) 10/31/2021 damo October Boyband 37 October 4tify 54 October snowball 40 11/4/2021 Money Badger 53 12/1/2021 SmartyCat 12/17/2021 Accountant007 48 12/23/2021 Ulysses Everett McGill 55 12/31/2021 dblaace 60 12/31/2021 NoVa 12/31/2021 boarder42 35 12/31/2021 effigy98 43 December Wadiman December Morning Glory December mindfulrun 43 spring lightmyfire June-Sept monarda 61 TBD lemonlyman TBD dsw TBD MoneyTree TBD exit2019 TBD zombiehunter TBD SmartyCat 59 TBD YoungGranny 31 2022

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

Congratulations to @sisto (for 2LY!), @Malee55 and @Need2Save . 

Welcome and congratulations to @professordough .  Always fun when the first post in our cohort is an "Add me to the list as confirmed".  :-)

Welcome to Dicey's husband.

Way to go @YoungGranny with the family work/life balance victory, even if it means you have to go with another cohort.  But what is a few months? 

Awesome news on the health front @justchristine . 

There are 20 folks on The List who haven't confirmed yet - if you happen to have seen any of them post in other threads or in journals a status update please let me know and we'll get The List updated on their behalf. 

My own, 6-month update: Finances continue to go up and my WR is now only 2.56%.  We've had a two-week-long stretch with SIL and nephews visiting - did many things as a family.  Will be celebrating 11th anniversary soon.  Foreign exchange student arrival date has been nailed-down and I've been (slowly and haltingly) continuing my language lessons.  Recommitted myself to Stoic practices and it's been paying-off with anger management.  I haven't been exercising as much as I'd like to so I should change that.  Shield-crafting (I've done both round shields and curved heater shields) has gone well and I'm looking forward to painting them.  D&D group has taken a month off for summer vacations and stuff so I'm itching to get back to that. 

[dblaace]

Well the cats out of the bag at work. My boss sent out an email introducing my replacement and my pending retirement. No big deal really just wasn't expecting it.

My last working day looks to be 11/24/21 and vacation till 12/23/21 or however many vacation days I have left.

Or OBD.

[LightTripper]

Thanks for the status update @ScreamingHeadGuy !

I think I am going to have to face the reality that I will not be FIREing until 2022, so I will officially OMY and take myself to the 2022 thread!

I really did think that going part time would leave me working around 1.5 days a week and feeling pretty retired.

The reality is that a combination of Covid (meaning childcare has been patchy) and a couple of long-standing work projects that I want to finish off myself coming back to life (meaning I've been working more like 3-4 days a week) mean I really haven't felt retired at all.  Don't get me wrong, going part time has been great, and I would have been WRECKED by now if I had been still trying to work full time.  But ... it is not retired.  Not for me, not yet.

I think I will probably (hopefully!) have a lull from October until the end of the year - but then at least one of my projects will be busy next spring, and I'd expect to finally finish up when that closes around Easter. 

Congratulations to everyone who has made it already, and best wishes to everyone who is so close to the finish line now. 

Chapeau!

[FireLane]

I put in my notice today, woohoo! FIRE, here I come!

I wrote about it in my journal, but the quick summary is it was one of the most nerve-wracking things I've ever done. I've been at my job 15 years, and I've gotten comfortable. It's really tough to break free from a safe, familiar, well-paid routine and take that leap into the unknown. I can really understand how people wind up working a lot longer than they need to, just because it's the path of least resistance.

I haven't settled on an official last day. It'll probably be two weeks plus a few days, which will give me enough time to finish my current projects and use up my remaining vacation days. July 30 is a good outer-limit estimate.

Update: I'm retired in every sense but the official!

My last day of work was July 23, but I have some vacation days I'm using up, so I'm still technically employed until August. I expect to have my formal exit interview on August 9. I'll update again and confirm myself FIREd when that's done.

[Dicey]

Hey @ScreamingHeadGuy, you can call Dicey's husband IKAG, and he's 60. Comments in recent days, plus a pending inheritance that will be more substantial than we expected means Oct. 31 is looking more and more likely.

[Nemesis.]

Well I was originally shooting for the end 2023, then it was going to be May 2022, then January 2022, then October 15, 2021.
I hit my fire number a couple of months ago and was dealing with a lot of stress at work.
With some encouragement from members on this forum, I decided it wasn't worth the stress and gave notice yesterday.
My official FIRE date is now August 13, 2021! Woohoo! :)

[Malee55]

Congratulations Nemesis. Woohoo indeed. Well done on getting your finances lined up and realizing when you had too much and did not need to pit up with more.