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| Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, Florida |
Oscar Wilde: “Work is the curse of the drinking classes.”
August 2024 marks my wife and myself’s 4 year anniversary of our early retirement. My, how time flies! It does seem like yesterday that we made the leap of faith to trust the concepts of the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement and to retire.
Just thinking back to the days leading up to my final day at my job floods me with nostalgia. It was during the peak of the pandemic, so I had to work remotely. I remember dropping off all the company equipment on August 17 (my last day) like laptop, cell phone, etc., then meeting one of the best supervisors I’ve ever had (Kelly), for an exit interview.
I could tell she was emotional after working together for the better part of 14 years, then having to say goodbye. It was Kelly who made working there possible in the first place as she was one of the interviewers when I was hired. She was so nice to have bought my favorite beer “Sam Adams” as a parting gift! She’s so awesome…
It felt surreal to finally get off the “rat race” and trust that what we’ve worked on until then will work out from that point forward. I was done working for a paycheck. No more dealing with entitled employees, no more getting up every morning to go to work, and no more stress from working!
It feels great thinking back now, but in all reality, I was also a bit apprehensive and a bit worried how the stock/bond markets will react to the pandemic and its aftermath. The markets had been in a varying degrees of uncertainty, when it would shoot up 1000 points one day, only to drop 800 the next. It was hard to feel secure when we weren’t sure the FIRE movement concepts would work out in real life, and not just in theory…
Fast forward to these days, we are absolutely grateful that we’ve been able to stay the course we’ve set forth that month. We are still retired, enjoying all the great benefits that come with that, and we feel great and happy, which to me is the bottom line.
What good is early retirement if you’re not happy? Isn’t the reason for early retirement to ultimately be happy and healthy???
Luckily, the stock/bond markets have stabilized that year, then started their recovery after several months. It went straight up until November 2021, only to reverse course. It wasn’t until 2023 that the markets would recover that descent. Up and down (then back up) we go..
Of course, I’ve always known that the market gyrations are natural part of a healthy stock market. But it’s another thing when it’s your hard earned money that is going down and down. Despite the occasional bouts of apprehension, what’s important is that we stayed the course and didn’t sell our shares. Why? I know markets always recover. They always have, and they always will.
If you’re like me, who believe in the ingenuity, innovation, and outside-the-box thinking of American companies, then you should relax knowing they will find/create new industries to somehow/someway make profit. This is why I always stay the course.
We had to improvise for 2022 when bond markets just kept going down, by withdrawing from our savings account. In the end, it worked out as bond markets have started to recover by 2023.
As we look forward to our 4 year anniversary of our early retirement, here are few of the highlights of our FIRE (financial independence retire early) journey the past year:
- Went on another road trip, this time to the American South/Deep South/Central South/Mid-Atlantic
We spent exactly 8 weeks this time to visit destinations in the South during the winter of 2023-2024. We wanted to visit and revisit in some cases, destinations that are both well known and not so well known.
- South Carolina - spent 5 nights in Hilton Head Island visiting the island as well as attractions in Savannah
- Georgia - spent 7 nights in places like Brunswick, Columbus, Atlanta, Helen
- Florida - spent 5 nights in Destin and Jacksonville
- Alabama - spent 8 nights in Gulf Shores and Mobile
- Mississippi - spent 3 nights in Biloxi
- Kentucky - spent 3 nights in Knoxville
- Tennessee - spent 3 nights in Pigeon Forge
- North Carolina - spent 8 nights in Asheville and Corolla
- Virginia - spent 3 nights in Williamsburg
- Maryland - spent 7 nights in Ocean City and Annapolis
Traveling is one of the best things about early retirement, to be able to travel leisurely without worrying about the lack of time. We booked hotels as we went, oftentimes booking them a week or two weeks in advance, but sometimes a day before.
We always wonder before arriving at a destination whether we would be the only tourists there, but we’re always wrong about that. There are always people traveling throughout the United States, no matter how well known a destination is or not. We’re always amazed by so many wonderful places that exist for us to visit, tucked away in tiny towns like in Helen (Georgia), a popular German influenced town in the foothills of the mountains in northwestern part of the state.
This trip, we got to stay at better quality hotels like Hilton hotel chains which made our trip that much better and more enjoyable. We fell in love with hotel chains like Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites, and IHG’s StayBridge Suites.
We loved the trip to the South so much, we will probably do another one this winter. We’re thinking of visiting places in Florida as well as few others in South Carolina and Georgia.
Whereas in the past, I looked for only new places to visit, these days, I’m ok revisiting old places. There’s always things to write about for my blog, whether they’re new places or not…
- Two days discovering Cape May, New Jersey (again) *September 2023
We spent couple of days going on a Whale/Dolphin Watch and revisited Cape May Zoo while staying at the newly renovated MGM Tower at the Borgata.
- Spent a week going on a short (week long) road trip out to Detroit, Michigan *March 2024
We had never been to Detroit, so we decided to finally visit it. Because of the long driving distance, we stopped for 2 nights near Cleveland (OH) area to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park, then 4 nights in Detroit. While in Detroit, we crossed the border into Canada to visit Point Pelee National Park.
- Revisited Ocean City Maryland again, but this time for a month using AirBnB *April 2024
Ocean City has become one of our favorite go-to places thanks to its proximity to both our primary residence in North Carolina and our parent’s place in New York City. We love Ocean City’s boardwalk, the beach, and plenty of places to walk around. Living there for a month is a breeze thanks to convenient access to supermarkets and fast casual restaurants on days when we don’t feel like cooking.
- Stayed near Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts *July 2024
This is our first time staying long term in the state of Massachusetts and we’re glad we found something via AirBnB. Although not exactly cheap, we still feel it was about the right price ($1500 per month) for the rental near major attractions.
- Recovery of the stock market/bond market
As I mentioned previously, 2022 was a rough year as both stock & bond markets kept going down the entire year. It wasn’t until early 2023 that they started their recovery.
Because we’re dependent on our bonds to fund ourselves for the next several years, we decided in 2022 to sell less of our bond funds and use some of our savings to supplement what we need for our monthly expenses.
Luckily, by late 2023, we started using exclusively our bonds again, and have used our savings as needed. That was a sigh of relief…Oh, and the stock market also recovered.
We knew as practitioners of FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement that we need an emergency fund. We really used that to our advantage for about a year. Good planning worked.
- The mental state of things…
We can proudly say we’ve matured mentally, more so vs just 4 years ago. We’ve learned to embrace most situations in stride, not getting easily frustrated or angry, and to adapt as best we could.
The first AirBnB rental we stayed in after retiring, was a challenge as it was a tiny 3rd floor walk-up unit that smelled of urine, smoke, and just about everything else. The housecleaning crew did a horrible job of cleaning. It took few days (after we cleaned the place ourselves), but we adjusted to living there for the month.
The past year my wife especially has been great, learning to adapt better than she has ever had. She’s no longer easily flustered or frustrated, and she’s becoming increasingly more like me, better at dealing with life’s little challenges.
Life is full of challenges and obstacles. It’s how you deal with it that makes the difference. Adapt, improvise, and overcome is one of my favorite mottos.
In conclusion:
We are so grateful we got to retire early. We get to live the way we always wanted to and we are appreciating it every single day.
Our flexibility with time is a major benefit of early retirement. We’re no longer chased by deadlines or the need to go to work on Mondays, giving us all the time in the world to plan, be flexible, and be spontaneous.
We wouldn’t change anything these days. After spending time inside beautiful hotels over the past winter, in places like Hilton Garden Inn Oceanfront in Ocean City and Hampton Inn & Suites Outer Banks/Corolla, we’re enjoying the journey of FIRE even more.
We thank you for reading and keep up with us on our journey of FIRE!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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