Five years... Wait, how long??

[dpmorel]

@Jacob. you know, the science of ERE is lagging. Part of the problem is that you have moved from "applied sciences" to white-coat academic researcher. That is, you no longer practice ERE, you retired. Now you just think philisophically/rhetorically about the path to get there and teach others.
I think it'd be best for everybody's sake if you blew your money somehow... this should be easy, you live in California.
Then you can start ERE all over again and push the boundaries. I am sure you can do better than 5 years a second time around.

[jacob]

You could aim at a semi-retirement status instead. For instance, I had a location-independent copy-editing gig for a while (until I got too busy with the book and had to stop it) which only required me to work for 4 hours a week to support myself. This may even be a preferable option as it retains some connection to the job market. If you ever want to return, you don't have to explain the gap in your resume. No need to mention that you only worked 4 hours a week during those years

[jacob]

@dpmorel - I do practice the methods. I've just replaced work activities with retirement activities.

[RightClawSouth]

I'll be part time gambling after retiring so that will help supplement my passive income...

[Q]

You can not pay taxes and then wait for the letter from the IRS and then eventually "settle".
It is risky, since jail time could be involved, but my friend just settled like 3 years worth of taxes for a 30% discount if I remember what he said.
Cash jobs, bartering, etc are all good plans. So is owning a biz. Hopefully, I can be independent within the next 5 years with this job.

[Concojones]

I can relate to the feeling that 5 years is too long. For me, 1 year is the psychological maximum for just about anything. So, try to find an intermediate 1-year goal that is still exciting. This is not easy, but if you already have some savings, you could aim for a basic form of semi-retirement. The second thing to do, which I prefer, is to change jobs (there has to be a way). If you have to work anyway, choose something that's going to be fun or interesting for a while. All the while you keep up your savings rate.

[RightClawSouth]

I don't think anything is worth risking going to jail for... I'm way too pretty to go to jail...

[Marius]

When I realized I was on my way to early retirement, I still had four and a half years to go.
I slapped together a short javascript program that tells me every day how many years, months and days are left before my retirement. It helps, I see my goals approaching fast.

[AlexOliver]

"It starts at five years and then it'll be four years and then three and then two..."
Seriously. In tenth grade I started counting down the days until I turned 18. It was over 800. Now it's 21. You could always tally the days you've done, or make a list with a bunch of numbers (60-59-58 etc...months) and cross one off each month.

[Magda]

I'm glad that I found this topic.

I'm 27 now. My ERE estimate tells me that I could retire in 10 years. Brilliant ! 10 years instead of 40...
But now I tend to think that 10 years is still a big chunk of time. I think about ERE every single day and it can get pretty hard to stay patient.
I don't want my "10 years before reaching ERE" to be a big black hole of sadness, because of that freedom that I'm waiting for.
I was also thinking about that calendar idea, crossing off the days etc. But I think that that would lead me to the same result: not being content with those 10 years.

So my current idea is to treat my job and those 10 years as an "adventure". I will try to get not only the money for ERE but also as much personal satisfaction as I can.

[theplk]

having milestones and rewards for reaching them has kept me motivated so far

[Felix]

I have been doing the same. Sort of an escape fantasy that consumes you. I have found for myself that the best way to manage is to learn to enjoy the path that gets you there instead of hating it. Make it better in the present without ruining the goal.
For me this was: Add in free/cheap hobbies (learn to cook healthy meals, sports), build a richer social life (no need being a secluded hermit for ERE reasons). And mini-retirements to test-drive the ERE life.

In the end, this has lenghtened my time-to-ERE. But it no longer feels like I have to escape from anything, so -to me- it is well worth it. 7 years in a nice place is better than 5 years in hell.

[Beaudacious]

I'm at a weird middle point right now. I hit a milestone of having enough to cover current monthly expenses with a 4% withdrawal rate right at my 4 year anniversary of joining the service. It's not really fair though since I have no low/no expenses in terms of housing and utilities due to living in the barracks on base. I'm also locked in for another 5 years working for Uncle Sam... so my wait for non-career life is still a while. I will say that these first 4 years flew by, but sure as hell felt slow during the beginning. I'm on year 2 of 3 being in a distance relationship with my wife... but that first year moved quickly as well, and we've only gotten stronger as we actively work on our relationship. Finances are pretty much on auto-pilot now and work doesn't change too much, so this frees me up energy-wise to really dig into interests and people that are at the top of my priority list. So maybe focus less on the financial and more on pursuing interests that you've been putting off that will magically happen at that 5 year mark? Or pull in extra income to shorten the time frame.

Countdowns never worked well for me. When I was training for a half marathon, mile markers would mentally destroy me because of the energy I'd waste focusing on how far away the finish was. But when I just focused on enjoying the moment and taking my surroundings in, the finish line would surprise me.

Also, my free countdown app won't allow me to put an event 1825 days out... useless.

[lilacorchid]

I play with lots of spreadsheets. One thing that seemed to help me the most was calculating how much of the year I have now payed for with passive income. 1 month down, 11 more to go!

[Magda]

7 years in a nice place is better than 5 years in hell.

That's a very good point, Felix.
I utterly agree with that. I could for example have a second job and work 2-3 years less, but that would devour all of my evenings and weekends. Work-Sleep-Work-Sleep scenario is not an option for me.

[JohnnyH]

7 years in a nice place is better than 5 years in hell.

I want to second this... I was *very* extreme until I reached where I could retire (maybe 1-2 years ago)... At that point I just made changes that I thought would make life more enjoyable. It did make it much more enjoyable and it didn't cost much... Now I somewhat regret those first 5 years.

Balance, something that is hard for the INTJ extremist!

[lilacorchid]

"It starts at five years and then it'll be four years and then three and then two..."
Seriously. In tenth grade I started counting down the days until I turned 18. It was over 800. Now it's 21. You could always tally the days you've done, or make a list with a bunch of numbers (60-59-58 etc...months) and cross one off each month.

To add to that, I wrote (by hand!) the number of hours until summer vacation when I was 15... it was three sheets of column of numbers. Every hour, I would cross off that hour. For two months! It seemed like forever.

And now in what feels like the blink of an eye, I'm over 15 years from those two months. It will come! And then go... and then be a speck in your rear-view mirror.

[Magda]

This is what my BF told me today:

"If you retire and achieve your investing goals, then you will probably not have a day job for the rest of your life. No more, never EVER. Think of it! Enjoy it while you still can!"

We almost died laughing
But hey! I also think that he's right... There is a method in this madness

[Triangle]

As you save more and more, and reduce your expenses, your current life will probably be approaching your retired life. That's what I like about ERE, you don't have to suffer for 5 years and then get salvation. You start changing things now, so you'll gradually make your life into what you want it to be.

[FPMLLC]

Five years does feel like a very long time. I have found myself over the past few weeks getting off track, and even more disgusted with my job. I used to travel a lot which I loathed, but the experience was fun for a while and the money was great. Now I took a pay cut, don't have to travel, but get to spend time with family.

I just refi'd my house again ( I just took a 20 yr @ 3.99 about 9 months ago) Down to a 15yr 3.75. I want out, and I want out bad!

I hurt my knee about a week ago, and have had the chance to be home everyday, working on small projects, cooking, relaxing and I LOVE IT. It makes it even more unbearable to go back.

I wish I could just do it tomorrow somehow, or someway.

I am with you. five years feels like an eternity.