Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hey there

Long time skeptic and lurker. I found myself drawn back and back to Jacob's work here and in his book.

I am 39 and worked in the law pretty much to this point. I also have a programming degree, which could be brushed off if need be, although it was a long time ago.

Law was putrid, as many ex-lawyers will tell you. I was on a lot of money, in the end, but it was a terrible cost to my health and soul. I lost fitness and gained a lot of weight. I think I got depressed from the tedium and stress of it all, as well as the truly horrific characters I worked with.

Finally, under enormous pressure, I threw in the towel 6 months ago. It was extremely stressful. Including my investment in the business, I had 1.8 million dollars in debt. I sold everything except for my dream house, and discovered that I owned that (valued at 500k - Australia is expensive!) and had 40k or so left over.

I was pretty messed up by the last 12 months or so at work. It was truly awful. Rather than get another job, which I could do easily, I'm taking time out, and have been living off savings. Recently I've been encouraged to think of myself as retired, just so long as I live off less than I can rent my house out for (15-20k say after expenses). I am in the process now of putting my house out to rent.

I've convinced my girl to quit her job. We are going to travel around Australia in a small van living off some final savings (selling our cars), and then relocate to a low cost country (Thailand perhaps) to live off the rent. Even though I am thinking of myself as 'retired', I plan on doing more fun internet based work to build up the passive income to increase my ability to be retired in more expensive places, and indeed return to my paradise house, and even have children.

So far, no regrets chucking in my massive job. Not going to work is awesome.

Just wanted to say g'day and share my experiences.

ps - currently living in gf's dad's granny flat prior to going on my trip. many at work would have thought this impossible from a status/ego perspective, but it's not bad, and much better than working!!!

Congratulations on making your move away from work. I hope you enjoy your travels.

I imagine it would be tough socialising/relating to your old work colleagues. Do you keep in touch with anyone still?

I'll be interested to hear about your experiences moving overseas. I'm also from Australia and think moving overseas will provides better value for money. From what I've read getting a long term Visa to Thailand is tough under a certain age.

@ nawor thanks! I don't know how or where the travels will go. Thankfully my girl is onboard - I think it makes all of the difference. If we get our income up (from basically nothing except the rent) then as I said I'd like to live in more expensive countries as well. Re keeping in touch - it's only been 6 months and I've kept in touch with a few people from work and one client. They are all very supportive. The rubber will hit the road when I'm living off the rent though! As for relating - yeah, the less I see of most of them the better. I wouldn't call them friends or people I will miss.

Hey Did,

Welcome to the forum.

Well done for taking the big step. I'm still working and find that I relate to less than 1% of the people I work with.

Looking forward to hearing about your new adventures.

BM

Did,

Interesting introduction.

I am also Australian and a lawyer but my career path has taken me on a different journey.

I moved to that low cost country many years ago to follow the dream, but have found myself working harder than ever (and making very good money). The low cost country is not so low cost if you let yourself be carried away on lifestyle.

I am now 55 and still find myself busy working as I am not sure what else I would do for the next 30 years. It is depressing that after 30 plus years of work, I do not know what else to do. It also reflects on our society that we are often measured or judged by what our profession or job is - not the person we are or what we really do.

Be very interested to hear of your progress.

My husband, G, is a future ex-lawyer here in Ohio. He would agree with most of what you wrote about work stress. We have several children, so he can't just cut loose. Our timeline for him is about 7 years.

I was pretty messed up by the last 12 months or so at work. It was truly awful.

@Did, I feel you on this one. I've had some brutal, stressful experiences at work. But, I'm always impressed with how long people can last in circumstances that I can't. Twelve months is a long time. That probably means you're a tough cookie.

It's an interesting one isnt' it. How much hell to put up with for how long and what gain?

I've done my time....

I've also quit my legal job and am living off savings, but for me it's not the first time, more like the fifth. My quality of life was pretty terrible, which is why I keep quitting.

I see a travel blog in the making... Should bring in a little income, if you get the advertisers to come in.

Welcome! I'm a fellow Aussie as well, living in the USA now. Keen to see how things go for you.

Did - so what are you doing now?

I am still going with the lawyering - making lots of money, being bored and not sure what else to do with my time.

Here's another ex-lawyer:
I’m a former lawyer currently traveling (and eating!) my way around the world, one country at a time. This site began when I quit my job in 2008 and took off to see the world, having saved up money by lawyering for 5 years in New York City. I wanted to have a blog where I could post photos and share crazy stories so that my friends and family could follow along from afar.
http://www.legalnomads.com

Aus_E_Expat wrote:Did - so what are you doing now?

I am still going with the lawyering - making lots of money, being bored and not sure what else to do with my time.

Out of interest my fellow Aussie, have you read this book: http://www.amazon.com/How-Retire-Happy- ... 096941949X

It makes an interesting point that the harder and longer you've worked the more challenging it can be to figure out what to do outside of work. That awareness itself can make figuring out what to do easier I think.

EMJ wrote:Here's another ex-lawyer:
I’m a former lawyer currently traveling (and eating!) my way around the world, one country at a time. This site began when I quit my job in 2008 and took off to see the world, having saved up money by lawyering for 5 years in New York City. I wanted to have a blog where I could post photos and share crazy stories so that my friends and family could follow along from afar.
http://www.legalnomads.com

Nice site. I'm going to check it out.

Hello again

As planned, we hit the road 5 weeks ago. It's been much better than I ever expected! I'm writing this from a campsite at batemans bay, south of Sydney. I'm slowly recovering from a decade and a half of abuse (to myself). It takes time! But I'm getting there.

We stay in free camps at least 5 days out of 7

The thought of ever returning to an office is obscene.

Very keen to make it work. The fact my girlfriend is supportive makes all the difference I suspect.

Someone sent a link to a post retirement book: I don't need it! I don't need help filling my time, although an Internet connection helps.

Bump

From your other posts, it sounds like you're off the road. I'd love to hear an update of how it went. (there are quite a few would-be nomads here)

I just saw your other post about buying a place in Ireland. I'd love to hear about that, too.

Just read this. Been a year now since you quit, isn't it, but still, Congratulations!

So it seems we have lots of lawyers (ex or otherwise) here!

I was just now commenting on the "How to monetize your interests without working" thread, and it seems that for lawyers that should be easy. I mean here is one profession that is practically crying out for well-paid part-time work, done at your own pace (for people who are good at it, and experienced, and have quit -- like you). Another such profession would be Medicine, I suppose.

But of course, if you dislike the whole process there then I suppose you may not like any part of it, no matter how small. Like you indicate. And that's great too.

I agree with your attitude when you say : We need no help "filling our time". Those who do ought not play with retirement proper!

Hello all

The trip was the best time of my life. Much better than I could have imagined. I encourage you to do it if you can, especially if you are in a couple.

The best part of it was the freedom. I know there was a lot of contrast with me having worked in a job I disliked prior to this, but for some months I just skulked around my home city, and that was not a joyous period. But to be away from it all, in a new location - a bush setting, for example - with someone you want to spend time with and all day to do it.... Well, it's a wonderful thing. Nobody tells you what to do. There are no stresses, apart from finding somewhere to sleep and eat (which come naturally). Multiply this by almost 8 months and you have a very special period of your life.

As for monetizing interests - I am a great supporter of this. I wrote a short book on the road, which I will not promote here, and have started a blog. On the legal side, well, I'm retired, right. My brain needs new things to think about please.

Ireland awaits. We thought about lots of options. The main thing I did to escape was to sell down property (2 of them) which paid off a third and then I rented it out. So, homeless, some would say. Turning my dead money into investments and being able to retire straight away, I say. Just need to solve the housing problem now, which, when you throw travel into the mix, is a fun thing to do.

We visited Thailand on a whim out of Darwin. It just seemed so close on the map. Retirement lets you do that. We spent most of our time in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. I was interested in both from a digital nomad, geoarbitrage perspective. It is a fascinating place. Many coffee shops. Eminently liveable. And very cheap.

So we thought about living in a place like that. Obviously.

But the old girl has an Irish passport. Local property is crazy-overpriced, and Irish property is, well, affordable if not underpriced (as is much American and other European property). So swapping a relatively small equity interest for 100% ownership sounds like a good idea to me. And fun.

The buying process has been difficult. There are cultural differences that are real. We have had 3 offers accepted and fall over. But we are heading over soon (very bloody soon!), and it will be easier then. Anyone want to buy a proven minimalist RV in Brisbane?

In a side note, I am going to write a book about examples of people who have 'retired' in the sense of having gotten out of the grind and either reached FI through savings or a four hour work week muse or the like (the more diverse the examples the more interesting it will be). Can you (dear reader) PM me if you are interested. If that doesn't work then can you just leave another message on the forum as I've not been PM'd before. The goal of the book is just exploring an interest and sending a message of encouragement. It will be positive and hopefully motivating for people like me 12 months ago.