Late Bloomer here

[Sababa]

Hi everyone in this amazing forum.

I've been reading this forum for a few months now and have decided to post. I really love reading what's going on here. Absolutely amazing.

I just want to say hi and get started with a journal. So much to write about. I'm 55 living as an Expat with a large family. Made some serious financial mistakes largely because I didn't have any perspective on where I was and no real goal to get out of the rat race.

I'm married 25 yrs with 5 kids still at home. The youngest is almost 7. The oldest at home is 17.5.

I have been doing technical writing for over 20 years and haven't seen a raise in about 15 years. Only the costs go up. I make about $75k before taxes and retirement fund deductions. Take home is like $48k. Up to about six months ago I had never heard about early retirement and the ways to get there. I don't expect to get there, but the same ideas will get me to a decent retirement, hopefully. Just gotta get the wifey on board, which is not really likely.

Anyway, greetings to you all.

Sababa

[7Wannabe5]

Welcome! For some reason there is a fairly large crew of forumites, including me, who are right around your age. Like there is a particular hard-fisted strain of forever youthful rebellion against normative bulges attached to firstborn Gen-X which pulls us towards ERE.

[wolf]

Welcome Sababa! It's never too late to start living by ERE in life.

[AxelHeyst]

Hello and welcome! You've already seen I'm sure, but there's a lot of good advice to be had regarding how to communicate with spouses who aren't as immediately excited as you are about ERE. I just received some myself today. Cheers!

[Sababa]

Hi to all of you. 7Wannabe5, i had to read twice to unpack that and totally get it. I am wishing that I did things differently in my younger years, still feel young enough to do it, but the reality is that I'm already 55 wanting to retire yesterday. I will post more history when I start my journal. Hopefully today. It seems a bit cathartic to start putting this out here and getting feedback and support.

wolf, thanks for the encouragement.

AxelHeyst, I will look into this. It's not a normal situation. There are some emotional issues there that won't get "cured" anytime soon.