From reading the journals and comments of the forum, it seems many of us have at least 12+ months to go prior to hitting "the number". I know that for me personally I likely have at least 3 years to go.
How do you keep yourself motivated and positive?
I was thinking about perhaps making some definite plans like taking a road trip, etc., would give me something more concrete to look forward to and it would be a distraction from the thought that 3 years just seems like such a long time.
How do you stay motivated on the way to ERE?
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MySavingStyle
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Good thread.
@m741 made a comment in his journal that really hit home for me:
"3. Another big psychological lever is in how I frame things. The way I've been framing my current job is: "I am trading 6-7 of the best (healthiest) years of my life for ~500k". I still think that's roughly accurate. But I can also plan to come out of those 6 years with more than just the money, and it's my duty when I return home from work to further my skills in various areas. In other words, I can plan to get really good at 3-4 things that will serve me well in retirement, in addition to accumulating that much money." -m741
viewtopic.php?t=863
This really turned the ship around for me. When I retire, I want to devote myself to fiction writing full-time. I realized that instead of sulking around feeling sorry for myself because I have to work for an agonizing 3+ years (the horror!) I've decided to pick myself up by the bootstraps and devote myself more fully to honing my creative writing skills in my off-work hours.
Now I'm more relaxed and content at work and can better focus. Yay!
@m741 made a comment in his journal that really hit home for me:
"3. Another big psychological lever is in how I frame things. The way I've been framing my current job is: "I am trading 6-7 of the best (healthiest) years of my life for ~500k". I still think that's roughly accurate. But I can also plan to come out of those 6 years with more than just the money, and it's my duty when I return home from work to further my skills in various areas. In other words, I can plan to get really good at 3-4 things that will serve me well in retirement, in addition to accumulating that much money." -m741
viewtopic.php?t=863
This really turned the ship around for me. When I retire, I want to devote myself to fiction writing full-time. I realized that instead of sulking around feeling sorry for myself because I have to work for an agonizing 3+ years (the horror!) I've decided to pick myself up by the bootstraps and devote myself more fully to honing my creative writing skills in my off-work hours.
Now I'm more relaxed and content at work and can better focus. Yay!
Sounds good, Palmera. After my PhD finishes next year, I'll also have about 10-15 years more to go, very likely. (Depends on the salary I'll get). But I'm currently quite OK with that and I think I can use some of that time to learn more about investing, taxes and about what to do (with my life) after retirement. Some other interesting things are coming up too in my personal life, so they'll probably keep me entertained for a while.
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George the original one
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No, we can't have our reward now. The choice is between distractions now (consuming stuff) and future reward.
Then there are the social bonds that we agree to, such as I want to ensure my mother doesn't run out of money before she passes away, thus as long as she is living, I need to stay employed regardless of other timetables.
Then there are the social bonds that we agree to, such as I want to ensure my mother doesn't run out of money before she passes away, thus as long as she is living, I need to stay employed regardless of other timetables.
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George the original one
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To stay motivated, I've included some consumption in my budget.
It helps sometimes, but, it also hurts because I know we have enough assets to already live Jacob's lifestyle. Sell the house & cars, find a cheap living arrangement (possibly even purchase a residence), and make do.
Instead, we go with some consumption and wait out the duration (minimum 4 years and mom's passing, maximum 9 years). Contributions to the early retirement fund continue as steadily as possible, though it sometimes feels like fits & spurts.
It helps sometimes, but, it also hurts because I know we have enough assets to already live Jacob's lifestyle. Sell the house & cars, find a cheap living arrangement (possibly even purchase a residence), and make do.
Instead, we go with some consumption and wait out the duration (minimum 4 years and mom's passing, maximum 9 years). Contributions to the early retirement fund continue as steadily as possible, though it sometimes feels like fits & spurts.
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LiquidSapphire
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@Jacob-
I guess the situation is really this: Once you have made the decision to aim for ERE, there is some dissonance between what you want to spend your time doing, and what you have to do. For me, I make good money at a job I can't stand, but I can't bring myself to leave it, because I'd easily be taking a 60% or more pay cut to do so, and that would severely set back my ERE goals. I am having difficulty coping with this. The sacrifice is 11+ hour days so that in 3-4 years I don't have to ever do it again. I could quit now and get a part time job and make all my bills, but I wouldn't be saving anywhere near as much and it would make the future much more uncertain and less secure, and there would be no ER in sight. Basically what Dragoncar said.
At some point you've decreased the majority of your expenses as much as possible and then you get to spend 3+ years... waiting. The question is: how do you make the waiting as painless as possible?
I guess the situation is really this: Once you have made the decision to aim for ERE, there is some dissonance between what you want to spend your time doing, and what you have to do. For me, I make good money at a job I can't stand, but I can't bring myself to leave it, because I'd easily be taking a 60% or more pay cut to do so, and that would severely set back my ERE goals. I am having difficulty coping with this. The sacrifice is 11+ hour days so that in 3-4 years I don't have to ever do it again. I could quit now and get a part time job and make all my bills, but I wouldn't be saving anywhere near as much and it would make the future much more uncertain and less secure, and there would be no ER in sight. Basically what Dragoncar said.
At some point you've decreased the majority of your expenses as much as possible and then you get to spend 3+ years... waiting. The question is: how do you make the waiting as painless as possible?
My biggest demotivator is the loss of employer-subsidized health insurance, but I agree with the challenges mentioned by @LiquidSapphire. Once you've managed your outgo, you focus on your income. Given the recent volatility of the market and the lack of acceptible high-yielding alternatives, it takes more optimism to rely on the idea of living off one's investments.
One idea I'm exploring is separating from my employer qua employee so that I can transfer my 401(k) balance to a self-directed IRA, then returning to service as a contractual consultant for reduced hours but a guarantee of continued health coverage.
One idea I'm exploring is separating from my employer qua employee so that I can transfer my 401(k) balance to a self-directed IRA, then returning to service as a contractual consultant for reduced hours but a guarantee of continued health coverage.
My greatest motivator has likely been watching my [money] progress and knowing that I am getting closer to owning my own life.
Recently, I've tried to adopt a more "balanced" approach by spending more time and money on activities I enjoy. While still saving an ERE amount.
Learning to be less extreme is proving difficult.
Recently, I've tried to adopt a more "balanced" approach by spending more time and money on activities I enjoy. While still saving an ERE amount.
Learning to be less extreme is proving difficult.
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jacob
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Maybe consider semi-retirement? I had similar thoughts when I quit. If I had kept working for 5 more years, I would have been a millionaire at 38. Would have been nice, but 5 more years. I'll take the lifestyle that some people call "struggling" and maybe see what comes up. One thing I was pretty certain off back then was that there was no way I could avoid making any money again.
So far (for 12 months now) book sales has actually covered my expenses AND DW's expenses. However, we're still so safety conscious that we don't consider this good enough. There are bloggers like Adam Baker who has taken off with debt and negative security and made off with something like that. Sure, he's not FI, but he's not serving out golden handcuffs either.
I realize that one's attitude to money/independence is individual but it's also important to realize that it changes over time.
However, I still have a hard time accepting making less money than I in principle could have. Just see all the bitching I do about it on the blog.
So far (for 12 months now) book sales has actually covered my expenses AND DW's expenses. However, we're still so safety conscious that we don't consider this good enough. There are bloggers like Adam Baker who has taken off with debt and negative security and made off with something like that. Sure, he's not FI, but he's not serving out golden handcuffs either.
I realize that one's attitude to money/independence is individual but it's also important to realize that it changes over time.
However, I still have a hard time accepting making less money than I in principle could have. Just see all the bitching I do about it on the blog.
Actually, delaying ERE by an additional 3 years (i.e. "semi-retirement") might become a very real situation. My partner lives in (nice, tropical) country where it's simply not viable to find another job and next year he's going to start pressing me to move there. Oh well, there are harder decisions in life, eh?
I'd rather just save up the cash in a quick and dirty 3 years, but oh well, we'll see.
I'd rather just save up the cash in a quick and dirty 3 years, but oh well, we'll see.
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George the original one
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Being one of the young ones here I guess I think of myself as being in an "accumulation phase" not just financially but also in terms of life skills and experience. I don't feel that I'm "sacrificing" as much as just working hard and finding the best compromise between having a good life now and having a great life later, and the idea that buying gadgets or getting wasted don't actually make my current life any better so I may as well save the money is a part of that. But then my savings rate and rough timeframe aren't exactly in the extreme category. I want to have great social skills and health so I can actually enjoy my financial independence, so getting there more quickly by living in the middle of nowhere and eating nothing but beans and rice doesn't make sense. So yeah, it's all about finding the best compromise between everything.
Also it just seems like the best path for me - what are the alternatives? Stay in the rat race for another 40 years and get nowhere in terms of freedom? Stop working and struggle on the dole or take a part-time job that only pays enough to get by, and get nowhere financially? Spend all my savings travelling or mini-retiring only to end up back at square one again in a couple of years? I don't see any other way of achieving true long-term freedom, so I just feel like I'm doing the sensible thing as opposed to sacrificing something.
Also it just seems like the best path for me - what are the alternatives? Stay in the rat race for another 40 years and get nowhere in terms of freedom? Stop working and struggle on the dole or take a part-time job that only pays enough to get by, and get nowhere financially? Spend all my savings travelling or mini-retiring only to end up back at square one again in a couple of years? I don't see any other way of achieving true long-term freedom, so I just feel like I'm doing the sensible thing as opposed to sacrificing something.
I very much admire @proj's outlook and attitude. It shouldn't really be a sacrifice during accumulation; there are worse things than being young, healthy, working hard and making money. Especially when also accumulating the skills to enjoy the later independence. And, as pointed out, the alternatives of just getting by or mini-retiring and then starting over don't lead to long-term freedom.
The exception is if the job is truly hateful (there are plenty of those) in which case emergency surgery may be necessary. Even if it's only jumping to a parallel position at a similar firm, sometimes you just need to look at a different set of a--holes to last another couple of years.
The exception is if the job is truly hateful (there are plenty of those) in which case emergency surgery may be necessary. Even if it's only jumping to a parallel position at a similar firm, sometimes you just need to look at a different set of a--holes to last another couple of years.
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frugalinCalifornia
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Maus Master wrote : "One idea I'm exploring is separating from my employer qua employee so that I can transfer my 401(k) balance to a self-directed IRA, then returning to service as a contractual consultant for reduced hours but a guarantee of continued health coverage."
If you have had coverage for 18 months you can often qualify under HIPAA for guaranteed continued coverage, though the rates can be quite high. The first policy I checked today was $3K a month for a family plus high deductibles. Kaiser and some other plans were much cheaper but I think the rates depend on your state laws and the plans available.
If you have a small business I think in every state you can get a guaranteed coverage policy. How many employees you have to have depends on state law but I think it is usually just 1 or 2 employees. I just checked on this today through Costco Small Business Health Insurance and the rates were pretty much what it costs for a policy now through my husband's day job, though of course now his employer pays for most of it now.
We have a couple of web businesses so if my husband quit or got laid off from his day job we would probably just go the small businesses health insurance way of coverage. But even the Costco policy was $1800 a month plus high deductibles. If you are middle age or older and have kids like us I don't know how to get guaranteed health insurance coverage any cheaper, at least for now, other than through an employer.
If you have had coverage for 18 months you can often qualify under HIPAA for guaranteed continued coverage, though the rates can be quite high. The first policy I checked today was $3K a month for a family plus high deductibles. Kaiser and some other plans were much cheaper but I think the rates depend on your state laws and the plans available.
If you have a small business I think in every state you can get a guaranteed coverage policy. How many employees you have to have depends on state law but I think it is usually just 1 or 2 employees. I just checked on this today through Costco Small Business Health Insurance and the rates were pretty much what it costs for a policy now through my husband's day job, though of course now his employer pays for most of it now.
We have a couple of web businesses so if my husband quit or got laid off from his day job we would probably just go the small businesses health insurance way of coverage. But even the Costco policy was $1800 a month plus high deductibles. If you are middle age or older and have kids like us I don't know how to get guaranteed health insurance coverage any cheaper, at least for now, other than through an employer.