FIRE
Financially Independent. Retire Early.
At 52 years of age, we got here later than some, but probably earlier than most. Four years ago, I was soul searching about my C suite job…contemplating the idea of keeping this gig going for another 10-15 years. Was I that ambitous? Did I want to give most of my high energy years to someone else? And John and I started reflecting. What was “our number”? How much money did we need to live on? When would the nest egg and our desires align? Our four daughters were grown, and our parents were all healthy….so we had the ability to make and take some options. And here we are….
John and I (mostly John) worked tirelessly to build our real estate portfolio. Growing it, pruning it, nourishing it to the point it could sustain us. And substantial enough for us to be able to have a crew we trust to help us keep balanced in the time we allocate to it daily. Providing the ability to travel and live anywhere. And we socked away 10% of my income every month from my first job until the moment I walk out the door at my recent employer – 35 years later. I gave notice to retire in February 2021, working part time from now until then. And now we take the next 50 years to enjoy what life has in store for us together and individually.
I began evaluating what brings me joy, and what can I learn about myself. First and foremost, I love my family more than anything in the world. Every day I get to spend with them is pure joy. And I want to keep doing it more and more. It’s so beautiful to watch them grow into adults, and I am so glad we are able to help them as much as we can. Then I migrated to Yoga Teacher Training. Learning about the 8 limbs of yoga, tons of introspection about the high frequency by body has run on for the last 30 years. Open doors to healing – reiki, sound therapy, chakra work, meditation and breathing, yoga poses, anatomy and how my body truly works, health coaching, etc. etc. etc. I have been teaching yoga in our neighborhood and with friends and my kids, and providing reiki to my children and their friends. And doors keep opening in the work I need to do to be a peaceful, energetic, grounded, intimate human. I love dogs, but didn’t want to be tied down with the commitment, so we decided to foster service dogs which has been an absolute joy. I love to cook, and am incredibly passionate about vegan/health based cooking, so I have been exploring Plant Based Culinary school in NYC. John would take art classes at the same time. I caught the travel bug early in my career, and it has stayed with me. We defintely want to tie a high travel stint into our future – domestically and internationally. And the great outdoors cleans my soul. And then COVID.
So, we had to make some pivots, but our date hasn’t changed. And we are dipping our toe in the water.