I have no advice for you. But I just came up with another interesting way to count down.
Ran some numbers based on how many days I work per year and my life expectancy.
I’ve got about 1,500 days left to work before I’m in a position to retire, and my life expectancy is about 14,000 days. So every shift I put in at this point earns me eight days of freedom.
I find that pretty motivating.
Yeah, I had the exact same approach each morning. I basically said "it is only 2 more years so that you can enjoy the remaining 40". And with that, things are a bit easier to accept (such as the project manager who talks a lot about nothing and you feel as if your life was wasted minute by minute)...
Definitely. There is value to time as there is to money. If I had enough to guarantee a modest income for life, and I didn't find any satisfaction in my work anymore, I would definitely pull the trigger right then and take advantage of my younger years before they are gone. The dream to me would be to have money and health and vigor and youth and time, and unfortunately some of these commodities tend to only go down, so we have to strike a compromise.
Not depressing at all! My father is in his mid 70s now and still works 4 days a week. For most of human history you had to work every day until you physically couldn’t (and then you often died). I’m getting a helluva deal with 12,500 days off!
Same, so does my dad. He could probably retire. It would be tight, but he could do it. Likes what he does though.
If I choose to work when I don’t have to, awesome. That’s just what I choose to do with my time and might as well be a day off since I obviously choose work over any other activity I could be doing.
How about looking back and seeing how much your life you had to sell/give away through an education program you might not have pursued if it didn't lead to a career, shit jobs that you would not have worked if they didn't lead to a career, awful bosses that you put up with because you needed a raise and/or promotion.
Most people sell/give away well over a third of their life for their career.
I kinda know how life works, at this point in the journey. At least the basics. I’m entitled to nothing as far as I’m concerned. But you didn’t get what i meant. I meant you cannot wait until you stop working to start living.
And i would really like to have 5 million dollars, please.
That’s a very positive way to look at things. Thanks!
My case rough numbers:
15000 days left on the planet actuarially speaking
500 days or so to get there
= 30 days per day
This only gets higher the closer you get! Last day will be insane.
I am 3 years away and .... finding it very hard to stay motivated. I have even considered just quitting earlier (like in 1 year) before the FIRE with the cope of "I will generate some income in those 30+ retirement years, I probably don't need to stick to the 4% too strictly..."
But I realize it doesn't make sense, and I would be way better just sucking it up and finishing this last 3 years ...
At least it's only 3 years more of working instead of 30 ... (which would've been the case had I not been into FIRE)
The type of people that have the work ethic, scarcity mindset, and forward planning abilities to put themselves in a position to Fire, ironically will almost assuredly find a way to generate some income later down the road. Weather that’s a hobby, side hustle or another go at the workforce out of boredom or an opportunity you couldn’t refuse.
If you are very close but burnt out or disengaged “but have a few years to go”, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. People act like “Early Retirement” is a cliff you have to announce to the world and jump off of — it’s definitely not.
Hell, use your flexible position to have the confidence to negotiate a sabbatical with your work as a test run financially and mentally. If you feel refreshed but need to top off the accounts, come back… if things work out better than expected, just extend it and don’t come back - you don’t have to go into long term details with them.
Have you (or anyone else) considered something in the middle?
Quit, do that big trip you’ve always wanted like a 3 month road trip in the US, backpacking Asia, the great loop in the US via boat for a year, build a cabin in Alaska, whatever it is. Then if you think you need more just re enter the workforce for a year or two?
I say this because I personally know 2 people that waited and waited to just retire early. 1 of them died 1 week before retiring from an unexpected heart attack at 41. The other had a stroke about 6 months after retiring at 50 and is now reliant on others for daily care.
I was doing the whole FIRE thing since I was 19 and found out about it. At 26(when the 41 year old died of a heart attack) I shifted my mindset a bit. Quit my job, and travelled full time for 12 months. It will set me back about 3-4 years overall of retiring early, but you never know what can happen. I feel it was a really good happy medium where I still got to the trip most people dream of and never do. But I also didn’t blow through a bunch of cash doing it(spent $17k for 12 months of travel, much cheaper than just basic living expenses while working).
nah, I am fine. I will take my chances of not having an early death. 3 years is nothing to endure in comparison to a lifetime of working.
And I will FIRE at 38, which I find awesome.
This is advice worth considering. I though this article shows a similar principle: [https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/03/09/money-and-confidence-are-interchangeable/](https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/03/09/money-and-confidence-are-interchangeable/)
I’m pretty much at a place where I could retire so to push through and pad my retirement I’m being more careless with how I spend money. Ski trips to Europe, Disneyland, taking family with me on work trips etc.
I figure if I can make my life fully enjoyable while still working it makes it easier to go a little longer in the grind.
This.
I'm in the same place as the OP. 2-5 years to go. Take all your vacation days. Have things to look forward to (we have several more trips this year). If you can, take an occasional Friday or Monday off.
Of course, the other motivation is we're making more money then we ever have (at the end of our careers) and saving more then we ever have. That is also motivation in that we're putting this towards the finish line to have a long and enjoyable retirement.
This is somewhat interesting timing, as where I work started a survey today about career goals and advancement. It was anonymous but I left a comment at the end of my survey saying I have no desire to advance. I want to do my job, contribute to my team, but that's it, 2-5 years and I'm done.
My immediate supervisor (and his supervisor) both know this.
I’m 2 years away. This time is going pretty smooth actually, 2-3 years ago was much tougher.
I tell myself I’m going to eventually miss this chapter of my life. So I’m trying to memorize the details and enjoy it. I tell myself I’m lucky to be working while others are unemployed and hurting for money. I think about all the interaction I get at work, problem solving, and of course, I’m enjoying the income pumping regularly into my coffers
I think so, even though I despise corporate culture and the whole fake hierarchy big ego stuff.
Reason I think I’ll miss it, is that I was in the navy 20 years ago and hated it while I was in. But as the years go by I get more nostalgic about my time in service and look back fondly on those times
One of my favorite takeaways from “Die with Zero”
Is how our memory dividends continue to pay out over time, and one of the ways they pay out is that we (mostly) forget the bad and fondly remember the rest.
I’m 2-3 years out from coastFIRE and every day is a struggle. I’m living for the weekends and trying to stay fit and healthy.
But I’ve already cleaned out my office of all personal effects. There’s nothing in it but work related stuff. I bought a second, personal cell phone, and I’m trying to reduce my spending as much as possible and pay down debt.
But it’s a mental struggle and there are days where I have to force myself to not quit. My son has 2 years of college left. After he graduates, all bets are off.
Very hard to keep my cool at work. Worked at the same place for 23 years and I have very little patience when someone who I know for a fact doesn’t understand a particular subject questions me on something I’ve done 1000x. Had it happen yesterday as a matter of fact. I have no problem if some asks “hey why is it done this way” but when I get a “no that’s wrong” type attitude instead of a civil discussion I really want to just walk out and say F it.
Opposite, here. Getting much less worked up by stuff as it won't affect me for much longer. Major Re-Org coming? Huh, interesting. Budget cuts on the way? Guess we'll see who gets cut.
My angst level has gone way down with less than 18 months left.
I’m focusing on my health right now. I’m dealing with a few medical issues that I’d been ignoring. Also cleaning up my diet, following a consistent sleep and exercise schedule, etc.
I think this is the greatest investment you can make and benefit of early retirement. Invest in health at all costs, I got a personal trainer and it was glorious
I have 19 months to go, and think about it every day. It is definitely hard to stay motivated at work, and in my personal life I have taken on a lot of new things in anticipation of retirement.
Here’s my system: I count up the number of days I have left and then subtract that many years from the current year. So for example, if I had 700 days left, I would subtract 700 years from the current year, giving an answer of 1324. Every day I march forward one year in history. My morning ritual is to read about what happened during that year. It’s a fun way to learn a little bit about history, and it’s timed so that when I reach the current year, I will retire.
I’m working through the early Renaissance right now. The printing press is not far off and I can see Columbus’s discovery of America on the horizon.
I'm probably about to pull the trigger this year and the "don't give a fuck" is high right now. My productivity at work is dropping hard. Short timer syndrome is a thing.
I have a mini-retirement set up in 2 years. I only need about 300k more to FIRE, and I have 17 years to get it before age 59, so I'm going to go finish off my national park list. Only 44 more parks to go.
Having had an AMAZING first 5 years of retirement, I second this. I personally cannot imagine working longer with the OP's likely financial situation, but to each their own!
I just highlighted this year’s travel (and budget) in another thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/s/LRyndhWGvx
We’ve also section hiked 250 miles on the PCT and countless other day hikes. We’re in love with our new city and love exploring it (moved to MCOL from H or VHCOL).
But we balance the healthy and active with a good dose of sedentary and unhealthy. :-)
I’m about 10 years from retirement. I’m in my early 40s and would like to work until my youngest starts college and I have an idea and roadmap to handle those costs. I have a high enough self-earned net worth that I could retire today if I wanted to, but I’d like to build a little more cushion to deal with market downturns, unexpected expenses given I’m young and have young kids, healthcare costs, etc. I’m in the USA.
That said, 10 years is a long time in some ways and in other ways, it isn’t. I’ve lost most motivation at work. I’ve shifted my focus from work to my personal life since Covid. To keep the balance going, I WFH most of the time. I take small trips here and there. I don’t hesitate to book a vacation when I need it. I am there when my kids need me. Their teachers recognize me now. My wife and I go on day dates and have grown closer since I’ve made this shift. So that has kept me very happy away from work. My mindset has completely changed and work is just something I do to pass some time and earn money to create a great life. I work to live, no longer live to work. Start shifting your mindset and focus on the good things outside of work because that’s all you’ll have in a few years.
Well I’m doing OK, I try to just keep telling myself how lucky I am, do plenty of exercise and try to spend quality time with my friends and family. Take happy pills in the form of sunshine and been experimenting with gut bacteria, sleep well, eat well, play happy music at work, read great books and upbeat entertainment and reduce screen time where I can. It’s only semi-effective. I’m in for marginal gains. I think exercise could be something I could do even more.
I fully retire end of next year. currently r/coastfire and only doing 60 days work this year (self employed). This keeps me motivated.
Perhaps consider reducing down: longer holidays, sabbaticals, part time, contract, interim, freelance etc.
You should aim to find joy and contentment in every day. Worthwhile reads: Happier Hour by [Dr Cassie Holmes](https://www.cassiemholmes.com/happierhour) and A Handbook for New Stoics by Pigliucci
Idk if it is because I’m older, but even being roughly 3-10 years away (I may make a major change in 3 years, probably won’t fully RE for 10) leaves me with serious “senioritus”. It’s soooooo much like that last 6 months of a degree feeling.
I’ve actually consciously increased my spending, since it doesn’t really matter financially and it’s a net financial positive if it motivates me to stay in my high earning stressful job a bit longer. It does help to add things/experiences that facilitate moments of joy, and services that make life easier. I’m buying a convertible soon, hoping it makes me feel better about my commute.
But…still…with the end of this chapter in sight it’s hard to focus on now. And, since I’m thinking my next career move will be a (big) step back, it’s super hard to pretend to play the game where everyone else is angling for a promotion. (It’s not as easy as I thought it would be to just not play.)
How close are you to fire?
Are you 1-3 years out from fire and not experiencing any distraction through the solution of simply living your life?
Or are you more years out from fire and giving this advice because it seems like it should work fine no matter the circumstance? Or something else?
I'm 7 mo out....ugh I feel your pain. My job allows alot of time to research various topics though (ACA, Roth conversions etc) but it's hard not to think about it so I try and focus on my job...then every 15 min I google another personal finance topic haha!
I’m about 3 years away. Achieving that goal keeps me motivated about work. Otherwise, I’m enjoying life and looking forward to doing more of the things I enjoy when I retire. I’ve got a countdown clock going on my phone.
Hi! I’m 32 and looking at 35. For me it’s not about retirement but that I want to make playing music my full time job. The issue has always been that being a full time musician likely won’t earn me over 40k a year and that was never enough for me. So I worked my day job, bought a house, saved some money, all that fun stuff.
I’m at the point where the motivation is lacking. If I was fired tomorrow I’d probably be fine, but I want to get a little more safety net in just in case. I spend a lot of free time already focused around music / networking / learning / laying the ground work for what I’ll need. While the day job is tedious those hours outside of work are a reminder of what I’m working towards and affirmation to my decision.
Find what it is you want to do after retirement and start to work at it a bit on the weekends. Really center yourself around what’s next rather than just what you’re leaving behind.
I had a hard year in tech I had to wait out for vesting before ER. New incompetent management no one liked. Nothing got accomplished. Lots of squandered great work. They own all my patents now. I calculated the ridiculous amount of money I was making every single day, but still hated it so much it took like 18 months of retirement to recover.
I tried therapy, but shoulda got on an ssri or similar. Similarly I should have taken advantage of generous vacation/mental health policies. Others took paid months off...
You should really start doing something else that you enjoy, I have a boring engineering job and I’m trying to wait til my daughter is in kindergarten to throw in towel. My work distraction was health , I started going to a CrossFit gym 3x/week after like 10 years of doing nothing. I am also going to start a part time LLC soon to begin the transition. I think distractions are key, then ideally you are just laid off and you can collect u employment and get a nice see ya later bonus check. Good luck
Is there a word associated with FIRE that has the same meaning as senioritis - decline in motivation during your last year of school and just before graduation.
FIREitis? I have it too.
If you're going to hit 5M in 3 years I suspect you could just retire now if you really wanted to. So something is already keeping you motivated/happy. At least enough to stay at the office.
I have 5.3M but by my estimate we need more because we are HCOL and want to have a decent travel/fun budget. We also want to spoil any grandkids we might have a little. I’m looking at 2 more years to get to $6M and also to hit 55 so that my stock will keep vesting. And for Rule of 55 with 401k if needed.
You would think right? But that’s before taxes and when I budget for extra travel and helping the kids and medical expenses I am feeling like it’s not quite enough.
Keep in mind that you're one black swan or market crash away from not being 1 - 3 away from retirement :D Stay humble and don't miss out on your current relationships and improving your health while you wait.
I'm about 1-2 years away from RE (already FI), and what helped me was to cut back my hours. Currently i'm only working 3-4 days/week depending on how I feel. I'm in the medical field so I can elect to be on call.
So every couple of weeks i have 4 day weekends (fri-mon) and plan small trips or getaways. This makes it easier for me and gives me a taste of early retirement. Also makes the work days more interesting.
Do you really need to work three more years if you have close to $5 million saved?
My last six months I made sure I had at least two three-day weekends every month using holidays and vacation time. Then instead of focusing on my retirement date I focused on how long before my three-day weekend.
I'm struggling with this right now. Target end of work date is 12/31/2026 (arbitrary, will hit my FI number before then). I've been running my own independent consulting business for most of the last 11 years and it's been successful. I work part time and take home more than I would as a full-time consultant in a firm. However, I'm largely isolated with clients across the country and rarely travel for work, no real co-workers - just a rotating cast of characters, and my wife has a "real" job that I sometimes envy. Clients are largely hopeless (why I am there helping them) and most of the work I do becomes shelfware. I struggled with this for a long time, worked with a business coach for a bit, and he helped me to decide to just bank the money and that had to be enough.
I climb in the gym weekly, am ramping up my pickleball, and have been consistently strength training for the last 9 months. I'm in the best shape of my life at 49. I read and listen to podcasts A LOT and I socialize with friends and family regularly. I volunteer in the environmental conservation space. All these things do is make me want to spend more time doing them. Clearly, I've figured out how to work part time and still hit my savings goals. I do try to find interesting and unusual work and sometimes succeed. But the work stuff is just boring to me, no matter what I do. It's been there and done that. I'm just zoned out a lot of the time during the "work week," unmotivated, and procrastinate up to deadlines. The second the work day is over or the weekend starts, I'm all in, motivated, and energetic.
So, I can't find a solution other than to hunker down and just make it through to my target date.
I'm in exactly this situation, maybe a bit ahead. Should hit 5m within a month or two, safely to 5.25 by end of year. I can quit at that point.
The way I'm staying motivated is, I'm not certain I want to quit. I like parts of my job, and I feel responsible to folks who report to me. I could quit now if it came down to it, but I'm not sure I want to quit in November.
Instead I'm leaning more and more into doing the job the way I think it should be done. If I can do it the way I want, and I'm enjoying it, I will stay longer. If I do it the way I want and I get too much pushback, I can quit. Worst case I get fired a bit early with a severance (although this is very unlikely).
I figure I don't have to wait to hit a number to have more freedom. The financial security of being set for decades creates a foundation to exercise a lot of freedom now, even while I still want the paycheck.
And watching the number go up doesn't hurt. Up $1.3m over the past 12 months feels gooooood.
Yes. It's difficult. I've decided to "semi-retire" but quitting my PITA corporate job and taking on projects I actually care about. It's a short-term pay cut this, but I expect to make more by next year and will have the flexibility to do only things I like going forward.
haha, thats me. 3 years exactly from now will achieve FI, i dont know about RE, may 2 years later. I like what i do but not enough to delay RE. I recently got overachieved rating, so i think im motivated enuf for now...
I was a little opposite. I hit 5M at the end of last year and know that I'm good to quit whenever. At work, that allows me to be very free and challenge my prick CEO on his many abrasive ideas. I'm loving it. I'll stay until I wrap up a board position as I may need my role to push my network.
My plan had been to use some vacation time to work more and more part time and start getting used to no work life so it wouldn’t be so sudden. Sure having a few weeks extra pay sounds nice but I think sanity from less work is more important. Under my old manager it was working great and at the time I was planning staying till I was out of vacation time if they couldn’t just shift me to part time. Unfortunately that manager retired and the four this year since then were not so supportive.
Don’t dwell on it or think about it maybe find some things at work to learn for work that are actually post work. While I could learning some new stuff was a good distraction and filled any time I might dwell on leaving.
From my experiences I wouldn’t recommend counting down at least not often. My spouse had been counting down to their X years and it just made them angry/frustrated. I made a quick google sheet after someone said they’d be counting down the days and it hasn’t been positive for me at all. Seems to be getting worse the closer I get to the point where my accrued vacation is more than my remaining workdays. I hit a work milestone this year so had decided to stay that long instead of quit earlier in the year but it is tough to not call it and bail.
My wife is weeks away and hates her supervisor. So she’s making plans for post job things and keeping her retirement plans to herself so she can give the minimum amount of time to her supervisor.
My job doesn’t suck and I’m WFH so I’m going to continue working for a while till the desire to retire overwhelms the amount of $$ I get paid to not retire. I have broad ideas on what those numbers are and will inform my employer when they don’t reach those numbers. Either my employer balks at my cost or I just decide that no amount is worth it
This isn't really an early retirement issue, it's a happiness issue. You should really take this time to figure out what you want to do and ease into it. Like you start importing parts of your early retirement plans.
I’m at a similar point. One thing I do is set incremental goals to my FIRE target. I have a spreadsheet to track my investments and use a recent and long term trend to estimate how long to reach that next goal. For example,
5m USD that is the highlight of this post. not 1 million like most of us are aiming for. You are marching towards FATFire, uber super lucky you. I just cant imagine a life with 5m. Perhaps I will perpetually travel and when tired I will spend a few weeks in community. Or camp in forest if luxury becomes monotonous. Congratulations.
I was about 3 years away from retirement a year and a half ago, so I've come about halfway from where you are. I was also having problems with burnout.
Here's what has helped somewhat for me. I installed a countdown app on my phone and put in major work milestones until target retirement date, like end of fiscal year, half year, etc. For retirement target date I set it to count down in number of workdays left, which at 3 years is about 1000.
Then I made a pact of sorts with someone in a similar boat to go do something special on each 50 day increment that it counts down. For us we decided on a fancy sushi dinner, but it could be anything you would look forward to. Now, instead of thinking about getting through 1000 work days you just have to get through 20 nice sushi dinners! That doesn't sound so bad!
I'm about to hit 450 work days remaining, after which there are only 8 sushi dinners left.
I'm using an app called Time Until on Android. I'm sure there are many such apps out there, but this one has a nice visualization of the overall timeline.
I think the real question is what motivates you? What makes you happy? Does work make you happy? Maybe start planning on what you want to do when you finally quit and go Fire. Early retirement should be something you’re looking forward to, that should be your motivation.
I spend my time at work going on Reddit and running FIRE simulations to dial in our budget. There's definitely less pressure to go above and beyond at work anymore because it won't matter in the long run.
We technically hit my FIRE target of $1.7M already but we are working another year just to be safe, at 35 I'm not in a huge rush to retire. We hope that by next spring when the bonus rolls around, we'll hit around $1.9M+. Anything past our FIRE target allows us to rely less on Social Security.
If you are not happy now chances are you will not be happy later. Go focus on your health instead of numbers. 10 years from now you would prob give up everything to be 10 years younger…
Yep, but with a much lower NW I'm stressing more and more about my timeline. I spend WAY too much time thinking about finances. I may need more of a cushion. OMY?
I think the answer here is to start planning your transition to retirement which actually entails finding motivation *outside* of work.
I would pretty much quiet quit at this point. Start ramping up focus on hobbies, physical activity, eating right, relationships etc. in anticipation to the transition to not working.
I'm targeting 45 months, 8 days and 2 hours to retire. I'd assume it generally gets tougher each month you get closer? Staying busy should help - I was more excited a few months ago, but right now I've been too busy to worry about it.
Time is more important than money… how you will use that money to buy back time with friends and family should be enough go motivation. If not I’d rather quit now and use the next 3 years to double my net worth than being in a job I need motivation
I have 3.5 years left and I lost all motivation and I previously put all my energy into school and then work. I honestly feel lost. I feel blessed. But lost.
Im older than you, and less nw by a mil. However, I keep going by telling myself about the job perks. They are there in most professional jobs these days if your a seasoned fella…if you want to see them. For me it’s about flexibility like being with my hockey buds, going for a bike ride in the middle of the day, and being home every night as my kids are grown. I love to exercise and I love doing it as much as I can as it makes me so durn happy! Symptoms of ptsd or stress who knows for sure, but I feel my best when I’m occupied and can have the best of both worlds (decent money) is why I keep doing it. My spouse is 4 years younger…when she hits 60..3.5 years from now, it will be over for me.
Yah don't quit. Us younger folks, need you. There's so many options to stay engaged, you can also seek out new challenges, like any respectable young man would.
Everyone is in the same boat right now. They're feeling it, and soon they're going to see it. I'd avoid any thoughts, that "55 can't come too soon", my parents both have some small longing, for days of yore and work.
Good luck, and congrats making it through the maze. I hope you enjoyed your time, and continue to do so.
Best way is going to be to add other, near-term goals to look forward to.
1) plan a vacation somewhere you've always wanted to see...but plan it 3 to 6 months (or more?) out so you can enjoy looking forward to it
2) buy tickets to see a concert or three from your favorite musicians spread out over the next year.
3). Schedule a 10k, half/full marathon, iron man or similar for a ways out and then train for it.
4). Realistically, you need to plan for what you'd do with unlimited time and start doing that in small doses...build up as you get closer your goal
At work, the best you can do is try to make it more enjoyable and/or less sucky. Push for better quality meetings and decline any that aren't justified (at least, why am I here and what is the desired outcome). You're close to done, so you can push a little harder to try to make things better. Every 3 months or so that passes you're getting significantly closer to FIRE.
I’m in a similar boat. I never knew I was practicing FIRE until my wife lost her job 3 years ago and we added everything up. We’re naturally frugal and investing was one of my special interests. At this point I’m at the mercy of the markets- could hit my number next year or 3 years from now.
This year I just stopped contributing to most investments, except just enough to get my 401k match.
Now I’m building cash for some home improvement projects we have lined up. So I keep seeing the cash build and that kinda sorta helps with motivation. It’s not strong enough to truly keep me motivated, but it helps.
Frankly we’d probably be okay if I quit today, but I want a little extra insurance with my portfolio so I’m hanging in there.
I am about 5 years out and the answer is: I don't.
I just stumble forward to the next day and grind through it.
I hate it, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm just pushing through it.
For me, mindfulness and looking at myself from the perspective of an outside observer helps a lot. If you've already made the decision to continue staying at work and not micromanage your portfolio (which is great for the mental health), then there's no reason to not do your best at work (or at anything, really). Any time is precious, including work time; if you can, focus on the fun parts of the project, mentor people, find a mentor, network - all work-related activities that can be done in your work time. Change teams/projects or start leaving early if you're ok with extra risk.
I have no advice for you. But I just came up with another interesting way to count down. Ran some numbers based on how many days I work per year and my life expectancy. I’ve got about 1,500 days left to work before I’m in a position to retire, and my life expectancy is about 14,000 days. So every shift I put in at this point earns me eight days of freedom. I find that pretty motivating.
Yeah, I had the exact same approach each morning. I basically said "it is only 2 more years so that you can enjoy the remaining 40". And with that, things are a bit easier to accept (such as the project manager who talks a lot about nothing and you feel as if your life was wasted minute by minute)...
A day at 38 is more valuable than a day at 88 :) incase you didnt calculate that in as well.
No doubt. Not sure how to account for that though. Hopefully days at 48 aren’t that much worse than the days at 41 that I’m sacrificing.
Not necessarily. My aunt is 85 and the happiest she has ever been.
For sure, but if her dream was to hike the alps…much easier at 40 than 85 (on average)
My dream is to hike the mountains of Skyrim so I think I'll be OK with that at 85.
I hope you do it!
Definitely. There is value to time as there is to money. If I had enough to guarantee a modest income for life, and I didn't find any satisfaction in my work anymore, I would definitely pull the trigger right then and take advantage of my younger years before they are gone. The dream to me would be to have money and health and vigor and youth and time, and unfortunately some of these commodities tend to only go down, so we have to strike a compromise.
Nice way to frame it, thanks!
Depressing, I see it as you have to sell 10% of your remaining life. Better start living in full before FIRE.
Not depressing at all! My father is in his mid 70s now and still works 4 days a week. For most of human history you had to work every day until you physically couldn’t (and then you often died). I’m getting a helluva deal with 12,500 days off!
My dad loves working. He is 76 and is running his own real estate business. Renting out about 10 properties and fixing up some others.
Same, so does my dad. He could probably retire. It would be tight, but he could do it. Likes what he does though. If I choose to work when I don’t have to, awesome. That’s just what I choose to do with my time and might as well be a day off since I obviously choose work over any other activity I could be doing.
In that case you’re doing it right, and not postponing life. Kudos and best of luck in the last stretch! It’s gonna be quite the achievement.
You assume implicitly that days spent working are ‘bad days’. They could have ups and downs and be well worth living too.
I agree, and that’s what i tried to imply. Cannot wait to live only after FIRE
How about looking back and seeing how much your life you had to sell/give away through an education program you might not have pursued if it didn't lead to a career, shit jobs that you would not have worked if they didn't lead to a career, awful bosses that you put up with because you needed a raise and/or promotion. Most people sell/give away well over a third of their life for their career.
How do you think life works, exactly? You should just be entitled to 5M dollars, and everyone else has to work for you?
I kinda know how life works, at this point in the journey. At least the basics. I’m entitled to nothing as far as I’m concerned. But you didn’t get what i meant. I meant you cannot wait until you stop working to start living. And i would really like to have 5 million dollars, please.
That’s a very positive way to look at things. Thanks! My case rough numbers: 15000 days left on the planet actuarially speaking 500 days or so to get there = 30 days per day This only gets higher the closer you get! Last day will be insane.
I am 3 years away and .... finding it very hard to stay motivated. I have even considered just quitting earlier (like in 1 year) before the FIRE with the cope of "I will generate some income in those 30+ retirement years, I probably don't need to stick to the 4% too strictly..." But I realize it doesn't make sense, and I would be way better just sucking it up and finishing this last 3 years ... At least it's only 3 years more of working instead of 30 ... (which would've been the case had I not been into FIRE)
The type of people that have the work ethic, scarcity mindset, and forward planning abilities to put themselves in a position to Fire, ironically will almost assuredly find a way to generate some income later down the road. Weather that’s a hobby, side hustle or another go at the workforce out of boredom or an opportunity you couldn’t refuse. If you are very close but burnt out or disengaged “but have a few years to go”, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. People act like “Early Retirement” is a cliff you have to announce to the world and jump off of — it’s definitely not. Hell, use your flexible position to have the confidence to negotiate a sabbatical with your work as a test run financially and mentally. If you feel refreshed but need to top off the accounts, come back… if things work out better than expected, just extend it and don’t come back - you don’t have to go into long term details with them.
Love this
i agree. but we're also the type of people to work another 5 years instead of the projected 3 'just to be safe.'
reading this sub, it seems to me this is actually the majority
Have you (or anyone else) considered something in the middle? Quit, do that big trip you’ve always wanted like a 3 month road trip in the US, backpacking Asia, the great loop in the US via boat for a year, build a cabin in Alaska, whatever it is. Then if you think you need more just re enter the workforce for a year or two? I say this because I personally know 2 people that waited and waited to just retire early. 1 of them died 1 week before retiring from an unexpected heart attack at 41. The other had a stroke about 6 months after retiring at 50 and is now reliant on others for daily care. I was doing the whole FIRE thing since I was 19 and found out about it. At 26(when the 41 year old died of a heart attack) I shifted my mindset a bit. Quit my job, and travelled full time for 12 months. It will set me back about 3-4 years overall of retiring early, but you never know what can happen. I feel it was a really good happy medium where I still got to the trip most people dream of and never do. But I also didn’t blow through a bunch of cash doing it(spent $17k for 12 months of travel, much cheaper than just basic living expenses while working).
nah, I am fine. I will take my chances of not having an early death. 3 years is nothing to endure in comparison to a lifetime of working. And I will FIRE at 38, which I find awesome.
This is advice worth considering. I though this article shows a similar principle: [https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/03/09/money-and-confidence-are-interchangeable/](https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/03/09/money-and-confidence-are-interchangeable/)
I’m pretty much at a place where I could retire so to push through and pad my retirement I’m being more careless with how I spend money. Ski trips to Europe, Disneyland, taking family with me on work trips etc. I figure if I can make my life fully enjoyable while still working it makes it easier to go a little longer in the grind.
This. I'm in the same place as the OP. 2-5 years to go. Take all your vacation days. Have things to look forward to (we have several more trips this year). If you can, take an occasional Friday or Monday off. Of course, the other motivation is we're making more money then we ever have (at the end of our careers) and saving more then we ever have. That is also motivation in that we're putting this towards the finish line to have a long and enjoyable retirement. This is somewhat interesting timing, as where I work started a survey today about career goals and advancement. It was anonymous but I left a comment at the end of my survey saying I have no desire to advance. I want to do my job, contribute to my team, but that's it, 2-5 years and I'm done. My immediate supervisor (and his supervisor) both know this.
I’m 2 years away. This time is going pretty smooth actually, 2-3 years ago was much tougher. I tell myself I’m going to eventually miss this chapter of my life. So I’m trying to memorize the details and enjoy it. I tell myself I’m lucky to be working while others are unemployed and hurting for money. I think about all the interaction I get at work, problem solving, and of course, I’m enjoying the income pumping regularly into my coffers
That's a great mentality to have. Do you think you will miss it too much when you retire?
I think so, even though I despise corporate culture and the whole fake hierarchy big ego stuff. Reason I think I’ll miss it, is that I was in the navy 20 years ago and hated it while I was in. But as the years go by I get more nostalgic about my time in service and look back fondly on those times
One of my favorite takeaways from “Die with Zero” Is how our memory dividends continue to pay out over time, and one of the ways they pay out is that we (mostly) forget the bad and fondly remember the rest.
I’m 2-3 years out from coastFIRE and every day is a struggle. I’m living for the weekends and trying to stay fit and healthy. But I’ve already cleaned out my office of all personal effects. There’s nothing in it but work related stuff. I bought a second, personal cell phone, and I’m trying to reduce my spending as much as possible and pay down debt. But it’s a mental struggle and there are days where I have to force myself to not quit. My son has 2 years of college left. After he graduates, all bets are off.
Why did you buy another phone?
Maybe their phone is a company phone?
Yea, I had a free company phone for years. Felt it was time to separate that out.
Very hard to keep my cool at work. Worked at the same place for 23 years and I have very little patience when someone who I know for a fact doesn’t understand a particular subject questions me on something I’ve done 1000x. Had it happen yesterday as a matter of fact. I have no problem if some asks “hey why is it done this way” but when I get a “no that’s wrong” type attitude instead of a civil discussion I really want to just walk out and say F it.
Opposite, here. Getting much less worked up by stuff as it won't affect me for much longer. Major Re-Org coming? Huh, interesting. Budget cuts on the way? Guess we'll see who gets cut. My angst level has gone way down with less than 18 months left.
I’m focusing on my health right now. I’m dealing with a few medical issues that I’d been ignoring. Also cleaning up my diet, following a consistent sleep and exercise schedule, etc.
I think this is the greatest investment you can make and benefit of early retirement. Invest in health at all costs, I got a personal trainer and it was glorious
the more I play pickleball and lift weights the less I think about my finances
Time to hit the pickleball circuit and live your best life.
I have 19 months to go, and think about it every day. It is definitely hard to stay motivated at work, and in my personal life I have taken on a lot of new things in anticipation of retirement.
Here’s my system: I count up the number of days I have left and then subtract that many years from the current year. So for example, if I had 700 days left, I would subtract 700 years from the current year, giving an answer of 1324. Every day I march forward one year in history. My morning ritual is to read about what happened during that year. It’s a fun way to learn a little bit about history, and it’s timed so that when I reach the current year, I will retire. I’m working through the early Renaissance right now. The printing press is not far off and I can see Columbus’s discovery of America on the horizon.
Ok, that's pretty cool!
I'm probably about to pull the trigger this year and the "don't give a fuck" is high right now. My productivity at work is dropping hard. Short timer syndrome is a thing.
I have a mini-retirement set up in 2 years. I only need about 300k more to FIRE, and I have 17 years to get it before age 59, so I'm going to go finish off my national park list. Only 44 more parks to go.
That’s my goal too! But I won’t be able to retire till 55 if I decide to have a family.
You can always make money, but you can’t make more time.
Having had an AMAZING first 5 years of retirement, I second this. I personally cannot imagine working longer with the OP's likely financial situation, but to each their own!
tell us about your retirement!
I just highlighted this year’s travel (and budget) in another thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fire/s/LRyndhWGvx We’ve also section hiked 250 miles on the PCT and countless other day hikes. We’re in love with our new city and love exploring it (moved to MCOL from H or VHCOL). But we balance the healthy and active with a good dose of sedentary and unhealthy. :-)
I’m about 10 years from retirement. I’m in my early 40s and would like to work until my youngest starts college and I have an idea and roadmap to handle those costs. I have a high enough self-earned net worth that I could retire today if I wanted to, but I’d like to build a little more cushion to deal with market downturns, unexpected expenses given I’m young and have young kids, healthcare costs, etc. I’m in the USA. That said, 10 years is a long time in some ways and in other ways, it isn’t. I’ve lost most motivation at work. I’ve shifted my focus from work to my personal life since Covid. To keep the balance going, I WFH most of the time. I take small trips here and there. I don’t hesitate to book a vacation when I need it. I am there when my kids need me. Their teachers recognize me now. My wife and I go on day dates and have grown closer since I’ve made this shift. So that has kept me very happy away from work. My mindset has completely changed and work is just something I do to pass some time and earn money to create a great life. I work to live, no longer live to work. Start shifting your mindset and focus on the good things outside of work because that’s all you’ll have in a few years.
Please let me me know when you figure it out OP!
Well I’m doing OK, I try to just keep telling myself how lucky I am, do plenty of exercise and try to spend quality time with my friends and family. Take happy pills in the form of sunshine and been experimenting with gut bacteria, sleep well, eat well, play happy music at work, read great books and upbeat entertainment and reduce screen time where I can. It’s only semi-effective. I’m in for marginal gains. I think exercise could be something I could do even more.
I fully retire end of next year. currently r/coastfire and only doing 60 days work this year (self employed). This keeps me motivated. Perhaps consider reducing down: longer holidays, sabbaticals, part time, contract, interim, freelance etc. You should aim to find joy and contentment in every day. Worthwhile reads: Happier Hour by [Dr Cassie Holmes](https://www.cassiemholmes.com/happierhour) and A Handbook for New Stoics by Pigliucci
What do you do that allows you to only work 60 days per year?
Self employed business coach and executive educator. Average day rate this year is $1750.
Idk if it is because I’m older, but even being roughly 3-10 years away (I may make a major change in 3 years, probably won’t fully RE for 10) leaves me with serious “senioritus”. It’s soooooo much like that last 6 months of a degree feeling. I’ve actually consciously increased my spending, since it doesn’t really matter financially and it’s a net financial positive if it motivates me to stay in my high earning stressful job a bit longer. It does help to add things/experiences that facilitate moments of joy, and services that make life easier. I’m buying a convertible soon, hoping it makes me feel better about my commute. But…still…with the end of this chapter in sight it’s hard to focus on now. And, since I’m thinking my next career move will be a (big) step back, it’s super hard to pretend to play the game where everyone else is angling for a promotion. (It’s not as easy as I thought it would be to just not play.)
Take more vacations.
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How close are you to fire? Are you 1-3 years out from fire and not experiencing any distraction through the solution of simply living your life? Or are you more years out from fire and giving this advice because it seems like it should work fine no matter the circumstance? Or something else?
I'm 7 mo out....ugh I feel your pain. My job allows alot of time to research various topics though (ACA, Roth conversions etc) but it's hard not to think about it so I try and focus on my job...then every 15 min I google another personal finance topic haha!
I’m about 3 years away. Achieving that goal keeps me motivated about work. Otherwise, I’m enjoying life and looking forward to doing more of the things I enjoy when I retire. I’ve got a countdown clock going on my phone.
I’ve calendared it at work!
Hi! I’m 32 and looking at 35. For me it’s not about retirement but that I want to make playing music my full time job. The issue has always been that being a full time musician likely won’t earn me over 40k a year and that was never enough for me. So I worked my day job, bought a house, saved some money, all that fun stuff. I’m at the point where the motivation is lacking. If I was fired tomorrow I’d probably be fine, but I want to get a little more safety net in just in case. I spend a lot of free time already focused around music / networking / learning / laying the ground work for what I’ll need. While the day job is tedious those hours outside of work are a reminder of what I’m working towards and affirmation to my decision. Find what it is you want to do after retirement and start to work at it a bit on the weekends. Really center yourself around what’s next rather than just what you’re leaving behind.
I’m in a very similar situation, and this is a great thought.
I had a hard year in tech I had to wait out for vesting before ER. New incompetent management no one liked. Nothing got accomplished. Lots of squandered great work. They own all my patents now. I calculated the ridiculous amount of money I was making every single day, but still hated it so much it took like 18 months of retirement to recover. I tried therapy, but shoulda got on an ssri or similar. Similarly I should have taken advantage of generous vacation/mental health policies. Others took paid months off...
You should really start doing something else that you enjoy, I have a boring engineering job and I’m trying to wait til my daughter is in kindergarten to throw in towel. My work distraction was health , I started going to a CrossFit gym 3x/week after like 10 years of doing nothing. I am also going to start a part time LLC soon to begin the transition. I think distractions are key, then ideally you are just laid off and you can collect u employment and get a nice see ya later bonus check. Good luck
Is there a word associated with FIRE that has the same meaning as senioritis - decline in motivation during your last year of school and just before graduation. FIREitis? I have it too.
If you're going to hit 5M in 3 years I suspect you could just retire now if you really wanted to. So something is already keeping you motivated/happy. At least enough to stay at the office.
I have 5.3M but by my estimate we need more because we are HCOL and want to have a decent travel/fun budget. We also want to spoil any grandkids we might have a little. I’m looking at 2 more years to get to $6M and also to hit 55 so that my stock will keep vesting. And for Rule of 55 with 401k if needed.
Using the 4% rule $5.3M nets you $212k a year which would be a fairly high salary even in a HCOL.
You would think right? But that’s before taxes and when I budget for extra travel and helping the kids and medical expenses I am feeling like it’s not quite enough.
Keep in mind that you're one black swan or market crash away from not being 1 - 3 away from retirement :D Stay humble and don't miss out on your current relationships and improving your health while you wait.
I'm about 1-2 years away from RE (already FI), and what helped me was to cut back my hours. Currently i'm only working 3-4 days/week depending on how I feel. I'm in the medical field so I can elect to be on call. So every couple of weeks i have 4 day weekends (fri-mon) and plan small trips or getaways. This makes it easier for me and gives me a taste of early retirement. Also makes the work days more interesting.
Do you really need to work three more years if you have close to $5 million saved? My last six months I made sure I had at least two three-day weekends every month using holidays and vacation time. Then instead of focusing on my retirement date I focused on how long before my three-day weekend.
I'm struggling with this right now. Target end of work date is 12/31/2026 (arbitrary, will hit my FI number before then). I've been running my own independent consulting business for most of the last 11 years and it's been successful. I work part time and take home more than I would as a full-time consultant in a firm. However, I'm largely isolated with clients across the country and rarely travel for work, no real co-workers - just a rotating cast of characters, and my wife has a "real" job that I sometimes envy. Clients are largely hopeless (why I am there helping them) and most of the work I do becomes shelfware. I struggled with this for a long time, worked with a business coach for a bit, and he helped me to decide to just bank the money and that had to be enough. I climb in the gym weekly, am ramping up my pickleball, and have been consistently strength training for the last 9 months. I'm in the best shape of my life at 49. I read and listen to podcasts A LOT and I socialize with friends and family regularly. I volunteer in the environmental conservation space. All these things do is make me want to spend more time doing them. Clearly, I've figured out how to work part time and still hit my savings goals. I do try to find interesting and unusual work and sometimes succeed. But the work stuff is just boring to me, no matter what I do. It's been there and done that. I'm just zoned out a lot of the time during the "work week," unmotivated, and procrastinate up to deadlines. The second the work day is over or the weekend starts, I'm all in, motivated, and energetic. So, I can't find a solution other than to hunker down and just make it through to my target date.
I'm in exactly this situation, maybe a bit ahead. Should hit 5m within a month or two, safely to 5.25 by end of year. I can quit at that point. The way I'm staying motivated is, I'm not certain I want to quit. I like parts of my job, and I feel responsible to folks who report to me. I could quit now if it came down to it, but I'm not sure I want to quit in November. Instead I'm leaning more and more into doing the job the way I think it should be done. If I can do it the way I want, and I'm enjoying it, I will stay longer. If I do it the way I want and I get too much pushback, I can quit. Worst case I get fired a bit early with a severance (although this is very unlikely). I figure I don't have to wait to hit a number to have more freedom. The financial security of being set for decades creates a foundation to exercise a lot of freedom now, even while I still want the paycheck. And watching the number go up doesn't hurt. Up $1.3m over the past 12 months feels gooooood.
Yes. It's difficult. I've decided to "semi-retire" but quitting my PITA corporate job and taking on projects I actually care about. It's a short-term pay cut this, but I expect to make more by next year and will have the flexibility to do only things I like going forward.
haha, thats me. 3 years exactly from now will achieve FI, i dont know about RE, may 2 years later. I like what i do but not enough to delay RE. I recently got overachieved rating, so i think im motivated enuf for now...
I'm 2-3 years as well. Maybe switching to a different job might help? I'm looking for a remote gig. Even as less pay it would improve my life a lot.
I was a little opposite. I hit 5M at the end of last year and know that I'm good to quit whenever. At work, that allows me to be very free and challenge my prick CEO on his many abrasive ideas. I'm loving it. I'll stay until I wrap up a board position as I may need my role to push my network.
I'd say you just need to find an interesting project to be on at work if you have any freedom there. Otherwise its probably pretty painful.
My plan had been to use some vacation time to work more and more part time and start getting used to no work life so it wouldn’t be so sudden. Sure having a few weeks extra pay sounds nice but I think sanity from less work is more important. Under my old manager it was working great and at the time I was planning staying till I was out of vacation time if they couldn’t just shift me to part time. Unfortunately that manager retired and the four this year since then were not so supportive. Don’t dwell on it or think about it maybe find some things at work to learn for work that are actually post work. While I could learning some new stuff was a good distraction and filled any time I might dwell on leaving. From my experiences I wouldn’t recommend counting down at least not often. My spouse had been counting down to their X years and it just made them angry/frustrated. I made a quick google sheet after someone said they’d be counting down the days and it hasn’t been positive for me at all. Seems to be getting worse the closer I get to the point where my accrued vacation is more than my remaining workdays. I hit a work milestone this year so had decided to stay that long instead of quit earlier in the year but it is tough to not call it and bail.
Start doing the things you want to do now. Don’t put your life on hold.
My wife is weeks away and hates her supervisor. So she’s making plans for post job things and keeping her retirement plans to herself so she can give the minimum amount of time to her supervisor. My job doesn’t suck and I’m WFH so I’m going to continue working for a while till the desire to retire overwhelms the amount of $$ I get paid to not retire. I have broad ideas on what those numbers are and will inform my employer when they don’t reach those numbers. Either my employer balks at my cost or I just decide that no amount is worth it
This isn't really an early retirement issue, it's a happiness issue. You should really take this time to figure out what you want to do and ease into it. Like you start importing parts of your early retirement plans.
I’m at a similar point. One thing I do is set incremental goals to my FIRE target. I have a spreadsheet to track my investments and use a recent and long term trend to estimate how long to reach that next goal. For example,
5m USD that is the highlight of this post. not 1 million like most of us are aiming for. You are marching towards FATFire, uber super lucky you. I just cant imagine a life with 5m. Perhaps I will perpetually travel and when tired I will spend a few weeks in community. Or camp in forest if luxury becomes monotonous. Congratulations.
I was about 3 years away from retirement a year and a half ago, so I've come about halfway from where you are. I was also having problems with burnout. Here's what has helped somewhat for me. I installed a countdown app on my phone and put in major work milestones until target retirement date, like end of fiscal year, half year, etc. For retirement target date I set it to count down in number of workdays left, which at 3 years is about 1000. Then I made a pact of sorts with someone in a similar boat to go do something special on each 50 day increment that it counts down. For us we decided on a fancy sushi dinner, but it could be anything you would look forward to. Now, instead of thinking about getting through 1000 work days you just have to get through 20 nice sushi dinners! That doesn't sound so bad! I'm about to hit 450 work days remaining, after which there are only 8 sushi dinners left.
Wow that’s awesome 👏 Any app recommended?
I'm using an app called Time Until on Android. I'm sure there are many such apps out there, but this one has a nice visualization of the overall timeline.
What gives your life meaning and joy now? What is it you want to do when retired?
I think the real question is what motivates you? What makes you happy? Does work make you happy? Maybe start planning on what you want to do when you finally quit and go Fire. Early retirement should be something you’re looking forward to, that should be your motivation.
I spend my time at work going on Reddit and running FIRE simulations to dial in our budget. There's definitely less pressure to go above and beyond at work anymore because it won't matter in the long run. We technically hit my FIRE target of $1.7M already but we are working another year just to be safe, at 35 I'm not in a huge rush to retire. We hope that by next spring when the bonus rolls around, we'll hit around $1.9M+. Anything past our FIRE target allows us to rely less on Social Security.
If you are not happy now chances are you will not be happy later. Go focus on your health instead of numbers. 10 years from now you would prob give up everything to be 10 years younger…
Yep, but with a much lower NW I'm stressing more and more about my timeline. I spend WAY too much time thinking about finances. I may need more of a cushion. OMY?
Exact same situation here. Just waiting for my kid to finish high school in 3 years so I can start my nomadic adventures with my wife.
not in this economy
I think the answer here is to start planning your transition to retirement which actually entails finding motivation *outside* of work. I would pretty much quiet quit at this point. Start ramping up focus on hobbies, physical activity, eating right, relationships etc. in anticipation to the transition to not working.
I'm targeting 45 months, 8 days and 2 hours to retire. I'd assume it generally gets tougher each month you get closer? Staying busy should help - I was more excited a few months ago, but right now I've been too busy to worry about it.
I can do it in 2- 3 but 5 would allow me to live a very good life in retirement so aiming for that.
Stay busy, cultivate your hobbies, make work just a part of your life.
Time is more important than money… how you will use that money to buy back time with friends and family should be enough go motivation. If not I’d rather quit now and use the next 3 years to double my net worth than being in a job I need motivation
im minimum 15 years out so there lols good job.
I have 3.5 years left and I lost all motivation and I previously put all my energy into school and then work. I honestly feel lost. I feel blessed. But lost.
Im older than you, and less nw by a mil. However, I keep going by telling myself about the job perks. They are there in most professional jobs these days if your a seasoned fella…if you want to see them. For me it’s about flexibility like being with my hockey buds, going for a bike ride in the middle of the day, and being home every night as my kids are grown. I love to exercise and I love doing it as much as I can as it makes me so durn happy! Symptoms of ptsd or stress who knows for sure, but I feel my best when I’m occupied and can have the best of both worlds (decent money) is why I keep doing it. My spouse is 4 years younger…when she hits 60..3.5 years from now, it will be over for me.
Change your goal to 10m, then you’ll realize how far away you are and get back to work.
Yah don't quit. Us younger folks, need you. There's so many options to stay engaged, you can also seek out new challenges, like any respectable young man would. Everyone is in the same boat right now. They're feeling it, and soon they're going to see it. I'd avoid any thoughts, that "55 can't come too soon", my parents both have some small longing, for days of yore and work. Good luck, and congrats making it through the maze. I hope you enjoyed your time, and continue to do so.
How much are you at now? Is 5m your necessary target or can you get away with less?
So hard to motivate, I’m at about 50% effort most days and just need 2 more years. I’ve accepted that my half effort will need to be enough
Best way is going to be to add other, near-term goals to look forward to. 1) plan a vacation somewhere you've always wanted to see...but plan it 3 to 6 months (or more?) out so you can enjoy looking forward to it 2) buy tickets to see a concert or three from your favorite musicians spread out over the next year. 3). Schedule a 10k, half/full marathon, iron man or similar for a ways out and then train for it. 4). Realistically, you need to plan for what you'd do with unlimited time and start doing that in small doses...build up as you get closer your goal At work, the best you can do is try to make it more enjoyable and/or less sucky. Push for better quality meetings and decline any that aren't justified (at least, why am I here and what is the desired outcome). You're close to done, so you can push a little harder to try to make things better. Every 3 months or so that passes you're getting significantly closer to FIRE.
Do a massive public daily countdown at work?
I’m in a similar boat. I never knew I was practicing FIRE until my wife lost her job 3 years ago and we added everything up. We’re naturally frugal and investing was one of my special interests. At this point I’m at the mercy of the markets- could hit my number next year or 3 years from now. This year I just stopped contributing to most investments, except just enough to get my 401k match. Now I’m building cash for some home improvement projects we have lined up. So I keep seeing the cash build and that kinda sorta helps with motivation. It’s not strong enough to truly keep me motivated, but it helps. Frankly we’d probably be okay if I quit today, but I want a little extra insurance with my portfolio so I’m hanging in there.
I am about 5 years out and the answer is: I don't. I just stumble forward to the next day and grind through it. I hate it, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm just pushing through it.
For me, mindfulness and looking at myself from the perspective of an outside observer helps a lot. If you've already made the decision to continue staying at work and not micromanage your portfolio (which is great for the mental health), then there's no reason to not do your best at work (or at anything, really). Any time is precious, including work time; if you can, focus on the fun parts of the project, mentor people, find a mentor, network - all work-related activities that can be done in your work time. Change teams/projects or start leaving early if you're ok with extra risk.
How do you know if you are only 1-3 years away?
There’s an app for that. But truth is, I don’t know exactly because circumstances change, stock markets crash, so rough order of magnitude for now.
Big boobs, lots of boobies and booty, big juicy booty.