I bailed out at 50 while fully employed and making a ton of money in big tech - I was not laid off, I simply let my manager know, found a replacement and walked away. I have kids but I saved enough for healthcare, housing etc. I worked my ass off and lived very frugally to get here. Yes, I would be screwed if WW3 comes along, but who wouldn't? That comfy Big Tech job would vanish pretty quickly too.
I have no desire to keep working for random "Mikes" and "Bobs" in upper management that only care about their bonuses and stocks. Not in Big Tech, not in random startups, not anywhere else. "Mike wants this", "Bob wants that"... Gosh, I couldn't care less about their "direction"!
My days are now full of self-imposed challenges and interesting projects. Am I in the labor force? I guess so, but I'm working for me and humanity now.
Time is the most precious asset we all have, folks.
I also commend you for not "hogging all the work". If you've done well and don't have to work, it's generous to let someone else have their turn.
You are living my dream! When I retire, I want to teach for underserved areas; I also want to help out in some ways related to the homelessness problem. Plus, I want to learn how to play piano/guitar and learn how to swim properly (I can swim, but not too well). I also want to try improv. I have ever-growing books that I want to read. So many things I can do to enjoy life personally and do something nice (albeit it having just a teeny tiny impact) for the future generation and humanity.
> I have no desire to keep working for random "Mikes" and "Bobs" in upper management that only care about their bonuses and stocks. Not in Big Tech, not in random startups, not anywhere else. "Mike wants this", "Bob wants that"... Gosh, I couldn't care less about their "direction"!
Agreed! That's one of my motivation to retire early. :)
I hope you get there! I made a lot of sacrifices. The one thing I'll say is to have the projects lined up. Don't leave the figuring out for after you stop working for others.
I salute you!
I just turned 50, but I never feel I can pull the trigger. The only thing really keeping me from doing it is the cost of health insurance. I've got 15 years before I can get on Medicare, and 15 years of privately purchased health insurance for the family is just not do-able.
The tight coupling between employment and health insurance is a huge issue for the US, and has been for as long as I can remember. It's a pretty big ask of someone to "become an entrepreneur; either pay your own premiums or go without!"
Yea, in an alternate universe where the USA had an actual healthcare safety net, I might have even gone the entrepreneur path rather than sweating it out for The Man for 25 years.
Thank you! Health Insurance is certainly the big one. It took me a while to save for that. There are some ways explained by the FIRE community to reduce the amount you pay through the subsidies, but these could vanish at any time so you have to be prepared for that.