Working My Way Toward Early Retirement

 

I have had a projected retirement date of August 31^st 2023 for quite some now and I have eagerly been anticipating its arrival.  To some it may seem like I have a fair bit of time left, but to me not so much.  Time flies, it really does, and I know it will be upon me in an instant.  Looking back at the last few years I feel time has gone by very fast.  My youngest will be graduating high school next year and my oldest will graduate college the year after that.  I will soon be on my own and while it does tug at my heart a little bit I am also extremely excited about it too.  A brand new chapter will unfold and I want to make sure I am ready.

 

I have been steadily making my way through my home and really evaluating the things I have and what items are most important to me.  I am quickly coming to realize that very little of what I own now needs to go with me which will make moving that much nicer when the time comes.  A lot of items will be handed down to my girls to use to make their own homes with and together we are making some of those decisions now.  In fact, I’ve already started packing up some things for my youngest and given several items to my oldest.  Whatever they don’t take and I don’t want will be sold, offered for free or donated.

 

Laverne is still getting worked on and has been a much loved restoration project for me.  I am super excited to finally be able to put some miles on her and have some adventures.  I have outfitted her well on the inside and I am almost done with the improvements on the outside.  New tires, new batteries and a few mechanical upgrades and we’ll be pretty much ready to go.  I can hardly wait.

 

I have been a super saver this past year since clearing my debts and refinancing my house with a much lower interest rate than I had previously.  That lower payment has freed me up far more than I could've anticipated and allowed me to really focus on savings and investing.  In January and again in March the U.S. government issued stimulus payments to taxpayers and I had pushed both of those directly into my savings accounts along with my annual bonus at work.  Additionally I've been funneling more money into my 401k and HSA accounts as well as reallocated some of my investments for better returns which has been doing quite well.  It has been a commitment of time, thought and careful planning and it is paying off.

 

As a result of all that I have done this past year I have had the unexpected pleasure of being able to push up my timeline from August 31, 2023 to January 13, 2023.  Shaving off 7 1/2 months!  Will I do it?  I am leaning really hard in that directions folks.  I think I'm going to do it.  As long as I stick to what I've been doing and don't veer off course it just may come to fruition.  If you don't think I'm over the moon about this you'd be quite mistaken.  I am thrilled beyond measure.  The relief and peace of mind I have right now knowing I'm going to be able to retire, travel, do some of the things I've always wanted to do and not have to worry is incredible.

 

If you have a dream or a goal that you want to attain my advice is to go after it with everything you have inside.  Do every single thing you can to make it happen and do not give up.  You can do it!  I know this because I can too.