I
have had a projected retirement date of August 31st 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.
Hi, congrats on the new date! I retired five years ago and I think you are smart to retire as soon as you can. One of my biggest worries was would I have enough money. But like you, I had spent years paying off debts and monitoring my expenses....money turned out not to be a concern. And it shouldn’t be for you either, since you have paid attention. My friends who spent years paying down debt and spending purposefully all say the same thing...money isn’t an issue.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for telling me that. I'm really glad to hear it. :0)
DeleteI know you’ll love it and be prepared for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee Ann. I'll bet you are right!
DeleteThat's great, but I am curious how you will handle the health care angle. It's so costly to do on one's own.
ReplyDeleteI went through the state health care portal and was quoted a price that was based on my projected annual income. It came out to be the same as what I am currently paying for family coverage through my employer to cover just myself. Affordable health care act.
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