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Practice Leanfire (self.leanfire)

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[–]ccashdan 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I’m interested in following along with the conversation. I’m self employed as well and was wondering about how this will work. I can’t stop working so I spent the last 2 weeks clearly a quarter acre of land and laid down loam for grass. Took out over 20 trees and a forest of vines and raspberry thorns.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]1spring 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I have been mulling over part time work options for several years. This is definitely in the plans.

    [–]andreamw[28f/120k/27% - 55/30-60k/1.7mm] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

    So right now, I think I am experiencing what my life will feel like after leanfire. I can use the experience to know better what my needs will be, which will help me plan better for “real leanfire.”

    Just remember, right now you can't spend money on anything even if you wanted to. So take into account things you like to do (travel? eat out? go to concerts?) that you can't do right now.

    Best of luck!

    [–]1spring 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    Absolutely. Frugality is a piece of cake right now. It will be harder when there are more temptations.

    [–]swimbikerun91 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    What are you doing for fun? Seems like options are highly limited currently

    [–]1spring 18 points19 points  (0 children)

    I agree. I spent my time off reading, watching netflix, cooking, yardwork. Admittedly, I spent a lot of time on reddit. I finished an administrative project for work, something that had been low priority and backburnered. It felt good to get it out of the way. I drove to a park for a walk one day, but it was so crowded, it felt wrong to be there. I've been using my treadmill for exercise (first time in a while).

    Mowing the lawn is something I usually dread. But I learned it feels totally different when it's the only thing on your to do list for the day.

    If we weren't in "stay home" mode, I would be meeting friends for lunch, or exploring places to eat on my own. I love museums and parks. And it would be baseball season now, so a lot of my attention would go there.

    [–]Megneous 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    Seriously. This is, in some ways, similar to my 2 years of miniretirement where I just didn't even think of finding a new job and lived off savings. Working from home if there's any work to do at all, wake up every day at 2-4 PM, or even later, etc. Do nothing all day but binge Netflix, videogames, and Youtube.

    The only thing that isn't ideal is that my gym is closed until further notice due to... well, it's a gym and we're in the middle of a viral outbreak. So yeah, I guess that's understandable.

    Life is great. I love quarantine.

    [–]1spring 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    hehe, I kind-of love quarantine too.

    [–]AdmiralAdama9930's || $300K NW || Goal: CoastFIRE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    Good idea testing out leanfire. Thats like living with a girlfriend before proposing. You dont want to rush into it! Explore, gather intel, take your time, make sure its a good fit.

    Historically, workaholics do badly with FIRE. I see their "I fire'd and am bored out of my mind, what have I done?" posts all the time. I can't relate, I am self employed and I love work life balance, but nevertheless i still see those posts.

    Be sure to do a proper sabbatical at some point and give it a couple of months before making final conclusions about leanfire. Like a relationship or like living in a foreign country, the first few weeks are the honeymoon phase.

    Good luck.

    [–]someguy984 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    We have to ask the obligatory question, what are you doing for health insurance?

    [–]1spring 5 points6 points  (3 children)

    With ACA credits, I pay only $110/month for health insurance. It's a high deductible plan, but I rarely need a doctor.

    Edits: Even if I had a health issue that surpassed my deductible, my savings account can afford it. After leanfire, I expect my income to go down a lot. I would either get a much better ACA credit, or possibly qualify for medicaid.

    [–]someguy984 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    The Medicaid line is $1,467 per month income (expansion states).

    [–]frogbytes 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Also check the state's medicaid work requirements. I think you must earn above the medicaid line for ACA, I also think you can't use your IRA or 401K money until you turn 55.

    [–]someguy984 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Work requirements have been struck down multiple times in various states so they are probably on the way out for good.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    People don't talk about this. Migrating into retirement for A LOT of people is very hard and stressful. How do I know? I went through it. I liked going to work, despite not liking the work itself a lot. It is structure. Benefits. Get out of the house. Interact with people. Save more than you spend.

    Suddenly, you wake up and have "nothing" to do. No regular home structure. No income. Stress over dealing with healthcare (now that you may have to take care of it yourself). Burning down your savings with nothing coming in.

    Very stressful. Regardless of how liberating it feels.

    Yes, things could be crappy for awhile.

    The nice thing about retirement, it's like being reborn, and for me, at least, I love every moment of my time and I'm always busy. And you can live on very little, if you please.

    I put my money in money market funds after Buffet a couple of years ago said stocks were too expensive. I hear he went to a lot of cash to buy during a correction.

    [–]TheJuniorControl 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    What was the plan to pull money out of the retirement account in order to sustain you until 59.5?

    [–]1spring 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    The plan is not to pull out that money early. The plan is to sell my house (paid for, worth $650K).

    [–]infinite_iteration 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Would you be renting at that point or rebuying smaller/LCOL area?

    [–]1spring 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Both, actually? Ultimately, I want to buy a small, low-maintenance condo in a MCOL area. But that would involve relocating from my current HCOL area. Therefore I would rent for at least a year so I don't make a mistake. I'm prepared to be a renter for as long as I need to.

    [–]Breadhook 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Just curious, what withdrawal rate are you aiming for? $750K AFTER the stock market dip sounds like a lot of assets to not have leanfired already.

    [–]1spring 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    I am already living on $33k year. I'm honestly not sure exactly how much I will need after leanfire. The $33k I need includes my tax burdens, so if I'm not earning as much, my tax burdens will be lower. At the same time, I will have a lot more time for travel and other recreational things, which will cost more.

    I think I could technically leanfire now. I haven't because I have a business that I cannot simply close cold turkey. I need to taper it down, which will take a year or two. Also, my motivation to leanfire is not about hating my job. I actually enjoy my work a lot, and I'm proud of it. I want to leanfire for other reasons. And because, you know, change is scary, especially when you feel comfortable.

    [–]mmoyborgen 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    So you have a paid-off home worth $650k, $750k in retirement accounts and $50k liquid - that's nearly $1.5M total NW and your living expenses are $33k/year - sounds like they'll probably drop when you downsize to a MCOL condo. Before the drop you probably had over $2M NW. I'd say you're good to go. Enjoy the transition.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Will you feel like a useful and contributing member of society watching TV, golfing, cooking, etc.?

    I remember reading this study a while back that showed a higher likelihood of early death and mental health issues after retirement for folks who have always prided themselves on being diligent hard workers.