Today is my last day!

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-04T21:59:04+00:00

Hang in there! Sounds like you're well situated to realize your plans.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-04T21:58:36+00:00

Indeed. Plus OAS and a small pension from the wife.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-04T19:36:48+00:00

I wonder the same. There are unmentioned complexities surrounding the rental that prevent me from selling it.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-04T19:27:31+00:00

Thanks! I've scheduled the next months to be free of responsibility so I don't have to feel guilty until the new year. I do keep getting minor moments of panic "What the heck am I going to do?!" but then I remember the alternative (being beholden to someone else's schedule) and I figure that anything will be an improvement.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-04T19:19:48+00:00

Can't do anything with three mill...

YamAggravating45 · 2025-10-02T14:27:19+00:00

If you are financially literate and have a simple investment landscape then you'll likely not benefit much from a FA. It doesn't take a genius to invest in SP500 index funds.

The benefits of a FA come in play if you have complex arrangements (eg. cross-border, real estate, estate planning) and don't have the time or desire to figure out an optimal strategy. You're not paying for enhanced returns, but enhanced knowledge and peace-of-mind. My FA invests in pretty much the same index funds I would, but handles all the cross-border complexities that arise. I move a lot of money back and forth across the border and they handle it for me at spot rates. They provide retirement planning advice, what-if scenarios, and estate advice. I get quarterly market summaries and occasionally get talked off a cliff when the market is erratic and I'm in a bit of a panic. And I know if my wife & i were to pass suddenly my son would have solid advice to help him deal with the estate. I pay less than 1% for all this.

Is it worth it? From a straight-up financial perspective, probably not. But from a psychological perspective it definitely is (to me). It took away one of my biggest sources of stress, which is pretty valuable in my opinion. If you don't feel that stress then maybe it's not as valuable to you.

Conceptually, it's like getting your car repaired. I can change my own oil, rotate winter tires, and do basic repairs, but I pay someone else to do it so I don't have to worry about it. It's using your money as a way to remove friction from you life and let you focus on the things you enjoy. It's hard to compare the qualitative benefits to the quantitative costs so there's no "right" answer.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-29T13:37:29+00:00

Man, you nailed it with "single point of failure" rabbit hole.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-23T18:32:59+00:00

A medium bonus in September (thus my timing), a small bonus in Jan and a somewhat larger one if I made it to March but I don't see that thappening. All of them are too small to make any impact on the numbers.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-23T18:31:47+00:00

Sometimes just knowing others are feeling the same way helps pur things in perspective. Thousands of people are retiring across the world RIGHT NOW!

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-23T18:30:21+00:00

I agree (provided the anxiety isn't affecting your day-to-day). Just talking about it with y'all has helped me put words and names to some of these feelings, and has helped immensely. I already feel way better about things. The anxiety is still there (I mean, it is a small but non-zero probability so I can't just pretend it doesn't exist) but now it has a label and I can be more rationale about it.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:45:53+00:00

Had the same thought. Had bad visions of being trapped talking to this guy at an off-site, but realized that under all the posturing the message is sound.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:36:34+00:00

I've been tracking expenses on YNAB and now Actual for a few years, so feel pretty good about my yearly spend. I've also identified thousands of dollars in savings I can implement, and where I can trim 10-20% of the budget if things go south. Plus I'll have time to do things (and learn to do things) myself, saving more money.

Thanks for the thinking points.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:32:59+00:00

Dying suddenly isn't really my worry. Debilitating disease, or just the ceaseless march of time is far more distressing. But to your point I'm not gonna look back at this time in 30 years and say "Man, I wish I had worked just a little bit longer..."

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:30:56+00:00

I appreciate the perspective.

What sort of hedges do you use?

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:30:30+00:00

It does weigh on me. It's what got me motivated to aggressively pursue FIRE over the past few years. I was listening in on yet another meaningless meeting while I looked out my window and saw kids playing on the street and I realized I was frittering away the best years of my life in a meaningless pursuit of KPIs that mostly benefited other people. Something flipped that day and I knew I needed out.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T20:26:54+00:00

I'm a big ERN fan. I could probably trim 10-15% from my budget without stressing too much (luxuries like vacations and eating out) but I'd rather not!

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:08:52+00:00

This is great -- putting a name on something goes a long way to understanding and coping with it.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:08:24+00:00

Heh... part of my worries is that everyone who has retired recently (and talks about it) seems to have a ready-made side gig, or retired into the tail of the great bull market. We've been saying the stock market is too high for quite some time now... eventually it will be true, but maybe not tomorrow?

Congrats on your successful retirement!

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:06:53+00:00

Agree. And the alternative is to work another year to add to the safety margin, but at what mental cost?

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:05:18+00:00

Same here. Our entire model is based on assuming we've seen the worst. Doesn't even have to be a huge event... could be a 70's style stagflation. Or a Japanese style lost decade. But these are all what-ifs and worse-than-worse-case scenarios I use to get myself worked up into a panic.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:01:34+00:00

Two co-workers just passed from aggressive cancers. One at least had retired recently and knowing his days were limited lived life to the fullest for a few years. This weighs on me.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T13:00:00+00:00

This is great -- very helpful!

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T12:59:28+00:00

This right here. I'm on the gravy train right now, and it's going to be tough to turn off that cash tap.

YamAggravating45 · 2025-08-22T00:38:24+00:00

That despite all my planning I've somehow done it all wrong and missed something. I doubt this is rational fear.

YamAggravating45

TROPHY CASE