afterFI/RE Life after FI/RE
People
Selected life timeline 2021—2021

Leaving at thirty-four brought room to explore—and discomfort with withdrawals

A controls engineer quit after years of increasing work pressure. The first summer offered family time and running, but no fixed next act. His account shows financial confidence coexisting with a difficult emotional shift from adding to savings to spending them.

Finances
Investments at retirement2021-05 · Household
Not established

Departure balance not established in the reviewed source; later figures are not starting wealth.

Source
Reported investments2021-07 · Household
$1,300,000

Reported invested stock portfolio; total net worth approximately $2m, not this figure.

Source
Posts2
2021
Post 01Recalled in 2021

The career ends

“Lastly, I lost faith in my boss.”

ESI Millionaire 53Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • He quit a long-held controls-engineering job.
  • Investment income replaced most of the household salary.

How it felt

  • He had lost faith in his boss. “lost faith”
  • He was unsure what he wanted to do next. “a bit lost”
IdentityMoneyParenthood
ESI Millionaire 53 (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Explicit retrospective account in this interview.

Background and job answers

Editorial summaries with short, attributed quotations. The original contains the full story.

2021
Post 02Recalled in 2021

Trying a less defined summer

“I enjoy the quiet it seems to give my mind.”

ESI Millionaire 53Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Running became a new hobby.
  • He used summer for family time and exploration.

How it felt

  • Running quieted his mind. “quiet”
  • Withdrawing money felt harder than expected. “harder than I expected”
IdentityMoneyParenthood
ESI Millionaire 53 (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Explicit retrospective account in this interview.

Background and miscellaneous

Editorial summaries with short, attributed quotations. The original contains the full story.

See how these posts compare with other people’s experiences.

Research

Last checked Sep 2026. The accounts are self-reported. This timeline follows selected accounts, including recollections where labeled; it is not a complete archive.

  • Only first months of retirement are established; future consulting and volunteering remained possibilities.
  • Selected public self-reports, not a complete archive or independent verification of finances.

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