afterFI/RE Life after FI/RE
People
Selected life timeline 2022—2024

She loved being retired. She still needed a reason to use her brain.

Leaving accounting reduced u/jellybean83087’s stress and raised her reported happiness. But a year of freedom exposed two things she missed: meaningful social contact and difficult problems. Her next update supplied an answer. She sold her car, moved to Japan and enrolled in language school, turning a childhood interest into the structure her retirement lacked.

Finances
Net worth at retirement2022-05-04 · Personal
$885,000

Self-reported personal net worth on leaving accounting.

Source
Posts2
2023Year 1
Post 01

Happier, but missing challenge

“After a year of fun and relaxation, I’m starting to feel an itch to challenge my brain again.”

u/jellybean83087Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Sold her house, traveled across the country and spent eight months in Seattle.
  • Learned winter sports and built healthier routines.

How it felt

  • Felt happier and less stressed, but missed regular company and challenging problems. “I'm starting to feel an itch to challenge my brain again.”
  • Enjoyed everyday freedoms such as waking without an alarm. “sleeping without setting an alarm”
RecoveryFriendsPurpose
u/jellybean83087 (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Update date at the available precision. Recollections, current circumstances and future plans are distinguished in the summary.

Reflections on 1st year of FI/RE.

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

2024Year 2
Post 02

A classroom replaces what work used to supply

“Rather than focusing on saving, I’m trying to flex my spending muscle in order to spend more on food experiences.”

u/jellybean83087Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Sold her car, moved to Japan and started a year of language school.
  • Set out to spend more freely on food and experiences.

How it felt

  • Saw school as an answer to missing social contact and intellectual challenge; the longer-term result was still open. “Moving to Japan and studying Japanese is my solution to both of them.”
  • Was deliberately practicing enjoyment of her money. “I'm trying to flex my spending muscle”
CuriosityFriendsChange
u/jellybean83087 (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Update date at the available precision. Recollections, current circumstances and future plans are distinguished in the summary.

Life Update; Finances; school-cost edit.

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.

  • Two anniversary updates are verified. Later travel plans and plans to settle down are intentions, not established outcomes.
  • She reports being 35 at her first anniversary and 36 at her second. An exact departure age is not separately asserted in the profile.
  • This is a selection of reviewed updates, not a complete account history. No later life outcome is inferred from the absence of another indexed post.

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