afterFI/RE Life after FI/RE
People
Selected life timeline 2024—2026

The portfolio cleared the target. Purpose did not arrive with it.

u/onthewingsofangels left work with ample household wealth and discovered that a career had supplied more than income. Volunteering, book clubs and family life gradually filled the week, while market anxiety and occasional loneliness persisted. By year two, the emerging rhythm felt chosen—even though the bigger question of direction remained open.

Finances
Net worth at retirement2024-07 · Household
$6,900,000

Reported household departure net worth including home and education assets, with debts accounted for. The author separately identifies $5.4m as FI/RE assets and a $4.5m target.

Source
Posts2
2025
Post 01

A missing purpose outlasts the job

“Now there's an empty spot in my soul where the purpose should be, but it's always been empty, I had just kept myself too busy to notice it.”

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

Life at the time

  • Spent more time on family and personal interests.
  • Used professional skills through technology volunteering.

How it felt

  • Still missed the sense of purpose that a career had supplied. “Now there's an empty spot in my soul where the purpose should be”
  • Enjoyed volunteering’s useful work without the same hierarchy and obligations. “more fun and fewer bosses.”
IdentityPurposeMoney
u/onthewingsofangels (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Publication date at available precision. Retirement milestones follow the author’s own count; a missing milestone is not inferred.

Purpose, tech volunteering, former colleagues and market worries.

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

2026Year 2
Post 02

A rhythm forms without a new job title

“I'm determined the direction will be set by me”

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

Life at the time

  • Built a week around book clubs, exercise, volunteering and family.
  • Made investment changes in response to financial anxiety.

How it felt

  • Appreciated a rhythm that left room to choose, though loneliness remained. “We've settled into a rhythm, though not a schedule”
  • Wanted to set the next direction personally instead of taking it from another job. “I'm determined the direction will be set by me”
RoutinePurposeFamily
u/onthewingsofangels (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Publication date at available precision. Retirement milestones follow the author’s own count; a missing milestone is not inferred.

Book clubs, volunteering, parents, friendships and direction.

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.

  • Spouse retired several months earlier. Net worth, FI/RE assets and the original target are different measures. Market anxiety later included sales and repurchases; the story does not claim uninterrupted buy-and-hold behavior.
  • 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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