afterFI/RE Life after FI/RE
People
Selected life timeline 2006—2023

Adventure filled their early years. Writing and family made room for a quieter life.

Robert and Robin Charlton retired together at 43. Years of travel gradually gave way to a balance of shorter journeys, family time and creative projects at home.

Finances
Net worth at retirement2006-12 · Household
$926,000

Their reported nest egg at retirement.

Source
annual_spending2019 · Household
$42,000 / year

Reported average over the preceding 12 retirement years, including travel and health insurance.

Source
Posts2
2019Year 12
Post 01

Travel with more room for family

“We have more time to be creative and more quality time with family and friends.”

Robert & Robin CharltonRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Overseas trips had shortened to six or seven weeks to make room for family.
  • They built productive activities and downtime into days without a work schedule.

How it felt

  • They described less stress and more enjoyment. “Less stress, more fun”
  • Choosing their own path felt worthwhile, without regret about leaving traditional jobs. “We have absolutely no regrets”
TravelFamilyRoutine
Robert & Robin Charlton (opens in a new tab)
Notes

Inferred life year from the interview’s explicit 2019 insurance example and over 12 years retired since December 2006; exact publication date absent.

How things changed after leaving jobs.

Answer on years retired.

Inferred life year from the interview’s explicit 2019 insurance example and over 12 years retired since December 2006; exact publication date absent.

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

2023Year 17
Post 02

A creative chapter, with shorter trips

“No pressure, just the joy of creation.”

Robert & Robin CharltonRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Robert had written three science-fiction manuscripts and published a crossword.
  • They divided the year among their Colorado home, family visits and shorter trips.

How it felt

  • Creative work felt rewarding without financial pressure. “the joy of creation”
  • Frequent moves could make life feel divided and friendships harder to maintain. “Sometimes our lives feel segmented”
CreativityHomeFriends
Robert & Robin Charlton (opens in a new tab)
Notes

The interview looks back on turning 60 and a September 2023 crossword, reports 17 years since December 2006, and anticipates 2024 publication. Late-2023 life period inferred; no precise publication date asserted.

What excites them now.

Biggest challenge.

The interview looks back on turning 60 and a September 2023 crossword, reports 17 years since December 2006, and anticipates 2024 publication. Late-2023 life period inferred; no precise publication date asserted.

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.

  • Interview publication dates are absent; life years are inferred from explicit internal calendar references.
  • The trilogy was completed in manuscript, with publication still a hope in the follow-up.
  • Selected public self-reports, not a complete archive or independent verification of finances.

Privacy & analytics

AfterFire uses Google Analytics only if you accept. It helps us understand visits, referral sources, pages and chapters people open, filter use, and clicks to original sources.

After acceptance, Google receives page titles and addresses without query strings, content and chapter IDs, filter names (not selected values or search terms), campaign source/medium/name tags from shared links, original-source domains, referring sites, approximate location and browser/device information. Analytics cookies distinguish browsers and visits. Campaign labels are stored in this tab only after acceptance and expire after 30 minutes without activity. We do not enable advertising personalization or Google Signals, or send your name, email address or account identifier to Analytics.

Declining sends no Analytics data to Google. Accepting starts with the page currently open; we do not replay earlier browsing. Withdrawing consent stops tracking, clears this site's Analytics cookies and reloads the page. It does not delete measurements already received by Google.

We remember your choice on this browser for up to six months. Detailed Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months; aggregated reports can remain longer. Site hosting still processes requests needed to serve these pages.

Read Google's privacy policy and how Google uses information from sites.