afterFI/RE Life after FI/RE
← Explore posts shelves

Posts

Explore turning points, everyday joys and unexpected challenges after financial independence or retirement, with the date and original source for each account.

Age
Wealth
Years
Posts
151–160 of 194 posts

A layoff became a travel business—and time to help his parents.

Apr 2019Recalled in 2023

“I guess I wasn’t happy I didn’t get to leave on my terms”

ESI Retiree 51Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • An unexpected layoff ended his treasury career.
  • He began building a travel agency around an existing interest.

How it felt

  • He disliked losing control of the departure date. “wasn’t happy”
  • Leaving an unfulfilling job opened a more enjoyable direction. “something now I enjoy”
WorkFamilyPartners
ESI Retiree 51
Read original postesimoney.com

Freedom came easily. Finding nearby friends took more work.

Mar 2019 · Year 6

“I’ve struggled somewhat in making new personal connections.”

ESI Retiree 1Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Home repairs and helping relatives filled parts of the week.
  • His wife pursued yoga, food preserving and fiber arts.

How it felt

  • New friendships required deliberate effort. “Still working on it.”
  • Formal volunteer roles felt too much like work. “Working as a volunteer is still working.”
FriendsFreedomFamily
ESI Retiree 1
Read original postesimoney.com

Freedom did not transform him overnight. Parenting made it real.

Mar 2019

“On some days, I wish I was at work: Our girls love each other, but they don’t like each other.”

Carl JensenRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Prepared meals, helped with schoolwork and volunteered while Mindy worked.
  • Built much of his routine around the children’s day.

How it felt

  • Sometimes found family life frustrating enough to imagine being back at the office. “On some days, I wish I was at work”
  • Also felt he had worked too long; gratitude and irritation coexisted. “I also worked too long.”
ParenthoodFamily
Carl Jensen
Read original post1500days.com

Purpose grows into a community, then new local connections

Mar 2019

“I think I’ve found my purpose”

Sue LoncaricRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Ran a guest-blog series about meaning and prepared an April activity challenge.
  • Kept fit to play with her young grandchildren and model an active life.

How it felt

  • Felt excited about the forthcoming shared challenge. “I’m excited about April”
  • Found helping others motivating and a source of purpose. “I think I’ve found my purpose”
PurposeFriendsFamily
Sue Loncaric
Read original postwomenlivingwellafter50.com.au

Making time for family after a consuming career

Feb 2019Interview snapshot · published 2019

“I spend a lot of time with my wife and kids now and enjoy it immensely.”

ESI Millionaire 116Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Outside executive employment, he spent more time with his wife and children while pursuing angel investments, walks, runs and yoga.

How it felt

  • He regretted earlier absences and described family and community involvement as part of his personal growth. “enjoy it immensely”
FamilyPurposePartners
ESI Millionaire 116
Read original postesimoney.com

A quiet home life made room for creativity and care

Jan 2019

“I can visibly feel myself relax when I walk through the door.”

Retired IntrovertRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Left room between social outings and appointments.
  • Read, sewed and worked on her blog, with weekday movies around her husband’s job.

How it felt

  • Felt relaxed and secure at home. “My home is my sanctuary.”
  • Valued seeing friends without sacrificing the solitude she needed. “on my terms”
CreativityFamilySlowing down
Retired Introvert
Read original postretiredintrovert.com

Leaving the executive role made room for parenting, but not an empty day.

2019Recalled in 2020

“The initial few weeks was a big relief, with having so much free time.”

ESI Retiree 20Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Unstructured time initially replaced a demanding executive schedule.
  • Exercise and small projects began to rebuild a routine.

How it felt

  • The first relief gave way to feeling unproductive. “a big relief”
  • Recent career setbacks had shaken his confidence. “falling into a rut”
ParenthoodPurposeIdentity
ESI Retiree 20
Read original postesimoney.com

Financial independence gave their young family more ordinary adventures.

2019Recalled in 2023

“I loved the feeling of freedom and using my time how I choose.”

ESI Retiree 44Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • His wife left paid work as their property income supported independence.
  • They continued choosing projects for themselves.

How it felt

  • Her departure revealed stress she had not fully noticed. “latent stress”
  • He valued being able to choose how time was used. “feeling of freedom”
FamilyOutdoorsFreedom
ESI Retiree 44
Read original postesimoney.com

Sharing retirement meant renegotiating the house, the chores and the conversation.

2019Recalled in 2023

“Pure joy, gratitude, and freedom.”

ESI Retiree 45Read original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • The second departure put both partners at home full time.
  • Separate offices replaced one shared workspace.

How it felt

  • They welcomed the freedom from employer schedules. “Pure joy, gratitude, and freedom”
  • Dividing chores and space required negotiation. “re-negotiate”
PartnersFamilyFreedom
ESI Retiree 45
Read original postesimoney.com

He won his freedom—and ran out of goals.

2019 · Year 3

“So it’s like more growth is not going to make me happier.”

Mad FientistRead original post (opens in a new tab)

Life at the time

  • Declined more opportunities to protect personal projects.
  • Organized time with extended family and checked financial spreadsheets less often.

How it felt

  • Found saying no an important part of making freedom satisfying. “this third year was marked by saying no to most things”
  • Was shifting attention away from further financial growth. “more growth is not going to make me happier.”
BoundariesFriendsFamily
Mad Fientist
Read original postmadfientist.com

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.