← 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
161–170 of 194 posts

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

2019 · Year 12

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”

Chosen work gave freedom a purpose. Divorce changed the family around it.

Dec 2018

Life at the time

  • Went through a divorce and reorganized family life.
  • Lived nearby and continued spending time together as a family.

How it felt

  • Described a difficult year despite financial resources. “It has been a hard year.”
  • Valued maintaining family contact within the changed arrangement. “we all still spend plenty of time together”

He escaped Sunday-night dread. A decade later, even freedom needed downtime.

Dec 2018

Life at the time

  • Prepared for the oldest child to enter high school.
  • Planned extended travel for 2019 and anticipated later driving and college expenses.

How it felt

  • Found family life full enough to wonder how full-time work had fitted into it. “wondering how we ever had time for full time jobs”
  • Was aware of the next stage of parenting approaching. “college is just around the corner.”

Family time arrived quickly; a new sense of purpose took longer

Sep 2018

Life at the time

  • Phia spent more time parenting, cooking and writing.
  • The family traveled and walked to everyday activities.

How it felt

  • She valued the slower family life. “a little aimless”
  • She still wanted an absorbing role beyond home. “pretty amazing”

Part-time work fits around family care

Aug 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • Her flexible remote freelance work made it easier to manage her mother's affairs; her husband kept short hours in his own law practice.

How it felt

  • She favored a partial retirement that preserved mental engagement and reduced pressure on assets. “That flexibility allows me to manage my mother’s affairs more easily.”

Leaving engineering made room for parenting. Blogging kept a working rhythm in his days.

Jul 2018 · Year 6

Life at the time

  • Blogging still took twenty to thirty hours a week.
  • Family travel could move at a slower pace than former vacations.

How it felt

  • The site provided engagement and helped prevent boredom. “Blogging keeps me busy”
  • He expected retirement to change as his son became more independent. “Life changes. Retirement will too.”

A smaller home makes space for people

Jul 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • After retiring in 2014, he and his wife moved from a large suburban Chicago home to a Florida condo.

How it felt

  • Adjustment took time, but he valued having more time with his wife, relatives and friends. “it took some time to adjust to this new life”

Travel together, with another career still possible

May 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • The retired couple traveled and exercised regularly, while remaining interested in trying a different line of work.

How it felt

  • He valued close family involvement and wanted to enjoy experiences while they were healthy. “I’m not a fan of being away from the family at all”

Freedom to contribute still leaves a purpose question

Apr 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • The retired couple traveled with their children and supported churches, while spending substantial time together as a family.

How it felt

  • He struggled with the absence of fixed schedules and with choosing something worthwhile to pursue. “figuring out exactly what that is has been difficult”

The deadlines disappeared quickly. The professional identity took longer.

Apr 2018Recalled in 2023

Life at the time

  • Reading, television and daytime walks replaced deadline-driven work.
  • Retirement allowed time with a gravely ill father.

How it felt

  • Freedom felt blissful, even oddly illicit on weekdays. “was bliss”
  • Work-related dreams lingered after the job ended. “being naughty”

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.