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

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11–20 of 62 posts

He could afford an ambitious bucket list. He learned to leave days empty.

Jul 2025

Life at the time

  • Read, ran, grew fruit and learned new skills.
  • Kept a longer list of ambitions, many still ahead rather than completed.

How it felt

  • Felt able to attempt things without needing every attempt to succeed. “Failure is always an option”
  • Valued trying more than maintaining a perfect record of achievements. “its more important to try than to always succeed.”

The long commute gives way to summers with the children

Jan 2025Interview snapshot · published 2025-04

Life at the time

  • After leaving daily work in June 2023, he spent summers at a mountain home, played golf and coached his children's sports.

How it felt

  • He enjoyed the new balance while continuing to manage two industrial properties. “I spend most of my time with my young kids.”

He traded corporate pressure for practical help, family meals and long rides.

Dec 2024 · Year 3

Life at the time

  • Coaching, cycling and community roles filled much of his time.
  • Preparing meals supported his working wife and school-age child.

How it felt

  • He enjoyed useful service with the freedom to come home afterward. “I love my freedom”
  • He felt less able to make large charitable gifts. “return home with my freedom”

Freedom felt oddly disorienting. Local commitments helped give it substance.

Oct 2024 · Year 7

Life at the time

  • Joined turtle rescue and local planting projects.
  • Balanced writing and other activities with ordinary chores.

How it felt

  • Found that worthwhile commitments could still become too much. “So there’s a delicate balance!”
  • Did not see travel or retirement as a list that could be permanently completed. “Travel is not something you can even finish.”

He found purpose in writing. Then made room for life beyond the blog.

Sep 2024 · Year 6

Life at the time

  • Spent a week each month near his granddaughter and continued RV trips and exercise. “we spend a week down there every month”
  • Formed a retirement discussion group and built community friendships.

How it felt

  • Valued making family time a recurring part of life.
  • Found friendships based on shared interests rather than wealth or former jobs. “We never talk about money”

He retired. His calendar filled with people who needed him.

Aug 2024 · Year 6

Life at the time

  • Traveled with his partner during her school-year summer break.
  • Returned to a garden that had received less attention during the trips.

How it felt

  • Accepted that his partner still wanted to work, shaping the time they could share. “my spouse has chosen to continue to work for now”
  • The deaths of friends sharpened his sense that health and time were uncertain. “Health is fickle”

He planned more hikes. Retirement also made room for his mother.

Jul 2024 · Year 2

Life at the time

  • Made regular trips to support a mother in assisted living.
  • Continued gym visits, hiking, games and time with a spouse. “I'm continuing to hit the gym every weekday”

How it felt

  • Remained enthusiastic about retirement despite tiring caregiving trips. “Retirement is awesome and everyone should do it.”
  • Kept exercise as a recurring part of everyday life.

Five magnificent years gave way to restlessness. A new season needed a new plan.

Jun 2024 · Year 5

Life at the time

  • Spent early retirement hiking and climbing.
  • Later used self-study and invented tasks to fill difficult winter periods.

How it felt

  • Remembered the first five years very positively. “My first five years were indeed magnificent”
  • Found that staying busy no longer fully answered his need for direction. “I manufactured ways to stay busy”

He retired with $2.7m. Three years later, he wanted back in.

Feb 2024 · Year 1

Life at the time

  • Made breakfast, walked children to school and fitted exercise and projects around family.
  • Spent more than expected while household net worth also increased.

How it felt

  • Felt busy but less rushed, with more room for the people and activities he valued. “It is nice to not be in a rush.”
  • Still wondered what the next challenge might be. “Feeling of what's next lingers”

Travel and hiking after two accounting careers

Feb 2024Interview snapshot · published 2024-06

Life at the time

  • The retired accountants made travel and hiking their main activities, with family and friends central to their plans.

How it felt

  • He had enjoyed the final stretch of his career enough to postpone an earlier possible retirement. “I enjoyed working”

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