← 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
451–460 of 541 posts

Farm work replaces the weekly business flight

Sep 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • After retiring in early 2018, he devoted time to building out a small farm and repairing its irrigation.

How it felt

  • He had grown to dislike frequent business travel and now enjoyed the physical work, despite sore muscles. “the physical work I now get to enjoy”

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.”

Writing helps give an involuntary retirement shape

Aug 2018Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • After leaving accounting because of disability, The Retirement Spot author read, wrote, sang karaoke and visited grandchildren while his wife continued working.

How it felt

  • He found the balance uneven and started blogging in part to keep himself occupied. “That is one reason I started my blog.”

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.”

After several losses at once, a quieter life became enough

Jul 2018

Life at the time

  • Walked or cycled locally and drove far less than when employed.
  • Cooked and handled repairs himself, reporting about $30,000 annual spending.

How it felt

  • Felt little current need for more travel because life was already satisfying. “nothing to escape from”
  • Rejected the idea that higher spending would automatically make him happier. “satisfied with what you already have”

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”

A part-time library and a new circle of colleagues

Jun 2018

Life at the time

  • Read long books he had put off while working.
  • Wrote a personal blog and an annual A–Z gratitude post.

How it felt

  • Regarded other bloggers as a new circle of colleagues. “my new colleagues”
  • Felt grateful for their writing, perspectives, and inspiration. “I am very grateful”

A dance-floor adventure and a quieter relationship with blogging

Jun 2018

Life at the time

  • Lori entered a cruise dance competition and rehearsed with a professional.
  • Randy and new friends cheered from the audience.

How it felt

  • She was nervous about the final. “nervous butterflies”
  • The performance ended with happiness and relief. “relief and happiness”

Consulting and outdoor hobbies after the executive job

May 2018 · Year 3Interview snapshot · published 2018

Life at the time

  • After retiring from a chemical-company career, he combined technical consulting with shared activities including tennis, hiking, running, skiing and fishing.

How it felt

  • He described the side gigs as enjoyable and valued an active life with his wife. “We had and still have many shared active hobbies”

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.