COVID-19 had flipped most everyone’s lives upside-down in March 2020, but not so much mine. I almost… almost, felt a little guilty. While most people I knew felt like their life was dropped into a sanitary sewer (aka shit hole), mine was very much the same and even somewhat improved. My kids had forever been home-schooled (more like “un-schooled”), so no changes there. They had been enrolled in dance and parkour classes, and while that had come to an abrupt halt, long breaks were typical around the holidays and summer so it felt like any other break. My wife was a part-time Realtor, so the slowdown in business felt like an extension of the slow season that would have typically ended in early Spring. My work changed in that I now worked from home every day instead of only 3 days per week, which was clearly a huge win considering my shitty commute that took over an hour through Philadelphia.

Outside of work and school life, our frugal lifestyle also fit in nicely with the pandemic. Given the choice between home cooking and restaurant meals that cost three times what an equivalent home meal would cost, I strongly prefer eating high quality meals at home made with organic fruits and veggies and grass fed and free range meats rather than a restaurant prepared meal of unknown and questionable quality ingredients. Leisure time was used to play music, take bike rides, visit the local parks, reading, and having friends over to enjoy some karaoke (which was off the table for now) or a bonfire with a couple 6-packs of craft beer. Most of these were still copacetic in the ‘new normal’ of pandemic life.

Knowing I planned to continue the full-time engineering gig at least through 2020, but also that I definitely wanted out by the next year whether I hit my retirement savings number or not, it was time to think about income options, post-retirement. I was going to start a blog and recording music, but frankly didn’t expect or plan that either of those would earn income. Having enjoyed the house rehab projects we had finished, I decided to start an LLC for home renovation, figuring that if I got bored or wanted to supplement my savings further, I could jump into that work fairly easily. I didn’t do anything with the LLC or my contractor license immediately, but had the company documents on the shelf should the need ever come around. The focus right now was getting through COVID without any major health issues or a layoff.

As we all settled into our new (at least short term) normal, the stock market had already begun climbing back up. Although it dropped over 25% in early March, only four months later in July, it was back to it’s previous level and continuing an upward trend. I was front loading my 401k during the early part of 2020, so while I had bought in at the higher stock prices between January and February, from March through May I was buying in at lower prices, and those shares caught the wave of the rebound. Plus, with this year being the one I would reach the half-century mark, I could drop another $6500 into the 401k for even more tax deferred savings (https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/401k-plan-catch-up-contribution-eligibility)! On top of that tax savings, I was continuing to add $7k annually of pre-tax earnings to my health savings account (HSA) to help fund future medical expenses. The good news that multiple vaccines were being rapidly developed helped fuel what seemed like a very premature rebound. It was also toward the end of the summer 2020 that I found myself flush with a little extra cash in savings since my 401k contributions had maxed out and stopped a few months earlier, in May. I needed to invest more!

Some of the categories of index funds and stocks that dropped when the pandemic hit were hotels, cruise lines, restaurants, and energy. Months into the pandemic and with no imminent signs of reopening to normal, I figured energy was the safest bet to return to normal sooner than the others. After a bit of research, I found that Vanguard’s VDE, an energy exchange traded fund (ETF), was trading in the high-$40s after having capped out over $100 within the past year. It didn’t look good as a long-term buy since the price historically jumped up and down without long term gains, but a buy cheap and sell high option looked good. I invested a five-figure sum and waited.

While the stock markets continued to surge and defy COVID, our company was going through some measures to cut costs, which meant letting go of some senior, high level staff. Thankfully, I didn’t fit this category, and so long as I kept busy and chargeable, I felt fairly safe barring any major changes. And busy I was, despite not going into the office. I was heavily involved in the design and construction of a new mobile treatment system, and between working with a contractor to build the majority of the system and me working with local colleagues to develop some ancillary systems, it was interesting and exciting work. A field assignment in Ohio to startup and test out this system happened in late fall, and it was painfully obvious more refinement was needed. That would have to wait for warmer weather since winter was rushing in.

As 2020 was coming to a close, I had been avoiding looking at my overall financial picture, although I knew between what I was doing with my money and what the markets were doing, it was definitely going well. Looking ahead to 2021, although I didn’t have a sense we would get a huge rebound in our company stock price, there was some optimism the might at least be a little bump to help with my planned retirement. Yes, retirement! I hadn’t thought about it much while staying focused on working and investing, but the end of the year meant a re-evaluation of finances to see how everything was stacking up.

And just then, another curve ball! But this was more like one of the curve balls that starts outside, curves into the middle of the strike zone, and you nail it dead center with all you’ve got when the bases are loaded. We received word from company management that there would be no share offerings for 2021 because we were in negotiation to be bought out by a larger publicly traded company! On top of this, the per share offering was almost triple the current value!! You couldn’t wipe the ear-to-ear smile off of my face even if you literally tried to beat it off of me!!!

I already knew both my 401k and my after tax investment accounts were doing very well, and now I was anxiously anticipating MAYBE getting about a 5x return on my company stock investment! There was still an official vote that needed to happen and some red tape to work through, but this was looking very likely to happen. The question changed from will I hit my retirement number in 2021 to when will I hit that number and retire!

But first… I wanted to wait for two big things to happen. One, I wanted to know the sale of the company was final and that I was definitely getting my check. We had been told that when the sale was finalized, everyone that owned shares would be bought out at the final price whether they were still with the company or not, but I wanted to stick around just to be sure! Two, I was very invested in the mobile treatment system I had been developing, and wanted to see that operate as intended. Although I would be retiring, the last thing I wanted to do was leave behind something that was in major need of refinement with my name plastered all over it. Besides, I figured while these two things were in process, rather than collect a salary and increase my taxes for 2021 (especially when I was expecting to pay capital gains on the sale of my company stock), I could again front load my 401k with another $26,000 while also adding more money to my HSA.

Going into 2021, I started laying the groundwork to exit stage left. I had started helping a colleague with another design project, but I did my best to remain a contributor rather than becoming THE guy. I knew my time was short and didn’t want to feel like I was leaving anything behind. Following another week-long exhausting field visit to Ohio, the mobile treatment system was up an running, albeit with a little extra elbow grease. But it was doing what we set out to do and we had the good fortune of finding someone else in the company with a similar mechanical aptitude to my own that could help with any future problems.

The months ticked by slowly. Each day that I worked from my home office felt increasingly difficult and excruciating. I just wanted it all to end. I had started recalculating my total investments every two weeks following each payday. I found myself more frequently getting distracted and daydreaming before waking to my internal voice… “Hey dummy! You have a job to do!!” Despite trying to stay focused, my mind kept going to thoughts of what I could be doing with my time rather than sitting in front of my computer, working on a design or responding to emails.

For starters, my bicycle had so much neglected maintenance that the past few times I tried to ride it, I couldn’t shift into low gears or I’d only hear the click-click-click of my chain skipping over teeth on the gears. Each time I walked by a guitar, my eyes were drawn to the dust covering it, no matter how thin the layer was (the truth was, I was playing more than I had in years). The kids were asking with increased frequency, “aren’t you going to retire soon so we can take a walk around the park or you can help teach us things?” Library books were getting returned without being read. My to-do list at home kept growing and my fence project had been stalled for months. And I kept adding to my list of ideas to cover in my blog that I had been talking about for over a year now. Overall, I was just sick of having to say I was too busy to do things I wanted to do. Statistically, I had probably lived over half of my life and it was time that I made the schedule and the rules.

Finally, in early April 2021, the long-awaited deposit showed up in my bank account! My company stock had been sold and our checking account was significantly healthier. I figured by mid-May, my 401k would be maxed out for the year, and I would retire then. Going through my numbers, I now exceeded what I thought I needed to retire according to the 4% rule (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-percent-rule.asp). I went through the healthcare.gov website to determine how much insurance would cost through the year and had a good idea what it would cost in the years to come.

I was worried it would start to feel anti-climactic at some point, but it never did. The anticipation was absolutely killing me. I could hardly focus at all on work any more, and found myself having to put in hours later and later in the day to catch up on work lost from that lack of focus. I drafted my resignation letter, reviewed, and edited it a couple times per week. We planned a camping trip and vacations to the beach and to visit family starting the last week of May. This was my way of setting a deadline to make sure I didn’t chicken out. It was either submit my resignation or explain to my family why I had to cancel vacations.

Finally, after discussing my plans with my office manager, group leader, and mentor, I submitted my resignation stating that May 17, 2021 would be my last day of work.

A 15 year career as a consultant was coming to a close, and at 50 years old, I was set to retire. The path had been a long and winding one. Starting with a layoff that completely blindsided me almost 16 years earlier, we had dug ourselves out of two major piles of debt, one of those soon after that layoff. We toyed with real-estate investing for long-term income, but then turned to the stock market to fuel an early retirement. I was about to have plenty of time with my kids while they were still in the early teen phase, before parents suck and don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. I was still healthy enough to run around and play. I was about to have an opportunity that most never have; to leave work and do all the things that I want to do while I still have my health.

Unlike the past few months that zoomed by like freezing molasses, my last two weeks of work flew by. Most of it was spent on the phone between calls with clients and colleagues to get them caught up, both about what I had been working on so that I could hand off the proverbial baton and to answer a ton of questions about what I planned to do with my life. Most people were genuinely excited and congratulated me on the accomplishment of retiring so early. There were a few that were completely dumbfounded that I would even consider retirement at such an early age. After all, I still had years to potentially earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, and considering growth in the stock market, millions more. But the truth was, I had enough. I had enough money to live a simple life. I had enough of telling my kids and wife, no, I don’t have the time. I had enough of working and the requisite 50+ hour weekly commitment. Plus I had enough time (statistically speaking) to go back to work if I wanted to, whether back into consulting or home renovations as a general contractor.

So, what do I write about now? Besides “My Journey”, I also expect to continue writing in “Flaunting Frugality” and my “Retirement Journal”. In Flaunting Frugality, I’ll share what I’ve found to be practical ways of saving money. Maybe that will help others retire early, but at the least, it should help… ya know… save money! The Retirement Journal is where I’ll write about our adventures or things I’ve learned about and since retirement. I’ve written a few entries in each already, but now that I’ve finished writing about my journey to retirement, I can focus more on those and will keep adding more as long as there’s interest. Thanks for reading and hope to see you all in retirement, doing what you love, without having to sell your time (unless you want to)!