I have been posting updates on our countdown to retirement in a forum I am active on – and then the thought occurred to me – why don’t I write about that on my own blog? So, this post opens the series on how we are marching towards the finish/start line.
Before this update, in December, I was very annoyed by my boss, to the point that I was willing to submit my resignation as soon as the annual bonus hits the checking account (middle of February) with the exit date of early/mid March (at least a month before my planned leave). And then we went on vacation to Playa del Carmen, after which I provided this update in early January:
Mental state:
- The vacation helped in smoothing some of my feathers that had been ruffled by my boss in the last few weeks of December. Having 13 days of no work was fabulous, I did get some distance from work and came back a little refreshed, full of resolve to last till early April
- I caught COVID on the way back from Mexico (tested positive on New Years Eve, and my husband tested positive on Jan 2nd). Luckily, we are all vaccinated and boosted, so we are going through relatively mild sickness, but I am glad to have the opportunity of not going to the office this and possibly next week.
- Just yesterday we learned that there is another org change within our department. As a result, my boss ended up getting four more groups, in addition to ours. That means he’ll have much less time to micromanage everyone in our group and drive me to the breaking point (I hope!)
Preparation for retirement:
- I increased the 401K contributions both for me and my husband to get as close to maxing out the limits as possible in the remaining 3-ish months of employment.
- Modified beneficiaries for all brokerage and 401K/IRA accounts to include Trust/kids as appropriate. Need to do the same for checking/savings accounts and TreasuryDirect accounts.
- Bought $20K worth of I-Bonds for me and DH.
- Estimated the amount of federal taxes we’d pay through the remaining employments and the amount of Roth IRA conversion possible in 2023 to fill out 22% tax bracket. All that assuming we both end our employment in early April. If DH stays at work till end of July (to get his semi-annual bonus), then all those calculations are out of the window
- Opened another Chase Ink card for DH, taking the advantage of the increased welcome bonus. In a couple of months we should get a few easily earned thousands of dollars towards my travel slush fund.
- Booked the accommodations in Clearwater Beach, FL for a couple of days after the conference I plan to attend in Florida mid April. I am planning to enjoy a couple of days on one of the Florida beaches since I already made it there
By the way, since my husband refused to join me on this trip, my friend stepped in, and we’ll turn this trip into another girls’ getaway - Bought cheap tickets to Madrid in October for DH and I. TAP Air Portugal is having a major sale on flights to Europe, and I grabbed the opportunity to sneak another trip in this year. The round-trip tickets were $760 for the two of us, I will be able to book many nights at Hyatts in various locations with Chase points, so DH did not have many arguments against the idea. Soo, my retirement
dance cardcalendar for 2023 is getting pretty full…
When it comes to the story to tell about our quitting, to the employers it would be taking a break from work as we feel burned out. I have a suspicion that my husband may be asked to consult from time to time, which may be a good thing for him (I think he may potentially get bored and welcome the opportunity to do something work related. I may be wrong…). In my space, I think the hole will close quickly with the new reorg, and I won’t be missed much or for long, so my story of the burnout will work without any of the “please come back, we need you”.
I am more open with our friends, I can’t contain my excitement, and happy to extend my knowledge and experience to anyone who would want to listen. 🙂 I do have a couple of friends who are not working full time, so we are planning different workdays activities together for when I will finally have free time to do that.
This was my 90 days update, stay tuned for further updates as we get closer to the D-Day!