It’s Official, I’m Fully Retired!

It’s been a long road my friends.  If you’re new to my blog you may not know I’ve been posting for over 7 and a half years now.  And if you’ve been reading that whole time I applaud you for your tenacity and willingness to suffer stick it out.

I early semi-retired to 20 hours a week at my job when I started this blog in the fall of 2017 after achieving financial independence around 2014.  For me part time was the perfect remedy for the state I was in.  I still wanted to stay engaged in my industry and I wanted to keep my health insurance.  But I didn’t want the unhealthy lifestyle of 40 hours a week in an office.

Well, here we are almost 8 years later and I have a big announcement. 

I’m fully retired!

I pulled the plug, I made the plunge.  Regular readers know I was employed by the federal government and yes, my decision to leave was indeed tied up in the downsizing that has been taking place this year.  I can’t get into the whole story, but in the end I took what’s called a voluntary early retirement (VERA) which allows me to retire with virtually all the same benefits I would have if I waited until I was fully eligible, which is still years down the road.

I’ve been ruminating on the decision for quite a while – long before the federal downsizing of this year – and in the end I had to listen to my gut.

There is actual science behind that.

 

The Journey After Part Time

When I went part time in 2017 I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Cutting my workweek in half to 20 hours a week was glorious. It gave me copious extra free time to pursue life while still keeping me engaged in my industry.  I highly recommend trying to go part time if you are on the journey to FI and are burnt out but do not want to quit or do not have enough to FIRE.

That setup worked great until 2020, then covid happened.  Even though my work was 100% classified I was forced to work from home for most of 2020, which meant doing very different things that were unclassified.  Sometimes it meant just doing busy work that really wasn’t essential.  Such is government waste… 

In late 2020 when folks were forced back into the office, I balked.  I was a senior employee with a lot of name recognition at my agency and I had started some really good and valuable unclassified projects.  So I just said “Ah… how’s ‘no’ for an answer? I’m just going to keep working from home thanks”. 

I realize everyone can’t do this no matter how much seniority or status they achieve, but many can.  I have friends in the private sector who do the same after long careers because their companies need them more than they need the company.  So they call the shots on a lot of aspects of their work. 

Make yourself so valuable to your employer that they can’t imagine losing you, it’s probably my #1 career advice.

 

What Were You Waiting For?

To be honest when I went part time in 2017 I never ever imagined I’d still be working for the government in 2025.  I thought I’d do a few years at 20 hours a week and then pull the rip cord.  But as detailed above, working from home after covid made life so much better and made work much less bothersome. 

Hovering over all of this is the healthcare issue.  Even though our federal government healthcare benefits aren’t nearly as good as non-feds think they are, they’re mostly better than the ACA.  To be clear (and likely to your surprise), they’re not necessarily cheaper than being on the ACA, but the plans themselves tend to be better and not have high deductibles. 

Had I gone on the ACA with just the income from my graphic arts business and my investment dividends I would have likely paid less per month for a silver plan than I do for my federal plan.  But that silver plan would come with a pretty high deductible, and my fed plan does not. 

And I’m a guy in his 50’s who does all sorts of relatively risky adventure sports.  Even though I’m not on any medication I realize father time is coming after me and I might need more doctor visits in the future. 

So what took me so long to retire? 

I mostly had full autonomy at work, and I wanted to keep my healthcare plan.  I also missed a pretty large chunk of time in 2023-24 to take care of my Mom who passed last year. 

That’s it in a nutshell.  If work started to become an annoyance or if they made me start coming back in the office I would have quit in a hot minute.  

 

Perfect Timing

Going in to 2025 I started to consider retiring.  Then the new administration started downsizing the government and things just lined up.  Getting a VERA is the perfect scenario for me – I start collecting my pension immediately and I get to keep my federal healthcare plan for life.

So I was already looong past my FI number and now I get my pension in my mid-50’s.  I have to say, life is good.  I’m reaping the rewards of a long career and a shit-ton of hard work.

But I also just quit my job of more than 29 years. 

I’ll be honest, when I out-processed and was escorted out it was a pretty emotional day.  No matter what anyone says, when you work somewhere for that long and have the crazy adventures that I did, it becomes a big part of your identity. 

In no way do I regret leaving.  And you’d have to basically tie me up in shackles and force me to return if you wanted me to.  But the sentimental part of me always has a tinge of bittersweet when I move on from a big part of my life.  That’s just how I’m wired.

 

Bright Future, Shades Required

I’m fully retired!!! 

The income from my pension and graphic arts business will be way more than what I’ve spent annually in the past five years.  So if I don’t want to die with enough to buy a major sports franchise I’d better start spending a lot more money soon.  Or start giving it away. 

I don’t want to needlessly acquire stuff and add more waste into the world, I have enough stuff.  So for me its going to be mostly spent on experiences and charity.

I’ll probably be able to withdrawal 7 – 8% of my nest-egg and still be more than fine with the cash-flow I’ll have.  Maybe even more.

 

Accidental FIRE

I called this blog “Accidental FIRE” way back in 2017 because I achieved financial independence without deliberately targeting it.  I just did the right things inherently, and next thing you know I was there.  Now I’m also early retired, which completes the “RE” part of the FIRE acronym. 

Accidentally FI, deliberately retired early.  Over seven and a half years after starting this blog I’ve brought it all home.  

It’s the end of a career that I’m proud of, and the beginning of exciting and boundless adventures.  I couldn’t be more proud, excited, lucky, and grateful.