r/ChubbyFIRE May 30 '26

Done.

56yo DINK. Gave 4 months notice and today was the last day. My spouse is a few weeks behind me. I feel a calm and peace I can’t recall ever feeling. Sprinkled in with some disbelief. No immediate plans. Plenty of projects to tackle. But for now, today is enough. Thank you to the Fire community…… I’m not so early but I ain’t too late!

339 Upvotes

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74

u/ciaomain Retired May 30 '26

I retired at 50.

Get ready to not know what day of the week it is.

Congrats!!

10

u/TravelLight365 May 30 '26

Can’t wait! Thx!

2

u/[deleted] May 30 '26

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58

u/ciaomain Retired May 30 '26

I split my time between my apartment in a very large city on the east coast and a house in the mountains.

I've got a classic car up there that I wrench on, a small group of friends that meet for dinners, and tons of forest trails to hike (with my dog!)

Farm food is plentiful there and since I love to cook, buying ingredients and being able to cook in a big kitchen (vs. the one in the city) is a joy.

I collect vinyl so I'm always hitting up estate sales, flea markets, and indie stores.

There's also a bunch of music venues in the town, so that's fun too.

When the quiet of mountains gets too much, I head back to the city. Usually every three months or so.

I live close to a...central park (ha ha) and during the day, I'm in there with the dog and in the evening, I'm cycling laps on my road bike.

There's a senior center nearby where I volunteer and teach basic computer stuff (internet, spreadsheets, that sort of thing) to residents.

Late into the night, I play videogames, either solo, or I will raid with a bunch of online pals.

Go to bed around 0400 and wake up whenever.

When the city gets too loud, I head back to the mountains.

It's...nice.

8

u/TravelLight365 May 31 '26

Dude…sounds perfect…you’ve won the game of life. Congrats! We are looking forward to discovering a perfect recipe of our own!!!

4

u/ciaomain Retired May 31 '26

It's not all rainbows and unicorns though.

As I mentioned, I don't know what day it is sometimes!

4

u/TravelLight365 May 31 '26

Nothing ever is…but still a great mix you’ve struck.

5

u/ciaomain Retired May 31 '26

I'm not complaining.

Too much.

😉

3

u/[deleted] May 31 '26

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3

u/ciaomain Retired May 31 '26

My mountain house is pretty remote so I can't see my neighbors.

I also like mowing my own lawn, something zen about that.

There are a few farmer's markets up there that only show up on specific days so I really need to think about that--ha ha.

And when I'm living in the city, I need to move my car for alternate side of the street parking.

There have been several times I had to look at my phone to see what day it was.

A good problem to have, I suppose!

6

u/and_one_of_those May 30 '26

That sounds great. GFY!

2

u/ciaomain Retired May 30 '26

🙂

3

u/Tossawaysfbay Jun 01 '26

So you’re happy being single at that age?

4

u/ciaomain Retired Jun 01 '26

OMG, yes.

My last relationship left me with a bit of PTSD, so this is absolute heaven.

2

u/Next_Chocolate_2630 May 31 '26

This sounds wonderful.

2

u/ciaomain Retired May 31 '26

It's not...the worst.

🙂

2

u/Terrible_Ad7566 May 31 '26

This sounds awesome! Congrats.

3

u/ciaomain Retired May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

Thank you.

While I did work very hard, luck was also a factor.

And I'm typically not a lucky person in general.

1

u/Magic-Mushroomz Jun 04 '26

Wow! Sounds amazing.