nisiprius wrote: ↑Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:47 pm
After experiencing a life-threatening medical emergency.
This. I got the itch after having major medical issues following a botched "minor surgery" that led to me being out of work (on short term disability) for several months. During my recovery, the people that I had spent the least time with and generally de-prioritized (ie my extended family and childhood friends) came out of the woodwork to help my wife, kids, and I through what was a very difficult time. Heard from people that I had not spoken to in months, with many offering (and eventually acting on their offers) to come up and help out - not just idle expressions of support.
On the other hand, the people that I prioritized the highest and spent the most time with (ie work colleagues) were nowhere to be found. I had several high-priority activities going on when I got sick, and (despite my attempts) nobody was willing to pick up these activities in my absence which led to major plant issues later. In fact, during my absence the company had begun planning for a reorganization that ultimately resulted in dismemberment of my team. They had also hired a new engineering leader that was focused on reducing departmental costs, which - not coincidentally - led to the departure of many of the site's senior staff. This eventually included me.
My illness and its aftermath made me seriously question my priorities in life. I was considered to be a superstar performer at work before all of this happened, which I had (incorrectly) assumed would be a consideration during reorganization - but no dice. I also remember all of those "high priority" items that I had to work on that never actually got done, and yet - while it led to some plant problems - they were corrected and life went on. Ultimately nobody remembered much about it. This made me question why the heck I was spending so much time on this that apparently didn't matter very much, which ignoring / deprioritizing the people in my life that were truly important.
I remember speaking with my surgeon about how I was feeling mentally about everything, and he indicated that this was not uncommon among his patients that had been through major healthcare issues. So I'm not alone...
I eventually received a malpractice settlement from the issue that triggered all of this, and it was during my research into how to manage the money that I discovered this site and Mr Money Mustache. That's when I realized that the settlement - along with our prior LBYM behavior and our consistent savings in index funds over the years (before I even knew what BH was!) - made early retirement a real possibility. And so the planning began....
Right now, the new job is going relatively well - compensation is more than fair given what I do, and the boss is good and my hours are reasonable. That said, I've set very firm boundaries around work vs family time, and I also know that - if push comes to shove - I can leave my job anytime and financially be fine . Still not quite at "my number," but definitely not worried about where my next meal will come from or anything. My plan is to retire before I am 50 (currently mid 40's) and spend more time with family and hobbies, provided the market cooperates and my job continues to go well. If the job takes a turn for the worse, I'll either go into independent contracting or just adjust my discretionary spend to fit whatever I have saved at that point and call it retirement...