The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[808blessing]

New to FIRE or shall I say new to calling it out explicitly. I’ve been stretching dollars ever since I lived on my own with financial aid as a low income college student. So happy to have found you all here. Debating to go back & read the whole thread to get to know everyone’s story. On page 4, 91 more to go!

I save about 45% of my take-home income. I don’t count DH $ cause he is on a different track, we have recently split our finances after merging them a little over a decade ago as we entered into marriage. I’m hard core and he is not. He has been supportive of my long-term goal but it is just not his goal. I also contribute toward a pension for a job I love in which I am about 5.5 years from FIRE. We save about 2/3 of my daughter’s college which she will need to figure out the difference via scholarships/part-time work when time comes (as I did with 0 savings). I will be retired and DH still working. We agreed on an additional amount that we will both contribute to pay down the mortgage- pretty much how fast I want it, a few years before she graduates HS, give or take a few months.

I live very lean enjoying the free things in life, unless it has to do with travel (miles/points for 12 years) or I occasionally spend on my social circle to appear I am not cheap and yet I hide Disney so I don’t appear extravagant. I realize I need to untangle those insecurities. I’m on the verge of coming out about FIRE if comes up in conversation but another part says, well they will know when I’ve retired early. Plus most of them are younger than me as DH is too, so I don’t know if they are planning that far ahead. Many of them let their husbands do the finances. I think this is part of my journey of authenticity and they will finally realize where all my quirks come from soon enough.
I have also been in denial about Disney being my happy place until quite recently (found DVC and now a lifer- I think!) so again so happy to have found both Disney and FIRE wrapped up in this thread. Great name for the thread. I just never clicked on it for a few months because I didn’t know what it was!

 

[dclpluto]

Seems like this will be a good place to ask these questions In my 401k I recently switch to half of it being in Roth. When I look at my 401k how much I have I don’t see where I can tell how much is Roth and how much is regular. I just see the whole amount like I normally see.
I have prudential anywhere to see?
another question I have recently been putting some in the 401k catch up since I’m 51. In my 401k catch up my employer has been putting in half of what I put in to the catch up. This is on top of the normal 5 percent that they put in. Im thinking it’s a mistake and they will see it someday and take it out. Anyone here of any employer putting half into the 401k catch-up?
I know if other places don’t have it I don’t see where my employer will have it. Thanks I looked on google couldn’t find these answers.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

New to FIRE or shall I say new to calling it out explicitly. I’ve been stretching dollars ever since I lived on my own with financial aid as a low income college student. So happy to have found you all here. Debating to go back & read the whole thread to get to know everyone’s story. On page 4, 91 more to go!

I save about 45% of my take-home income. I don’t count DH $ cause he is on a different track, we have recently split our finances after merging them a little over a decade ago as we entered into marriage. I’m hard core and he is not. He has been supportive of my long-term goal but it is just not his goal and he makes less. I also contribute toward a pension for a job I love in which I am about 5.5 years from FIRE. I save about 2/3 of my daughter’s college which she will need to figure out part-time work when time comes (as I did with 0 savings). I will be retired and DH still working. We agreed on an additional amount that will will both pay down the mortgage pretty much how fast I want it, a few years before she graduates college and working my RE, give or take a few months.

I live very lean enjoying the free things in life, unless it has to do with travel (been doing miles/points for 12 years) or I occasionally spend on my social circle, to appear I am not cheap and yet I hide Disney so I don’t appear extravagant. I realize I need to untangle those insecurities. I’m on the verge of coming out and telling them about FIRE comes up in conversation but another part says, well they will know when I’ve retired early. Plus most of them are younger than me as DH is too so I don’t know if they are planning that far ahead. Many of them let their husbands do the finances. I think this is part of my journey of authenticity and they will finally realize where all my quirks come from soon enough.
I have also been in denial about Disney being my happy place until quite recently (found DVC and now a lifer- I think!) so again so happy to have found both Disney and FIRE wrapped up in this thread. Great name for the thread. I just never clicked on it for a few months because I didn’t know what it was!

I'm still working on reading the whole thread, too! Good luck!

 

[elaine amj]

@808blessing Glad you joined us! I felt a bit awkward when I first retired (at 39) and didn't really announce it in a big way although my DH talked about throwing me a retirement party. I just messaged my close friends and close family to give them the heads up. I hadn't said too much to my parents or my brother (although they knew I had a minimalistic approach), but my close friends knew that I had been aiming for FIRE for a few years. All were happy for me.

Well, my mother is not a big fan - she believes in working to earn more money to enjoy more stuff. Not too keen on my "unproductive" FIRE life. But she doesn't say too much and is happy we are financially comfortable. In fact, she now lives with us and we cover everything (after her own finances took a hit). She does chip in occasionally on groceries and nice dinners, etc.

I didn't tell anyone at work though. I just said I needed time off (had a good excuse as my DH has been battling cancer). I don't think it is a good idea to tell work about FIRE - could affect career opportunities.

Eventually I became more comfortable telling random strangers and acquaintances. Pretty much everyone has been polite and encouraging. I just say I mostly want a simple life and that once I had enough, there was no point (to me) to keep earning more. I also add that I'm not into deprivation and have my $$ indulgences like WDW and travel. I just trim back on everything else.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I want to share this info with my FIRE friends.

It may not help you now, but it help you later.

We retired in our 50's and are self funding our lifestyle until 3 more pensions kick in at 60 and 62 years old.

Right now there is one modest pension coming in............and no full time or part time jobs........covid nixed being a substitute teacher for the past year.

Fannie Mae has changed the mortgage loan underwriting process and it makes us eligible to refinance our house with no cash out. We admittedly have about 50 percent equity in it. We also have strong credit.

Unlike in the past, they WILL count your retirement and non-retirement assets as a source of income. They have some sort of formula that takes about 90 percent of the assets value and then they plug in some sort of "draw down" percentage that is allowed to be used to determine eligibility.

We have been "qualified" for this loan and should be closing in a couple/few weeks.

5 or 10 years ago this would have never been possible, but now it is and I wanted to pass it on to you.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

@808blessing Glad you joined us! I felt a bit awkward when I first retired (at 39) and didn't really announce it in a big way although my DH talked about throwing me a retirement party. I just messaged my close friends and close family to give them the heads up. I hadn't said too much to my parents or my brother (although they knew I had a minimalistic approach), but my close friends knew that I had been aiming for FIRE for a few years. All were happy for me.

Well, my mother is not a big fan - she believes in working to earn more money to enjoy more stuff. Not too keen on my "unproductive" FIRE life. But she doesn't say too much and is happy we are financially comfortable. In fact, she now lives with us and we cover everything (after her own finances took a hit). She does chip in occasionally on groceries and nice dinners, etc.

I didn't tell anyone at work though. I just said I needed time off (had a good excuse as my DH has been battling cancer). I don't think it is a good idea to tell work about FIRE - could affect career opportunities.

Eventually I became more comfortable telling random strangers and acquaintances. Pretty much everyone has been polite and encouraging. I just say I mostly want a simple life and that once I had enough, there was no point (to me) to keep earning more. I also add that I'm not into deprivation and have my $$ indulgences like WDW and travel. I just trim back on everything else.

I exited my high stress executive job in November 2020. It was a business decision to do so and in the course of the decision, I realized how incredibly burnt out I was. Now at 43, I don't know that I'll ever work the grind again. I may do some consulting in the future if I feel inclined to do so.

Financially, we have zero debt, our mortgage is paid off and we maintain our lifestyle on my husband's sole income now. And life is so much more enjoyable for the whole family. I feel PRESENT. It's huge and it's been great for the entire family.

On the flip side, travel is important to us, so we put a healthy budget into that annually. I am very involved in travel/credit card churning (join us on the "I love credit cards so much v4" thread if interested). In 2021, we will vacation at a FL beach house, Hawaii, Cabo, Iceland, Grand Caymans (hopefully) and Disney World. We will pay for accommodations for extended family for several of those trips, because family time is important to us, and sharing our blessings is important to us.

I share all of this because the concept of "retiring" in one's 30s or 40s is so foreign to most of us and then when people see you traveling extensively, it can be very perplexing. As a female businesswoman, I haven't yet found my voice in being able to articulate that I choose not to work right now. So I really empathize with judgment (or perceived judgment) around this so-called unproductive FIRE life.

 

[elaine amj]

Oh well - it's more your business than theirs anyway. No point suffering just to please the naysayers. Enjoy your FIREd life!

While my mother wasn't too keen (although she refrained from commenting much), my husband was very proud of me when I FIREd. In the beginning I was very uncomfortable talking about it but he kept telling anyone and everyone! Now I tell ppl, but I generally am fairly quiet about it. And of course, since covid hit, we have been locked down tight for well over a year now.

It does feel rather weird with 3 non-working adults in the house (DH, my mother and I). We have been living very quietly and I really like the relaxed pace. Especially since all 3 of us have various forms of physical limitations these days - it often feels like we can barely keep the household chugging along as is. I have no clue where I would find time to work lol.

 

[Sjm9911]

Ok since im still around , lol. And really havent followed fire, but did save a little. I went through my finances and have decided. So , i will work at least 5 more years, god willing, and then retire at like 53. Not bad for someone that only heard of fire last year. But i dont need a lot. I can probably retire earlier, but when i ran the $$$, it made more sense to qork and save a bit more. My daughter will still be young, 14 , when i retire, but the next five years will build up her collage fund. After that i think im good. So while not exactly retireing at like 40 with millions in the bank, ill be ok.

 

[RamblingMad]

Ok since im still around , lol. And really havent followed fire, but did save a little. I went through my finances and have decided. So , i will work at least 5 more years, god willing, and then retire at like 53. Not bad for someone that only heard of fire last year. But i dont need a lot. I can probably retire earlier, but when i ran the $$$, it made more sense to qork and save a bit more. My daughter will still be young, 14 , when i retire, but the next five years will build up her collage fund. After that i think im good. So while not exactly retireing at like 40 with millions in the bank, ill be ok.

I'm aiming for 55 to have more than enough. This will give me a big cushion. I should hit my number at 50, but I'm good working to 55 to get me closer to 59.5. Time went by really fast. What I don't want to do is retire at the top of the market, experience a huge drawdown right at the beginning, and then figure it out. I also want to have more higher income years for social security. Right now, I still have my low income high school years in the mix.

 

[disfanforlife]

I'm aiming for 55 to have more than enough. This will give me a big cushion. I should hit my number at 50, but I'm good working to 55 to get me closer to 59.5. Time went by really fast. What I don't want to do is retire at the top of the market, experience a huge drawdown right at the beginning, and then figure it out. I also want to have more higher income years for social security. Right now, I still have my low income high school years in the mix.

I was planning on retiring this year but have decided I want to work until the end of 2022, my DH hasn’t decided yet. I was wondering about social security too. We are 54 & 55 and don’t plan to draw until 67 to get the higher benefit. But if we don’t work for 10 plus years between now and then does that change the monthly amount?

 

[dvcgirl67]

Welcome to this thread! You'll "see" a lot of the same faces from your spending thread. We try to be judgement-free (all of us have made mistakes along the way), and will talk to anyone, anywhere on their FIRE journey.

I'm going to discuss travel generally, and my apologies if these are things that I've mentioned earlier in this very long thread. My MIL had a butt-load of money, and when my kids were younger, she would frequently treat us to Disney vacations. When she went, we were all on the Premium plan--it included park hoppers, all meals (incl. tax, tip, apps, specialty drinks, etc.), water parks, mini-golf, you name it. Everything but alcohol. MIL was a world traveler--she took our nieces to Alaska, paid for my oldest to go to Spain and Peru, and travelled all over the world herself.

MIL died in 2017. DH inherited half of her estate, including 7(I think) IRAs that required yearly RMDs. His withdrawal amount is based on the balance and his life expectancy. We have agreed that, to honor his mother, we use this money for family travel. Typically, this means a week at a ranch each summer, then a big blowout trip every other year. The ranch is non-negotiable--MIL used to pay for the entire family to go each year, and my kids wouldn't ever consider skipping it. For the blowout trips: in 2018, we did a luxury tour of Europe (London, Paris, Rome). In 2020, we were supposed to do a Baltic cruise, but instead we did...nothing. Because, pandemic. But, that leaves us plenty of pent-up demand (and money) for 2022's luxury trip to Hawaii (13 days, 4 islands). Hawaii is important to us because DH's father died there in 1990. I promised him, way back then, that one day, we'd bring our kids to see the paradise that his parents loved so much. Well, next year is the year.

So, that's our travel strategy. While saving is important, enjoying yourself along the way is also important. I think you could fit Disney into a FIRE plan, just like you could fit in an expensive hobby or a second home or whatever is important to you--you just have to budget for it, and recognize that there are trade-offs. Are you willing to give up, say, a newer car or restaurant meals in order to budget for Disney? Or swap several smaller trips for one big "wowza!" trip? Totally your choice--do what works for you.

I love this post and I am sure your MIL would be thrilled to know that you are honoring her legacy with wonderful experiences through travel.

This is a very interesting thread. I follow some of the influencers in the FIRE movement...listen to the ChooseFI podcast, and they have had all of the big hitters in that world on there at one time or another. I don't remember when the term FIRE became a thing, but it really seemed to become a *Thing* about 4-5 years ago it seems. My husband and I were just shooting for financial independence initially. In our 30s, we were hell bent on retiring at 40. At the time I was still working as a registered nurse (in critical care), and my husband was climbing the ladder with a very large software company working an insane amount of hours per week. At that time of our lives, we were enjoying life, but also living quite frugally and were saving 60% of our net income. We usually took a two week vacation to Europe and even on our vacations really pushed to see as much as we could. We almost always stayed in 3 star hotels...I was a big Rick Steves fan, and found some gems along the way, others...not as great. I cherish those memories, but even on our vacations, it felt like we were going a million miles an hour.

By the time we were in our late 30s, I had switched careers entirely, left nursing and started a small business in the service sector. My husband left his software job and we moved to Orlando where he and two others were launching a start-up. The other two partners lived in Florida....one on the east coast, and one on the west coast....so we chose the middle and became the meeting place for the three of them. We were pretty big Disney fans at that time and thought it would be fun to live near the parks. We enjoyed our time in Florida for the most part, but for us (and I know this isn't the case for everyone)....living near Disney spoiled the "magic' for us. But...that's ok, because the start-up was a big success and was quickly purchased by a larger company, and because my husband was the technical brains behind the start-up, they offered him a position. He negotiated so that he could work from home, and we moved back to NJ. That was in 2007....and we've been here ever since. I started the same type of business here and it's also been successful.

So, while we really thought we wanted to retire, what we realized was that we weren't ready.....we just hated our jobs. We hit our FI number in our early 40s, which was the original plan, but we were enjoying what we were doing. By our mid-40s, after some consultation with a friend who is a fee-only CFP, we began to let our foot off the gas a bit with respect to how much we were saving/investing. We knew we'd likely work into our 50s because our parents were getting older and we felt like we'd need to hang around until at least then if they needed assistance from us. However, we did back off how much we were saving in order to increase lifestyle a bit. We still save 35% of gross which is 45% of net, but backing off has allowed us to take nicer vacations, which we both really, really enjoy. I'll still look for deals, but we will definitely splurge here and there. Like most people, we didn't travel during the pandemic. We had a really nice two week trip to South Africa planned for May of 2020...and it's only just recently that I got most of the land portion of that trip back. Thankfully we got the airfare by disputing the charges on our AMEX card. I just booked an 8 night stay in Puerto Rico at a 5 star and got a nice deal on the hotel, and a nice fare on business class as well.

Now I am 53 and my husband is 52 and while we hit FI in our early 40s, our FI number changed a bit because we started to enjoy splurging a bit on travel. Now, at our ages...we could retire now, but....my Father is quite ill with end-stage COPD. I have another sister here in NJ and another in NC, and I won't leave her with the responsibility of dealing with my parents and the extra help they need. My husband's parents are older...at 87 and 89. My MIL has had two small strokes and is slowing down, but my FIL is an *amazing* 89...and I think he could easily live into his 100s. He takes vitamins....and that's it. He's not on any medication at all. So, we're kind of watching to see how things will go there.

I will say that the pandemic has changed us both for sure. My business was hit very hard (service business), but is recovering now, still not where it was, but has the promise to do so by the end of this year. I still work in the day to day operations but I'd like to build it and eventually bring in a manager to essentially take over my role. It provides a lot of passive income and we can manage that far into retirement. My husband has never voiced an actual desire to completely stop working...until this pandemic. As a remote employee for a Fortune 100 company (he left the job that resulted from his start-up a few years back).....he had an intense work year with the pandemic. Just a lot more work and more hectic deadlines (more than usual anyway). He was compensated well for this last year (big bonus), but for the first time in his working life, he has said he thinks he's close to ready to punch out. Then, that morphed into...well, I'm ready to at least be a "digital nomad". And that morphed into....well, maybe we could just move somewhere, rent there and rent out our house there. We both like that idea. But we have two older dogs with many health issues, and one young one. So for now, we'll continue as we are....but we have both acknowledged that we're ready for a new adventure. And that's exciting . My husband is also about 3/4 of the way through the process to establish dual citizenship in Italy. And so long-term travel in Europe is also a part of our FIRE plan for sure.

I just scrolled the last few pages of this thread, and enjoyed seeing what all of you are up to....and impressed with the level of knowledge you all have. Seems like we follow a lot of same people and read the same forums...like the bogleheads...etc. It's always refreshing to me to read about the financial lives of others. I don't think we talk about it enough in our society/culture for the most part. No matter where we were on the FI spectrum, I loved reading about people who were just beginning, and those who were far ahead of me and in the place I hoped to be one day. I hope to pick up some good tips over here .

 

[georgina]

I was planning on retiring this year but have decided I want to work until the end of 2022, my DH hasn’t decided yet. I was wondering about social security too. We are 54 & 55 and don’t plan to draw until 67 to get the higher benefit. But if we don’t work for 10 plus years between now and then does that change the monthly amount?

Your SS amount is based on 35 years of earnings. So assuming you are earning more now than you were 35 years ago, working longer would increase your benefit -

We base Social Security benefits on your lifetime earnings. We adjust or “index” your actual earnings to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then, Social Security calculates your average indexed monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most.

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf

 

[disfanforlife]

Your SS amount is based on 35 years of earnings. So assuming you are earning more now than you were 35 years ago, working longer would increase your benefit -

We base Social Security benefits on your lifetime earnings. We adjust or “index” your actual earnings to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then, Social Security calculates your average indexed monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most.

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf

Thanks for that info. Does it matter that there is a gap of no earning at all though? If I stop working at 55 and then do not collect until 67 - that is 12 years of no earnings. Does that effect it? Or it is still just averaged over the 35 years of highest earnings?

 

[RamblingMad]

I was planning on retiring this year but have decided I want to work until the end of 2022, my DH hasn’t decided yet. I was wondering about social security too. We are 54 & 55 and don’t plan to draw until 67 to get the higher benefit. But if we don’t work for 10 plus years between now and then does that change the monthly amount?

Social Security uses 35 years of income to figure out your benefits. If you don’t have 35 years, then zero is used for those missing years. I worked while in high school, so I have close to 35 years now. But I didn’t make much those high school years.

The social security website assumes you’ll work until you collect your benefits. So my assumption would be that you would collect less than the number on their site. I have no clue how much less. I’m aiming to start mine at 70. This might change depending on my health.

The other deterrent is medical costs up until you can start Medicare.

Combine the above. And that’s why I’m choosing to work longer.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Regarding SS: It's good to calculate the bend points in the SS curve and see where you are. Quick summary is that you get a 90% ROI up to the first bend point, 32% ROI up to the 2nd, and 15% ROI after that. Working extra years up to the first bend is very worthwhile but once past the 2nd it is very much diminishing returns.

Physician on Fire has an article explaining it along with a calculator to run your numbers:
https://www.physicianonfire.com/ssa2017/
The spreadsheet also allows you to calculate your monthly benefits which is pretty useful.

Now I am 53 and my husband is 52 and while we hit FI in our early 40s, our FI number changed a bit because we started to enjoy splurging a bit on travel.

I'm not sure how you budgeted the travel but one thing to keep in mind is "slow travel" is much more cost efficient than normal vacations. You can airbnb a condo on Oahu for 2k/month, your airfare is the same cost as before, with a month you'll likely cook more and eat out less, etc. I only mention this because I find most people grossly overestimate the cost of travel in retirement.

I was planning on retiring this year but have decided I want to work until the end of 2022, my DH hasn’t decided yet. I was wondering about social security too. We are 54 & 55 and don’t plan to draw until 67 to get the higher benefit. But if we don’t work for 10 plus years between now and then does that change the monthly amount?

Something to look into but the general thinking I hear is for the lower earner to claim early and the higher earner to delay until 67. This allows the spouse to claim the higher benefits in the event of death.

 

[Alexle2007]

Thanks for that info. Does it matter that there is a gap of no earning at all though? If I stop working at 55 and then do not collect until 67 - that is 12 years of no earnings. Does that effect it? Or it is still just averaged over the 35 years of highest earnings?

It is averaged to make up 35 years whatever that looks like for your highest 35 years of earnings. If you don’t to 35 years then it adds $0 for any missing years. So if you worked 16-30 (15 yr), take a break to be a SAHM for 15 years, work 46-55 (10 yr), break again until retirement then you have 25 years of earning, 10 years of $0 to get the 35 years that will be averaged. It’s a bit more complex due to spouse benefits and widow’s benefits and other factors. SSA has calculators on their website and you can open an a myssa.gov account that will give you access to your information.

 

[disfanforlife]

It is averaged to make up 35 years whatever that looks like for your highest 35 years of earnings. If you don’t to 35 years then it adds $0 for any missing years. So if you worked 16-30 (15 yr), take a break to be a SAHM for 15 years, work 46-55 (10 yr), break again until retirement then you have 25 years of earning, 10 years of $0 to get the 35 years that will be averaged. It’s a bit more complex due to spouse benefits and widow’s benefits and other factors. SSA has calculators on their website and you can open an a myssa.gov account that will give you access to your information.

Thanks so much for this information. I am going to check that out. I do have 35 years already although only 31 were full time.

 

[disfanforlife]

Regarding SS: It's good to calculate the bend points in the SS curve and see where you are. Quick summary is that you get a 90% ROI up to the first bend point, 32% ROI up to the 2nd, and 15% ROI after that. Working extra years up to the first bend is very worthwhile but once past the 2nd it is very much diminishing returns.

Physician on Fire has an article explaining it along with a calculator to run your numbers:
https://www.physicianonfire.com/ssa2017/
The spreadsheet also allows you to calculate your monthly benefits which is pretty useful.

I'm not sure how you budgeted the travel but one thing to keep in mind is "slow travel" is much more cost efficient than normal vacations. You can airbnb a condo on Oahu for 2k/month, your airfare is the same cost as before, with a month you'll likely cook more and eat out less, etc. I only mention this because I find most people grossly overestimate the cost of travel in retirement.

Something to look into but the general thinking I hear is for the lower earner to claim early and the higher earner to delay until 67. This allows the spouse to claim the higher benefits in the event of death.

That is a good point. But my I like my job more than my DH does, that is the reason he might retire sooner than me.

 

[disfanforlife]

Social Security uses 35 years of income to figure out your benefits. If you don’t have 35 years, then zero is used for those missing years. I worked while in high school, so I have close to 35 years now. But I didn’t make much those high school years.

The social security website assumes you’ll work until you collect your benefits. So my assumption would be that you would collect less than the number on their site. I have no clue how much less. I’m aiming to start mine at 70. This might change depending on my health.

The other deterrent is medical costs up until you can start Medicare.

Combine the above. And that’s why I’m choosing to work longer.

I am the same. Worked in HS but didn't make as much back then. Nor did I make as much in my earlier years of work. But I don't have any years that I didn't work, so that is a good thing for the average I suspect. I am not sure exactly when we will start to draw. I am aiming for 67 to get full benefits but depending on our health and the rest of our assets we could decide to put it off until 70 too.

 

[disfanforlife]

Your SS amount is based on 35 years of earnings. So assuming you are earning more now than you were 35 years ago, working longer would increase your benefit -

We base Social Security benefits on your lifetime earnings. We adjust or “index” your actual earnings to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then, Social Security calculates your average indexed monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most.

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf

Thank you so much for that information. I had even been contemplating retiring this year. I am glad that I decided to continue to work because we couldn't travel or do much the past year and now I realized I am not ready to leave work yet anyways!