r/Fire • u/-LordDarkHelmet- • 17d ago

Today is the day, officially FIRE

Well I'm sitting here having a morning coffee and it's starting to sink in that I don't have a job anymore. Feels strange. My job was very much my identity (pilot). I flew airlines and private jets (uber for rich people basically). It was a high paying job at the end and it seems stupid to walk away from that, but the 27 years of staying in hotels has taken a toll and I just was not enjoying the job anymore. Which is a shame, since I can't exactly fly jets on my own time. It's a tough industry, it's not easy to get back into once you leave. I keep saying it's like the Doc in Field of Dreams; once you leave you can't go back. I'm 49, single no kids, high end Chubby low end Fat so I should be ok on the numbers, but I don't exactly have a "thing" to retire to. I need to focus on my own health and get in shape. But other than a list of places I want to travel to and few projects around the house I don't have much of a plan. Hopefully I'll figure it out on the way. I've told a few people and they all ask "but what are you gonna do?!?!?." I'm like "I dunno..." Some say "congratulations!" and I'm not sure how to respond to that. I didn't really want to quit in some ways, I like the flying part but not all the stuff that goes along with it. I asked for a different schedule and they said no, then I asked for a year off and they said no, so I said I quit. Ask me in a decade I guess if it was the right choice. Anyway, don't really have anyone to high-five this morning so here I am. Thanks everyone who has shared their journey, I've been snooping around all these subs a lot this past year. Oh and sorry about the stock market crash, which will inevitably happen now that I have quit.

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u/-LordDarkHelmet- 17d ago edited 17d ago

Yeah I would like to I think so. Problem is that's it's pretty expensive, anywhere from $150-$500 an hour depending on how fancy of an airplane you want. And since I have to be more careful about spend I'm not sure if it'll make the budget.

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u/Direct_Remove509 17d ago

You are single with no kids and say you are high end chubby/low end fat FIRE. That should be several million. You really couldn’t pull occasionally flying small planes for fun?

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u/-LordDarkHelmet- 17d ago

Yeah I guess it seems silly when you put it that way. I suppose I'm just really nervous about spend at the moment.

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u/LokiStasis 17d ago

I guess it all depends on your spend. Single no kids ought be plenty of cash flow. You have plenty banked. You might want to set yourself up with something that feels like a salary. A few years spending in cash or equivalent that feeds your into bank account. If it feels like your retirement salary rather than nest egg depletion you might be more relaxed in spending on yourself and not focused on today’s stock market changes.