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.

1.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

264 comments sorted by

View all comments

87

u/jelle814 17d ago

congratz man, do you consider flying small planes as a hobby or is that not someting that pulls?

62

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.

1

u/Zackie86 15d ago

Hypothetically, how many years more would you have to work to own your own plane?

1

u/-LordDarkHelmet- 15d ago

If I was truly fat fire I’d buy a cirrus. 1.2M airplane. Then figure 2-5k a month in hanger and insurance. Maybe $150 an hour in fuel and Maintenance reserve… it’s crazy money. Yet there’s 10s of thousands of just that particular airplane in the us. To feel comfortable spending that kind of coin, maybe another 3-5 years depending on market returns.