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earlyretirement
Participant[quote=scott-at-alumni]I have a slightly different perspective. My wife and I do well enough at our respective careers that we’ve always had one person home with the kids. We’ve been taking turns, on a 3- to 5-year timescale. I’m home with our kids right now. I do a bunch of volunteer work at the schools and for some other community projects.
The thing I worry about is this – what will our kids think of this? Do they think of me as retired? Lounging around the house?? When they were smaller, I spent plenty of time working 60-70 hour weeks on fun, cool projects at work and I loved it. And I think hard work carries you a long way. So I worry about my kids thinking life is easy, and relaxing, and you always have time for your kids, without realizing it took a bunch of sacrifice to get here and this hasn’t always been our lifestyle.
Yes, I want my kids to remember that I or my wife were always there for them when they were small.
But I also want them to remember that we both worked hard and loved our work.
So, when you think about retiring “to spend more time with your kids” think about the lessons they will learn watching you as well.
And remember, once they are 13, they won’t want to be seen in public with you anyway ;^)[/quote]
Scott,
What you mentioned is EXACTLY what I think a lot about as well. Funny you mention this as my wife and I were talking about this exact subject the other day.
Before they were born I worked insane hours and started a few businesses that were successful but they took long hard hours and a lot of investment of both time and money.
The past 4 years we’ve spent at least 100+ days each year traveling around the world (our 3 year old daughter has already been to 20+ countries if that gives you an idea on the travel schedule). Of course now that she started pre-school we will cut way down. But we will still travel over her holidays and summer vacations.
But I have the exact same worries as you do. I still work a few hours a day on the phone and internet. I have an office outside of the USA and employees there but I don’t go there much now. So I’m mostly working out of the house.
We don’t want them to think life is not about hard work and they will never know all the hard work that it took to get here. But part of why I think I’ll go back to work eventually is what you mentioned.
Kids learn a lot about just watching and the environment they are in. So you brought up a great point with this. We also don’t want our kids to think life is all fun and games and easy. We believe in being well traveled and showing them the world and giving them a good life but I also want them to know how important it is to work hard.
Do you plan on going back to work full-time? My wife also is a stay at home mom and we both plan on doing a lot of volunteer work at school. So we’re trying to find a happy balance…
Participant[quote=scott-at-alumni]I have a slightly different perspective. My wife and I do well enough at our respective careers that we’ve always had one person home with the kids. We’ve been taking turns, on a 3- to 5-year timescale. I’m home with our kids right now. I do a bunch of volunteer work at the schools and for some other community projects.
The thing I worry about is this – what will our kids think of this? Do they think of me as retired? Lounging around the house?? When they were smaller, I spent plenty of time working 60-70 hour weeks on fun, cool projects at work and I loved it. And I think hard work carries you a long way. So I worry about my kids thinking life is easy, and relaxing, and you always have time for your kids, without realizing it took a bunch of sacrifice to get here and this hasn’t always been our lifestyle.
Yes, I want my kids to remember that I or my wife were always there for them when they were small.
But I also want them to remember that we both worked hard and loved our work.
So, when you think about retiring “to spend more time with your kids” think about the lessons they will learn watching you as well.
And remember, once they are 13, they won’t want to be seen in public with you anyway ;^)[/quote]
Scott,
What you mentioned is EXACTLY what I think a lot about as well. Funny you mention this as my wife and I were talking about this exact subject the other day.
Before they were born I worked insane hours and started a few businesses that were successful but they took long hard hours and a lot of investment of both time and money.
The past 4 years we’ve spent at least 100+ days each year traveling around the world (our 3 year old daughter has already been to 20+ countries if that gives you an idea on the travel schedule). Of course now that she started pre-school we will cut way down. But we will still travel over her holidays and summer vacations.
But I have the exact same worries as you do. I still work a few hours a day on the phone and internet. I have an office outside of the USA and employees there but I don’t go there much now. So I’m mostly working out of the house.
We don’t want them to think life is not about hard work and they will never know all the hard work that it took to get here. But part of why I think I’ll go back to work eventually is what you mentioned.
Kids learn a lot about just watching and the environment they are in. So you brought up a great point with this. We also don’t want our kids to think life is all fun and games and easy. We believe in being well traveled and showing them the world and giving them a good life but I also want them to know how important it is to work hard.
Do you plan on going back to work full-time? My wife also is a stay at home mom and we both plan on doing a lot of volunteer work at school. So we’re trying to find a happy balance…
Participant[quote=scott-at-alumni]I have a slightly different perspective. My wife and I do well enough at our respective careers that we’ve always had one person home with the kids. We’ve been taking turns, on a 3- to 5-year timescale. I’m home with our kids right now. I do a bunch of volunteer work at the schools and for some other community projects.
The thing I worry about is this – what will our kids think of this? Do they think of me as retired? Lounging around the house?? When they were smaller, I spent plenty of time working 60-70 hour weeks on fun, cool projects at work and I loved it. And I think hard work carries you a long way. So I worry about my kids thinking life is easy, and relaxing, and you always have time for your kids, without realizing it took a bunch of sacrifice to get here and this hasn’t always been our lifestyle.
Yes, I want my kids to remember that I or my wife were always there for them when they were small.
But I also want them to remember that we both worked hard and loved our work.
So, when you think about retiring “to spend more time with your kids” think about the lessons they will learn watching you as well.
And remember, once they are 13, they won’t want to be seen in public with you anyway ;^)[/quote]
Scott,
What you mentioned is EXACTLY what I think a lot about as well. Funny you mention this as my wife and I were talking about this exact subject the other day.
Before they were born I worked insane hours and started a few businesses that were successful but they took long hard hours and a lot of investment of both time and money.
The past 4 years we’ve spent at least 100+ days each year traveling around the world (our 3 year old daughter has already been to 20+ countries if that gives you an idea on the travel schedule). Of course now that she started pre-school we will cut way down. But we will still travel over her holidays and summer vacations.
But I have the exact same worries as you do. I still work a few hours a day on the phone and internet. I have an office outside of the USA and employees there but I don’t go there much now. So I’m mostly working out of the house.
We don’t want them to think life is not about hard work and they will never know all the hard work that it took to get here. But part of why I think I’ll go back to work eventually is what you mentioned.
Kids learn a lot about just watching and the environment they are in. So you brought up a great point with this. We also don’t want our kids to think life is all fun and games and easy. We believe in being well traveled and showing them the world and giving them a good life but I also want them to know how important it is to work hard.
Do you plan on going back to work full-time? My wife also is a stay at home mom and we both plan on doing a lot of volunteer work at school. So we’re trying to find a happy balance…
Participant[quote=scott-at-alumni]I have a slightly different perspective. My wife and I do well enough at our respective careers that we’ve always had one person home with the kids. We’ve been taking turns, on a 3- to 5-year timescale. I’m home with our kids right now. I do a bunch of volunteer work at the schools and for some other community projects.
The thing I worry about is this – what will our kids think of this? Do they think of me as retired? Lounging around the house?? When they were smaller, I spent plenty of time working 60-70 hour weeks on fun, cool projects at work and I loved it. And I think hard work carries you a long way. So I worry about my kids thinking life is easy, and relaxing, and you always have time for your kids, without realizing it took a bunch of sacrifice to get here and this hasn’t always been our lifestyle.
Yes, I want my kids to remember that I or my wife were always there for them when they were small.
But I also want them to remember that we both worked hard and loved our work.
So, when you think about retiring “to spend more time with your kids” think about the lessons they will learn watching you as well.
And remember, once they are 13, they won’t want to be seen in public with you anyway ;^)[/quote]
Scott,
What you mentioned is EXACTLY what I think a lot about as well. Funny you mention this as my wife and I were talking about this exact subject the other day.
Before they were born I worked insane hours and started a few businesses that were successful but they took long hard hours and a lot of investment of both time and money.
The past 4 years we’ve spent at least 100+ days each year traveling around the world (our 3 year old daughter has already been to 20+ countries if that gives you an idea on the travel schedule). Of course now that she started pre-school we will cut way down. But we will still travel over her holidays and summer vacations.
But I have the exact same worries as you do. I still work a few hours a day on the phone and internet. I have an office outside of the USA and employees there but I don’t go there much now. So I’m mostly working out of the house.
We don’t want them to think life is not about hard work and they will never know all the hard work that it took to get here. But part of why I think I’ll go back to work eventually is what you mentioned.
Kids learn a lot about just watching and the environment they are in. So you brought up a great point with this. We also don’t want our kids to think life is all fun and games and easy. We believe in being well traveled and showing them the world and giving them a good life but I also want them to know how important it is to work hard.
Do you plan on going back to work full-time? My wife also is a stay at home mom and we both plan on doing a lot of volunteer work at school. So we’re trying to find a happy balance…
ParticipantI think there is some great posts on this thread. Definitely I will totally agree not to expect to spend less in retirement. If anything, we are spending MUCH more.
When you are so busy working (at least in my case) I was always in the office. Before I had kids, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to go in the office by 8 AM and still be in the office at 10 PM or later. I definitely stopped that once I had kids.
But when you’re working so much, you stay very busy and don’t have time to be out and about. In “early retirement” I find myself out more and spending more time out with the kids and at the store.
San Diego is also a GREAT place for a kid to grow up. Within weeks of moving here we got annual passes to the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld and are about ready to Legoland. Not only does all this stuff add up but more so just being out at places and everything adds up.
We are doing more traveling which is expensive. You might find yourself doing more activities (golfing, sporting events, etc).
Many people think they will cut back in retirement but often times that is not the case. With more free time you will find yourself going out more and just being out and about you spend money on little things. Before I might have gone to places like Jamba Juice once a week…now I go almost every day..ha ha.
While one example was particularly bad with a string of healthcare problems. Definitely you have to plan and account for worst case scenarios.
ParticipantI think there is some great posts on this thread. Definitely I will totally agree not to expect to spend less in retirement. If anything, we are spending MUCH more.
When you are so busy working (at least in my case) I was always in the office. Before I had kids, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to go in the office by 8 AM and still be in the office at 10 PM or later. I definitely stopped that once I had kids.
But when you’re working so much, you stay very busy and don’t have time to be out and about. In “early retirement” I find myself out more and spending more time out with the kids and at the store.
San Diego is also a GREAT place for a kid to grow up. Within weeks of moving here we got annual passes to the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld and are about ready to Legoland. Not only does all this stuff add up but more so just being out at places and everything adds up.
We are doing more traveling which is expensive. You might find yourself doing more activities (golfing, sporting events, etc).
Many people think they will cut back in retirement but often times that is not the case. With more free time you will find yourself going out more and just being out and about you spend money on little things. Before I might have gone to places like Jamba Juice once a week…now I go almost every day..ha ha.
While one example was particularly bad with a string of healthcare problems. Definitely you have to plan and account for worst case scenarios.
ParticipantI think there is some great posts on this thread. Definitely I will totally agree not to expect to spend less in retirement. If anything, we are spending MUCH more.
When you are so busy working (at least in my case) I was always in the office. Before I had kids, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to go in the office by 8 AM and still be in the office at 10 PM or later. I definitely stopped that once I had kids.
But when you’re working so much, you stay very busy and don’t have time to be out and about. In “early retirement” I find myself out more and spending more time out with the kids and at the store.
San Diego is also a GREAT place for a kid to grow up. Within weeks of moving here we got annual passes to the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld and are about ready to Legoland. Not only does all this stuff add up but more so just being out at places and everything adds up.
We are doing more traveling which is expensive. You might find yourself doing more activities (golfing, sporting events, etc).
Many people think they will cut back in retirement but often times that is not the case. With more free time you will find yourself going out more and just being out and about you spend money on little things. Before I might have gone to places like Jamba Juice once a week…now I go almost every day..ha ha.
While one example was particularly bad with a string of healthcare problems. Definitely you have to plan and account for worst case scenarios.
ParticipantI think there is some great posts on this thread. Definitely I will totally agree not to expect to spend less in retirement. If anything, we are spending MUCH more.
When you are so busy working (at least in my case) I was always in the office. Before I had kids, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to go in the office by 8 AM and still be in the office at 10 PM or later. I definitely stopped that once I had kids.
But when you’re working so much, you stay very busy and don’t have time to be out and about. In “early retirement” I find myself out more and spending more time out with the kids and at the store.
San Diego is also a GREAT place for a kid to grow up. Within weeks of moving here we got annual passes to the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld and are about ready to Legoland. Not only does all this stuff add up but more so just being out at places and everything adds up.
We are doing more traveling which is expensive. You might find yourself doing more activities (golfing, sporting events, etc).
Many people think they will cut back in retirement but often times that is not the case. With more free time you will find yourself going out more and just being out and about you spend money on little things. Before I might have gone to places like Jamba Juice once a week…now I go almost every day..ha ha.
While one example was particularly bad with a string of healthcare problems. Definitely you have to plan and account for worst case scenarios.
ParticipantI think there is some great posts on this thread. Definitely I will totally agree not to expect to spend less in retirement. If anything, we are spending MUCH more.
When you are so busy working (at least in my case) I was always in the office. Before I had kids, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to go in the office by 8 AM and still be in the office at 10 PM or later. I definitely stopped that once I had kids.
But when you’re working so much, you stay very busy and don’t have time to be out and about. In “early retirement” I find myself out more and spending more time out with the kids and at the store.
San Diego is also a GREAT place for a kid to grow up. Within weeks of moving here we got annual passes to the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld and are about ready to Legoland. Not only does all this stuff add up but more so just being out at places and everything adds up.
We are doing more traveling which is expensive. You might find yourself doing more activities (golfing, sporting events, etc).
Many people think they will cut back in retirement but often times that is not the case. With more free time you will find yourself going out more and just being out and about you spend money on little things. Before I might have gone to places like Jamba Juice once a week…now I go almost every day..ha ha.
While one example was particularly bad with a string of healthcare problems. Definitely you have to plan and account for worst case scenarios.
Participant[quote=UCGal]
I’ve got an option most don’t have… My husband and kids are in process of being recognized as dual Italian citizens… and some (not all) of the southern regions let you buy into the national healthcare for a very low amount ($1200/year vs per month). But as most of us know… Italy (and the other PIIGS countries) isn’t in the best fiscal shape… so I don’t feel confident banking on that solution to the budget busting healthcare.[/quote]
UCGal,
I dont’ know about Italy but I’m also in the same position as my kids have dual citizenship in the USA and also other countries as my wife is not from the USA and also my kids were born outside of the USA so they have 3 passports. In some countries there is guaranteed healthcare but to be honest the healthcare can be HORRIBLE so you still have to buy private insurance so best to check that out.
Also, it would be tough to work out the logistics if they had an emergency and needed healthcare. But definitely there are benefits to having dual citizenship. With my kids and where they were born, they can go to college free there if they wanted. But I doubt they would want to but always a nice option…. 🙂
Participant[quote=UCGal]
I’ve got an option most don’t have… My husband and kids are in process of being recognized as dual Italian citizens… and some (not all) of the southern regions let you buy into the national healthcare for a very low amount ($1200/year vs per month). But as most of us know… Italy (and the other PIIGS countries) isn’t in the best fiscal shape… so I don’t feel confident banking on that solution to the budget busting healthcare.[/quote]
UCGal,
I dont’ know about Italy but I’m also in the same position as my kids have dual citizenship in the USA and also other countries as my wife is not from the USA and also my kids were born outside of the USA so they have 3 passports. In some countries there is guaranteed healthcare but to be honest the healthcare can be HORRIBLE so you still have to buy private insurance so best to check that out.
Also, it would be tough to work out the logistics if they had an emergency and needed healthcare. But definitely there are benefits to having dual citizenship. With my kids and where they were born, they can go to college free there if they wanted. But I doubt they would want to but always a nice option…. 🙂
Participant[quote=UCGal]
I’ve got an option most don’t have… My husband and kids are in process of being recognized as dual Italian citizens… and some (not all) of the southern regions let you buy into the national healthcare for a very low amount ($1200/year vs per month). But as most of us know… Italy (and the other PIIGS countries) isn’t in the best fiscal shape… so I don’t feel confident banking on that solution to the budget busting healthcare.[/quote]
UCGal,
I dont’ know about Italy but I’m also in the same position as my kids have dual citizenship in the USA and also other countries as my wife is not from the USA and also my kids were born outside of the USA so they have 3 passports. In some countries there is guaranteed healthcare but to be honest the healthcare can be HORRIBLE so you still have to buy private insurance so best to check that out.
Also, it would be tough to work out the logistics if they had an emergency and needed healthcare. But definitely there are benefits to having dual citizenship. With my kids and where they were born, they can go to college free there if they wanted. But I doubt they would want to but always a nice option…. 🙂
Participant[quote=UCGal]
I’ve got an option most don’t have… My husband and kids are in process of being recognized as dual Italian citizens… and some (not all) of the southern regions let you buy into the national healthcare for a very low amount ($1200/year vs per month). But as most of us know… Italy (and the other PIIGS countries) isn’t in the best fiscal shape… so I don’t feel confident banking on that solution to the budget busting healthcare.[/quote]
UCGal,
I dont’ know about Italy but I’m also in the same position as my kids have dual citizenship in the USA and also other countries as my wife is not from the USA and also my kids were born outside of the USA so they have 3 passports. In some countries there is guaranteed healthcare but to be honest the healthcare can be HORRIBLE so you still have to buy private insurance so best to check that out.
Also, it would be tough to work out the logistics if they had an emergency and needed healthcare. But definitely there are benefits to having dual citizenship. With my kids and where they were born, they can go to college free there if they wanted. But I doubt they would want to but always a nice option…. 🙂
Participant[quote=UCGal]
I’ve got an option most don’t have… My husband and kids are in process of being recognized as dual Italian citizens… and some (not all) of the southern regions let you buy into the national healthcare for a very low amount ($1200/year vs per month). But as most of us know… Italy (and the other PIIGS countries) isn’t in the best fiscal shape… so I don’t feel confident banking on that solution to the budget busting healthcare.[/quote]
UCGal,
I dont’ know about Italy but I’m also in the same position as my kids have dual citizenship in the USA and also other countries as my wife is not from the USA and also my kids were born outside of the USA so they have 3 passports. In some countries there is guaranteed healthcare but to be honest the healthcare can be HORRIBLE so you still have to buy private insurance so best to check that out.
Also, it would be tough to work out the logistics if they had an emergency and needed healthcare. But definitely there are benefits to having dual citizenship. With my kids and where they were born, they can go to college free there if they wanted. But I doubt they would want to but always a nice option…. 🙂
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