Being Financially Independent as a Team | Can I Retire Yet?

What will you with your time once you retire early?

We know you've wanted to hear more from early retirees, so today we interview Chris, who retired at the age of 41 after working for 15 years as a physical therapist, and now lives in Utah with his wife and daughter.

You'll love his story.

We also chat about...

His job as a physical therapist
His emotions when leaving his job
Moving from Pennsylvania to Utah
What he's currently doing with his time
Figuring out the healthcare situation
His plans for the future

Enjoy this chat with Chris, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Show notes and links from today's episode

Blog: Can I Retire Yet?
Episode: How to Learn from Mistakes and Turn Your Life Around with Joel from FI180.com
Article: Does FIRE Make Life Harder?
Article: Are Health Care Sharing Ministries A Viable Alternative To Health Insurance For Early Retirement?
Article: Navigating ACA Tax Credits to Purchase Affordable Health Insurance
Article: Exploring the Pros and Cons of Retiring Before Your Spouse
Article: A Week In The Life of a FIRE Household
Article: Order of Operations for Tax Advantaged Investing

Key takeaways from our chat with Chris
1 - You can have a great job and still want to leave
Chris had a great job as a physical therapist. He worked at the same company for 15 years, and found the job very rewarding. He would experience every one of his patients getting better, and was working in a family atmosphere between workers. Even though he was very lucky with his working conditions, he tells us was ready for a change. There was a lot of bureaucracy and the repetitiveness made the job a little mundane. In any case, his last day on the job was full of emotion since he felt both happy and sad. As he says, leaving your job is rarely a black/white situation.
2 - What Chris does with his time
As an early retiree Chris spends most of his time outside. He moved from Pennsylvania to Utah with his wife and daughter to really live right in the middle of nature. During the winter he goes skiing 4-5 days a week, and during the summer he spends his time hiking on trails. He truly is able to go out every day, and in addition has now taken up blogging and writing. He has time to take care of his daughter, and has the freedom to do as he wishes.
3 - Being FI as a team
Chris' wife is still working remotely, since she enjoys her job and doesn't feel the need to retire. They are now working as a team and have made up their own rules when it comes to managing the family. They're currently living off Chris' wife income, which in turn allows their investments to grow until she decides to leave. They've also switched their mindset to investing their money in the right accounts, and not only in tax advantaged vehicles. Although one spouse being retired while the other one works is a very much debated topic, Chris explains that they are a team, and each person is in charge of different aspects of the household.
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