Episode description

113R | Tanja Hester retired early 15 months ago and joins the show to share her experience of being work optional, Brad makes a decision about solar panels, and a review of Monday’s episode with Grant Sabatier.

• Brad shares some updates with his car malfunctions and follows up about his solar panel cost analysis.
• Brad anticipates a 9.6% return on his solar panel investment, compared to Brian’s 12.5% return in Rhode Island.
• Solar panels are expected to last for about 25 years.
• Message from Dan, who realized while listening to Monday’s episode with Grant Sabatier, that he is charging too little for his side hustle work, and paying too much in taxes.
• Sales is story telling – Grant figured out how to tell his story right and understand potential client’s needs.
• A message from Ben, who feels like building relationships with recruiters is more likely to get you job options that is $10-15k, compared to the $60-80k Grant mentioned.
• You’re unlikely to get a big pay bump by staying with the same company; getting a significant jump usually requires moving jobs.
• Maybe you don’t need a budget, but you do need to know what your life costs.
• Tanja Hester, author of Work Optional, joins the show:
• • How did Tanja change from wanting to stick with her career forever, to choosing early retirement?
  • Took Tanja and her husband about 6 years to reach early retirement.
  • It’s hard to know your “why of FI”, but moving into early retirement requires some life planning.
  • After 15 months, is early retirement meeting Tanja’s expectations?
  • Whether you’re retiring at 45 or 65, the transition is still very similar; we all have a desire to matter and contribute.
  • What are Tanja and Mark pursuing now that allows them to contribute?
  • What things should people be considering in order to make their retirement plan bullet proof?
  • • A variety of different retirement options, aside from full retirement.
    • One-phase or two-phase retirement – should you plan differently for your expenses and savings before and after the traditional retirement age?
    • Does 25x and/or 4% work for you?
    • When and how to cut your spending?
  • It’s always better to over save.
  • Tanja’s FI calculations don’t include social security, as there’s a possible it could change.
  • Most retirees spend about $300k on medical expenses, beyond Medicare.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/113R