Thanks for stopping by and welcome to our site! We look forward to telling you our story through this blog—sharing our experiences as we get closer to a productive, well-thought-out retirement.
First things first, a little about us: we are Bryan and Dianne, a 50- and 40-something couple who has worked diligently for years toward the goal of retiring early. We lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and dreamt of relocating to Sedona, Arizona. Nearly four years ago, that dream came true for us!
Our story started nine years ago, when we met in a yoga class. We were both living in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time. We started dating and ultimately got married in 2008. We shared common goals, including becoming debt free and relocating to Sedona, Arizona. It took a lot of work and planning, and of course some struggle, to realize our goals.
Our dream was to achieve financial independence and quickly! How could that possibly happen with Dianne giving up a secure job of 17 years? Also, I had just joined a new employer six months earlier, working in a telecommuter position that was location independent.
It took a lot of planning and trade-offs, and we certainly faced never-ending choices to finally get to the point of relocating to Sedona. Over those years we faced our fears and doubts in order to solidify our passive income stream. We’ve been on a debt snowball for nearly nine years—talk about an epic journey!
I have read nearly every personal finance book out there and talked at length about different plans and strategies to get out of debt, to obtain that elusive freedom of financial independence. Much of my spare time has been spent reading personal finance blogs and trying to stay motivated.
In 2011 we left California and did not look back.
From an overall net worth perspective, we are financially independent right now. The age-old problem we are experiencing, however, is being satisfied with our passive income and making the leap away from our employers. We keep thinking perhaps it’s going to be just one more year! I’ve been saying that for the past 15 years now. Something has to change.
So this blog is our attempt to share some of the challenges that we have faced in pursuing financial independence. We hope that people in our situation can relate to the decisions and choices one has to make to escape the rat race earlier than age 65. We’re at the pivot point now of deciding to pull the trigger and actually make the jump from “working for the man.”
If you have been in a career for years, saving with retirement looming—and it’s getting closer—and you are feeling disillusioned with the process, we think you may find this blog interesting.
We hope to share with you our journey as we face these decisions and our strategies for beginning retirement.
Welcome!
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