About

August 2015

Hello, my name is Jim and and welcome to my blog.

I’m intending this site is going to be about Financial Independence and Retiring Early (FIRE) for folks in the UK. But I’ll see how it goes. Hopefully I can add something of value to the growing community of bloggers on this subject who are blogging enthusiastically and passionately about their plans to attain their FIRE goals and live a life of their choosing.

Me, I think I was lucky to become Financially Independent and Retired Early because it wasn’t really my plan. It certainly helped that  (a) I am tight (b) I discovered The Motley Fool and started to manage my money about twenty years ago and (c) I am very tight.

The concept of Early Retirement as a goal hadn’t really resonated with me until about four years ago when I came across Jacob Fisker’s site, Early Retirement Extreme. In the way The Fool made me think differently about money, ERE made me think differently about the world of work and seemed to offer some concrete alternatives to it. And, when I found ERE, I was beginning to really struggle with the corporate life, which focused me on aiming to step out of it. After all, “When the student is ready, a teacher will appear”.

In the end, I attained the goal of Retiring Early when I was made redundant from work. More about that in the blog, probably. It soon struck me that although I had “Financial”, “Independence” and “Early” nailed down, I hadn’t quite thought through “Retirement”. My blog is an attempt to work that through!

Update 2016

After a year of “struggling a bit with Early Retirement”, and documenting some of this on my blog, I returned to full-time employment. Much as I had enjoyed my year out, I just wasn’t ready to exit the workplace, missing the social side of work, the mental stimulation and, to be honest, the security of a regular income. I decided, however, to keep the blog going in the hope that, one day, I might actually pen a post that covers the subjects of Sex, Health, Money and Death!

19 thoughts on “About”

  1. Good stuff…so glad to read a blog that I can relate to in so many ways! I especially enjoy the clever, slightly-twisted tone. You’ve a new follower!

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  4. Glad I found your blog. We, too, created the Encore Voyage when we were given “the opportunity to reinvent ourselves” by the hubs employer. Wasn’t in the plans at the time, but now we believe, “You know you’re on the right track when you become disinterested in looking back.” But it sure has taken some adjustment! I’ll be checking back often to read about your “voyage!”

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    • So glad all is well. I have known people keel over in their 50’s before getting a single day of retirement.
      Perhaps blogging is just a phase you needed to go through – I find one thing often leads to another – maybe a topic for a blog post? 🙂
      As an example of a life changing series of events for me. Two years ago I saw a recommendation you made on your site for Pavel Tsatsouline’s kettlebell book. I had never heard of a kettlebell so I bought the book. Having read it and bought a couple of kettlebells I started getting into my first proper exercise for many years. I then discovered a kettlebell class about 3 minutes of from my house. Next phase was the kettlebell class – really enjoyed the group activity and going 3 times a week transformed my fitness levels (from a very low point). Through the centre I was exposed to their other classes – next phase – Kickboxing!! That is a high intensity workout – no contact but plenty of hitting a bag (and skipping – ouch). I really enjoy it – short, sweet and exhausting (I am 54!). That left the only other class they run – Taekwondo! I started last summer – this is up a level again – full on! I am the oldest white belt in town, but they are the most supportive/friendly group to train with. I ended up entering a local competition and won a gold medal! Through that I qualified for the British Open! (For my age category/weight/level) and won another gold medal and am the current title holder!
      Sometimes I am concerned that I move through different phases/stages, but mostly I am happy that one thing leads to another.
      Apologies for long rambling message, just wanted you to know that you set a series of events in motion through the power of your blog and wanted to thank you for it.
      Take care
      Cheers

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      • Wow, great feedback Norrin, thanks for that! I still listen occasionally to Pavel and sometimes watch his videos. I find him pretty funny, but his exercises are not for sissies, as he would say. I’ve started a fitness class locally (for blokes in their fifties) and the social side is great, best thing about it. I’ve started thinking about joining some others and maybe your comment will help inspire me to do it. Maybe you should start a blog on Fitness for Fifties, and the benefits it brings. Thanks again for posting.

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  11. Agree strongly with previous commenters – your blog is one of the few I found a worthwhile read. I only stumbled on it after you’d stopped writing for it though, but I have read every post via Inoreader!

    Keep writing – you create a lot of value: your posts are just about the right length, have an interesting take on things, don’t get mired in the BS a lot of FIRE blogs indulge in, and are entertaining into the bargain.

    You are a great writer, and you don’t need to write about retirement (although your thoughts on it are interesting) to be a worthwhile read – I suspect a lot of your readers are already FI/RE anyway, or close to it.

    All the best!

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  12. Just checked back to see if anyone had heard anything from your good self and thankfully your fine. Yours was an excellent blog and the number of people checking back on you reflects the huge support you have. Hope you return to the blog but if not take care and make time to keep smelling the flowers !!

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