Tag Archives: Introduction

Last night, we went to a 40th surprise party with a bunch of Mr. PFL’s friends. Some of these guys he’s known since second grade. As we were catching up with some folks, Mr. PFL talked about how he is planning to be done working by March 1, 2016 and how much he dislikes his current job. He referenced the blog at RetireBy40.org as it is a fairly accurate portrayal of how he is feeling about working in corporate America. Thankfully, Mr. PFL hasn’t needed to take medical leave, but he is just as dissatisfied and relates to that blogger’s story.

Mr. PFL went on to tell his old friends that we were making plans to basically retire and travel. It is a difficult concept to grasp, probably because it is so uncommon. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. Mr. PFL’s friends brainstormed options for employment for him that is outside of corporate America; Mr. PFL had to confirm numerous times that he will not actually have to work anymore. There was still disbelief at the end of the night.

Now that we’ve shared our plan with actual human beings, I feel like I need to start taking concrete steps to reach our goal. I need a list. I need to figure out what questions to ask. I also need to keep working at my job that I don’t enjoy most days.

Only 17 1/3 months to go!

For the last few days, I’ve been asking myself: “Why a blog?”

Mr. PFL and I are fairly private, especially online. I rarely post to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Mr. PFL doesn’t even have a Facebook account. Our friends and families can see that we live in a nice house and generally know that we have rental properties, but there isn’t anyone with whom we’ve really shared our true financial well-being.

Since Mr. PFL’s 41st birthday earlier this year, he has been extremely dedicated to moving away from working his 9-5. We’ve discussed moving abroad or traveling the USA in a camper. These are goals that we can actually achieve, and fairly soon. We’ve both spent time looking online for information and advice. In doing so, we’ve run across numerous blogs. Some situations are similar to ours, but no one is in exactly the same boat. Each blog has had some useful information or provided some inspiration. So, one reason for this blog is my hope that someone out there may find some useful information or inspiration for their own life.

But, if I’m being honest with myself, I think the true reason for writing this blog is because it feels good to share this journey with someone other than just Mr. PFL, albeit anonymously. I simply don’t know who in my life I would feel comfortable discussing these issues with. I believe that it would be easier to tell our family that “We are declaring bankruptcy” than “We have enough money to quit our jobs and travel.” Our families generally live much closer to the paycheck-to-paycheck, when am I ever going to retire?!, side of the financial coin than the financial independence side. I think they’d understand a bankruptcy, but I don’t know how they will understand our ability to quit the 9-5. How will this change our family dynamics? What will their new expectations be? Will they ask us for money? Call us cheapskates? Think we are selfish? Be jealous? I’m not ready, emotionally, to deal with these issues.

I do hope that as we become more certain in our future, that we will be able to discuss our plans with our friends and family. I would love for them to stop by this blog in the future to learn about our journey, and maybe to learn something from our journey. For now, though, I’ll just continue writing.

Yesterday, September 13, 2014, after updating our accounts and property values, Mr. PFL and I discovered that our household net worth is over $1,000,000. It feels surreal.

I, Mrs. PFL, and Mr. PFL met in September 2005. We married in January 2010. I’m now 35 (actually 37), he’s 41 (actually 43). We live in Ohio. My primary job is as a lawyer, sole proprietor. He is a computer guy for a fortune 500. No kids. Currently one cat.

Mr. PFL’s life goal has been to be a millionaire by the time he is 40 and then retire. My original life goal was to be independently wealthy enough by 35 to stay at home and raise children. We are not planning to have children, and Mr. PFL is still working, so our goals have been modified, but these long-range goals have inspired us to get where we are today.

So, how did we do it? What are we going to do now? What have we learned? What lessons are available for you? When will we be living paycheck-free? I plan to explore all of these issues as we move forward. I’m glad to have you along for the ride.