I walked away from a well-paying job on Valentine’s Day without a definitive plan of what was next to come. I just knew it was time, and I’ve stopped trying to unknow what I know. When asked why I was leaving, two reasons were provided. 1) It was time to follow my heart and 2) The people I had strived to serve for the past 11 years would always hold a place in my heart; there was no more appropriate day to depart.

At a meeting with my financial planner last year, it was suggested I was on track to (somewhat) comfortably retire in 5 years. That would have been on or after my birthday in 2023. What does it mean to comfortably retire? Generally, it means having worked, invested and accumulated financial resources substantial enough to do whatever one’s heart desires for the remainder of days.

From this place…