5 Years to Retirement: My Plan, My Why, and a Lot of Dogs

I work in a male-dominated field—engineering and manufacturing. It’s not always glamorous, and it hasn’t always been kind. But I’ve been doing it for 15 years.

Back in college, I worked at a boba smoothie joint. Every rude customer reminded me why I was working so hard to finish my degree: so I wouldn’t have to stay in that job forever. That job fueled my drive to become an engineer.

I started out ambitious—like, climb-the-corporate-ladder-and-become-CEO ambitious. My grandpa used to ask me when I was going to run the company, and for a while, I thought that’s what I wanted too. I worked my way up to Senior Engineering Manager.

But the higher I climbed, the more I realized this industry isn’t built for long-term well-being. The stress is constant, the pace is unforgiving, and I’ve watched colleagues—especially those in leadership—burn out or face serious health issues. High blood pressure, prediabetes, even heart problems… I’ve seen it all. It became clear to me that when it comes down to it, companies aren’t going to protect your health or your future. So I made a choice: I’m going to take care of myself before it becomes a necessity.

Now, every time I have a hard day—or deal with a toxic male coworker—I tell myself: One day closer to retirement.

The Plan: Freedom by August 2030

I’ve been planning my retirement since I was 29. My husband thinks I’m a little nuts, but I’ve got spreadsheets to back me up.

We live in Southern California and want to stay here when we retire, even though manufacturing is slowly disappearing from the state. Over the last decade, I’ve watched multiple plants shut down—including two that issued WARN notices I lived through firsthand. That taught me the importance of having a plan.

Here’s ours:

✅ We maxed out both our 401(k)s until we hit our “magic number” for retirement.
✅ We’ve fully funded our retirement accounts—but we can’t touch that money without penalty until we’re 59 1/2 .
✅ Now we’re focused on the gap years: building up liquid cash to bridge us from retirement to when we can access our 401(k)s.
✅ We’ve saved over a year’s worth of living expenses in accessible funds, just in case we both lose our jobs.

At this point, we’re basically working just to pay off our mortgage. And then? We only need one job—for healthcare. The rest is optional.

Life Now: Living in the Home We’re Retiring In

If we’re going to retire at home, we better enjoy it now. That means cooking, baking, barbecuing, and making the most of the space we’ve worked so hard for. We’ve got a couple trips coming up—a road trip to visit friends in September, and fingers crossed, Japan next year (hopefully all on points!).

We’ve cut way back on spending, though we still treat ourselves occasionally. My husband’s been obsessed with new cars lately—yes, plural. I had to break down the math for him: if you buy both, that’s another year at work. Worth it? He thinks so. I guess we’ll find out in five years if it was.

The Spreadsheet That Keeps Me Sane

Every week, I update my master Excel file. It tracks our spending, our savings progress, and how much I can throw at the mortgage. Our interest rate isn’t “COVID good,” but it’s 4.125%, which isn’t terrible. If rates ever drop below 3.5%, I might refinance—but for now, I’m happy to be earning solid interest on our savings accounts and CDs.

The Goal: Less Stress, More Life

So here’s the blueprint:

Pay off the house.
One of us works for healthcare.
The other does consulting or contract work for play money.
We both get to breathe, travel, spend time with our dogs, and enjoy life with less stress and more intention.

I know this plan isn’t for everyone, but it works for us. I’m counting down—five more years until I can retire from the stress and start living a little more on my terms.

Let’s see where this goes. I’ll keep you posted. 💛

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