How long is too long???

[mh]

Dalai Lama once said: When asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered " Man. Becasue he sacrifices his health in order to make money, then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived"

What an intelligent answer.

The bottomline is: Once you figured that you have enough to ER, maybe best to do so to enjoy your present and future.

Yeah but it's worth noting he'a had a reasonably cushy gig his whole life ( once you get past the whole being chased out of your country thing .
)

 

[Midpack]

Dalai Lama once said: When asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered " Man. Becasue he sacrifices his health in order to make money, then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived"

What an intelligent answer.

The bottomline is: Once you figured that you have enough to ER, maybe best to do so to enjoy your present and future.

Yeah but it's worth noting he'a had a reasonably cushy gig his whole life ( once you get past the whole being chased out of your country thing .
)

Except the Dalai Lama never said it to begin with, lots of evidence it was a Facebook hoax...

 

[RAE]

As someone said, it is probably a little different for everyone. In my case, I knew a few years before I retired that I would go as soon as I could make it work. At age 54.5, an early retirement offer came along, and I jumped at it. I have no regrets.......it worked out great for me. I enjoyed the majority of my career, but over the last 4-5 years or so, it became clear that my time was nearing an end. A combination of a new supervisor that I had no respect for, a reorganization that was eliminating a lot of positions (making it harder on everyone that remained), and job duties that I had become bored with, made it a relatively easy decision for me. The key was to wait until they offered me a chance to go out with a pension and health insurance. Once I got that, I was outta there............

 

[traineeinvestor]

I knew I was in a job too long when I started logging onto this site during the work day

You mean that's not one of the reasons they put a workstation in my office?

 

[piano88]

I didn't realize I was ready to retire until we got a new boss, who is actually very good, but I couldn't get myself motivated to do the things needed to help him to help company improve. Took a vacation because I thought I just needed a rest. All vacation did was confirm that I had nothing left to give to this job, and that apathy and jadedness filled the spaces in my brain where "can-do-it" attitude and energy once occupied. I know how sad all of this sounds, but it was actually an epiphany. I wanted to leave before my professional (and emotional) gas tank was empty.

 

[ziggy29]

When work stress starts to take a physical toll on you, when you suffer bouts of depression on Sunday nights because it means it's almost Monday morning, you'll know it's time. There are other times as well, but this is all tempered with your current financial realities: the closer and closer one gets to being fully FI, the lower and lower your threshold for toxic work BS can become.

Took a vacation because I thought I just needed a rest. All vacation did was confirm that I had nothing left to give to this job, and that apathy and jadedness filled the spaces in my brain where "can-do-it" attitude and energy once occupied.

I can relate. In today's corporate world, all a vacation does is make you work twice as hard and twice as long on your return, until you catch up with all the work that piled up during your absence (and almost no workplace isn't understaffed so they can "pick it up" while you are away).

 

[skipro3]

I've been planning for an early retirement ever since I was hired and a contract that included a pension as early as age 50. Now at age 55, I'm pulling the plug this year. Why now and not back at 50? Back even 5 years ago, working was not just fun and challenging, more importantly I was respected for my abilities. Work was easier simply because of the 'been there, done that' experience that allowed me to solve problems others had no clue how to solve and to complete it in record time. Engineers would budget for labor and I'd blow that out f the water, cutting the labor in half or better simply because I knew the job and had the experience to do it right and quickly.
Then the whole dynamics of the work place changed; Management wasn't interested in how efficiently a job could be done, they were interested in their 'Branding' program or their 'diversity' within the workplace. (Used to be called something else before the federal government outlawed it, can't recall the term...) Now days instead of providing training on how to improve your technical skills, you are forced into training on topics that deal with GLBT hiring or other non-work related topics.
I'm leaving because the employer no longer realizes the asset I am and instead is turning the place into a social experiment. I'll continue to work as efficiently as I am able, acting as a steward for the resources I am responsible for up until December 26th. After that date, I'm out of there. I plan to even change my phone number so they don't try to call me back. (My immediate supervisor, who works more than 50 miles away from my working location, has already mentioned that he would like to hire me back as an outside contractor or retired annuitant.)

 

[scrabbler1]

Even though I had already been working part-time for 5 1/2 years, there was a series of events in early 2007 which accelerated my desire to ER and cause me to step up my financial planning toward that goal. I had some stressful things going on which was making me physically ill (dry heaves) in the morning, especially those mornings I had that awful commute to go to work. Those things eventually eased and I stopped dry heaving every morning but it did cause me to reduce my weekly work hours from 20 to 12 (and 3 days down to 2). This move cost me most of my remaining benefits (including group health eligibility) but I knew I had to do it.

I knew my ER plan was taking shape so when my boss told me that this move might not be reversible in case I wanted to get some of my benefits restored, I was not fazed. I already "knew" that by the end of 2008 (18 months later) I would very likely have my ER plan in place and resign from the company. In those next 18 months, I saw my company stock holdings rise to my targeted (for ER) level for me to leave and take it with me. I also made sure to have some remaining, costly dental work done while I still had dental coverage through COBRA.

But it was those months in the first half of 2007 which told me that "enough was enough" and had me thinking every damned day I was at work, "Why am I still working here?"

 

[WestLake]

Now days instead of providing training on how to improve your technical skills, you are forced into training on topics that deal with GLBT hiring or other non-work related topics.
I'm leaving because the employer no longer realizes the asset I am and instead is turning the place into a social experiment.

Maybe you wouldn't feel that way if you had been held back your whole career by GLBT discrimination.

 

[Walt34]

..., I absolutely hated going back to work. Even to the point where I got nausea just thinking about it.

Yup, that's a clue.

 

[skipro3]

Maybe you wouldn't feel that way if you had been held back your whole career by GLBT discrimination.

There is absolutely no way I should have any knowledge of what another person's sexual orientation is when it comes to the work place and likewise, no one has any business in knowing mine.

I am not interested in the GLBT lifestyle and can't see how it can possibly be the concern of of my professional career. I'm also just as uninterested in anyone else's straight sexual lifestyle when it comes to work either.

The fact my employer finds it necessary to 'educate' me on the topic has offended my modesty. Where are my rights regarding my choice; to not know the intimate details of alternative sexual practices?

 

[tmm99]

I know this is the same question asked over and over, perhaps in a slightly different way. How do you know when you've stayed in the same job TOO LONG!?! ...probably for the sake of all concerned, the employee as well as the employer.

I think I'm there.

When you are bored to tears at work, and even surfing the net has become boring. In other words, you are doing the same thing over and over again without learning anything new, and new projects have dried up.

 

[WestLake]

The fact my employer finds it necessary to 'educate' me on the topic has offended my modesty. Where are my rights regarding my choice; to not know the intimate details of alternative sexual practices?

So they really went into details of sexual positions and practices?

 

[Alan]

We are now far enough off track that we've decided to close this thread.

Porky Pig Cartoon Ending "That's All Folks!" - YouTube