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05-03-2013, 07:04 PM
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#1
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Western US
Posts: 226
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Leaving the rat race!
I've been lurking here for a year or so. When I turned 55 recently it was time to update my analysis of expenses and assets. With FIRECalc at 100%, other planning tools showing "extremely likely" and a complimentary megacorp-provided financial planner person telling me no worries, I pulled the trigger last week. My last day at megacorp will be the end of September! While I generally enjoy the work, there is also a lot of stress and deadlines that I will be glad to be rid of, and a lot of unnecessary megacorp bureaucracy that has been wearing my patience thin for many years. I am looking forward to getting some good nights sleep, getting back in shape, and spending more quality time with my hobbies. September can't come soon enough!
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05-03-2013, 07:29 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 1,050
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Congrats CranberryJoe, enjoy the next chapter of your life!
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05-03-2013, 08:19 PM
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#3
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 29
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Congratulations...September will be here before you know it!  Today was my last day at work and I can't believe I am finally free of my stressful management position. Next week I start working as just a worker bee at a non-profit two days a week to try to ease into semi retirement. Good luck!
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05-04-2013, 12:03 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,433
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Welcome aboard, cranberryjoe. Congrats!...glad to hear that you are on the final countdown.
omni
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05-04-2013, 04:55 AM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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Welcome to the forum.
__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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05-04-2013, 09:04 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Tampa Bay Area
Posts: 1,866
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Welcome and Congratulations !!!! I am planning my last day for August. Like you I "generally enjoy my j*b" - its the BS, artificial and unnecessary deadlines, and resultant stress that goes along with it that is wearing me thin, so I know exactly what you are talking about.
I look forward to reading about your new found life post ER !
__________________
"For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." ~
Hebrews 12:11
ER'd in June 2015 at age 52. Initial WR 3%. 50/40/10 (Equity/Bond/Short Term) AA.
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05-04-2013, 09:56 AM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Western US
Posts: 226
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Thanks for all the congratulations! I'm excited! For now I'm working on the plan to bridge income between ER and SS. Got a quote for an immediate annuity to cover the difference for 11 years, but I'm checking to see if I can do better with a CD ladder or something else. I'm ok with active management for awhile (yet another retirement hobby!) but the idea of a no-brainer paycheck every month is attractive.
After discussing with a co-worker yesterday, I'm reconsidering whether to take the pension as annuitized payments or a lump sum. The pension was frozen many years ago and is seriously underfunded. I did my planning assuming the annuitized payment. If the company terminates it in the next 3 years the PBGC max payout won't quite cover me. Using the lump sum to purchase an annuity won't yield the same payout as the monthly pension. But I may be obsessing too much over this since FIREcalc says I'm ok even with a reduced pension.
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08-30-2013, 08:21 PM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Western US
Posts: 226
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Today was my last day at the grindstone, one month ahead of plan! I'm ready to have time to do the things I never had time to do. For the short term I'm going to decompress and do a whole lot of nothing. In a couple of months I hope to have figured out my new daily routine: exercise, home cooking, juggling my hobbies, ... seems like endless possibilities right now!
I decided to take my pension as a lump sum, which gives me more flexibility to do Roth IRA rollovers during the ER years, and I think it will eventually outgrow the annuitized pension since I won't need to access those funds for quite awhile.
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08-30-2013, 09:39 PM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle-ish
Posts: 1,156
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Exactly: decompress and do a whole lot of nothing to get your bearings. Go to sleep & wake up whenever, with no alarm clock set. Do whatever you want each day. Because every day is now a Saturday. And tomorrow is another day, if we are given it.
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08-30-2013, 09:54 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,994
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Yay! Congrats!
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08-31-2013, 01:28 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 4,342
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by cranberryjoe
For the short term I'm going to decompress and do a whole lot of nothing.
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Congratulations but just be warned - if you're anything like me, you may find that doing a whole lot of nothing becomes in itself very rewarding and quite addictive 
__________________
Contentedly ER, with 3 furry friends (now, sadly, 1).
Planning my escape to the wide open spaces in my campervan (with my remaining kitty, of course!)
On a mission to become the world's second most boring man.
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08-31-2013, 07:20 AM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,608
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Congratulations cranberryjoe! Enjoy your retirement and all the things you now want to do.
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08-31-2013, 07:28 AM
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#13
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Western US
Posts: 226
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Yes, I'm very aware of that syndrome. I expect to find the perfect balance between nothing and something, which is: do something when you feel like it, otherwise do nothing. 
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08-31-2013, 07:38 AM
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#14
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sheehs1
Yay! Congrats!
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+1! So happy to read your update, and the bonus month of ER is priceless.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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08-31-2013, 07:52 AM
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#15
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Upstate Ruralia
Posts: 356
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Congratulations.....!!! You will LOVE it!!!!
And this is such a gorgeous time of year to have off time....and not have to worry about going back.....EVER!!!!!
Let us know how you feel on Tuesday morning next week ( after Labor Day!!!!)
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