Poll: What are the reasons you retired/want to retire?

[Rambler]

I guess I don't relate with any of the reasons on the list, so I didn't vote. Others have said it well. My money bucket was full enough and then some, but the BS bucket was overflowing (actually had been that way for a while), and, I was beginning to see that if I didn't make a change, it would likely kill me within a couple of years. All of that said, I am still less than a month out, and I do have days with terrible separation anxiety. I'm sure it will resolve on its own given time to decompress. I did want to retire into Spring instead of into the dead of winter...which I think would have helped in my case. The cold damp days with nothing to do are the days on which I seem to suffer the most...for the moment. The warm and sunny days seem to be ok.

R

 

[NW-Bound]

I'm still at least a decade out, so excuse my ignorance, but isn't the reason that every single one of you FIRE'd was because you determined that it was financially feasible? I'm sure there were other reasons pushing you, but I can't imagine someone waking up one day and saying to themselves "You know what? W*rk is just not fulfilling my desires. I think it's time to quit." without going over their finances.

But, maybe that's just the influence that w*rk has over me....

Yes, that's what it boils down to.

I really like my work, as a part-time consultant doing software/hardware design and analysis work for some really unique and weird stuff, who sets his own hours, and often even works at home. However, though I am fairly well compensated (still nowhere like a lawyer though, darn it!), as my stash grows, I feel that my time should be worth more. Eventually, I priced myself out of the market, though there was still a lot of work for me.

I could be bribed with more money (yes, I am greedy and willing to delay that travel for some $), but these "cheap" people do not want to pay it.

 

[bo_knows]

Yes, that's what it boils down to.

I really like my work, as a part-time consultant doing software/hardware design and analysis work for some really unique and weird stuff, who sets his own hours, and often even works at home. However, though I am fairly well compensated (still nowhere like a laywer though, darn it!)

Sounds pretty sweet. Sign me up! I'm a software/hardware Test Director for the gubmint, and don't know what it feels like to work from home.

 

[Original Wally]

I don't identify with any of the reasons. I ER'd because I had saved enough to do so and no longer could motivate myself to go to work.

+1 So I picked work didn't satisfy me.

 

[Tyro]

None of the above. Retirement was sort of foisted upon us 2 years ahead of plan because major employer went belly-up. It was get out with what we could, or potentially lose some/most/all of it, and we did lose some anyway (bankrupt companies can reneg on some promises).

However there are other reasons than those listed:
Health
Having had enough of it
Having better things to do...

Tyro

 

[NW-Bound]

Sign me up! I'm a software/hardware Test Director for the gubmint, and don't know what it feels like to work from home.

I could only sign you up as an outsource, so that I could play middleman and take some cuts. My fee is pretty steep, and you might not like to work for what's left. Have you seen the recent thread about a US guy outsourcing to a Chinese guy?

Anyway, some of my works were 1099, and truly independent where I worked at home and used my own resources. Others were W2 jobs, which were more like job shopping. People would let me work at home only because they knew me for a long time, and trusted me. Even so, I often had to use the resources that they provided because they wanted to retain control of it. And there was still the need for frequent face time, for coordination as well as for various meetings, etc...

It was not a bad situation for me, really. But I worked so hard, and produced so much that I thought I deserved more. These chintzy people did not think so.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm retiring because my job doesn't serve my needs- my need for more time off work. I don't have enough time to do all of the personal things I want to do, so work needs to go.

 

[braumeister]

I'm also "none of the above."

When I was in my early teens, I realized that the "standard" retirement age was 65. I saw how hard my father was working just to make ends meet, and I saw how much my grandparents were looking forward to retirement which was just a few years off. With those thoughts in mind, I set myself a personal goal of beating the standard by ten years and retiring when I hit 55.

I was ready, but still stuck in the "one more year" syndrome, when the place I w*rked at was acquired by a megacorp and about 1/3 of us were laid off. I was not quite 55 1/2 years old, and my old promise to myself suddenly surfaced in my mind. No-brainer! I never looked back and have been thoroughly enjoying it for over a decade.

 

[HFWR]

I'm retiring because my job doesn't serve my needs- my need for more time off work. I don't have enough time to do all of the personal things I want to do, so work needs to go.

None fit exactly, so I chose "Excuses", but this fits pretty closely...

 

[Greg V]

My job was interesting and I worked with great people. but it also entailed a long commute so I spent the weekdays out of state and only weekends at home. So...I retired when financially able in order to be with family and do all of those things that I could only rarely experience with my commuting lifestyle. It was also time for something different after a lengthy, enjoyable, military/civil service career. All in all, the change has been great

 

[RockyMtn]

I don't identify with any of the reasons. I ER'd because I had saved enough to do so and no longer could motivate myself to go to work.

+1

 

[MichaelB]

I think this group as a general rule is not the type to throw caution to the wind. As much as we want out, often for many years, we feel enough responsibility (especially those of us supporting other people besides ourselves) to "tough it out" until the numbers clearly work so you don't have to.

+1

 

[audreyh1]

I don't identify with any of the reasons. I ER'd because I had saved enough to do so and no longer could motivate myself to go to work.

Can't identify either. I would have picked none of the above given the choice.

I ER'd because I could afford to, and I had a ton of other things I wanted to do/accomplish that were not work-oriented.

Maybe an item that would fit into the spirit of your list would be: "There is far more to life than work".

 

[cardude]

I guess I don't relate with any of the reasons on the list, so I didn't vote. Others have said it well. My money bucket was full enough and then some, but the BS bucket was overflowing (actually had been that way for a while), and, I was beginning to see that if I didn't make a change, it would likely kill me within a couple of years. All of that said, I am still less than a month out, and I do have days with terrible separation anxiety. I'm sure it will resolve on its own given time to decompress. I did want to retire into Spring instead of into the dead of winter...which I think would have helped in my case. The cold damp days with nothing to do are the days on which I seem to suffer the most...for the moment. The warm and sunny days seem to be ok.

R

Rambler,

You better find something to fill your days or you might end up back working like me. I'm the poster child for quitting because I was total burned out, but without a plan on what I would actually DO after I quit. I went from 12 hour days to an empty house (wife working and kids at school), and I only lasted 2 years. I'm now semi-retired working 2-3 hours a day and very happy.

I'm not saying it will happen to you, but I am saying it's hard to go from Type A to house cleaner.

 

[Amethyst]

All these reasons seem to assume that people want to work in the first place. I never did. I always had plenty of better things to do. I want to get away while I can still do some of them!

Amethyst

 

[obgyn65]

No specific answer applies to me. In my case, reasons include (in no particular order) : litigation issues, peer pressure, insurance driven medicine, MAs from hell, and being overworked in general.

 

[NW-Bound]

I [-]do[/-] did want to work. Impossible as it seems, I also liked school. Well, only in college, because I was able to choose the subjects. I liked to learn cool stuff.

First, I liked work, because it provided me with money. Secondly, it allowed me to build things and see they work.

Some people who are better than me can go build something just for the heck of it (remember a recent thread about a Frenchman who spent days making pretty patterns in the snow?). I am not a saint, and do not have that strong will. When people pay me for my work, I feel gratified that they like it enough to pay for it. Well, money is nice too, but making money feels much better than just having it dropped from the sky. And as I am undisciplined, if I build things for myself, I tend to quit too early if I run into difficulties. When I promise someone something in exchange for money, I have to stick with it to get it to work.

 

[ERhoosier]

No specific answer applies to me. In my case, reasons include (in no particular order) : litigation issues, peer pressure, insurance driven medicine, MAs from hell, and being overworked in general.

Classic answers found in many articles on physician ER.
Yet somehow society still cannot figure out why they have a hard time finding good docs

 

[Chelhxi]

My reasons weren't on the list either.
Primary reason I want to retire is to be warm. I absolutely hate where I live when it's winter. It's -30C-40C ish right now. And I hate having to sit in an air conditioned office all summer and an office that's just too cold for my tastes the rest of the year. I hate having to wear long underwear 6 months of the year. As soon as I am able I will semi-retire and spend winters in a warmer place. And when I'm completely retired I can better control my living temperatures and my clothing choices.

Other reasons to retire - I want to dabble in things and work takes up too much time. I don't want to be tied down in any way.

I make enough money that I can. I enjoy the challenge of early retirement and want to be "better" than the average consumer.

 

[heeyy_joe]

My internal price point of my time now exceeds the dollars that I can expect to earn for my particular work. Looked really hard at the reasons in the poll and didn't see that one. I think "none of the above" is winning.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

I want to spend more time with Mr. ShortInSeattle.

 

[W2R]

I didn't really see my reasons for retiring, either. But Google is my friend, and as they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words.

 

[jollystomper]

For me the closest item in the poll is excuses. FIRE says I can retire, our financial adviser's analysis says I could retire, DW would be quite happy if I retired, and between my pension and draw downs from savings/investments (well below the 3-4% rule of thumb), our income would put us in the top 20-25% of earners... but I like most of my job (no B.S. to deal with since I no longer need raises or promotions and it gives me access to a lot of technical resources), still have one more kid to get through college, and we are able to help out a few folks financially (not folks who have asked us, just folks we found out about their situation and decided to help) and wouldn't be able to do as much. I guess I also have a fear of being dependent on anyone (though I know that is something I have less control over as I get older).

However, having 3 friends at work pass away in the last year (two of whom retired only after bad health forced them to, and only had months to enjoy retirement), my excuses are rapidly weakening.

 

[Walt34]

Rambler,

You better find something to fill your days or you might end up back working like me. I'm the poster child for quitting because I was total burned out, but without a plan on what I would actually DO after I quit.

+1

Another one here, in hindsight.

I didn't check anything on the poll because none of it applied to me.

And I'm probably better off (for the moment anyway) working because in dead of winter it's the only thing that's going to get me out of the house besides a food run to the grocery store. Last night's low was 11 F. Snow is in the forecast. Rats.

On a more positive note, DW mentioned that she would like to move to one of the Carolinas. It would take zero arm-twisting pressure to get me to agree to that! It's what I wanted to do ten years ago.

And I'm now rereading Zelinski's How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free with a more experienced retiree's eye. Next time I quit a job I'll know exactly where I'm going.

 

[Amethyst]

Thanks, W2R and HeeeyJoe, for putting my thoughts into words/pictures!

Amethyst