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

[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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardude 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

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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...

If that keeps you from working, I was about to say that you could move to a Southern state and continue to work, but seeing that you are Canadian I realized that it did not apply.

Well, it doesn't really matter about the particular reasons. People voluntarily retire simply because they do not want to work, and they can afford to stop work.

Conversely, people work because they either like it (a minority in the population, and of course a rarity here given the affinity to dropping out early), or because they cannot afford to stop work.

In Boolean logic, if C = A .and. B, then (not C) = (not A ) .or. (not B)

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound If that keeps you from working, I was about to say that you could move to a Southern state and continue to work, but seeing that you are Canadian I realized that it did not apply. Well, it doesn't really matter about the particular reasons. People voluntarily retire simply because they do not want to work, and they can afford to stop work. Conversely, people work because they either like it (a minority in the population, and of course a rarity here given the affinity to dropping out early), or because they cannot afford to stop work. In Boolean logic, if C = A .and. B, then (not C) = (not A ) .or. (not B)

What a load of boole...

[NW-Bound]

Just a refresh of basic Boolean logic we all learned way back when.

And if one thinks about it, the formal logic really agrees with common sense reasoning.

One would be very alarmed if it were not so. No fuzzy math here, the work by this Bull Boole guy.

[obgyn65]

I forgot to add :

Because I can !

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

[Lazarus]

What a nerd board! Boolean algebra for early retirement! Love it!. When I was taking boolean algebra there was a test where I was the next to the last to finish. I was upset because I was never the lowest student. Always near the top. Found out that the test only required one answer per question. I provided all possible solutions for each problem within the time limit. Only got an A. So did the people that only provided one answer per problem. Test was not hard enough.

[mwetter]

Options above did not describe my plight. Job was always a means to an end (ER). Was always looking for the perfect job. You know the one you can not wait to go to everyday and will have enough passion in it that the 'job" description is not accurate. More like doing what you love and getting paid for it. Still looking for that. Now have the FI to search on a more full time basis.

[comicbookgujy]

Fear of dying and not being able to enjoy my hard work is the #1 reason why I want to retire. Being burnt out is another reason, but fear of dying is probably #1.

Seen too many co-workers dying while still working.

[Gumby]

I enjoy my w*rk, but it takes up too much of my time. I've got places to go, people to see and things to do.

[Moemg]

I just felt it was time . I had always planned on retiring in my 50's but after my husband died work became a diversion so I stayed until the day before my 60th birthday. I did retire in my 50's just a little later than planned.

[traineeinvestor]

There are plenty of things I would like to do and many of them would be difficult or impossible to do while I am working. Put differently, there are more things to engage with outside the office than in it.