Regrets on Pulling the Plug?

[Mountain_Mike]

Hi Forumites!

This is such a fantastic forum!

I am about 3 years away from ER, but I could get a much larger pension (like an extra $1000 a month) by staying a few years beyond that.

I was wondering, do any of you who ERed at an early age in lieu of holding out for more $$$ have regrets about it, or you happy that you bailed out when you did?

I tend to think it is "worth it" to get out as soon as you can.

Any regrets about not working that extra year? Any regrets on not having that extra $25,000 in the bank?

Regards,
Mike

 

[grumpy]

No regrets. Once it was clear that we had accumulated enough assets (including our pensions) to support the lifestyle we wanted, we retired without regrets. We were saving $50k per year of our income prior to retirement and could have gone on saving at least that much by continuing to work and our pensions would also have increased. However, am blissfully happy being retired, we don't worry about money and I would advise you to retire earlier rather than later.

Grumpy

 

[Mountain_Mike]

Thanks for the reply, grumpy. I have the years of service required to retire, but I started early, so my age is working against me. At 50, they pay 1.2 percent of salary times years of service; at 55 it goes up to 5 percent. They seem to really try to keep you hanging on. I did the calculations, and I'd get 100 percent of salary at age 61. It ticks me off that they penalize you for being young.

 

[wabmester]

Regrets for leaving money on the table? In my case, it was stock options and grants (and another 27 years of salary, new grants, etc). When I decided to leave, I guestimated what those would be worth two years out. The number was large, but I felt I had enough and said Adios! Two years later, those options and grants would have been worth even more than I calculated (high six figs), and I didn't feel even a twinge of regret.

You're buying your freedom.

In your case, you should also consider the soundness of your org's pension system. Many of them are overextended. Yours sounds like it might be a gov't pension, many of which inflated benefits during the go-go 90's. It'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Mountain_Mike]

Wabmaster,
You are correct, I am in the CalPERS system, and they did greatly increase the benefits in the 90s. I believe it is the largest pension fund in the country. I just hope the benefit level doesn't revert back to what they used to be.

My plan is to bail out when I can live on the pension alone, and keep my private accounts (403b, 457, IRAs) as insurance or an extra hedge against inflation. The pension has only a 2 percent gurananteed COLA, and it does have a supplemental fund that kicks in when you lose 25 or more percent of purchasing power. I am thinking of not touching my personal accounts for awhile.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That depends.

Do you need the extra money?

Do you really like or hate the job?

if you dont need the money and dont like the job, there you are.

 

[retire@40]

No regrets at all going to part-time work.  I could be making tons more money if I worked 40+ hours a week and hired more employees, but the much reduced stress and extra family time is priceless.  I'm in a good comfort zone now, but I'm still looking forward to full retirement at age 40 (42 at the latest).

 

[Nords]

Re: No regrets, life is good!

It ticks me off that they penalize you for being young.

Yeah, but they don't reward you for being dead, either. Listen to Wab-- it's the opportunity of freedom knocking quietly at your door!

My FIL used to say "Just take the money". When I reached retirement eligibility it became "Just take the money and RUN."

When my spouse was on active duty she was presented with the proverbial career offer that you can't refuse. She elected to develop her own career in the Reserves, effectively going part-time and delaying receipt of her pension by 18 years. When we started looking at the numbers to decide which one of us should go get a job, it turned out that we could spend down savings for that 18 years and catch back up when her pension faucet turned on. Or we could go back to the "job" plan.

When she left active duty, quality of life made a prompt-jump improvement. There's more than one path to ER, and we wouldn't have taken the faster road if we hadn't realized that the job was ugly and the money was sufficient.

 

[Eagle43]

I stayed to 60 1/2 and would have had more at 62 with increases up to 65. Nope. It was a shock to the system, at first, but it would be a wipeout to go back. I could not imagine having some asine boss "correcting" me for a perceived shortcoming. I would only take work I enjoy, cause I do NOT need the money. I put up with two jobs that I did not particularly enjoy, so no more. Free at last!

My current job, avocation, and goal is to outlive the bastards.

 

[MJ]

I am very tempted to write a thank you letter next year to the CEO thanking him for pulling my plug several months earlier that I had planned as he gave me a very very long paid vacation with benefits followed by unemployement benefits.

What a wonderful human being.

MJ

 

[Nords]

My current job, avocation, and goal is to outlive the bastards. 

Although some literati will debate the source, it is generally agreed that one of the most famous wisecracks in history was expressed by Sara Murphy, a gadfly outrider of the famous 1920s Lost Generation. Murphy, who, with her husband, Gerald, hung out in Paris and Antibes with such swells as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos, is said to have blithely uttered that "living well is the best revenge."

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Although some literati will debate the source, it is generally agreed that one of the most famous wisecracks in history was expressed by Sara Murphy, a gadfly outrider of the famous 1920s Lost Generation. Murphy, who, with her husband, Gerald, hung out in Paris and Antibes with such swells as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos, is said to have blithely uttered that "living well is the best revenge."

That is excellent. I try hard to do so, on a budget of course.

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

All that filet mignon and chardonnary really kick a hole in the wallet...

 

[Mr._johngalt]

All that filet mignon and chardonnary really kick a hole in the wallet...

You're not kidding and then there is my Frappucino habit, which even
I will admit is way out of control. I rationalize.............I enjoy them
and in the long run we are all dead anyway. Cut-Throat would understand

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Do you take the frappucino before or after the chardonnay, and is that at the same time, before or after the filet mignon?

Or do you use the frappucino as a sauce on the filet?

Inquiring minds want to know...