Work Alcoholic vs Early Retiremment

[street]

What are your thoughts on workaholic retiring early? Can they do it or are they just unhappy with life if they do?

I'm sure there are many here that were and are workaholic's in their life and how did you stepped away from the work you did?

I consider myself a workaholic and was constantly working at something other then my day job to make a buck.

I finally found out in life that I enjoy so much more then trying to make a buck.

 

[Midpack]

I assume you mean workaholic?

It’s often said you need to have something to retire to, it’s not enough to just retire from work because you can afford to. Probably a minority but some people are happiest working, nothing wrong with that. If you’re bored when you’re away from work, you may want to think about “what will I do all day?” A well worn but important topic http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/faq-archive-but-what-will-i-do-all-day-30655.html

I was unsure about what I’d do so I did Ernie Zelinski’s Get-A-Life Tree exercise, it was very helpful. First pass took me 10 minutes to generate over 40 activities, and I added at least 10 more activities as they occurred to me over the next 2-3 days, well worth the time.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm not sure if I was a workaholic, especially in my last job, but probably in the job before that. That is one of the most surprising things about early retirement. I tend towards Type A and many people who knew me well thought that I would be climbing the walls after a year or so of not working and I was a bit concerned about it.

Couldn't be further from the truth... I have been hugely surprised how content that I can me puttering around, helping friends and family here and there, but in comparison to when I was working not doing much of anything.

 

[REWahoo]

I assume you mean workaholic?

My boss (EVP of sales and marketing) was a work alcoholic but didn't slow down on the booze even when he wasn't working. The company president sent me along on some of the EVP's customer visits to act as his "minder".

Did I ever mention how much I disliked my job?

 

[MRG]

My boss (EVP of sales and marketing) was a work alcoholic but didn't slow down on the booze even when he wasn't working. The company president sent me along on some of the EVP's customer visits to act as his "minder".

Did I ever mention how much I disliked my job?

+1
I recall a trip with a tech guy who was drinking wayyyy too much. I didn't realize it till I saw him drinking. Should have known when he asked if he could add his drinks on my corporate card. His manager had banned him from buying alchohol on the company's dime. Not much fun.

To the OP: I've seen workaholics ER successfully. I was probably one of them.

 

[kgtest]

DW and I know what we want to do when we "retire". We argue about the date, but not the goal and the type of retirement we will "retire to".

Home paid off, might rent out and buy a single level home *our current is 2story
Condo rental near beach
Condo rental in mtns
Live close to kiddos
Travel when the kids don't need our support

We like interactive travel...going to a show, running a 15k outta town, attending a concert out of town, attend weddings and other significant events, meeting up with other couples/families in new to us places, catching a favorite author's book tour etc.

As for the beach...we will catch rays and eat well ....the mtns is my deal DW has no interest so I will ski as much as I can for 2 or 3months catching flights back where she is or kiddos are as needed during that time. Prob do that from 50-70 years old and slow down a bit just travelling for a couple weeks then.

 

[JoeWras]

Yeah, I think the OP means workaholic.

Yet, I've seen work alcoholics. My BIL uses the job perks (dinners) as an excuse to imbibe way too much. When he retired, this went away and he struggled, so he found another sales kind of job. He freely admits the drinking is an important perk for him.

 

[street]

^ that is what I meant LOL!
Since alcoholics have been mentioned I have worked with a few that had reached the top and were drunks because of being a workaholic. They were never fun to be around and I always tried to distance myself from them.

 

[Bamaman]

So many people just have not prepared themselves for retirement. They've not established enough outside interests to take up their time. Or, they've placed work related life above their personal life.

Someone needs to come up with a 12 Step Plan preparing them for retirement.

My 36 1/2 year job prepared me very well for retirement--wanting to get out of that hot bed of goal oriented company. We kept doing the un-doable month after month.

 

[Amethyst]

Early in my Federal career, I quickly became aware that a number of "top guys" were half in the bag after lunch. It was amazing how others covered up for them and made excuses for them, especially considering that alcohol was prohibited at work, and 3-drink lunches meant somebody was drinking and driving, also illegal.

Something happened in the mid- to late-90's; maybe just a culture shift, maybe something more forceful. Anyway, it seemed as if a lot of the drunks either retired, or were pushed out. My generation of leadership, while not all teetotalers, kept any drinking strictly separate from work. They didn't even drink beer at work lunches. Meetings weren't any more fun, but they were less embarrassing.

^ that is what I meant LOL!
Since alcoholics have been mentioned I have worked with a few that had reached the top and were drunks because of being a workaholic. They were never fun to be around and I always tried to distance myself from them.

 

[flyingaway]

I guess a workaholic is likely to make more money and thus be able to retire early.

I was a workaholic until I was 42. I lost interest in my work and became interested in personal finance after 42. I am now financially independent and could retire this year at 55.

However, I must say that when I was working hard, I did not have interest in finance. I did not know what is large CAP or small CAP, did not even know the difference between stock funds and bond funds. Certainly I did not know early retirement or even thought about retirement.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I was a workaholic until I had a pulmonary embolism about 6 years ago

time to FIRE!

 

[marko]

I was a workaholic, loved my job and hated weekends because there was no one to interact with; once I got home at night I'd work until bed-time, eating dinner at my desk, calling our Asian offices; couldn't wait for Monday morning when I'd be up at 5AM to get going! 80 hour weeks were normal and somewhat expected at my VP level.

Then......I was involuntarily RE'd when we sold the company. Best thing that ever happened to me!

 

[nancyfrank232]

I read the title of this thread as “Work Alcoholic”. Someone who drinks alcohol regularly at work lol

 

[HI Bill]

I was a workaholic, loved my job and hated weekends because there was no one to interact with; once I got home at night I'd work until bed-time, eating dinner at my desk, calling our Asian offices; couldn't wait for Monday morning when I'd be up at 5AM to get going! 80 hour weeks were normal and somewhat expected at my VP level.

Wow. I knew some business development and VP types like you....one had a fancy sports car in the garage, and a wife at home whom he almost never saw.

One, I took diving twice, once in Florida, and once in Hawaii...both during work trips!

Glad it worked out!

 

[MRG]

I read the title of this thread as “Work Alcoholic”. Someone who drinks alcohol regularly at work lol

I worked with many. The one who comes to mind was a really good worker with a really bad problem. One day he told me he'd hurt his leg when a cant hook whacked him from using it improperly. The following day he wanted to see the company doctor I picked him up. Surprised me when he came out in a cast. The drunk broke his leg the prior day.

 

[marko]

Wow. I knew some business development and VP types like you....one had a fancy sports car in the garage, and a wife at home whom he almost never saw.

One, I took diving twice, once in Florida, and once in Hawaii...both during work trips!

Glad it worked out!

Well, I also was doing international travel 200 days a year; I would often bring DW with me though as the living was quite good on the road.

The pay was quite generous as was the pay-out at the end of the career. It more than 'worked out' for me.

Glad I did it all at the time but wouldn't recommend it to anyone; it does become you're 'life' and, (wrongly) anything that interferes with it is an annoyance. I had lost all perspective of what was truly valuable. Got out alive!

 

[Spock]

It depends on the motivation to be a workaholic.
Some are driven by the fear of failure "if I'm not #1 I must be at the bottom of the barrel" to work long hours needed to stay on top. Once financially independent (sorta) the consequences of failing at work drop to 0, and boom they're not a workaholic any more.

 

[gcgang]

I was a workaholic until I had a pulmonary embolism about 6 years ago

time to FIRE!

I also had a PE. But it was 32 years ago and took me 25 more to FIRE. Lol.

 

[38Chevy454]

It’s often said you need to have something to retire to, it’s not enough to just retire from work because you can afford to. Probably a minority but some people are happiest working, nothing wrong with that. If you’re bored when you’re away from work, you may want to think about “what will I do all day?” A well worn but important topic http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/faq-archive-but-what-will-i-do-all-day-30655.html

I think this is the key for workaholics to consider. So much of their life is defined by work that they are not able to picture life without working.

 

[Midpack]

I think this is the key for workaholics to consider. So much of their life is defined by work that they are not able to picture life without working.

I know a total workaholic who suddenly retired at age 74, and switched gears without missing a beat even though he had no previous interests outside work. He happily occupied his time with travel, golf, new friends and a new girlfriend (his former wife passed away a few years before he retired). He was a Sales SVP who made friends very easily, not an INTJ by any means.

OTOH, I have known other workaholics who were completely lost when they retired, bored and very hard to be around, and who drove their spouses crazy. Fortunately none I know personally suffered from boredom>depression>suicide - but that scenario has been written about many times. I hope everyone here prepares for life after work before quitting.

 

[tryan]

2005 I fire'd after a contract shutdown. We had a gathering that was dubbed "the last supper". I was a dept head and was expected to speak. Here's what I said:

"There are 3 types of people in a corporation:

The first group has has no idea what to do, and does nothing. This group gets re-trained or is laid-off early.

The second group has no idea what to do, and does EVERTHING they can think of in the hope of doing the right thing. This group burns-out early.

Then there is the third group who knows what to do, does it and leaves work on time because they have a LIFE. This group RETIRES early.

I always thrived to be in the third group. And this is when I retire early."

IMO group 2 is your workaholic.

 

[foxfirev5]

I'm not sure if I was/am a workaholic. However I'm much better off after taking the corporate j*b out of the equation. DW and I have always had other interests that keep us busy. Golf bores me and fishing is good for brief periods of time. DW has become quite involved in our local real estate and has developed a keen eye for bargains. My other interests in building and construction have blended nicely with her skillset. However it really has to be a nobrainer at this stage of the game. We may go several years before jumping on an opportunity. It keeps us occupied and satisfies our need for a minimal amount of productive activity. Meanwhile we're chillin in Key West waiting for the snow to melt up north.

 

[prudent_one]

Early in my Federal career, I quickly became aware that a number of "top guys" were half in the bag after lunch. It was amazing how others covered up for them and made excuses for them, especially considering that alcohol was prohibited at work, and 3-drink lunches meant somebody was drinking and driving, also illegal.

This reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in a very long time. While doing my college internship at a small 8-person company, the VP came back from lunch very drunk. The President came out of his office and saw the VP nearly reeling down the hall and said "We talked about this, Tom. Get the hell out." And punched him right in the face, then the President went back in his office. VP slumped to the floor for a moment then got back up and went in his office and shut the door. I was so shocked I left the office and went back to school for the day. Never saw Tom again and never asked anyone about it. But for a long time I thought, "Man, if you're the President of a company I guess you can just do whatever the heck you want."

 

[Dtail]

Worked 60+ hour weeks in a high stress Wall Street job, but took a package knowing I wouldn't last until 60 (not one person in my 400+ office was over 60).
I was still "charged up" in looking for work, but gave up after 15 months trying and then discovering I could retire.
So all the workaholic type mode of living just disappeared in that 15 months and now I am not in contact with any former workers and couldn't be happier and will never go back to work.