Do you share or tell anyone about your ER dream???

[BobM]

I retired at 56 about 20 months ago. I selected my ER date (12/23/05) a little over 3 years earlier. I did not keep it a secret. I told everyone, especially my boss, for succession planning purposes. It was very important to me that I left on my terms, when I wanted to. I have seen too many people retire or quit in anger at a boss, dissappointment at not getting a promotion, etc. I guess it ultimately depends on individaual circumstances, but everyone I know (co-workers and family) had no issues with ER. Sure they are a little jealous, but it has certainly inspired my younger brothers and sisters to strive for ER.

[Goonie]

Originally Posted by BobM

I retired at 56 about 20 months ago. I selected my ER date (12/23/05) a little over 3 years earlier. I did not keep it a secret. I told everyone, especially my boss, for succession planning purposes. It was very important to me that I left on my terms, when I wanted to. I have seen too many people retire or quit in anger at a boss, disappointment at not getting a promotion, etc. I guess it ultimately depends on individual circumstances, but everyone I know (co-workers and family) had no issues with ER. Sure they are a little jealous, but it has certainly inspired my younger brothers and sisters to strive for ER.

Same here, I wanted them to have ample time to hire someone, so I would have enough time to train them. I gave 'official' notice 14 months before my ER date, and they finally hired my replacement 4 1/2 months before that date. He was trained, but not as thoroughly as he should have been. But due to the dragging of their feet for over 9 months, the guy got the short end of the stick, even though I did all I could.

I left on good terms (more or less), and as far up the ladder as was possible. They even had me back on Tuesday for their 'end of summer' steak fry. So it appears no one had any hard feelings! BTW, I'm the only who has ever been invited back. I must have left a decent impression an them.

[Enuff2Eat]

many of you mentioned the "don't ask don't tell" policy, i tend to agree what i say is more likely to hurt me then help, espcially when u talk about ER.


enuff

[citrine]

Enuff:

It is absolutely a shame that one would get ostracized for talking about and planning early retirement; however, if that same person was buying a yatch, or a Mcmansion....everyone would be applauding that decision.
What a screwed up bunch of priorities.
I agree with Goonie...keep planning and one day you will be laughing at your co-worker.

[Eyerishgold]

I haven't really shared my desire to RE with anyone other that my wife. She, of course, is 100% committed to helping us get there. We're both extremely frugal and we live well below our means. Because we hardly ever spend our money our friends assume we don't have any. I suppose it'll be quite a shock to most of the people we know when we RE in 17 yrs at age 45. I've always wanted to RE as soon as possible and I'm happy to have a wife who bought into my "crazy" plan.

[Andre1969]

Any discussion of early retirement wouldn't go over too well in my office. To give a little perspective, here's a rundown on my officemates...

1. An old guy in his 70's who's originally from some tropical paradise locale where it's cheap to live. He's having a house built down there and will retire, eventually. I guess.

2. A lady who's about 64-65. She retired from the federal gov't a few years ago, and gets a pension of at least $60K per year, but cries about how she can't make ends meet and how hard it is to live in this area. So she works 3 days per week to help get by. She rents a modest apartment, drives a Toyota RAV-4, so it's not like she's living an extravagant lifestyle. So I dunno where the money's going. Every time the price of something goes up, she has a hissy.

3. Another lady who's about 45 and delusional. Thinks that one day God will give her her reward. Makes me think of the old joke about a reverend holding out his hands in prayer calling out "Lord, give us what we deserve" when an overhead sewer pipe breaks... I hear her constantly on the phone with her creditors, whining every time she has a late fee on something. She pulls it every month with her condo association, it seems. She also said to the old lady in our office... "Wanna double your money in 5 years? Buy a condo in my neighborhood!" Ummm, yeah, right. Just because it doubled over the past 5 years DOESN'T mean it's gonna do it again!

4. A workaholic dude in his early 40's. Recently married, recently bought a house. Thankfully a modest one, so he's not in over his head. He's in the reserves and about to retire, but also in the process of starting up his own business. He's said several times that he plans on still working when he's in his 60's. If it's your own business and you ENJOY what you do, I can understand that, at least.

As for me, I'm 37, and plan to be out of here before my 46th birthday.

[Goonie]

Originally Posted by citrine

I agree with Goonie...keep planning and one day you will be laughing at your co-worker.

Like I mentioned, I went back for a steak fry the other day, and the general consensus among all of the guys was that the "Good Ship Lollipop" was taking on water and sinking fast! My consensus (along with a huge, silly grin) was "Hey guys....you're scr*wed!!! Who's laughing now?!

[Enuff2Eat]

i guess i am not in it for the "last laugh" , i just don't want to be laugh at and also just want to get the heck out of the jOb before i hit the "regular" standard of 65 years old.

thank god for this forum, yeah... i learn so much from this site.



enuff