Help me pull the trigger....

[rayinpenn]

Facts...
1)Daughter will be a junior in college this September @ $25k/year
2)Son will be junior in HS
3)I'll be 61 in July, she is 57
4)Knee replacement is on the horizon for me - 2 hours sitting at the desk brings an adventure getting up - stiffness. I've lost weigh and it helps another 20lbs planned.
5)Hate the cold I'm told it isn't as bad when I retirement because there are no 7am cold car commutes to deal with.
6)job is great many friends, great boss.
7)the 'pile' grows at $3k a week

The financial situation is great no debt and just about 3.5 of an amount a guy from a modest background never thought he'd have- not counting real estate.

My brother retired at 53 and was gone a year later... Am I lazy? I just feel like I'd like to take it easy...de clutter the house ( for sale at graduation time)...

A friend at work said have you set a date? Said no. She said - you'll just say one day enough? I said I guess.

Your thoughts
(please be kind I am not the only one to struggle with this decision.)





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[Totoro]

1) Do the math. Thoroughly. Work with scenarios. We can help here with that if you get stuck.

2) If that checks out, examine what holds you back. No issues with loving work or your current life.

3) If it is inertia or fear, work on that. Don't let emotions block you from a perceived better version of your life. Take active ownership, it is your life after all. Not setting a date for example can be a symptom of fear or not actually wanting change.

Good luck.

 

[REWahoo]

A couple of simple formulas that should help you figure out the answer...

 

[rayinpenn]

A couple of simple formulas that should help you figure out the answer...

Understood...it is on my mind all the time


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[Spanky]

5)Hate the cold I'm told it isn't as bad when I retirement because there are no 7am cold car commutes to deal with.

If that's only reason that you are contemplating retirement, you could find another another position located in a warmer climate. Anyway, come up with a list of reasons for wanting to retire and weight against the reasons for continuing working.

A list of reasons, for instance, could be money / finance, health, free time to pursue other interests, relationship , friendship, loss of status. There are more ...

 

[rayinpenn]

Warmer would be nice but it's part of A new chapter in our lives....
September will make 33 years at the same firm- 61 years living in the midatlantic

A thoughtful change is in order....


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[Independent]

I assume the knee replacement is going to put you out of work for ___ weeks. You can probably stretch it a little if you try. Maybe ask for a little unpaid leave at the end to be sure you've "fully recovered".

How about scheduling it sooner rather than later? It gets you out of the office, on a different schedule, with time on your hands. You may decide that you can't wait to get back to the social group at the office. You may find yourself enjoying the fact that you can sit inside and watch the snow through the window while surfing the internet. You may find yourself making a list of the non-work things you'd like to do as soon as that knee heals.

Kind of an unusual way to get a trial retirement.

 

[pb4uski]

Many couples on this forum have retired with much less than $3.5 million... but it all depends on what you need to live.

If you carve out $25k for DD's last year of college and $100k for DS, that leaves you with $3,375k and at a 3.5% WR would be $118k a year of current day spending power to live on.

If your expenses (including health insurance, taxes and periodic car replacements and major home repairs) are less than $118k a year then you should be ok, but crunch your numbers through some planners. And.. you will presumably have SS on top of that.

What are you waiting for?

 

[rayinpenn]

Money isn't the issue.. I am confident without an advisor (mba, ms, and spreadsheet guru)

1) We live on less than 118k now
2) we are paying $600 and $700 a month for health insurance and property taxes respectively now.ss at 62 will cover health insurance around $1700/month and expect property taxes will be less in shangri-la.

We are not big spenders..that's why we have the pile. if I sell the castle (with the oh my aching knees second floor master) I expect the next home will less and free up another 100k too

I guess it's all about stepping out of your comfort zone...

 

[rayinpenn]

I'm a fishing rod lawn chair and bucket kind of guy. The mrs keeps it simple too...



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[rodi]

Only you can know why you stay working.

I retired with a lot less and two kids not-yet in college.

For me - the annoyance of work in a constantly merging/acquiring/laying off environment... plus a multiyear highway project turning a 6 mile commute into an hour of agony every evening. I realized I had enough - had enough of work, and had enough money.

Everyone has their own threshold of "enough"..

I assume you've read this thread:
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html

 

[pb4uski]

...I guess it's all about stepping out of your comfort zone...

Yup. Change is hard and there is always a little fear of the unknown. If you put finances aside, it is rare in my experience that people who have retired come to regret the decision, even people who were workaholics during their career. But that first step is a big and scary one....

For me, I ultimately came to the realization that we had enough and I wanted to spend time enjoying life on my terms, even tough at the time I was only working 20 hours a week I couldn't control my schedule due to client demands. I liked my bosses, colleagues and most of my clients, but still had had enough to walk away.

 

[KrissK]

I think Independent has a great idea - do a trial run. It sounds to me like you don't have enough personal interests driving enough desire for you to want to retire.


I personally dislike my current job...so I'm pretty sure I will be much happier FIRED. I'm just hanging on by a thread trying to make sure that I have enough funds.

 

[rayinpenn]

I think Independent has a great idea - do a trial run.

I've paid for disability insurance forever... I plan on using it. Problem is they toss you out of the hospital after two days ... Maybe I can get 5 or 6 weeks of disability out of it. I expect when it it over I just won't return to work.

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[pb4uski]

Watching a piece on Dave Letterman's retiring from The Late Show on CBS Sunday Morning and here is what he says in an interview with Jane Pauley:

Any enormous, uprooting change in my life has petrified me. Really petrified me. But once I've come through the other side, the reward has been unimaginable.

Wise words for a funny man.

 

[steelyman]

Watching a piece on Dave Letterman's retiring from The Late Show on CBS Sunday Morning and here is what he says in an interview with Jane Pauley:



Wise words for a funny man.

Letterman's last few weeks have been a lot of fun to watch with an amazing lineup of guests.

Earlier this week, Tom Waits was on and said something like, "You don't want to be in the tire business. Can't retire, it just looks like you're coming back."

 

[Samz]

...Maybe I can get 5 or 6 weeks of disability out of it. I expect when it it over I just won't return to work.

For me...I'd get the knee surgery out of the way fairly quickly...your already seeing an ortho Dr now??...you can decide about ER after / during recovery, but sounds like in some ways you have already decided. Good luck in working through it.

 

[Drake3287]

I recently retired at 56 with no financial worries, last child just graduated college on Saturday and life couldn't be better. You only live once. Best thing I ever did was retiring! Seems like vacation every single day. If you no longer financially need to work then don't.

 

[Davis65]

I don't know your brother's situation, but the fact the you bring it up iin this post suggests to me that you think there was a correlation between his retirement and his death. My uncle put in for retirement on a Friday and was gone by the end of the weekend. It clear me though that it was his concern over his health and stress that led to his retirement, not his retirement that led to his death. Too bad he didn't retire sooner. Maybe he wouldn't have died so young.

 

[Evergreen]

I keep reading these stories about people retiring early and dying soon after, can it really be that bad?! It is actually bugging me as I plan to pull the plug sometime late summer.

 

[LinCella]

Evergreen - this certainly seemed to happen in my father's time period but most of these men had no hobbies or interests other than working and watching TV.

 

[imoldernu]

We had the "scare" 25+ years ago.
Walked away with a helluva lot less, to the happiest time of our lives.
You only come this way once.
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/sharing-23-years-of-frugal-retirement-62251.html

Think on it.

 

[rayinpenn]

Evergreen,

The reason my brother retired was that he had been ill, gravely so. He went into remission for a year then it came back with a vengeance and he was gone. Yeah 53. I miss him. Time is precious.

Let me tell you another story about my uncle - he is ninety. his girlfriend is in her 80s. They travel, they live and he just jumped out of an airplane - yeah with a parachute. They are a delight to be with. They don't talk about dying they talk and plan about on summering on the peninsula. They are role models I am doing my best to learn from them.... We all can.


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[Evergreen]

Thankfully I'm in good health for a 52 year old man, need to lose about 10lbs in weight though, my finances are there. I've been frugal all of my working life. Why the heck am I still working?! Maybe I'm still paying too much attention to what others think, all telling me that I'm too young and that it is not good to throw away a decent salary. Not one word of encouragement. The old clock is ticking though and I want to enjoy the next 30 odd years (God willing).


Still hoping to hand that letter over late summer.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Can you change the work situation to slow down? Fewer days, later arrival time, etc?