How Long Would You Work To Double Your Nest Egg?

[Qs Laptop]

I know a lot of people here deal with "one more year" and "golden handcuffs". I'm in a situation where I've more or less hit my number, but my business is doing very well and for the next couple years I should be making 2-3 times what I made the last five. Enough that, with some luck, I can double my nest egg in just a few years. Is it worth it? If you've retired already but you could double your nest egg by working a couple more years would you?

It seems like you are asking two separate questions. First question is should you keep working to double your nest egg? Second question is if you are already retired, would you go back to work for a couple of years to double your nest egg?

To answer the first question, yes, I would keep working an additional couple of years to double my nest egg. You say you've "more or less hit your number", but I sense that you might want more. So, unless you can't bear running your business anymore, I'd stick it out and stockpile some more money.

Some personal background. I'm a 60 year old business owner whose business was almost taken down in the Great Recession. I recovered and I'm doing better than ever. I like running my business, it's not hard to do and there's still enough challenges to make it interesting, so I keep plugging along. After some very dark days I'm starting to get paid well, so I keep going.

If you're not stressed and you like your work I say keep going.

Answer to the second question would be no, if I was retired and I was living comfortably I would not go back to work to double my nest egg. Of course, if I was 50 years old, retired and bored, I might do it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

At 48 I would go another 3 year to double. At 64..... zero.

Succintly put, and agreed.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

No. Not worth it to me. I made my decision over two years ago to walk away and I'm not going back.

 

[jollystomper]

At 48, if I was in good health, still enjoying the job, and had little stress from the job, I would keep working for those few more years.

My experience, at 54 all of the financial calculators, and the Megacorp financial planner, all said I had enough to retire. But I had not hit my "personal number" which would give mental comfort, and the job was still mostly enjoyable, so I kept working and putting money away. At 57, I hit my number, and soon after started my "glide path" in terms of trying to shift out of those components of the job that caused me stress, and continued to put money away.

This year, at 60, I chose to land the glider as now "time > money" for me. At some point in time you will have to decide when the "time > money" equation works for you.



At some point

 

[Mdlerth]

Reply hazy; try again

I voted "2 years".

The data show that although we were at FIRECalc 100% a year ago, I'm winding down OMY, during which our stash will NOT double. So if I'm willing to do one year for less than 2X, I guess it suggests that for 2X I'd probably do two years.

No doubt this has some of you seething, "So why haven't you retired already, you fraud? There's no such thing as more than 100%! Here at ER.org we coach and we coach about getting off the employment treadmill, but you keep not listening. What are you, some kind of subversive? Get off your keister and stop w*rking!"

Before you cut me from the team, I have an excuse: I don't REALLY know what my expenses will be. We keep good records so I know precisely what they HAVE been for the past three years, but I'm not confident that they won't go up once I have more free time to do discretionary activities that will cost.

For example, my RE spend plan allows for some international travel, which DW will love and I will not. It remains to be seen at what point my dislike of travel will prove a limiting factor. Will I be able to endure only a single month-long excursion per year or will she coax me into three? The only barrier keeping our travel under control now is the tiny ration of vacation our Megacorps permit. When three weeks off becomes 52 weeks off, my bride will be itching to wear out her passport. When the fever is on her, she could blithely bust our budget running round the globe.

If there's a fortuneteller or palmist out there who knows exactly what we'll spend, let me know now so I'll know the ideal day to bug out. In the meantime, I have to plan for worst case on the expense front. Hence OMY, hoping it doesn't turn into TMY.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

If I had enough money today to live comfortably for the rest of my life then I wouldn't work another day.

Interesting thread. I have enough money today to live comfortably the rest of my life, and yet I work. I don't work at the job that (with investments) made me enough money to live comfortably the rest of my life, I now have work that I mostly do for fun and mental stimulation.

OP, the question is how much is enough? If it is borderline (say after a steep recession) and you like/tolerate the work, then keep going given you are 48.

 

[tb001]

It depends. Like others, I would ask how much you enjoy what you’re doing vs the added stress it adds to your life. Many here have walked away from big money because they’ve had enough. It does sound though like the extra $ is enticing enough to *you* that it’s probably worth staying.

I’m the same age and walked away from a significant sum. It wouldn’t have doubled our nest egg, but close, and would have given us a lot of nice extras. But we have young kids and as a family decided it wasn’t worth what we were giving up. The extra $ came with a lot of stress and travel. As it turned out, once I decided I could walk away, I was able to go part time from home. So it lets us not touch our nest egg for a few more years, and *hopefully* let it grow a bit more, while having a much better quality of life. We’ll see how long it lasts, but so far it’s turned out to be a good alternative for us.

 

[Luck_Club]

@50 I would put in about 3 years to double that is roughly a 26% annual return.

Right now I'm indefinitely doing 1 more year at roughly 50% of my passive income. Just because I'm greedy, work from my home, it isn't that difficult, or negatively impacting what I want to do on a daily basis.

This exercise has me , since 3 one more years only adds about 5% to my stack. Of course I will never truly be retired in the eyes of this board since Real Estate Income is a heavy piece of my cash flow.

 

[ivinsfan]

If I had enough money today to live comfortably for the rest of my life then I wouldn't work another day.

I haven't noticed any medical updates from you lately. I hope you are doing better and having less pain.

 

[Fedup]

I’m 58 and I voted for 1 more year. Do I need the money, no. But my working life has not been stressful, the stressful part is the commute.

 

[Red Badger]

Like others have stated; now in retirement, not another day. If I was younger and working, perhaps a different answer.

Also, don't need more stuff. Pensions, SSI, and good retirement healthcare will cover all our needs. We'll spend from our egg on travel, experiences, and causes we support.

OP, if it's your baby and you don't mind the work, go a few more. However, if your yearning to be free, then by all means build your escape plan and execute it.

I had a number in mind for when I turned 60. If I wasn't there, I would keep going to perhaps 62. Favorable markets put me well ahead of my number. I walked at 60 and 26 days.

 

[gayl]

I hit it at 50 and worked until almost 52 so that I could more than 'exist' on pension (covers housing, medical, food, 1 trip a year). The extra 21 months covers another trip per year.

I went back to seasonal work due to boredom. But that's cured now

 

[Red Badger]

I voted "2 years".

The data show that although we were at FIRECalc 100% a year ago, I'm winding down OMY, during which our stash will NOT double. So if I'm willing to do one year for less than 2X, I guess it suggests that for 2X I'd probably do two years.

No doubt this has some of you seething, "So why haven't you retired already, you fraud? There's no such thing as more than 100%! Here at ER.org we coach and we coach about getting off the employment treadmill, but you keep not listening. What are you, some kind of subversive? Get off your keister and stop w*rking!"

Before you cut me from the team, I have an excuse: I don't REALLY know what my expenses will be. We keep good records so I know precisely what they HAVE been for the past three years, but I'm not confident that they won't go up once I have more free time to do discretionary activities that will cost.

For example, my RE spend plan allows for some international travel, which DW will love and I will not. It remains to be seen at what point my dislike of travel will prove a limiting factor. Will I be able to endure only a single month-long excursion per year or will she coax me into three? The only barrier keeping our travel under control now is the tiny ration of vacation our Megacorps permit. When three weeks off becomes 52 weeks off, my bride will be itching to wear out her passport. When the fever is on her, she could blithely bust our budget running round the globe.

If there's a fortuneteller or palmist out there who knows exactly what we'll spend, let me know now so I'll know the ideal day to bug out. In the meantime, I have to plan for worst case on the expense front. Hence OMY, hoping it doesn't turn into TMY.

Hey you! You, the fraud.

You should have written this before I retired! We are winding down on DW's first trip to Europe, and the second worst thing happened. She is absolutely smitten (the worst that could have happened was that she hated it and we'd have 20 grand worth of buyer's remorse). And, I may have that exactly back-asswards.

Funny thing. I usually have to put dynamite under her duff to get her to travel. She loves the travel, but when I start talking about another trip, I gotta get frickin' Alfred Noble on speed-dial for another of case ass blaster. I fear that I will look back on this problem with my heart longing and pining for "the good ol' days."

 

[Walt34]

At age 48 I'd stick with it to double the fund. But at 68, "Stick a fork in me, I'm done!"

 

[audreyh1]

Since I've been retired 19 years, I don't think I could go back to my old job, and what kind of super high paying job am I going to be able to get anyway that would double my net worth? And it would probably require me working 80+ hour weeks.

 

[CardsFan]

I retired at 60.
After almost 3 years retired, I have concluded that I COULD have retired on about 1/2 of what we had at the end of 2015. That was actually my targeted amount. But that occurred around 2011. The great recession was too recent a memory to take that chance, and I was enjoying my job.

So, I guess my answer is, if I was still working and enjoying it, 4 more years.
But, now that I am retired, knowing I have twice as much as I need (actually more thanks to the continued run up since retirement), I just don't think I could go back. If I did, it would need to be an ironclad guarantee, and no more than a year, and no one would pay me that kind of money for a year.

But it would be nice to be able to use that money for charitable work.

As far as the OP, at your age I would continue to work 4-5 more years, as long as you like the work. You are still young, so you have a longer timeline and more unknowns.

 

[SumDay]

Almost 30 days into retirement, and my answer was "not a single day". Heck, not even a single minute. I got an email from my old boss last night and it made my hair stand on end. I had to remind myself I didn't need to stand at attention and answer immediately.

 

[TwoByFour]

I enjoyed my career immensely when I was 48 and I would stay working whether I doubled my net worth or not. But at age 60 I was burned out and would not have stayed longer unless the gain was 5x for 3 years more.

 

[Kwirk]

Our pensions and SS are such that we don't need a nest egg (barring both of us landing in long-term care facilities). But, we have a substantial and growing egg that we hope to pass on to our children and grandchildren. I'd grudgingly work full-time for a month or so to double it. I'm probably cavalier about this because nobody will offer to match my egg for less than ~8 years of work. OTOH, I'd consider a few hours weekly of remote consulting on my own schedule if paid very, very well.

 

[bongo2]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I thought that the "not one more day" answer would be the most popular, and it was, but there were a lot of people who are willing to work a little bit longer, and about 30% of people willing to work two or more years. This makes me feel a lot better about giving in to the one or two or three more years syndrome.

 

[street]

No, I wouldn't work a day longer. In the 30 month's I have been retired my portfolio has grown in gains alone close to 7 figure number.

 

[stepford]

If there was some universe in which I could receive the several $M it would take to double my NW in a few years I suppose I might feel compelled to try it, but in the real world where it would probably take a good decade I'll just say no.


It's worth noting that after several OMYs and retiring at 55 I really wish I'd forgone the extra 50% or so I added to my NW and had taken the extra years instead.

 

[cyber888]

I know a lot of people here deal with "one more year" and "golden handcuffs". I'm in a situation where I've more or less hit my number, but my business is doing very well and for the next couple years I should be making 2-3 times what I made the last five. Enough that, with some luck, I can double my nest egg in just a few years. Is it worth it? If you've retired already but you could double your nest egg by working a couple more years would you?

No, if I hit my number .. Im definitely out. You cant take the extra cash with you when you’re dead in a few years.

 

[brucethebroker]

I'm 48, but I'm interested to hear what everyone on the board would do in their personal situation today even if it doesn't directly apply to me. My current assets are probably enough to satisfy my needs, but wants . . . well, I'm sure I can come up with something!

You are edging closer to the answer, IMO. How much $ do you need? Do you enjoy your work and are you free to relax, travel on whim?

Answer those questions and you will find your answer.

Personally, the restrictions of working at something I don't want to do and having my freedom taken away would not be worth the trade for doubling the asset base.

Again, my opinion, but the working years are all about accumulation of wealth. Your retirement/semi-retirement (my situation) is all about income. Once you hit the income number needed, everything else is gravy (you have "won"-no reason to run up the score, as others have stated). Of course, you may enjoy raising your standard of living in retirement with the additional savings, but is it really worth the time and hassle? Good luck.

 

[48Fire]

Enough that, with some luck, I can double my nest egg in just a few years. Is it worth it? If you've retired already but you could double your nest egg by working a couple more years would you?

I see in another post you said you are 48 years old. I was 46 when I decided to finalize my plans for early retirement. I set an aggressive goal of 48; hence, my name of 48fire.

In the subsequent years, I had two co-workers die suddenly. One was 48, and the other was 49. One died of a massive heart attack after he left night school class. The other died of an aggressive, acute leukemia. He left work not feeling well, and a downward spiral accelerated until his death two years later. Several others died suddenly in their 50's.

Attending these co-worker's funerals, seeing their daughters and wives, seared my memory, and made my plans clear.

I felt that I could always go back to work, earn a pile of money for a new car, bigger house, or international travel.

I also thought that immediate family issues would likely occur, and I wanted to be there as much as I could. Both good and bad. And they did.

On the good side, there was our daughter's wedding, birth of our first grandchild, and bucket list opportunities with my wife.

On the bad side, death of my sister, failing health of my other sister, deteriorating health of my parents, dementia and care for my MIL, death of my MIL, health issues of my wife, etc.

My ability to "be there" at a moment's notice, and not weigh my presence against Megacorp needs was and is priceless.