What prompted you to pull the trigger...

[rayinpenn]

So I posted about my dental Armageddon day two weeks ago. (tooth broke at root line and bridge came out same day). Silly but much of my stress was dealing with the dentist while having deadlines for work. Well the same week my long time next door neighbor (67) put his house for sale: it sold in the first week. We also heard my neighbor diagonally across was in the hospital for 2 weeks (slightly younger then me) I had my knee done just before she did her hip. She's a nurse and we chatted about our experiences.

It's been in the back of mind for some time... all this stuff has reminded me great job or not we don't live forever - it is time and I'll do it on my birthday in July. I'll be 63. I don't plan on saying anything until the last possible moment I've seen how they treat people... it isn't always the best.

Oh and I wanted to pass along my experience with that implant. I had it done on the Monday before last.. it felt fine for the first three days then it started to give me a good deal of pain after I ate anything. Well you can imagine what the weekend was like (lots of drugs) it got progressively worse. Monday 2:00 dentist appointment.."there's a hole and I can see bone" wonderful..I assume he meant jaw bone. "If part of your finger bone was exposed it would hurt right" yes I suppose that's true... "get me that temporary #%^*" (didn't catch it). Goop in hole then end result... I know it's there but feel sooo much better.

 

[W2R]

It's been in the back of mind for some time... all this stuff has reminded me great job or not we don't live forever - it is time and I'll do it on my birthday in July. I'll be 63. I don't plan on saying anything until the last possible moment I've seen how they treat people... it isn't always the best.

Congratulations on making that decision! You are right that we don't live forever, and I hope you have a great retirement.

What prompted me to pull the trigger was becoming qualified to retire. I had two dates for retirement in mind for almost ten years before I retired. One was the first date when I would be eligible to do it officially (and get retiree medical and a small pension). That was at age 61 and was the day when I eventually did retire. I also had a backup date in mind, a half year later or so. By then I would be 62 and would get a larger pension, but I didn't wait for it.

Both of my brothers had retired in their very early 50's, and I wanted to do that too so that added some incentive to retire ASAP.

 

[Nemo2]

What prompted me to quit work was being expelled from two schools consecutively before I was 15, and then immediately finding out that employment was essentially drudgery.

 

[pacergal]

I had a specific age, 60, to get 90% retiree medical benefits paid until medicare eligible. I could have retired at age 52 with 30 years in for the pension, but the medical bene was too good to pass. So I had 8 years to dream and plan, and make sure everything was good to go! The last year of work was rough, but loving every day so far, 4 months in!

 

[Dawg52]

Just sick of work. Plus my brother passed at 56 so that hit close to home. I have 2 first cousins who won't see 2018, one with ALS and the other with pancreatic cancer. Yep....no regrets with retiring early.

 

[Fedup]

My sister's best friend died at age 61, I think she was the same age as my husband. She left behind a decent estate, maybe north of $5 million. Then we had 2 car accidents within 3 months on the 405. The car was totaled from the second accident. I didn't want to take any more chance but only working to get health insurance for retirement so I can retire also. Money means nothing if you are dead. So that was my motivation.

 

[Jerry1]

I haven't pulled the trigger, but I've loaded the gun. I'm working part time and my employer knows I don't want to work much longer. Things that prompted me we convincing myself that I could do it financially speaking, hitting my final milestone at work - at 55 you vest in retiree health, and, like you, realizing that we don't live forever. Working part time is good for now as I have other commitments that will not allow me to travel or much else (supporting spouse through health issue and her mom through her health issue). And with all the uncertainty around health care, OMY seems prudent. Bottom line is that I'm almost there.

 

[Cobra9777]

What prompted me to pull the trigger?

It was a combination of three factors:

1. Job had become toxic to my mental and physical health... Pressure. Stress. Too much travel. Constant jet lag. Wasn't fun anymore. Two-hour daily commute. Conference calls early morning and late at night. Political nonsense.

2. Not enough time to pursue hobbies and other interests. Strong desire to do whatever I want, whenever I want.

3. I had more than enough money.

I thought about staying to 55, which was Megacorp's official "early retirement" age. At that point, there was a significant bump in the pension and I would have retained all RSUs and unvested options. But after much analysis, I concluded that the extra money would probably just go to the kids. They're great kids and all, but not for three more years of #1.

 

[swakyaby]

High taxes.

Well, that and a paid-off home, no debt, and financial independence.

 

[iloveyoga]

One last bad boss. And we were financially ready and I had plenty of stuff to do besides work. And my grandkids were growing up so quickly. No regrets!

 

[Badger]

I loved teaching but a few medical problems, 3 major surgeries ending with a lower back fusion made it impossible to continue. Fortunately I was prepared with a paid for house, retirement savings, and Tricare with Medicare coming up in a couple of years.

Now after rotator cuff surgery on both shoulders I am looking at a knee replacement. So you just never know. I probably could have retired a few years earlier and used the time for more travel. But since we all die anyway I'm not sure what difference it would make in the long run. You play the cards you are dealt. You decide what the best bet is.

Cheers!

 

[tps7742]

Congrats on making the decision to retire. Since I retired two years ago I have enjoyed my kids/grandkids more than I can remember. The simple things in life I alaways took for granted mean so much more these days.

 

[brett]

Apart from being financially ready to retire early one of the driving factors was the potentially low number of years left of good health and the ability and willingness to travel to the places we wanted to see in the manner in which we wanted to do it.

It has been just under five years now. Never regretted the decision for one moment. Our net worth and our liquidity has increased during each year of retirement.

 

[MRG]

Congratulations on your retirement.

My trigger was when my VP and another idiot deceided I needed to call in hardware support immediately(Sev 1) because a client had introduced a data issue into their system.

Even though the SMEs all knew the issue was data, and there were no hardware errors.
I'm suddenly more valuable to the repair efforts going down a blind hole.

 

[Independent]

I started a poll on this topic some years ago. It might be 10 years ago by now.

My recollection is that most people finally pulled the trigger due to something negative at work. Got laid off and didn't want to fight back into the workforce. Reorganization meant new boss or duties they didn't like. Just realized they didn't want to fight the *&% corporate bureaucracy any longer. Many said they were fine with the real work they did, they just didn't like all the corporate stuff that came with it.

The next most common answer was health. Maybe one event, maybe an accumulation, but reminders that the number of future, healthy years decreases with every passing year at w*rk.

Some said "We just hit our FI numbers, so the next logical step was RE".

A surprisingly small fraction said something like "We were vacationing in the Pacific northwest, just loved it, and decided we didn't want to go home" (I think that was one of the actual posts).

For me, it was a combination of the first three. If I had to pick just one, it would be new CEO whom I considered are real ___ . The feeling was mutual, in a general sense. He said the company had been so badly managed before he got there that anyone who had survived more than five years in the old regime was probably hopeless. So I checked the FI numbers, decided I didn't want to jump through the corporate "personal career planning" hoops again, and gave my notice.

I actually worked another six months because my boss was having trouble replacing me. It was enjoyable. I could concentrate on a big project that I enjoyed while ignoring all the corporate politics. My boss, a stand-up guy, made sure I got a decent share of the dept bonus pool at year-end.

 

[kcowan]

Ray
I would worry about that hole in your gums. Have you heard about ortho necrosis?

Beyond that, I would say that you have to feel it to retire. It is the unknown. So if there is no feeling to drive it, it will be hard.

 

[scrabbler1]

I pulled the trigger when all the pieces of my ER plan fell into place back in 2008. Finding an affordable HI plan (this was pre-ACA) and hitting my magic number were the two last pieces. I was already way sick and tired of my long, tiring, and often sickening commute, even though I had reduced it to 2 days a week.

 

[youbet]

I was prompted to retire by the security guard and HR Rep that showed up at my desk to walk me out.

 

[racy]

I had 2 goals to achieve prior to retiring: paying off the mortgage and getting my youngest son through school and earning a paycheck. Both occurred 4 years ago this month.

 

[SomedaySoon]

I was prompted to retire by the security guard and HR Rep that showed up at my desk to walk me out.

Somewhat similar. I got the phone call from HR the day I returned from a vacation. (I was a telecommuter). I kind of guessed something was wrong when I found myself shut out of email and the network drives, and tech support just responded with..."Well lets see, it looks like your access was changed because.......aaah someone will get back to you soon...."

 

[eytonxav]

Long commute with highway construction.

 

[broadway]

I haven't retired per se.
But 3.5 years ago I walked away from my job at megacorp without another job in hand.
The numbers in Firecalc suggested I would be okay if I lived on 3% withdrawal rate.
I had a 9/80 work schedule which would seem to be great since I got every other Friday off, but it wasn't. I was tired all the time. It was a 50-minute one-way commute. I hated my job. I was not doing what I was best at.

The final straw was when management put me on a project with an impossible schedule. I knew I would have to go in on Saturdays and work 10 hour days to have any hope of meeting the schedule. All no-pay since I was salary. No f***ing way!

Fortunately, my 1 year with the company was approaching, so I gave my notice and got the 25% vesting of the 401k.

 

[Dcharles]

I was turning 60, just paid off our home and the job was becoming very stressful with a huge project coming up. My boss was becoming weirder each day, over looked me on a promotion to lead the project so decided it was time. I guess the bottom line was my boss was becoming a narcistist and only cared about protecting himself and taking all the credit and never any blame. I could have sucked it up but when I saw others suffering I felt life was too short to be working for a demanding jerk. that was three years ago and I have never regretted my decision. My wife is happier and we are doing very well. I miss som elf the people at work but we have moved on.




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[Luck_Club]

Somewhat similar. I got the phone call from HR the day I returned from a vacation. (I was a telecommuter). I kind of guessed something was wrong when I found myself shut out of email and the network drives, and tech support just responded with..."Well lets see, it looks like your access was changed because.......aaah someone will get back to you soon...."

Spineless pond scum.

 

[Scuba]

We had planned our retirement date based on when a substantial bonus would pay out. A year before, I still wasn't 100% sure. That changed due to these factors:
1. New boss who was very laid back the first 9 months became a micro-managing control freak. I think he always was but just restrained himself at first. When I gave notice he said "But I thought everything was going so well" ... so I guess I did a great job pretending it was all good to make sure I got my big bonus.
2. Horrible commute that was getting worse and worse
3. Long list of other interests I wanted to pursue
4. Serious illnesses or sudden death impacted 6 different friends within about 6 months, ages 47-72 with most in their 50's. DH & I are in our mid-50's, very healthy, but this was a reminder that life as we know it could end quickly.
RE 4 months ago and have loved every day! Exploring new interests, spending more time on fitness, seeing family, and planning a big trip are WAY more fun than work! Don't miss it at all!!