Why Did You Retire? -- Poll only for those currently, fully retired

[Independent]

When I was 50 I was nervous about my job and trying to decide whether to look for another. The company had a good severence deal (at that time) so I decided I was better off hoping to get the kids through high school before they RIFed me.

But while I was thinking about that, I did some numbers and decided that we could live okay on about 1/3 my salary once the kids were gone. If I stayed to 55, I would qualify for a modest pension, and with the 401k that would fund the 1/3.

I also figured that if I made it to 59, I would have enough cushion that I wouldn't need to worry. I ended up making it to 59, with both good and bad days on the job. The most enjoyable thing I did in the last couple years was work on a number cruncher aimed at telling people whether or not they had enough to retire (I worked for a financial services company).

Finally made a list of a half dozen reasons that people work. Decided none of them applied to me, so I left. I did volunteer to stop back in occasionally to work on the number cruncher, kind of the "geezer focus group of one".

 

[Dawg52]

Simple. Frigging tired of work. Want to play golf full time. Thats it.

 

[youbet]

Opps......... I pressed the post button instead of preview

Youbet, how did you manage to work for years under the threat of outsourcing? The morale in Megacorp must have been lousy.

There were some difficult morale issues. Obviously, when a company sees the writing on the wall that much work will need to be outsourced or the whole company will go under, it gets tough. These headcount reductions took the form of outsourcing and also from moving operations to MegaCorp owned facilities offshore.

As I recall, the first step was a voluntary severance package you could apply for. MegaCorp decided who could go and when they could go. Benefits were very generous and this program was fairly successful.

That was followed by several years of involuntary separations and there were indeed some painful times.

Personally, I had nothing to lose by staying. We "battened down the hatches" at home knowing I could be out of work at any time. But, for me, the timing was pretty good. We were more or less FI and the severance package would just serve as a reward for staying on. So I did. After being part of moving thousands of jobs offshore, I was finally added to "the list" myself and turned off the lights on my way out.

No regrets. No bitterness towards MegaCorp. It's the way things are today and I was personally treated relatively well and only know of a small handful of examples of people who weren't.

 

[heyyou]

Worked and saved toward early retirement for as long as I had an adult job. Kept the job that paid best for that reason. Bailed out when my pension surpassed my expenses, and my portfolio hit specific multiples of same. Each multiple was a milemarker on my path to ER.

Long before calculators or Bengen's numbers, one could compare portfolio yield in dollars to job income.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

No regrets. No bitterness towards MegaCorp. It's the way things are today and I was personally treated relatively well and only know of a small handful of examples of people who weren't.

On Saturday, I bumped into a couple who used to leave nearby.
They moved out of state. Highly educated professionals, 50ish.
He lost his position about 3 weeks ago and her employer was in
deep doo-doo and considering Chap. 11 unless they got bought out.

An aside. Her last week's paycheck was a week early. No explanation.

Anyway, no whining. They recognize this is all part of capitalism.

JG

 

[windsurf]

DW had already retired from teaching with the relative security of state teachers' retirement and available discounted (for her, not me) health insurance. We had no debt, about a mil in savings (2/3 sheltered). I had dollars to come from firm equity (@70k per year for five years decreasing to @26k per year for an additional five years). At the end of that ten years, SS is there at age 67. In hte meantime, I am getting an MFA and hope to teach college level at least part-time. I consider the teaching a labor of love absolutely distinct from the grind.

 

[yakers]

Well, I'm still working but my wife retired from teaching earlier this year. It was a combination of circumstances that led to her decision. First, I am still working and that covers income issues. Our youngest child is in his last year of high school and will be going away to college in Sept 07, although she loves teaching her school was burning her out. Now she 'works' about 4 hours a week placing student teachers in classrooms, almost no pay, but she loves it.

 

[Nords]

Now she 'works' about 4 hours a week placing student teachers in classrooms

Why does it take so long? Are the student teachers fighting back or running away?

 

[sgeeeee]

Why does it take so long? Are the student teachers fighting back or running away?

They are if they know what they're about to face.

 

[Sparky]

DW HATED his job and we figured that we had enough for him to quit and I would work part time till I was 55 (to qualify for employer sponsored health insurance).

He quit in 2002 at 44... Oops... then I got laid off in 2003 at 44...

It took sometime to figure our that we could BOTH RE with FI. We've since moved and spent about $100K in renovation and we still are doing better than expected with a 4% SWR...

 

[Sparky]

Oops...

I meant DH...

 

[astromeria]

DW HATED his job

Oops...
I meant DH...

Darn, I thought we had our first married, FIREd gay couple.

 

[sgeeeee]

Darn, I thought we had our first married, FIREd gay couple.

not that there's anything wrong with that (after Seinfeld).

 

[MJ]

I have always believed that it is everyone's G-d given right to have a DW.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

not that there's anything wrong with that (after Seinfeld).

We're not gay! Of course not. I have many gay friends. George. "My father is gay!" Reporter, "I know what I heard." George, "Do you wanta have sex right now? You wanta have sex? Come on baby!"

(Yes, I have seen a lot of Seinfeld) I lead a lonely life.

JG

 

[frb53]

Retired in 2002. 30 years (age 18 to 48) of climbing telephone poles in the Mississippi delta was about all I could stand.

 

[2B]

This is interesting. The poll indicates that far more people were just sick and tired of work and walked away. THEN they figured out if they could afford retirement.

I had the impression that most of this forum was full of "anal-retentive" types that analyze things to death (like me -- but I've always been well paid for it).

 

[tryan]

FI at 40 ... RE at 43. The severence forced my leap. Otherwise I could have stayed on a couple more years ... really no other reason to leave; certianly no reason to "start - over" in a new mega corp.

 

[madeit!]

It was costing me more to work than to not work. My net worth has increased $50 K since I retired 3 mo. ago.

 

[BUM]

No-brainer for me. My business needed an expensive re-tread, and a 5 year committment from me....3 years to pay off the loans and 2 years to reap the profits. Been there done that. Joyously DW agreed.

 

[2B]

I closed the poll. We have an interesting result in my opinion and not anywhere near what I expected.

"I just had enough of work and I'll make do" was the runaway leader. That tells me the many anal-retentive types on this forum just walked away from a real job and later figured out they were going to live on their "stash."

The number 2 spot was "way better than FIRECalc." This would be the group that finally looked at their assets and said "why am I still going to work? I'm loaded!"

I was expecting a higher percentage of people that "stretched" but really watched the numbers. These would be the ER stretchers of which we have relatively few. I'm surprised nobody went for Bernicke or Guyton who have the more "liberal" calculating methods.

Thanks for your contribution.

 

[tryan]

But it looks like a pretty even split between : having plenty (4% or less plus FireCalc verified) and "we'll make it work"(health issues plus I have to get out).