At what age did you pull the plug?

[NC 57]

57. Should have done it a year earlier when I first handed in my resignation. The owner kept asking me to stay another month. Finally I had to just tell him I was no longer coming in to the office. Unfortunately I came down with an rare neurological illness three days after my last day at work which I'm still struggling with 7 months later. My wife blames the stress and heavy travel of the final two years.

 

[Katsmeow]

Curious as to when you retired?

DH fully retired at 62 1/2. I semi-retired at 56. I actually had turned in my resignation to fully retire but was made an offer to good to refuse to work one day a week. For almost 3 years since then I've been working 1 or 2 days week. I am pondering now when to fully retire.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited?

DH and were just discussing this the other day. This was in the context of talking about when I will fully retire.

For DH he has loved being retired and never missed the work at all. He did comment the other day that we would have more money had he stay until he was 65. Of course, that is almost always true. When he retired we had some uncertainty about what would happen with the Megacorp he worked for and he was to receive a lump sum in lieu of pension and retiring the exact month he retired most maximized the amount of that lump sum. That said, almost 3 years later, Megacorp did great so it would have been a net gain to stay.

For me, I was extremely burned out and extremely stressed by my work at the time. Economically it would have been better for me to stay for 3 more years.

Our situation is more complicated because we had some negative house-related financial events that happened in the first couple of years.

Looking back on it all 3 years later - the fact I was working part-time allowed us to mitigate most of the negative financial stuff. Not all of it, but the bulk of it. Had DH not retired then and had I not semi-retired all of that would have been easier.

But - it almost always will be easier financially to defer retirement. Both DH and I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 3 years and while it has been a bit of a wild ride it has all worked out.

Or should you have done it sooner?

No.

 

[truenorth418]

Aren't I being reckless or lax or irresponsible somehow, by bowing out so early? Shouldn't I stick around longer, like everyone else? And I'm going to walk away from a job at my "peak earning capacity"? Isn't that foolhardy?
Granted, this is an early retirement forum, but at least I feel less like an oddball -- or an oddball with plenty of company, anyhow.

A year and a half ago at 47.

Sometimes I have the same feelings of apprehension described above. Then I remember how unhappy I was at work and how hard I worked to accumulate enough money to retire early. I am much happier now than I was then, though I could do more to optimize this great gift I have given myself.

I think the key is to ignore the conventional wisdom and do what you think is best for you.

 

[LeapDay2012]

Just over a year ago at 46. Last day was Feb. 29, 2012... hence the username.

No regrets.

LD

 

[ER Eddie]

Nice to hear so few regrets.

 

[racy]

From the responses here, it looks like I waited till old age to retire! Retired from megacorp 38 days ago at age 60.

It was a good decision; I'd reached a point in my career where I'd had enough (and a point in my finances where I have enough).

I don't regret waiting till 60. Up to the time I'd had enough I was enjoying the w*rk.

 

[gcgang]

WHAT I thought the "D" stood for dependable

I thought the D stood for "da". Guess I been speakin too much pidgin Hawaiian.

 

[FreeAtLast]

Semi retired at 55.
Full retirement at 58.
back to work as a consultant at 60. Very limited hours mostly from home.

 

[gocurrycracker]

We jumped ship at 38 (me) and 33 (DW)

6 months in I feel that it was the right decision and we should have done it sooner

 

[Dawg52]

At 52 in 2007.

 

[audreyh1]

39
Yes and no. I was absolutely the right decision for me to take some time off work, and smell the rose, or orchids in my case.
But I think 39 is too young not have found a second career and while I do volunteer work it isn't the same thing.

Also 39. But I didn't feel the need for a second career. We went "full time" into some serious hobbies instead.

But that was a long time ago now - I've been retired over 13 years. Still loving it and wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Milton]

Does this thread really belong in the "Hi, I am ..." forum? "Life after FIRE" would be much more appropriate.

it's just ... irresponsible (?) somehow. You're "supposed" to work until you're 65, right? Or at least 59? Aren't I being reckless or lax or irresponsible somehow, by bowing out so early? Shouldn't I stick around longer, like everyone else? And I'm going to walk away from a job at my "peak earning capacity"? Isn't that foolhardy?

Troll!

 

[DeborahB]

I think it's key that you have things you want to do with your time when you ER - especially if it's going to be a somewhat frugal retirement. If you have $20 million this seems irrelevant.

For me it was just a question of saving enough money - I ALWAYS have things to do that I enjoy (and some I don't)... and the j*b was killing me. More or less literally, from stress.

 

[GT1 Doug]

Curious as to when you retired? 55 (2012)

Was it a good decision or should you have waited?

Great decision. It was better in many ways that I did not even expect.

Or should you have done it sooner?

I would have liked to, especially now, knowing how good it is, however, the previous couple of years were rough in the portfolio department and would not have supported my conservative nature.

 

[xyz]

Retired at age 56

It was a very good decision ! I have much less stress in my life and have time to do things I like to do.

I don't think I should have done it sooner. It was certainly the right time for me.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

55 years 7 months. Good decision. Stayed retired for 6 months and got a call with an offer too good to be refused and worked mostly from home for 13 months until the end of this last Jan. That really helped with transition to my current state of mind, not to mention a little more margin. Would not have retired earlier. I had targeted age 57-58 but THINGS CHANGED at work so it was time to go. I have not regretted it at all. I spend a lot of time fiddling with my financial projections and listening here for anything that might help me.

 

[HighRoller]

Curious as to when you retired? At age 60
Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Very good decision but I waited to long to make it!
Or should you have done it sooner Yes, by maybe 2 years but I was greedy and a little afraid to take the plunge.

 

[Richard8655]

61 (just a couple weeks ago). Still feel like I did something wrong, but that's the psychology of our work ethic country.

 

[smurray5991]

Age 57 (a little over a month ago).
A great decision - even though I didn't actually plan it in advance (it 'presented itself' as an option because my job was eliminated).
It would have been awesome to go even sooner - but not sure I would have felt FI enough -- certainly couldn't have even considered it before age 56 when I became eligible for early federal pension.

 

[bltkmt]

This thread has proved very insightful to me. I have been on this site for a few years, but was under the impression that most here had retired in their 30's or 40's. I just turned 50 and thought I was "behind" most of the participants. Now I see that I may still be on track!