How long was your glide path?

I've got about one year left before I make some kind of announcement in late 2014. Hopefully it'll be "I'm retiring, never to work again. Bye!"

Or at the very least, if I'm not quite financially there yet, it'll be "I'm taking a sabbatical and going back to Colorado for a couple years. Bye!"

Either way, I've got about one year left. I've reduced my level stress a little by refusing to have just any project or deadline pushed on me. I push back more than I ever have, and have no problems suggesting they dole out the work to other teammates, as my plate is full.

I've also started telling people I can't attend their meetings anymore unless they discuss my deliverables first, and then I need to leave so I can actually go back to my desk and do the work (rather than just talking about it).

I also blocked off two days a week in Outlook with my own all-day meeting reservations, to make it harder for people to just schedule something frivolous. I told them I need two days a week of heads-down time so I can actually get work done. Surprisingly, nobody's pushed back on that one.

I thought at first the next-to-last year (this past year) would be the hardest to get through, but I think I was wrong. I think this last 12 months is going to be hard, because time seems to crawl by so slowly.

I wish I could push a button and have the next 12 months just fly by. For me, it's no longer about the journey. I could care less about the journey now. I just want the reward (money/retirement/freedom) so I can get on with Life 2.0
 
Huston55 said:
"DEEPLY UNENTHUSED"

Yep, that's likely to become my new glide path motto. :clap:

Thx Brewer!
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We aim to please (everyone but the squirrels, anyway).

They have burned through yet another person in my shop. A coworker I see eye to eye with told me today that he has had enough after about a year and is actively looking for the next job. He has the prospect of being on the road constantly for at least the next 6 months. Not what was communicated when he took the job and not something that works with small children in the house.
 
Al in Ohio said:
How many here who have already reached their FIRE date maintained adequate performance expectations on the job and stayed on top of things, but noticed an attitude change that you weren't going let certain co-workers bother you ( maybe by ignoring them from that point on) or just took things down a gear so to speak ( like punching a drain hole in the bottom of your BS bucket) once you set a date in the not too distant future to RE? If so, how did you make that happen for your situation?
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Oh yes, I noticed that attitude change. I would sum it up as "I cared less." Trivia -- like what went wrong, what X or Y thought, etc. -- bothered me less.

As for how it happened, it was largely a conscious decision. When things came up, I would remind myself, "I care too much about this nonsense and it is time for me to stop caring so much." Of course, I still cared about the fundamentals of the job, but the day-to-day junk that gets on our nerves, that stuff receded in importance. I intentionally reminded myself it was not worth caring about, and it would all be over in ____ amount of time. That helped.
 
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ER Eddie said:
As for how it happened, it was largely a conscious decision. When things came up, I would remind myself, "I care too much about this nonsense and it is time for me to stop caring so much." Of course, I still cared about the fundamentals of the job, but the day-to-day junk that gets on our nerves, that stuff receded in importance. I intentionally reminded myself it was not worth caring about, and it would all be over in ____ amount of time. That helped.
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This is pretty close to the state of mind I have been feeling since I set my date even though its almost 3 years out. I could probably do it now, but I want more NW cushion and my job is usually fine and I have leeway to turn down work if it would interfere with other projects. No one critiques my work either so that's a blessing after hearing what crap others must endure. I also work no more than a 40 hour week and exceed all my project goals on time and under budget, so have always had the leverage to work 40 and still climb the ladder as fast or faster than the long hour office folks that feel tethered to work.

Reading previous posts on this thread has been helpful and very interesting. Definitely a common recognition of coping better when the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. I also needed a little validation that starting to feel less wrapped up in all the minutia of the little bothersome things with yet a few more years to go was not abnormal.

I guess for me it's kind of like "so close...yet so far" right now. There's a weirdness to it.
 
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I've started a long slow glide to the end. Firecalc gives me 98% success for retiring right now, but I plan to hang in until the end of 2016 to become eligible for some good benefits (health insurance for me, college tuition for my kids) and give a bigger margin of error with my spending. The last couple years have been high stress (work combined with being a single mom to very young kids), and I've been very fixated on my net worth and ER date. Now I've managed to arrange things so that the first 8 months of next year should be easy/low stress at work, and the following year should also be pretty manageable. I'm hoping this will make it easier to stay on til Dec 2016 for the extra benefits and financial security.
 
eyeonFI said:
I've started a long slow glide to the end. Firecalc gives me 98% success for retiring right now, but I plan to hang in until the end of 2016 to become eligible for some good benefits (health insurance for me, college tuition for my kids) and give a bigger margin of error with my spending. The last couple years have been high stress (work combined with being a single mom to very young kids), and I've been very fixated on my net worth and ER date. Now I've managed to arrange things so that the first 8 months of next year should be easy/low stress at work, and the following year should also be pretty manageable. I'm hoping this will make it easier to stay on til Dec 2016 for the extra benefits and financial security.
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If you are at 98%, be prepared to bail if things get uglier than expected. You are in a position to save yourself if needed, don't waste it if you are put in a position.
 
My glide path is 42 years and counting... :LOL:

In actuality, I have somewhere between 0-3 years to go, depending on how grant funding for my/any project goes. Three would be ideal monetarily, but if funds dry up completely, I doubt I'll have the give-a-**** to go find another j*b.
 
brewer12345 said:
If you are at 98%, be prepared to bail if things get uglier than expected. You are in a position to save yourself if needed, don't waste it if you are put in a position.
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Yeah, the knowledge I can just bail out if I really want/need to is great. Mentally freeing. Once I leave though, it would be nearly impossible for me to get another equivalent job, so I do really want the extra cushion. And luckily my job is such that I can probably minimize new BS flowing my way over the next couple years. Of course we did just get a new guy in charge and it remains to be seen what kind of leader he will be...
 
Amethyst said:
Presently I am being subjected to highly detailed critiques of my e-mails, by someone who is in a quasi-supervisory position over me (supervisor of record is an absentee landlord). I'll log in, to discover a copy of a selected e-mail, with the critiqued portion highlighted in yellow, plus a detailed explanation of why my word choices, To's and CC's were unsuitable or inappropriate. This of course is to be taken in the spirit of "helping me to improve." If I weren't on the glide path, I'd be seeing red. Now, I feel only pity - and disgust.

Amethyst
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You missed a comma. Please fill out a TPS report. :)
 
eyeonFI said:
I've started a long slow glide to the end. Firecalc gives me 98% success for retiring right now, but I plan to hang in until the end of 2016 to become eligible for some good benefits (health insurance for me, college tuition for my kids) and give a bigger margin of error with my spending. The last couple years have been high stress (work combined with being a single mom to very young kids), and I've been very fixated on my net worth and ER date. Now I've managed to arrange things so that the first 8 months of next year should be easy/low stress at work, and the following year should also be pretty manageable. I'm hoping this will make it easier to stay on til Dec 2016 for the extra benefits and financial security.
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Interesting. My glide path ends next year and it's like I'm already semi-retired. I could probably retire now but I'm too damned paranoid. Have an appointment Monday with a VG planner so we'll see what further advice I get.

Guess I consider myself semi-retired now because I come in late, miss any meetings I don't want to go to, and some days just call in because "something came up at home". In a way, it's like I have an internal attitude of a temp. Helps that I have every other Friday off and take 1-4 mental health days off a month (much vacation accrued). Also helps that I'm way overqualified for my position so I add a lot of value just by opening my mouth. Meanwhile, the focus is completely on life after ER, not anything to do with my current work. The idiots, boobs, political stuff I not only don't respond to, I don't even acknowledge. No, I'm not unenthused, I'm uninvolved. I'm in the job, just not of it.
 
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What is TPS? Totally Petty $#!+ ?:LOL:

Oh sorry, I suppose not knowing will get me in trouble too...



Tekward said:
You missed a comma. Please fill out a TPS report. :)
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Just a couple months of gliding for me, but it was very enjoyable - nothing seemed to bother me. I could not glide earlier, since people my age and experience were getting laid off.
 
It occurs to me that my path largely coincided with my joining this place. It was about 6 months before I actually quit but the "buckle your seat belt" sign came on.

I knew I was going about 5 years prior. Everyone was very nice but surprised when they learned at the time the path came.

What's interesting is how you manage after landing. That was when I found people's experiences here and elsewhere especially useful.
 
I've found that reading this forum has been very helpful in easing the transition to ER. Without it, and without other reading on ER, I think it's easy to feel alone with the project, as if you are on some solitary and strange journey. The people around me certainly don't talk about it -- everyone is worried about budget cuts and talking about working until they are old and grey (some already are).

I find it very encouraging to come here and read about ER. It is a good reminder that ER is not just some pipe dream or dangerous choice, but something a lot of people have done, successfully and happily. I find that boosts my morale.
 
Options said:
Interesting. My glide path ends next year and it's like I'm already semi-retired. I could probably retire now but I'm too damned paranoid. In a way, it's like I have an internal attitude of a temp. Helps that I have every other Friday off and take 1-4 mental health days off a month (much vacation accrued). Also helps that I'm way overqualified for my position so I add a lot of value just by opening my mouth. Meanwhile, the focus is completely on life after ER, not anything to do with my current work. The idiots, boobs, political stuff I not only don't respond to, I don't even acknowledge. No, I'm not unenthused, I'm uninvolved. I'm in the job, just not of it.
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This sounds very familiar. And, a good place to be to until ER.
 
ER Eddie said:
I've found that reading this forum has been very helpful in easing the transition to ER. Without it, and without other reading on ER, I think it's easy to feel alone with the project, as if you are on some solitary and strange journey. The people around me certainly don't talk about it -- everyone is worried about budget cuts and talking about working until they are old and grey (some already are).

I find it very encouraging to come here and read about ER. It is a good reminder that ER is not just some pipe dream or dangerous choice, but something a lot of people have done, successfully and happily. I find that boosts my morale.
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My feelings exactly! I glide out in less than 76 days. I'm working/planning to make it an easy transition for those who remain. I'm hearing 70 is the new 65 and people are should retire at that age (70). That's when I wonder if I'm during the right thing....going at 63. Thanks to this forum, I too find it encouraging.
 
I heard 70 was the new 50! Whatever that means :LOL:

I am hearing that you should retire at 70 if:
a) You love your job more than anything else you could possibly be doing; in which case, 70 is probably to soon; or,
b) You can't afford to retire earlier.

Amethyst

Cassie said:
My feelings exactly! I glide out in less than 76 days. I'm working/planning to make it an easy transition for those who remain. I'm hearing 70 is the new 65 and people are should retire at that age (70). That's when I wonder if I'm during the right thing....going at 63. Thanks to this forum, I too find it encouraging.
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My glide path is only 90 days.......landing gear is down, flaps down and tail hook down ready to catch the three "3" wire...........so my landing will be very quick once I announce the news. Crazy times..........but I am encouraged by the posts I read on this site. Thanks everyone!
 
My glide path started several years ago when I realised that I was close enough to start thinking of a specific date to FIRE on - at that point I found that negative events and negative people at work (which were few) started bothering me a lot less than they had when the end date was further off. At some point my attitude changed from "How do I get out of the rat race?" to "If I keep my head down and don't do anything stupid I will be out of here soon." During this period, if anything I tried to lift my on the job performance.

More recently, the stress levels fell again once I hit FI (even if I did agonise over the numbes and fall victim to OMY syndrome) and again once I handed in my notice. My work levels didn't really start dropping off until after I gave my notice.
 
I never heard the term "glide path" before: but if it means what I think it means, I'll say:

2 1/2 minutes
 
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I made my final decision six months out. But since I had to make it to my 55th birthday to get my health benefits, I worked just as hard as always. When dealing with those who make work difficult, I knew I was on final countdown, so it just didn't matter. I would not have to live with any long term consequences. My stress level was much lower. I worked with the same level of productivity until the last hour (no use in burning bridges).
 
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