I'm Ready to Bite the Bullet-

[jackalope]

In the next few weeks I will be saying those magical words-"I'm retiring", to my employer. At the age 0f 58 and 27 years at my current job. I believe I have enough money to retire and not worry about money,and my employer will let me continue my healthcare coverage at 50% of the premium. I'm getting nervous though. Leaving at such a "young" age;leaving at the peak of my earnings---please give me your support,advice, cautionary tales, before I say the words........Thanks...

I semiretired on a shoestring at age 49, then turned
down the "big money" and hung it up for good at age
53. Best decision I ever made I think. No regrets
whatsoever.

John Galt

[sgeeeee]

jackalope,

First, congradulations on gaining the financial independance to be able to retire. That should make your life less stressful even if you choose to continue working.

Why do you want to retire? After the financial independence issue is solved, you have a lot of free time to play with. For some of us, that's a no-brainer . . . for others, it turns into a stressful problem. Tell us a little more about yourself and you'll get lot's of advice from this board. Some of it may even be good.

Jack,

Salaryguru has some good advice here. There are two parts to retirmement in my mind.

1.) The Financial - which is what most people focus on. If you understand how to invest your money - you have this one under control.

2.) The emotional - which I believe is a larger part of the issue and some may never really make it.

I know lots of folks that retired that did not have a lot of interests or friends and relied on work for stimulus. You may not be one of these people, but the best advice I can give you on this one is to rent the movie "About Schmidt" staring Jack Nicholson, if you have not already done so. He plays a man that is completely unprepared to retire emotionally. There are millions of people like this today.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Run! Run away! Run like the jackalope that you are!!!!

Unless you simply dont know what you might do with yourself, get going. In the case that you dont know, do it anyhow...you will them have ample time to figure it out.

Worst case? You can go back to work.

[Nords]

Jackalope, you've hung on for far longer than I could imagine doing myself.

Read Paul Terhorst's "Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35". It's full of advice on the "Now what?" side of the question. There are also many library books of the "You're Retired-- Now What?!?" ilk.

You'll find plenty to do, and if you don't then your spouse & family will find them for you. I'd love to meet the mythical retired guy who spruces up his house in six months and sits around bored all day looking for something to occupy his time.

Work is for those who can't handle ER. You can "quit" ER anytime you want, but you owe it to your physical & mental health to give it a hard try!

[PaperSniper]

Jackalope, don't slam the door when you leave.......I am only a few steps (months) behind you! I'm 57.5 years of age, been with this company 25 years, retired from the Navy reserves with 24 years, and have one wife and no other dependents.

I figure if my meetings with a financial planner (for hand holding more than anything else ), go well, I will be joining you and the others here at the RE forums.

Best of luck...............to me too!

Noticed Cut-throat's post re. ER having 2 parts, i.e.
financial and emotional. I basically agree with him.
I did it kind of backwards from the norm (which for me
may be the norm). Emotionally, I HAD to retire, no matter if I was ready financially or not. Truly, with my
outsized ego and the compulsion I felt, it was an easy
decision. The details (worked out on the fly) were a
bit more tricky. BTW, I did not hate my job.
I just felt the press of lost time/opportunities most
acutely. An age thing really.

John Galt