Resigning today!

[DeborahB]

Sending the email today, retirement effective in 2 weeks, dutifully giving 2 weeks notice. My, my... won't THAT make for some craziness this weekend on the managerial front! So sad, too bad...

[Emeritus]

Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Onward]

I'm getting that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Bravo.

[David1961]

Congratulations. Was there anything specific that caused you to retire now?

[ls99]

Great, next two weeks should be fun.

[Moemg]

Congratulations on making the plunge !

[M Paquette]

Congratulations. Keep notes for yourself. The time will fly by, and the entertainment value will be priceless!

[scrabbler1]

Congrats and savor the moment. I delivered my resignation letter in person to my bosses. I felt they deserved to hear it from me directly. It felt quite surreal.

Once in a while I find my copy of the resignation notice and read it. Maybe I should frame it?

[Bestwifeever]

NICE! I hope you are sending it around 4:00 pm, before the powers that be leave for the day but too late to discuss with you.

Need I add "have a great weekend!"?

[DeborahB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever NICE! I hope you are sending it around 4:00 pm, before the powers that be leave for the day but too late to discuss with you. Need I add "have a great weekend!"?

Oh, I think around 4:59 pm ;-) They all check email online anyhow. And then I will screen my phone calls all weekend.

[DeborahB]

I have it all worked out as to what to email her - this is all I want to put in writing:

"Susie" -

I will turn 62 on June 20 and have decided to retire in two weeks, effective on the last day of the pay period, July 3 - my last day at work will be Friday, July 2.

Please consider this my official letter of resignation.

[my name]

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 Sending the email today, retirement effective in 2 weeks, dutifully giving 2 weeks notice.

Congratulations!

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 My, my... won't THAT make for some craziness this weekend on the managerial front! So sad, too bad...

They'll get over it.

[DeborahB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David1961 Congratulations. Was there anything specific that caused you to retire now?

I no longer enjoy my job, I have too much work and too little appreciation, and I'm bone tired all the time. I have been planning this for quite a while.

[DeborahB]

I should add - the last straw was when one of my friends dropped dead of (probably) a heart attack a few weeks ago. I've survived a lot of serious illness and work may literally be killing me - or at least shortening my life. I'm not going there.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 I no longer enjoy my job, I have too much work and too little appreciation, and I'm bone tired all the time. I have been planning this for quite a while.

Great that you've been planning this for a while and it sounds like you have all your ducks in line . Congrats.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker25 I have it all worked out as to what to email her - this is all I want to put in writing: "Susie" - I will turn 62 on June 20 and have decided to retire in two weeks, effective on the last day of the pay period, July 3 - my last day at work will be Friday, July 2. Please consider this my official letter of resignation. [my name]

I don' t know what your company's pension rules are (if you are getting a pension), but when my dad retired in 1994 he was going to work his last day on July 1st. However, that would delay his first pension check for 3 months because he worked one day in the 3rd quarter. So he changed his last day to June 30th and received his first pension check sooner.

Years later the same thing happened to a retring coworker. He did know about our company's pension rules and had his last of work on September 30th, the last day of the 3rd quarter, so he would get his first pension check right away.

[DeborahB]

Someone sent me a PM with a lot of questions that I'm going to answer publicly.

I'm not selling my house or downsizing - my SO and I bought a big house some years ago and need the space for hobbies/avocations/getting away from each other etc.

I achieved this by saving a lot of money over the past 10 or 15 years. Lived way below my means but without denying myself a whole lot. I just don't want too many toys - and we have the ones we want.

I don't have a pension (well, I think I get $40K or so - - but I'm just rolling that into an IRA). I try to make a LOT more than 3 - 4 % on my money. I have to withdraw more than 4% - I can't live on it otherwise. I also have to make more than that on my money. I am less risk-averse than most people on this board, and I enjoy investing and watching the stock market. Because I have no pension, I have to make money on my money.

I am invested in dividend paying stocks that have appreciated (some quite a lot), corporate bonds maturing soon, some mutual funds. I try to make a minimum of 6% on my money - plus capital appreciation. I only take calculated risks. I don't trade options or anything - I never really figured it out enough to be comfortable with it. I just invest, and try to (ahem) buy low and sell high.

When the market goes down, I see it as a buying opportunity.

I've lost money in the stock market, learned a lot, and over all gained money. I took a big hit when the market went to 6600 or whatever it was - I won't do that again.

I have a small mortgage - I am able to itemize so I don't plan to pay it off until I go on Medicare at 65 and probably can no longer itemize on my taxes.

The main issue I see is the 17 months after COBRA runs out - I have pre-existing health conditions but have budgeted for a lot of health expense for that time.

I am taking 2 blues cruises (paid for already) - one in October and one next January - those are my travel plans. I hope to do more - I'll have to see how the money goes.

I used to make art and have energy and garden - all of that has gone away due to job stress. So I will be cooking more, making art, gardening, reading... all good stuff. That's much more fulfilling for me than my job can ever be.

Amazingly, I am not the least bit worried about managing financially. I can always cut back. We have everything we need, basically. We don't eat out much - but I enjoy cooking so that's not a big deal. I don't particularly enjoy shopping for clothes. I decided to let my hair grow and save money on haircuts - also, change is good. If I'm going back to being an artist-hippie, well, why not long hair, too...

I've never really fit into the corporate world and that's fine - I found a job that paid pretty well despite that. Now it's time to get back to what really matters to me. I long ago gave up on trying to fit in (past a certain point).

The stress of layoffs and more work, too few people, and no acknowledgement of the realities got to be too much and unhealthy. Let someone younger deal with it. I'm tired of the whole thing. I'm less physically resilient than I used to be.

The next 2 weeks should be quite entertaining. No one at work knows I am planning this. At ALL. And, while there's no good time to do this (for them) - this will be a really bad time. I've documented all my projects and procedures but they are terribly understaffed so it will be ugly. But I want the summer to be free and there is a lot of additional work coming my way in the next year that would only increase my workload. So I'm out.

[DeborahB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrabbler1 I don' t know what your company's pension rules are (if you are getting a pension), but when my dad retired in 1994 he was going to work his last day on July 1st. However, that would delay his first pension check for 3 months because he worked one day in the 3rd quarter. So he changed his last day to June 30th and received his first pension check sooner.

Hi - I'm not worried about when the money shows up. There essentially is no pension worth noting. However, by working in July, my July health insurance is paid at the employee rate and COBRA starts in August, not July. Thus the decision on the date.

[powerplay]

Congratulations and may you fully enjoy retirement!

[easysurfer]

Did you time it in July for Independence Day?