"What year did you ER?" poll

[unclemick]

1/1/1993 age 49 BUT I was 'unemployed' until I was able make the mental shift to ER.

ER anonymous?



heh heh heh -

 

[CuppaJoe]

...

ER anonymous?



heh heh heh -

Hope there's no 12-step program for that.

 

[Bikerdude]

March of 2000. How's that for luck!

 

[Onward]

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Last day of work was December 31, 1996. Didn't retire, just decided I'd had all of the corporate fun that I could stand. I was 49 at the time.

 

[Walt34]

July 1, 2002 was my last day of real work. It is a different mindset.

After we sold the old house and before we could move into the new one, which wasn't ready yet, we stayed DW's father for about three weeks. This was stressful for her since as it turned out I got along better with him than she did. Shortly after we moved in there I told DW "Well dear, we're unemployed and homeless."

Somehow that didn't make her feel any better, but I've always had that talent for words.

And while I have a job at the moment, I think it is a stretch to call it "work". This afternoon/evening I'll spend eight hours there, about six and a half of which I'll spend reading a book about Photoshop, I'll have two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute break for lunch, and I'll spend perhaps 30 minutes actually doing what they pay me for. And at each end I'll have a nice motorcycle ride. With the extra unplanned-for income after taxes our savings/investments increase at the rate of $2.5k per month and there's another $800 for play.

And if in this environment someone, somehow, manages to sufficiently annoy me, I have the option of telling anyone and everyone to shove it.

 

[rescueme]

Nitpicking: Doesn't the age at which one retires more important than the year? Not much can be said about a person retiring in 1991 at age 80, right?

Born last century - retired this century. Seems like forever ...
(Actually, 2007 at age 59...)

 

[happy2bretired]

April 2006. Question: Could a new line be added like the LOCATION field under the control panel to add the year one retired?

 

[REWahoo]

April 2006. Question: Could a new line be added like the LOCATION field under the control panel to add the year one retired?

The option to include your retirement date can be found in the "Additional Information" section of your User CP > Edit Your Details. However, it does not display under your avatar as you are requesting.

 

[Sam]

I'm wondering if we'll see any data trends from asking the question this way-- for example few ERs during the stormy days of 2001, 2002, 2008, or 2009... and lots of them in 1999 & 2007 when the ER weather seemed sunny & mild.

OK, I see the reason behind the poll now.

 

[scrabbler1]

My last day of work was Friday, October 31, 2008, Halloween.

It was no tricks, all treats LOL!

 

[Leonidas]

Shortly after we moved in there I told DW "Well dear, we're unemployed and homeless."

Somehow that didn't make her feel any better, but I've always had that talent for words.

I had a partner like that once. While I was always trying to sweet talk somebody into the back seat of the police car, he could, with a few words, turn them into raving lunatics. After the secretary down at IAD started greeting us by our first names I told him, "Dude, you're just not allowed to talk to people anymore."

 

[Nords]

70 votes so far, with the majority in the last five years.

Maybe it would've been different if the poll had been running since 1991. There's probably a recency issue... if you've been ER'd for a while you may no longer feel compelled to log onto this board to discuss it. It's hard enough to mine this board or Greaney's or Raddr's for data, and there's no way to go track down the old TMF RE board or ES's defunct board.

While I was always trying to sweet talk somebody into the back seat of the police car...

That gives a completely different connotation than the one I hope you intended!

 

[Koolau]

Made my final - no going back - decision on L*bor Day, 2005. Gone in less than a week.

I have a recurring dream that I either changed my mind and stayed or else that I went back to w*rk at the same place. Reminds me of dreams I used to have about not graduating from university. Cold sweat time for both kinds of dreams. Maybe we should poll when was the last time we dreamed about our old j*b!

 

[Leonidas]

That gives a completely different connotation than the one I hope you intended!

I'm not ashamed of avoiding a butt-kicking what so ever. I can even remember the exact moment I started sweet talking.

Cold February, about 3 in the A.M. 1981. Dude passed out behind the wheel in the middle of an intersection in a bad neighborhood. I was all smart alecky until I reached down to grab his arm and said "whoa, dude, what's your thigh doing up here where you arm belongs?" Then he unfolded out of the car and I was looking up at what had to be Bubba Smith's biiiig brother.

He was still a little groggy, but was starting to remember some of the comments I had so foolishly made. "What did you say?"

"It sure is cold out here and it looks like you're having some car problems. Why don't you have a seat in my car where it's nice and warm while I figure out what to do with your car."

That's the night I learned how to sweet talk.

 

[Nords]

Maybe we should poll when was the last time we dreamed about our old j*b!

Can't do that in units of years. I can barely do it in days...

 

[Koolau]

Can't do that in units of years. I can barely do it in days...

Yeah, I should have realized that most in the military are gonna have plenty to dream about. Funny, though, I never dreamed about the half dozen close calls I had at w*rk (one near-explosion sent the entire plant running for their lives - I got passed by a much younger secretary with her skirt up around her waste so she could run. I didn't even think anything about it until later in the day when I quit shaking.)

No, I always dreamed about the 98% drudgery and not the 2% stark terror. Go figure.

 

[RonBoyd]

secretary with her skirt up around her waste

That does sound like it was a scary incident. I hate when that happens.

 

[W2R]

Looking at the poll - - - it looks like the peak retirement year was 2007. 2007? My gosh, what's wrong with you guys? Didn't you know the market was about to crash?

 

[REWahoo]

I think most of us who retired in 2007 and could have foreseen the future would have stayed working for awhile . It was really scary to see your portfolio melt before your eyes !

I think that statement holds true for any of us who retired in the 2-3 years leading up to 2007. I retired in 2005 and spent most of 2008 wondering if I was the red line in Dory's FIRECalc example chart ...

 

[Moemg]

It was so scary . I really considered going back to work or downsizing ! No one who did not retire at that time can appreciate the panic a lot of us felt . A lot of our posters did return to work after their portfolio melted and some may never retire .

 

[rescueme]

Looking at the poll - - - it looks like the peak retirement year was 2007. 2007? My gosh, what's wrong with you guys? Didn't you know the market was about to crash?

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail".

That's why I have a 3-5 cash bucket for income in retirement. Put some in (like in 2007 and 2009) when things are up and just draw on it when things are down (like 2008).

Sort of like a farmer. In good years, the excess goes to the silo; in bad years, the silo gets tapped to feed the animals. It's actually quite simple.

Didn't sell one share during the downturn. And hey, I have no pension nor SS income

 

[REWahoo]

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail".

That's why I have a 3-5 cash bucket for income in retirement. Put some in (like in 2007 and 2009) when things are up and just draw on it when things are down (like 2008).

Sort of like a farmer. In good years, the excess goes to the silo; in bad years, the silo gets tapped to feed the animals. It's actually quite simple.

Didn't sell one share during the downturn. And hey, I have no pension nor SS income

I'm unable to compose a response that will pass the scrutiny of the moderation team.

 

[Nords]

It's actually quite simple.

"So simple even a wahoo could do it!"

I don't think any of the posters were referring to your Vulcan-logical approach to financial management. It's appropriate to give the emotional side a little credit.

 

[easysurfer]

I can fix that. - done.

Thanks for the fix. My last day was Jan 31, 2008. It was a very short w*rk year. I had a few carry over vacation days from the previous year so was off at home in early Jan. Then I came down with a mean fever as was w*rking from home until about Jan 10th. Then the megacorp decided to outsource several (myself included) from the department and gave us a choice to take the outsource by Jan 31st. I declinded and did a Johnny Paycheck move I remember a few days after I started my retirement, there was a big snowfall and I said to myself, this is pretty cool...I avoid all the traveling in the snow.