When does ER get hard?

[48Fire]

I know some people really close to me that had a hard time with ER - Father, FIL, friend. Do people like that have problems from the beginning or does it take a month or more? Right now, nearly one week into this, ER seems like a no-brainer.

[Tree-dweller]

I had the same questions when I cut the cord.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...off-59508.html

Giddy hasn't worn off yet for me.

[HighRoller]

Hopefully never. It has only been about 16 months for me but so far it's all been pretty good.

[Ronstar]

I worried that it would be hard, so I gradually went from 50+ work hrs per week to around 12. Now the one work day a week is the hard part.

[Onward]

For me, boredom set in at about 2.5 yrs. So far I've mostly solved it by going in some new directions and starting a part-time business unrelated to my original "career."

That also helps solve what has been for me maybe the hardest part of an otherwise wonderful ER: losing that feeling that comes with investing new money. I've found that I really crave that feeling.

The giddiness of ER is still here, though it comes in flashes. It is, as it has always been, the giddiness of a prisoner who has escaped a dungeon, rather than someone in a strange, new land.

[Midpack]

If you retire "to something" (meaningful, engaging activities - whatever that means for each of us) and not just "from something" (work), ER needn't get hard for decades. It's the ones who haven't thought about life aside from work and maybe have their identity wrapped up in their work position that can get into trouble with boredom and depression.

I was never giddy. After two years, I miss work (actually the interaction with most former co-workers) at times, but it always passes very quickly. If that ever changes, I'll go find work, no big deal.

[dm]

I'm 6 years in. Life is good! I can't imagine wanting to go back to work. I don't have the time now anyway.

[MichaelB]

The hard part of ER? Well, I know it exists because I've seen others struggle, but they also struggled with other parts of life so ER probably wasn't the cause.

This is my 13th year and it's still good. If I do get bored someday there's always that first list of "things I want to do in retirement" I wrote way back then - haven't started on any of them yet. Too busy.

[Which Roger]

Most people on this forum are wired to ER, and are prepared for it (financially and otherwise). We're far from being a representative sample of the general population.

Within the general population, the majority of ERs were likely forced to stop w*rking (due to job loss, health issues, etc) and were likely neither financially nor mentally prepared for the transition. For those people, ER starts out hard and stays hard.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 48Fire I know some people really close to me that had a hard time with ER - Father, FIL, friend. Do people like that have problems from the beginning or does it take a month or more? Right now, nearly one week into this, ER seems like a no-brainer.

Eight years in and I've yet to run into a hard spot...other than the occasional nightmare about being back at work.

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dm I'm 6 years in. Life is good! I can't imagine wanting to go back to work. I don't have the time now anyway.

Same here. Six years in and everyday there is something to do. Got to mow my grass today.

[scrabbler1]

It never was hard for me, and I am 4 months short of 5 years.

Having worked part-time for 7 years before I ERed helped make the transition from working 2 days a week in the last 17 months of working to working zero days a week pretty simple.

What was a bigger shock to the system was when I began working part-time 7 years earlier. Back then, I went from working full-time to working part-time and that was 20 hours a week and mostly telecommuting. My commute went from 5 days a week to only 1 day a week but even that was not tough to get used to, thanks to having lined up two activities, one new and one resurrected, I began doing to make my added nonwork time more enjoyable.

The telecommute deal ended 27 months later so it became a challenge to juggle those two activities along with a third one with a 3-days-a-week commute which would become the 2-days-a-week commute I started this post with. This made ER an end to the ongoing nuisance of working. So how could ER be hard?

[calmloki]

ER or ED?

[Redbugdave]

It sounds like a hard way of life...but someone has to do it...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Eight years in and I've yet to run into a hard spot...other than the occasional nightmare about being back at work.

This is my 4th year and I feel the same. Retirement has been sheer bliss. In my experience, the worst day of retirement is a thousand times better than the best day of work.

Before I retired, I was a little scared. After all, I wasn't "retiring TO something" and I hadn't read any of the scads of books about the psychological adjustment to retirement. Not only that, but my work was a big part of my identity, or so I thought.

Despite all that it turned out that for me, adjusting to retirement was no more difficult than not working on Saturdays was, before retirement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB The hard part of ER? Well, I know it exists because I've seen others struggle, but they also struggled with other parts of life so ER probably wasn't the cause.

I hadn't thought of that, but you know, I think this is probably true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB This is my 13th year and it's still good. If I do get bored someday there's always that first list of "things I want to do in retirement" I wrote way back then - haven't started on any of them yet. Too busy.

I have a list like that, too! I haven't started on any of them either.

[Major Tom]

I stopped work about 4 years ago and haven't even started the bucket list. It may well be a few more years before I get started on that. In the meantime, I have one specific downsizing task that takes up much of my time. It has taken me 3 or 4 years so far, and will likely take me a few more years to complete. My methodical, slow and OCD approach to this one goal ensures that I always have something to do. (Hint - scanning and ripping, scanning and ripping, scanning and ripping.)

It really doesn't take much to fill up a day.

[roger r]

For me there was a "honeymoon period" of bliss after retirement. After catching up with some home projects and knocking a few items off the travel bucket list I sort of slumped into some periods of boredom, especially in the cold winter months. Then I found some rewarding volunteer projects. Like others have said, the worst of days is still better than work.

I used to think early retirement should be the ultimate goal for everyone. I now see a lot of people who are probably into the work routine so deeply that they have difficulty with the transition. And the rare people who really have a rewarding career that they enjoy.

[razztazz]

Retired 1996. Everyone told me I'd go crazy from boredom. I can't really address whether or not I'm crazy since I'm too close to that forest to see the trees , but I have never been bored. And I do not usually pursue "interesting and engaging" activities" either. (Whatever they are?) I would describe it as the same life I had before I stopped working only without the work. It's always Saturday. Always

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Before I retired, I was a little scared. After all, I wasn't "retiring TO something" and I hadn't read any of the scads of books about the psychological adjustment to retirement. Not only that, but my work was a big part of my identity, or so I thought.

This is the only part that has me a little nervous. I have everything planned out week by week what I will be doing and where I will be through the end of the year (work scheduling) and after that there is just a big blank. No clue what I will do or how I will spend my time, and that is a bit unnerving.

Then I show up for another pointless day in my cube and long for that blank spot...

[FIREd]

In a few days, I will be celebrating my 3-year ER anniversary. ER has not gotten hard yet. Though it has not been all peaches and cream, it still beats work hands down!