Wished You Would Have Retired Earlier?

[Retire Soon]

I am quickly closing in on my last day of w*ork. I'm 52 and will ER 1/4/08. As a matter of fact, I turned in my notice at work just a few days ago and was surprised by the shocked reaction of many of my collegues.

I'm in the phase right now of trying to adjust to the idea of not being employed. After all, I have been w*orking for over 34 years. It's kind of like an identity crisis. Back to the point of this thread, yes, I would like to have been able to pull the plug earlier. In may case, however, I think that would not have been possible since my husband and I didn't receive any kind of windfall and instead saved slow and steady for many years to get to this point in our lives.

Congratulations, Puron! January 4th is going to come very fast for you. Enjoy your new found freedom.

 

[cardude]

I wanted to retire at 40, two years ago, but couldn't get the wife on the same page. We just bought a newer house that she wanted, so I'm hoping I can talk her into it now but with some changes.

I've always wanted to sell the business and move us to some exotic local, but she is more interested in staying in Texas and getting the kids educated, and I gusss I really can't argue with that. The kids have 7 and 9 more years of school before they go off to college, so I guess I can wait on our exotic locale and just ER now and be the yard man or whatever at the new house. She's cool with taking trips with the kids when they are on summer break for a couple of months out of the year, so I guess we can test different places to move to eventually that way.

I just signed with a broker to help sell the business, so hopefully I'll be out of a job in 6 months to a year!

 

[growing_older]

Still have some years to go, but I'm pretty strongly identifying with the comments where new management adds responsibility and hassle to j*bs but no compensation changes. Makes me sure I will want to retire earlier, as soon as it's possible to do so.

 

[mountaintosea]

If not for this board I might still be at work! I was planning to quit at age 56. But the same old story... Change in management, increasing caseload, decrease in experienced attorneys and more micromanaging tactics etc. Glad I took the leap. Do I wish I would have done it sooner? Don't know...

 

[Rambler]

If I find when I FIRE that I don't need to have as much for living/playing expenses as I think I need (18-24 mos from now), then I will wish I had picked the handcuffs and gone earlier. BUT, like work expanding to fill the time alloted to do it, expenses are likely to expand to use up the money alloted to them...(;

R

 

[Purron]

BUT, like work expanding to fill the time alloted to do it, expenses are likely to expand to use up the money alloted to them...(;

R

Just like junk expands to fill all available storage space

 

[W2R]

expenses are likely to expand to use up the money alloted to them...(;

I hope so. I do wonder if I'll get stuck in my present LBYM mode, even after ER when (according to plan) I will have more to spend and can let go a little more.

I would ER right now except that I am waiting for my lifetime medical.

 

[Khan]

I hope so. I do wonder if I'll get stuck in my present LBYM mode, even after ER when (according to plan) I will have more to spend and can let go a little more.

I would ER right now except that I am waiting for my lifetime medical.

I find it takes some effort to not spend less.

 

[frugal-one]

Want2Retire must work for the feds or gov...me 2....waiting for lifetime medical. Game plan is 2-3 year tops.

 

[deserat]

Latest date would be 6.5 years from now at 50, earliest date would be 1.5 years from now at 45 - mid-term would be 47. In two years, we believe I could retire with him working only for a few more years - or if something drastic happened, we'd be OK. 4 more years at the least for him, possibly 8 more. We will be fine with medical and a pension with staggered pensions, after-tax and tax deferred options ove rthe years for income. We are very fortunate.

 

[W2R]

Want2Retire must work for the feds or gov...me 2....waiting for lifetime medical. Game plan is 2-3 year tops.

You're right! 697 days left before I qualify, and counting down every day.

I wish I could quit now, but maybe, in one sense I am lucky. I have the promise of lifetime medical to force me to work longer and accumulate more than I really think I need. You never know what the future will bring, so maybe someday I'll be glad that I saved more during these last two years.

 

[yakers]

Lets see, 82 days to go for me. I had lightly thought about retiring at 55 most of my career. Technically I could have but there were a few lose ends. DW retired last year and loves it and youngest son just started college (a state school, Yes!) So it looks like going out 03/03/2008 at 57.5 for me. Not bad. I still like my job, I used to love it. But the future is looking bleak so I do not want to be here 12-18 months from now.
I also wanted to avoid retiring into a recession but if I have enough then its time to go regardless of the market.

 

[W2R]

Lets see, 82 days to go for me. I had lightly thought about retiring at 55 most of my career. Technically I could have but there were a few lose ends. DW retired last year and loves it and youngest son just started college (a state school, Yes!) So it looks like going out 03/03/2008 at 57.5 for me. Not bad. I still like my job, I used to love it. But the future is looking bleak so I do not want to be here 12-18 months from now.
I also wanted to avoid retiring into a recession but if I have enough then its time to go regardless of the market.

Congratulations! It won't be long now.

I agree that if you have enough, then it's time to go regardless of the market. Personally I don' t think it's possible to figure out whether or not a given retirement date will mean retiring into a recession (my crystal ball is broken). Given that, I am dealing with that possibility by just assuming that I will retire into a recession. If there is no recession, well, then great! I'll have that much more to live on.

 

[TROYRAY]

Just about there

Hello Group, I will be retiring on January 31, 2008, after almost 30 years with the City, all within the same Dept. My problem is what will I do with so much free time. I will only be 56 then and my mine is still active. I really enjoy my job but the new management doesn't respect my knowledge and experience and it's not fun working there anymore. My co-worker depend on me a lot to solve problems and lot's of them are betting that i'm not going to leave. They going to lose that bet, i signed the retirement papers last week and i'm good as gone. I could have retired 7 yrs ago but i'm glad i stayed as they changed the retirement plans and i been able to build up a comfortable retirement fund since that time. Money will be no problems, I just need to fine things to do to keep me busy. I enjoy reading the threads on this forum.

 

[Retire Soon]

Congratulations TROYRAY on your retirement. I'm sure you'll find a lot of good ideas on what to do with your free time on this forum.

 

[Helena]

For years I had planned to retire at age 55...
then as I approached age 55, I began hedging...
telling myself... maybe I will work a year to two
longer... I kept mulling it over in my mind... then
certain things suddenly began to happen and events
began to fall into place that mandated my retirement.
So, as it turned out... I retired a week after my 55th
birthday.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made...
Thanks God for giving me that push

 

[rs0460a]

Hello Group, I will be retiring on January 31, 2008, after almost 30 years with the City, all within the same Dept.

Like you, I spent most of my "adult life" at the same company. While I did "work" at two other places (12 years combined) before I started at my "terminal employer", for 28+ years my leaving (also because of change in company owners/management) was sort of bittersweet.

You have to realize that your time there was more than just a "j*b", in the sense that you probably spent more wakeing time there than with your own family and/or friends.

It will almost seem a bit like death or divorce. You don't necessarily plan for either, but you know that they may/will happen so you think about what you will do "after".

Also, like you (I believe) I didn't have any strong "outside interests" that would want to make me leave, so that's another "problem" for us "senior folks" (unlike the younger crowd that seem to change jobs easily).

All I know that when I retired (this year, age 59) I knew it was "time". Also like you, I knew that I would be financially comfortable with my decision.

It took me about three months of sitting around, working around the house, and wondering if I had done the right thing.

My wife said that I needed to "get out" (she still works) and do "something". OK, so what will I do? My skills are limited (so I believed) in what my j*b was.

After several attemps at volunteer work (assisting low income folks in financial planning - e.g. budgets, credit report reviews, etc.) I started volunteer work on the local Meals On Wheels (food delivery to elderly/shut-ins). What started out as a 2x/month schedule is now 2-3 days a week, and I greatly enjoy it (only takes 2-3 hours a day).

What I enjoy most is that the folks you are delivering to often give you "thanks" for their meal delivery (can't tell you the last time I heard the word when I was "employed"). For the first time in a great many years, I feel that I'm making a difference in someone's life (and they can't pay you for that feeling).

Just hang in there. You will find something - remember, you are starting the "best time of your life". Relax, and enjoy the ride (and the possibilities)...

- Ron

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations Troy Ray ! When I retired I started selling on ebay .I got rid of a lot of stuff and I really enjoy it .I do it when I want to and then I stop for awhile .I also take courses at the local college or cooking school .

 

[Walt34]

Just when I hit mandatory retirement age at the airline, the small police department where I also worked, got rid of the Chief and asked me to take over, which I had done for 3 years about 10 years ago. Pay was poor but hey, it's all gravey. And the chance to straighten things out for a second time.
Well, 2 1/2 years went by and the frustrations of low budget and low quality employees became overwhelming; I gave my notice in July and retired in mid-November. Perhaps some time later I'll feel better about it; right now I feel like I wasted 2 1/2 years of my life trying to do an impossible job. I'm more bummed out by the cops than by the crooks.

I am proud to have worn the uniform, and the class of people I worked with was very high. But there were a very few who should not have been there and generally they didn't stay long.

I suppose it depends on the agency and their standards, and what the community is willing to pay for. Where we live now, the department does not pay well and requires only a high school diploma. Recruitment, longevity, and quality are issues for those agencies. Where I worked they would hire with an AA degree, but no advancement without a Bachelors.

The taxpayers get what they pay for as in so many other things....

 

[Walt34]

As one wise relative told me "When it's time to retire you will know".

When I retired I was doing computer forensics (data recovery combined with search and seizure law, an esoteric combination) and online crime investigations - fraud, stalking, E-mail threats, etc. and fully enjoyed the work. For a long time I felt that I was lucky that they were actually paying me for this!

But playing in that arena is expensive - you need to be constantly updating training, equipment and software and I got tired of dealing with the bureaucracy - the last time we bought new equipment there had been two upgrades by the time the originally specified gear arrived, and training was hard to come by. So when I looked at the retirement numbers and realized that if I retired my net pay would increase, I thought "I'm working here WHY?" So I pulled the plug and moved to a location where we don't have to plan our lives around traffic.