Chasing retirement

[CRLLS]

I for one agree with Rayinpenn to a point.

Funding retirement and building a 'pile' should be part of your safety net for change and the ultimate stress reducer and nothing more......


The result of all this is that we are able to deal with most the curveballs life throws our way without stress. The dentist, tires for the jalopy, the roof, etc. That pile will also serve us in retirement. I never felt I was doing without and I never felt we were chasing a pile or retirement. It was simply incidental to living right and seeking a low stress life.

I hated big corporate life but held in there because it was best for my family. "Work to live, not live to work" had been my mantra. DW and I both worked toward our retirement. There was a time that we had a pact, if either one of us just had too much, they could quit their job. The only caveat was to call the other first to make sure they didn't do the same thing minutes prior. When we had enough $$ to support us, even if slightly below our then-living style, then an amazing thing happened. I no longer hated my job. I was no longer afraid of what might happen if I lost the job. And that stress disappeared. Work actually became enjoyable and I thought, if this continues to be fun, then why not stay a while past our planned date? Emphasize on the FUN word. The moment it wasn't fun then I would leave. But corporations have a way of surprising you. A change in business direction happened and my job was no longer necessary. Due to our safety net, this was no financial catastrophe and the stress from it was not there. It was just another curveball!

 

[grasshopper]

I for one agree with Rayinpenn to a point.



I hated big corporate life but held in there because it was best for my family. "Work to live, not live to work" had been my mantra. DW and I both worked toward our retirement. There was a time that we had a pact, if either one of us just had too much, they could quit their job. The only caveat was to call the other first to make sure they didn't do the same thing minutes prior. When we had enough $$ to support us, even if slightly below our then-living style, then an amazing thing happened. I no longer hated my job. I was no longer afraid of what might happen if I lost the job. And that stress disappeared. Work actually became enjoyable and I thought, if this continues to be fun, then why not stay a while past our planned date? Emphasize on the FUN word. The moment it wasn't fun then I would leave. But corporations have a way of surprising you. A change in business direction happened and my job was no longer necessary. Due to our safety net, this was no financial catastrophe and the stress from it was not there. It was just another curveball!

This was exactly our experience, we went away for a long weekend and Ms.G said I just can't do it anymore. We had been FI for just a short time, but every planner said we could do it. So at 51 she cut herself loose, I stayed at my job for 6 months longer, and bid it adieu at 54. That was over eleven years ago.

We were luck to have great out of pocket health insurance that was grandfathered, Ms.G still has that policy while I have Medicare.

 

[nash031]

I'm chasing a pile to afford the ability to try something different in two years and seven-ish months. Maybe that's work for money, maybe it's doing whatever I want all the time. I don't know... but I'll only be 42, so I may try my hand at something different even though I'll be FI. If that's the case, I'll consider myself lucky for being able to punch out of the game on my own terms so early, regardless of if I'm retired or not. I've been more or less locked in this career for the last five or six years, but that was a conscious decision DW and I made together and I don't regret it.

I'll tell you that if I was going to be 55, I'd be done.

My answers aren't right for everyone. "The pile" buys you freedom. What "freedom" is... well, that's different for everyone.

 

[cyber888]

I dont think you like change - you want to stick with something familiar and thats your work. There are many things to be done in this life than work - like traveling to 50 countries, maybe volunteering, tutoring, etc.

 

[audreyh1]

I was very lucky to be FI very young. I'd always fantasizes about "being a woman of independent means" so when it happened sayonara to working for someone else. I had so many things I wanted to do and work seriously got in the way. I had a great career but I was fine with it being a short one.

 

[Fedup]

I've always put 45 in all my retirement calculator and my husband at 55. But I think realistically it has to be when both kids graduated from college, and that's when we retired. But I had decent amount with my stock options and stuff but the real kicker is health insurance, which my husband and I stumbled by accident. Who knew? He almost turned down the last job. Not the best job for him because he felt under utilized.

 

[rayinpenn]

Doesn't make sense to project your job satisfaction and approach to life on everybody else as a should. Some people plan ER from the get go. As they age out they may like work and remain or they may be happy to find that they were right at the outset.

So you would argue that liking you work isn't important? Or building a safety net isn't important? Did I say must in my post? No I said might.

 

[rayinpenn]

For me it was the positive aspects of my job versus the negative aspects of the commute I despised so much.

I'd have to group the commute with the job when evaluating whether I liked the job. If i had to drive an hour and a half to get to work I probably wouldn't do it. I'm 9.5 miles from work with private, secure parking. Downside: the job is murder city USA. During the brief commute I am reminded each day. The soup kitchen next door is a sobering reminder of how lucky ive been.

 

[scrabbler1]

I'd have to group the commute with the job when evaluating whether I liked the job. If i had to drive an hour and a half to get to work I probably wouldn't do it. I'm 9.5 miles from work with private, secure parking. Downside: the job is murder city USA. During the brief commute I am reminded each day. The soup kitchen next door is a sobering reminder of how lucky ive been.

You are assuming, perhaps, that one's commute to the job never changes. For me, even though I worked for the same company for 23 years, my commute changed 6 times from when I began working, giving me 7 different commutes. I moved 4 times and my office relocated 2 times. Sometimes, the new commute was shorter/better, sometimes it was longer/worse, sometimes it pretty much unchanged, just a little different. (And I am not counting the mostly telecommuting gig I had for about 2 years.) It was the last change to my commute, when my company relocated from lower Manhattan to just across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, which turned a barely tolerable commute on the trains into an intolerable one, even when I had reduced it to less than 5 days a week.

 

[RobbieB]

I drove an hour and a half to get to work for 25 years. Two hours to get home.

But not anymore -

 

[exnavynuke]

When I started my current job it was a 30 minute commute to get to the office at 8 am. Now, to have a 30 minute commute I have to get to the office at 6 am. It's a 45-90 minute commute to get to work at 8 am (depending on if there are any accidents at this point). Fairly drastic change over ~8 years.

 

[kcowan]

My tolerable driving commute was 30 minutes. Once it climbed to 75 minutes so I took the train, reducing the total to 50 minutes but with 45 of that on the train.

 

[Cobra9777]

I sort-of reinvented myself at 26. I didn't like where things were headed with a fine arts undergrad and some managerial experience in retail and restaurants. Went to business school for an MBA and graduated at 28, almost 29. Pretty sure I was the oldest "college recruit" at Megacorp.

I wouldn't call it "chasing retirement," but I was thinking about FIRE long before grad school. I had (and still have) some fairly serious hobbies and interests, some of which are related to my fine arts undergrad. These are my passion but they had extremely limited opportunity to be translated into a career. The job was a means to an end, nothing more. I enjoyed the job early on and excelled quickly. I was very well compensated, but the last 10 years were not fun at all. After 24 years, I was done.

During the working years, I think we kept a pretty good balance between LBYM and doing fun stuff. Our savings rate was modest early on with young kids, but progressively increased to 50% by the time we retired. We went on some international vacations with the kids and moved into a much larger home when the kids were young teens. We bought the kids cars and paid for their college. But we saved consistently along the way and made good choices about investing and retirement planning.

So again, I don't consider it "chasing retirement." I consider it chasing my dream, which was to have the freedom to spend as much time as I want pursuing the hobbies and interests from my younger years. I'm sure other people might have taken a different path and that's fine. I like the way it turned out for me.

 

[Partimewannabe]

I like your philosophy Cobra9777 - reminds me of my own. We are 49 and saving 20+% and paying for kids school & college now. Will be ready to retire by 59, hoping to go part time when college is done in 2022. If happy with part time can continue for awhile. We will see.

 

[Bigdawg]

A close friend of mine grew up near the adult film capital in SoCal. His older brother was an adult film actor. Guess what he got tired of doing? Point is that maybe you sort of enjoy what you do and your career has value (I think of teachers. doctor's, etc...) but true enjoyment, I find hard to believe. I think of the things I like to do when not at work. Fishing. Do commercial fishermen go fishing when they aren't working? Travel. Do flight attendants or anyone else in the travel industry go help travelers when they aren't working? Baker's. Do they go home and bake when they aren't at work? I am fascinated by my work in military aviation since my retirement from active duty but there is no way I would come in and do the work if I wasn't getting paid. If you like/enjoy your work, more power to ya.

 

[REWahoo]

A close friend of mine grew up near the adult film capital in SoCal. His older brother was an adult film actor. Guess what he got tired of doing?

Yet another example of how turning a fun hobby into work isn't always a great idea.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'd have to be in the "my worst day fishing (or insert hobby of your choice here) is better than my best day working" camp. At least as far 40 hours of megacorp type jobs with org charts, unpaid overtime, unrealistic deadlines, commutes and being inside an office building all week go. I do have some hobby income where the pay is a nice bonus.

 

[Out of Steam]

I didn't hate my job but I didn't love it either. I liked it mostly, but I like doing whatever I want to do more.

This is very much my feeling. I've done interesting things, and have had short stretches of greatly enjoying my work, but I've never been where I loved it.

I've been ready to call it quits for a couple of years, but have 2 1/2 to 3 more years to go.

 

[haha]

A close friend of mine grew up near the adult film capital in SoCal. His older brother was an adult film actor. Guess what he got tired of doing?

But he probably didn't resent a hard day at work!

Ha

 

[6miths]

I teach an online college class by choice and would do it for free. Many people end up working a job they dislike because it supports their family and they don't have the skills to seek other options. I think this was especially true for the depression generation.

+1

I would (and do) certainly teach for free and back at the beginning of my career we weren't paid to teach. I find it very satisfying and keeps the mind moving. Fortunately, I am allowed great flexibility in doing it.