How many are still working eventhough you're FI? why?

[Enuff2Eat]

would u be in the office right now if you are already financial independent if today my employer offers 'lifetime' health care benefit i think many of the people in the office would leave their job.

i think my wife and kids can live much much less than we think if we have the health care issue covered. for example, co-pay and drugs last year over $2k on top of the premium paid to the insurance, and forget the teeth part, that number is so high that i am afraid to add it up.

enuff

your comment please

 

[REWahoo]

would u be in the office right now if you are already financial independent

No I would not.

I will admit to working about 90 days past my FI date, but that was due to a couple of offers I couldn't refuse: $100K+ in stock options and a 50% increase in pay for 30 days if I delayed retirement by a month. How could I say 'no'?

 

[youbet]

would u be in the office right now if you are already financial independent

I RE'd last June, so can only comment from a historical perspective.....
I worked 2 - 3 years after reaching FI. In retrospect, there were several reasons.

The dollar amount I used to define FI kept drifting around by a few percent.

My final assignment was actually fun and interesting involving sharing my career experience with newbies and I got to do a pleasant amount of international travel.

RIF's with attractive buyout packages were being handed out and I thought they'd eventually get to me.

Being FI gave me a new, no-stress attitude about my job and even when things went wrong, I seldom fretted.


Technically, Megacorp picked my final date since they eventually got around to RIF'ing me. I knew I was really done when I dropped out of the charm school (outplacement service) Megacorp provided me with as part of the severance package. I was sitting there in class waiting for my turn for a practice interview when I decided there were better ways to spend my time. Dropping out of that process, for me, more firmly shut the door on my working life than my last day at work.

 

[yakers]

I am still at work and I assume I could retire as I am retirement eligible based on age and years of service. My wife retired from teaching last year at 58. I am still working because 1) younger son is a senior in high school and is off to college in the fall, 2) wife wants to be ‘sure’ we have enough to travel and have a good retirement lifestyle, 3) I don’t want to retire into a declining market so I was kinda hoping that the market would do a short, sharp decline now while I am working rather than a long, slow decline after I retire 4) I like my work. I am not sure I would prefer it to being retired but I like what I do and it just gets better & better now that I am retirement eligible. I did put in for a buyout and didn’t get it so I am hanging on to see if there will be another offer later this year or early next year. But I can go at any time and I find that a new and different mental space to be in.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I could quit working now if I wanted to and live well.

Mostly though I like my job (even though it is work) and have big dreams about what my future years could be if I keep on working. So for now I'll stick around until I feel like doing something different.

I have posted before that I had a big sea-change in attitude when I realized that I no longer needed to work. The drudgery of work went away. The boss wasn't such a big **** anymore. The co-workers were more tolerable. In reality the job didn't change but my attitude sure did.

So until I feel like doing something different I'll stick around.

 

[Coach]

Enuff, calculations say I could retire now, and this is just about the time I had planned on retiring. But I'm holding off. We're in the middle of a big project at work that I'd like to see through. And I'm having a hard time contemplating going from adding $30K a year to savings to drawing $50K from savings. And frankly, my work has always been a big part of my life, and I'm a little scared about the change.

And as Masterblaster said, a lot of the nonsense at work just stops mattering when you can quit anytime.

Coach

 

[Anansi]

We are pretty well set, but I am still working. I wouldn't say I love my job, but I still do enjoy doing things that I feel have some value and will probably continue to work in some capacity for quite a while, even if it is only volunteer work. As others have noted, not needing the money does change your attitude to work and improves morale which has made staying employed more enjoyable.

For the sake of accuracy, however, I should point out that my DW does not suffer from my weakness and appears to be completely happy to be retired.

 

[scubamonkey]

I would be soooo gone!

It is 72 degrees outside and sunny and I am in an office staring at a computer and talking to clients.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy my job, but I enjoy other things (Fishing, scuba diving, piddling in the yard, boat riding, sitting on the back porch - just about anything outside) much better.

This working stuff just seems to get in the way of the other good stuff.

 

[yakers]

If I quit I willn't get paid for reading this board

 

[Enuff2Eat]

If I quit I willn't get paid for reading this board

yakers, u're so funny. yes, i guess me too. as my boss always says after a big meeting. 'GET BACK TO WORK'. so i am working now.. ;-)

enuff

 

[mountaintosea]

I'm FI. I'm thinking about it. Health benies are the big incentive to keep working until next year. The increase in pension is about $25,000 if I wait. So I think I'll wait....well maybe

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

would u be in the office right now if you are already financial independent

Umm. Maybe.

I am an independent contractor/consultant, so offices come and go.

I pretty much enjoy what I am doing at the moment.

However, if I were FI today, I am tempted to become even more independent. I have some special background in an area that would be great fun to consult in, but no way could it be done full time. I knew a couple of fellows who worked half the year and one lived in Mexico and the other on a boat in the Caribbean half the year. Eventually, they stopped coming back to work.

As a good friend once told me, "Engineering is the most fun a man can have--if he can afford it."

 

[chinaco]

Waiting on MEGA Corp retirement insurance and pension at 55. We could have retired at 50 and live well. But the risk mitigation and benefits of the insurance give us higher discretionary spending. The cost is an additional 5 years of work.

We believe waiting for the benes will ensure (reduce risk as much as possible) we never need to work again.

 

[DangerMouse]

We figure that we have enough that if one of us lost our jobs that would be it for both of us. However, we are at our earnings peak and figure if we put in another year that will give us a bit extra padding to ensure that we never have to work full time again.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

i was just wonder. how many of you love your job so much that you would even do it for FREE? or even half of the money. like what some of my friends does when they do volunteer job.

enuff

 

[wabmester]

I kept working for a few years past FI. I started in a new gig as a software engineer after I had already sold my company. I wasn't even thinking about retirement, just looking for new, interesting, and potentially lucrative challenges.

While working, I would always try to do the Right Thing regardless of politics. Partly because I was FI, but mostly because that's just me. Anyway, this involved calling bullshit on people fairly often, and this would often attract the attention of management.

Oops. All I wanted was to code and to have my options vest (the technical term for this is Vesting in Peace), but this meant that I kept getting promoted until I finally ran one of the divisions. That took all the fun out of working, and helped cement my decision to ER.

Another self-correcting system in action.

 

[donheff]

While working, I would always try to do the Right Thing regardless of politics. Partly because I was FI, but mostly because that's just me. Anyway, this involved calling bull**** on people fairly often, and this would often attract the attention of management.

Oops. All I wanted was to code and to have my options vest (the technical term for this is Vesting in Peace), but this meant that I kept getting promoted until I finally ran one of the divisions. That took all the fun out of working, and helped cement my decision to ER.

That is an interesting experience Wab. Many people complain that only the sycophants get promoted. But my experience was that most managers actually try to promote the best qualified people. Sometimes they make mistakes. And sometimes the best qualified just don't want to work anymore

 

[SteveR]

I was FI before my first (short lived) ER with Mega Corp. I found another job in a place I wanted to live and "let" them pay for the move in exchange for one year of slavery work. Things change and one year turned into 2. Things changed again and 2 years went to 3. Plans were made and then things changed again and what was to be did not happen. Today things are set for my ER in a few weeks.

I could have left 3 years ago but it was not the "right" time. Now is the right time and I am in even better shape $$$ than 4 years ago. We closed on the cabin yesterday and the buyer will close next Monday. Once the funds transfer my monthly expenses will drop by over 30% as the funds are used to eliminate outstanding debt and lower our monthly expenses. This will all make our ER budget higher for "fun" stuff.

I don't want to do this any more. It is time to get off the Merry-Go-Round and do something different.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

I was FI before my first (short lived) ER with Mega Corp. I found another job in a place I wanted to live and "let" them pay for the move in exchange for one year of slavery work. Things change and one year turned into 2. Things changed again and 2 years went to 3. Plans were made and then things changed again and what was to be did not happen. Today things are set for my ER in a few weeks.

I could have left 3 years ago but it was not the "right" time. Now is the right time and I am in even better shape $$$ than 4 years ago. We closed on the cabin yesterday and the buyer will close next Monday. Once the funds transfer my monthly expenses will drop by over 30% as the funds are used to eliminate outstanding debt and lower our monthly expenses. This will all make our ER budget higher for "fun" stuff.

I don't want to do this any more. It is time to get off the Merry-Go-Round and do something different.

congrats steve, i envy u. i was just wondering about that "right" time thing. A long distance friends of our worked for the post office more than 20 years and waited out for another two years because it was NOT the 'right' time yet. She ended up past away during the last 6 months of her work. Well, u never know so that is the reason my wife and i work hard to RE, it shook my wife pretty hard.

enuff

 

[Hillbilly]

would u be in the office right now if you are already financial independent if today my employer offers 'lifetime' health care benefit i think many of the people in the office would leave their job.

i think my wife and kids can live much much less than we think if we have the health care issue covered. for example, co-pay and drugs last year over $2k on top of the premium paid to the insurance, and forget the teeth part, that number is so high that i am afraid to add it up.

enuff

Reached FI this year and still doing the 9 to 5 and wondering how long I want to run the score up....no easy answer yet. :

your comment please