Downsides of Early Retirement

[truenorth418]

The usual clickbait nonsense from CNBC. “I love being early retired! Here are 5 reasons why it sucks:” [emoji849]

 

[RAE]

If you retire early and are just waiting around expecting to see the light one morning about what to do, it's not going to happen. You at least need to have some idea of how you're going to fill the time. It doesn't need to be about what to do every hour you're awake, but some concept of what you want to do that will bring satisfaction. For a few decades you were basically told what you needed to do all along. Now you likely have somewhere close to those decades to fill that time on your own - nobody will do it for you.

+1, well said.

 

[Andre1969]

1. You may suffer from an identity crisis.

2) You may second-guess yourself.

3) People may treat you like a misfit.

4) You’ll be surprised that you aren’t that much happier.

5) You may get really, really bored.


I think a lot of these would have applied to me, if I had managed to retire at the age of 34. But, now that I'm pushing 50, not so much. The biggest problem for me, I'm guessing, is that most of my friends are still working, so I'd end up having a lot of time where I'd have to find ways to keep myself entertained.


Back when we had the furlough at the beginning of the year, I was, admittedly, getting a little stir crazy. My stepdad tried to tell me to look at this as what retirement would feel like. I told him no, that retirement is something you plan for, enter into when you're ready for, and are able to afford. At least, in a perfect world...I know some people do get forced into it before they're truly ready, and end up adapting.


But still, that furlough period felt like every day was a Sunday to me. I wouldn't know until first thing the next morning, whether I was going back to work or not. Also, I was burning through my leave, and the stock market was in a bit of turmoil, so that was working my nerves a bit. It was also making me not want to really go out and do much of anything, because I was reluctant to spend money. And, to top it off, it was wintertime, and I usually get a bit, for lack of a better word, hibernatory, around that time. Oh, and I had just bought a house a few months before that furlough, so the extra expense there didn't add to the joy.


I think if I was actually retired though, and made my peace with the fact that I was not going back to w*rk, I would have weathered that furlough period much better.

 

[RAE]

that furlough period felt like every day was a Sunday to me. I wouldn't know until first thing the next morning, whether I was going back to work or not. Also, I was burning through my leave, and the stock market was in a bit of turmoil, so that was working my nerves a bit. It was also making me not want to really go out and do much of anything, because I was reluctant to spend money. And, to top it off, it was wintertime, and I usually get a bit, for lack of a better word, hibernatory, around that time. Oh, and I had just bought a house a few months before that furlough, so the extra expense there didn't add to the joy.

I think if I was actually retired though, and made my peace with the fact that I was not going back to w*rk, I would have weathered that furlough period much better.

I went through a couple of fuloughs when I was a Fed. employee, and they were really nothing like retirement. Huge difference, because: 1) you never knew when you were going to wake up and find out you had to go back to work the next day (as you said);, and 2) I knew I would be swamped with work when I finally got back on the job, as some project deadlines could not be changed much, plus I knew I'd have a zillion emails/phone messages (from non-govt. folks I worked with, who mostly worked through the furlough) to deal with, etc.. In real retirement, I worry about none of that stuff, obviously. So.....don't use your furlough experience as an indicator as to how you might like retirement, they are nothing alike.

 

[ncbill]

Hmmm....I 'retired' even earlier than Sam, but it was to be a full-time caregiver.

I wasn't telling people I was retired because I didn't think I'd be out of work as long as I have been.

And I certainly wasn't happy watching mom slowly die from her (fortunately rare, since it hits as early as one's 40s) form of dementia.

Since then I've only worked part-time, would have liked to return to full-time work but don't expect to be able to at this point (now in my 50s)

Very fortunate to have a spouse whose employer has reasonable health insurance & who I doubt will stop working until Medicare age (teacher, so we still have summers mostly free)

 

[Al18]

I stopped visiting financialsamurai a few years ago. Some of his articles were interesting, but many seamed out of left field. He thought he could fund his retirement by playing the out of control San Francisco real estate market. By comparison, real estate does not appreciate significantly in most parts of this country.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

If the financial samurai guy can't figure out how to live on less than $300K in the Bay Area, or enjoy not having to work in an area with great weather most of the year and lots to do, perhaps giving financial and retirement advice to others isn't his true calling.

 

[FREE866]

Love all these comments. I'm 30 months in and for the most part absolutely love it.

Interestingly though on a whim I applied to be a FINRA auditor because I'm , in general, interested in finance stuff and you can do it on a very very part time basis and get paid well.



Anyway, I'm studying for the test and without a law background I'm struggling with it and it is so reminiscent of the feelings of frustration I had when I was working---just not pleasant--so grateful this isnt my everyday experience now.

Anyone ever do work as a FINRA auditor?

 

[pjigar]

Heck, I will continue to spend my own money and time to do my own things at home.

I am not retired but I share your experience. I tend to spend more money on personal projects when the work is slow.

 

[street]

Downsides of Early Retirement >>>> everyone that I would want to do things with are still working.

 

[RetireBy90]

I went through a couple of fuloughs when I was a Fed. employee, and they were really nothing like retirement .

Thanks for the years of work as a Fed worker. I was Army for 20 years and always worked in half civilian units. Sure some didn't put in a lot of effort, but most were dedicated and worked extra hard for the check they earned.

 

[kcowan]

As far as feeling out of touch it’s Kind of like getting used to women in their 20s looking past you instead of at you when you turn 50.

I have found that to be less of a problem as the women in that age range are looking at their phones now! I sometimes say Good Morning to them just for the hell of it. By the time they come out of their trance, only my backside is in view.

 

[FreeBear]

we’re 50 something with several 70 something and older friends. Health issues are a huge problem. For all the report of still active 80 and 90 year olds, we know those guys are outliers. Time is not on our side. At 50 something this is very obvious to us, let alone our older friends. I doubt this would have been the case in our 30’s.

 

[FreeBear]

Downsides of Early Retirement >>>> everyone that I would want to do things with are still working.

I’m lucky DW is my best friend and fun companion. It also helps being introverted. We hang with older folks of traditional retirement age and also entrepreneurs with flexible schedules. Now way would we wait for our age class to attain traditional retirement age!

 

[Kabowest]

I read the first part of the article, until I came to this quote from him - which to me sums up why he had some of the problems he did:

"It was only after I left my job that I realized how obsessed I was with my profession. I often wondered: How is the business doing without me? I was there for 11 years. Were they really able to survive without my expertise?
But after months of no emails or phone calls begging for me to come back, I finally accepted the fact that I was no longer needed."

This guy's sense of identity/worth was obviously closely tied to his job, though it appears he didn't admit that to himself before he decided to retire at age 34.

If you like your job (or most parts of it, anyway), and feel like you are making a contribution there, it's of course normal to have some of those feelings upon retirement. But, if retiring early is important to you, you really need to start detaching yourself from those feelings well before your retirement day, and start preparing yourself for the next phase of your life. I also felt like I made a significant contribution where I worked, but I knew (many years before my actual retirement day) that I wanted to do many other things with my life, too. So, the transition to retirement was not very difficult in my case.

You might be good at what you did, but no one is irreplaceable. If you think it's different in your case, you should probably keep working, as you're not ready to retire.

It's my guess that if he was retiring 20 years later he wouldn't be too obsessed with his profession. My last day is tomorrow (58) after almost 30 yrs in IT - I'll insert stressed in place of obsessed!

 

[RetireBy90]

we’re 50 something with several 70 something and older friends. Health issues are a huge problem. For all the report of still active 80 and 90 year olds, we know those guys are outliers. Time is not on our side. At 50 something this is very obvious to us, let alone our older friends. I doubt this would have been the case in our 30’s.

Guess article should have said 6 not 5, I have found that after being retired a whole 9 months now that most new friends are retired and an older group than the ones I had before. But they are fun and have experience being retired that helps me sometimes, like how to apply for DW Medicare and SS.

 

[Clone]

I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness
But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience I guess
If I was walkin' in your shoes, I wouldn't worry none
While you 'n' your friends are worried about me I'm havin' lots of fun


https://youtu.be/OiUW0q0UnUI?t=18

 

[brett]

It is awful. We have spent a week of back and forth discussion about whether to spend 6 or 7 weeks in Greece this Sept/Oct. We sprung for 6, plus a week visiting relatives.

Plus we have an ongoing discussion about spending next winter in either Mexico/Central America or in Thailand/Vietnam.

Then we have the angst of picking which low cost AI to spring for late November/early December. Should it be Cuba or Mexico?? I suspect Cuba this time.

Should we jump in the car next week and go to the west coast for a week if the weather f'cast is good? These challenges can age a person.

We would not have these worrisome issues had we remained at work and kept our collective noses to the proverbial grindstone.

Maybe retiring early was a mistake. NOT!