One More Year vs. Get Me Outta Here!

[Live And Learn]

Somehow knowing that you are "almost there" makes every bad day at work feel like even more of a "sacrifice".

Exactly ! I find myself with much shorter patience now that I'm close. My BS bucket is filling up much faster than it used to.

I always thought that I would be able to tolerate MORE BS as I became less dependant on my salary, that I could secretly laugh it off because "I dont NEED to be here", but its exactly the opposite !

 

[NW-Bound]

Boss's vision diverges from contractor's dream. Boss's vision would put contractor in a great financial position. What to do?

As a free-lancer/contractor, I walked away from permanent job offers with a nice title twice. And recently, I have done even better. I walked away from money.

If they offered me a million buck to stay - well, it could be a lot lower as my price is not as high as that , I could be bribed. But they just did not provide enough incentive for my "greed" side, else I could have gone for "another year".

 

[RitaR551]

I have four months to go and they can't pass fast enough. The stress is starting to take a toll on my health. What keeps going through my head is it won't be long now and get me outta here!

 

[67walkon]

I like the "BS Bucket"! Mine is overflowing.

 

[eytonxav]

I like the "BS Bucket"! Mine is overflowing.

I stopped taking things too seriously and my overflowing bucket is less of a problem. Also, rubbing on some BS repellant helps

 

[btbw2380]

I had a third bucket that I carried in my head. That bucket was continually being filled with more and more people I knew, knew of or heard of who either became seriously ill or were no longer with us. With that bucket becoming ever more heavy, it enabled me to transition my thinking from the benefits of accumulating one more year of earnings to waiting meant one less year of the freedom to do whatever I wanted with our most precious commodity - time. As soon as I could, I chose freedom and couldn't be happier!

 

[WestLake]

Should a greed bucket be identified?

 

[grasshopper]

I had a third bucket that I carried in my head. That bucket was continually being filled with more and more people I knew, knew of or heard of who either became seriously ill or were no longer with us. With that bucket becoming ever more heavy, it enabled me to transition my thinking from the benefits of accumulating one more year of earnings to waiting meant one less year of the freedom to do whatever I wanted with our most precious commodity - time. As soon as I could, I chose freedom and couldn't be happier!

I retired 6 years ago to a little hamlet of older retirees. Through the years so many have had to move closer to children, closer to healthcare, or were carried out. I am not reading the obituary daily like some, but it is hard to see friends and neighbors leave the place that they really want to be.

Melancholy turned off.

 

[Andre1969]

I retired 6 years ago to a little hamlet of older retirees. Through the years so many have had to move closer to children, closer to healthcare, or were carried out. I am not reading the obituary daily like some, but it is hard to see friends and neighbors leave the place that they really want to be.

Melancholy turned off.

That makes me think of something that happened with my Mom and stepdad. They bought a second house down in Florida about 10 years ago, with the idea of retiring down there eventually. They rented it out for a few years, but when the tenants moved out, they didn't re-rent, but would use it as a vacation home.

Well, they became really good friends with their next-door neighbors, and were looking forward to the day they moved down permanently.

Unfortunately, the neighbors up and left, moving back to Pittsburgh, to be closer to family. They ended up having to sell the Florida house at a steep loss. Worse, the condo they moved into wasn't cheap, has a high condo fee, and heating bills are high. So, they're paying more now to live than they were in Florida, and hating the winters!

As for my Mom? Well, she retired about a year and a half ago, and it's been a year for my stepdad. And they're still up here in MD. So, I don't know if they'll ever go down!

As for that time bucket, I've really been thinking about it myself lately. Even at the relatively young age of 42, I swear it seems like the time is going by in a blur...

 

[Alan]

As for that time bucket, I've really been thinking about it myself lately. Even at the relatively young age of 42, I swear it seems like the time is going by in a blur...

I was just the same at 42, but 10 years later when I only had 3 years to grind out to get my pension and health bennies, time seemed to crawl by.

 

[Amethyst]

I know it is only greed, but I look at the retirees from my Department who turn around immediately and come back as contractors or rehired annuitants, thus getting pensions and salaries simultaneously. Not following their example feels like leaving $$ on the table.

Amethyst

Should a greed bucket be identified?

 

[Huston55]

There is a lot of talk on these forums about the One More Year syndrome wherein you delay retiring to get just a little more $$ or certainty about pulling the plug. I get that and feel that sometimes. But I have not seen as much about what I think I feel much more often which is a mixture of One More Year now swamped by wanting to pull out NOW! Once I saw that I am close, most of my thoughts are how can I get out sooner. Can I accept less certainty, or lower spending just to get the heck out ASAP. ? It is like a snowball effect, but is a FIREball instead, that once it got started rolling it just keeps picking up speed and momentum. Little things at work seem to bother me both more than ever and less at the same time as I realize they can't bother me too much longer. It is a very strange mix. I am ready to LBYM in any way shape or form (spouse not on board ,for that)
Knowing that my wife intends to keep working for 10 more years and that we can probably live off her salary without touching our savings the whole 10 years, and get Health Insurance thru her employer makes it that much easier to contemplate pulling out earlier than my original hopes and plans. But I hate the idea that she would HAVE to keep working...and Really only the uncertainty about costs of health insurance give me serious pause in this regard.
Be careful opening the FIREbox because once let loose, tolerance for the work grind can really be diminished. Anyone else relate to this?

+1
Every day, in every way!

We're on the edge of FI (FIRECalc & Fido RIP say we are FI but my BRAINCalc isn't quite there yet). So, I've decided that it's important to start taking concrete steps to help me make the leap. This is what we have done thus far:

1. Detailed expense tracking versus RE budget: ongoing for past 8 mos
2. Put cash in place for first 3+/- yrs expenses: exploring the mechanics
3. Select initial retirement location: we are down to two potential locales.
4. Determine RE health care option: have two choices - TriCare or employer's retiree medical.
5. Pay mortgage: done and property now rented
6. Get major medical/dental work done: working through it

My theory is that, once we've worked through this list, we should have no major obstacle to RE.

 

[lazyb]

This is what makes people research the cost of medical treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital...

Funny that you mention Thailand, I have spent all my professional life there (I am now 44) and just hit my goalpost (1 M USD) for ER ... I am fully in "one more year vs. get me outta there" mode. Based on what I read so far on the forum, 1 M USD is low for ER, however in the sout-east asia area, for a "no kid/no intention to start a family" single guy, I feel it should be sufficient as long as you manage to get the inflation rate on your capital ... and as long as you do not target an over-extended old age.
One more year, .... or stop now ... difficult choice !

 

[urn2bfree]

I would succinctly summarize the two bucket philosophy as follows:
When you have had enough AND you have enough, it is time to get out.

 

[Mulligan]

I had a surreal experience today. Met with boss for performance appraisal. Learned that Megacorp wants to invest in meadbh "for the future". Leadership seminars, yada yada yada. Boss's vision diverges from contractor's dream. Boss's vision would put contractor in a great financial position. What to do?

I enjoyed my final performance review. My boss (who I actually enjoyed working for) called me in for the review. He started to go over it and I cut him off and said, I am retiring in two months, so it doesn't matter. Let me just sign it and you can put it in the file. I signed it and never even looked at it. Didn't ask for a copy either.