Pull off the bandaid vs. go slow

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

So I've heard advice on early retirement....go slow. Go from full to part time then retire. That may be decent advice, but perhaps the "pull off the bandaid" approach is better...when you're younger and healthier, it's easier to find a new purpose in life in retirement than when you're older...so if you can't do it when you're younger, you sure as heck will fail at it when you're older and frailer and less physically able, so best to get started at it now.

Thoughts on "pull off the bandaid" vs. gradual approach?

 

[timo2]

So I've heard advice on early retirement....go slow. Go from full to part time then retire. That may be decent advice, but perhaps the "pull off the bandaid" approach is better...when you're younger and healthier, it's easier to find a new purpose in life in retirement than when you're older...so if you can't do it when you're younger, you sure as heck will fail at it when you're older and frailer and less physically able, so best to get started at it now.

Thoughts on "pull off the bandaid" vs. gradual approach?

I think it depends upon your planned cash flow in retirement. Did you front load the income for splurging, or did you plan only for a even monthly income? In my experience, your budget will determine the most comfortable approach.

 

[Doribe]

I did "pull off the bandaid". My w*rk didn't have an easy part-time transition option. I have always wanted to do more things than I had time to do, so i wanted to get busy doing what I want. I didn't have a leisure filled life and I wanted to enjoy some of that.

 

[Which Roger]

Everybody is different. Some people are ready to walk away completely and should go cold turkey, and others need a while to make the adjustment and gradually easing out of one thing and into another is the way to go.


I was in the former camp. The adjustment from w*rk to ER took me about 10 minutes.

 

[RunningBum]

Depends on how good your finances are, how bad you want out, and whether you have good plans for what to do next, or no idea.

In my case, my finances were probably good enough, but my work situation really wasn't bad at all, and working part time gave me enough time to do many of the things I wanted to pursue. Another factor is that I really was able to hold it pretty much to my part time hours. Some part-time jobs will have all the headaches and pressures of a full time job, and the assumption that you will work extra as needed. I was sometimes working an extra 10-20 hours when full time (more in the early days, but well-rewarded for it), but 10-20 hours on top of 20 turns it into a full time job at half pay if you aren't careful.

I left when the half-time part of my job dried up, and I was going to have to take on something new and uncertain, and it just seemed like a natural time to leave. They pretty much pushed me that way too, so I got a little incentive to leave. If that's what I would've been facing when I first went to half-time, I would've probably left then.

 

[scrabbler1]

"Go slow" worked well for me. I had paid off the mortgage 3 years earlier, so my expenses dropped a lot. I really needed to reduce the long, awful commute, and working part-time (and mostly from home) did that quite well for me. I was able to regain control of my personal life, taking up a new activity while starting up another hobby.


This went on for 7 years although I lost the telecommuting part of the part-time work. This was a terrible development, forcing me to relive the horrors of the commute, even 3 days a week. Reducing that to 2 days a week helped a little in the 6th year helped a little, but by the 7th year I had had enough. The only solution was to reduce the commute to zero, as in retirement. That's when the band-aid got pulled off entirely. That was 10 years ago.

 

[Aerides]

I didn't have a part time option, and I for sure wasn't going to reveal my plans to ER to my MC bosses.

I did, however, dial back a little. I took a lateral role that allowed me to work from home 90%, and had less of a chance for a midnight emergency, or needing to work weekends (which is hard to find in IT). It was the kind of role I would not have taken were I still building my career, one of those that no one in their right mind really wants. But I had fun with it still, probably more so from knowing it was my last job for those last few years.

But I didn't need a slow down, and I don't know that anyone believes that going PT is a requirement. If you're ready and able, go.

 

[jollystomper]

I didn't have a part time option, and I for sure wasn't going to reveal my plans to ER to my MC bosses.

I did, however, dial back a little.

+1


I created my own "go slow" option - I called it my "glide path", which I documented on another thread on this site. I followed it for a little more than 2 years before gently landing in the wonderful world of retirement.

 

[street]

I like a clean cut, if not the problems of work are still there day after day. Nothing really changes except your amount of pay check. Again, not every shoe fits for the situation and the person.

 

[pb4uski]

I did gradual but not by design. Around 2000 I downshifted from full-time to part-time to be home more to deal with some family issues. Initially 80%, then later reduced to 50% when I decided that I wanted less travel. Then later bumped it up to 75% for a special project for a client project, then back down to 50%. It worked out great for me.

 

[target2019]

Pulling slowly, now. Maybe it was off for a year? But I accepted a great offer, and after 3.5 years, will go part time for a year or so.

 

[brett]

We pulled off the band aid. Downsized to a storage container. Sold our home, travelled for seven months. Then another three months in a furnished city rental. Rented for four years and then bought a downsized abode. We usually do two extended trips per year, two monthsor so each, with shorter ones in between.

Our health is reasonably good and we have no mobility issues. At some point this will change. We have very much exchanged ‘things’ for experiences. The travel bucket list seems to be getting longer, not shorter though.

 

[DrRoy]

I pondered going to part time for quite a while, but in the end decided that I did not want my work issues to be reduced, I wanted them to be over. Took the full plunge and all has been well.

 

[Col. Klink]

Took about four months off to detox from FTE. Then got a PT gig to please the spouse and ensure our budget and cash flow estimate were on target. PT for three years. Bagged it completely in December after one final meeting with my accountant.

 

[athena53]

I pulled off the band-aid. One week elapsed between my calling DH in a Friday afternoon and saying, "I think I'm going to quit my job on Monday" and my last day in the office. No pain at all!

I detoxed by taking a class in Geology at the local community college. (I aced it.) I'd considered talking to a friend at a mutual fund company who told me they hired part-timers to work the phones and help customers moving money around (no sales but did need a Series 7 license). Then I realized it would interfere with our travel plans. Never mind. Haven't worked for pay since.

 

[MRG]

I shifted to an IC role for two years. About a year in I became done. Gave two weeks notice and was out the door.

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree it depends on your situation and if the part time option is even possibility at your employer. For me it was more keep working for the health insurance, and having a couple more years of not withdrawing from savings while it was allowed to grow. The part time was great for me, although I will admit that I was still looking forward to the full retirement days while working the part time.


I do not think either approach is necessarily better. I believe it has more to do with your plans and how prepared you are to make either solution work successfully. No matter what it is nice to be able to have less responsibility in the last months/year so it is less mental stress at the end of your career.

 

[Lewis Clark]

I'm taking the gradual approach. I had been teaching online classes at several colleges. I've dropped 80% of my workload, and the rest can be done at home (or anywhere I have internet access) on my own schedule.

Yes, I'm still working part time, but I have almost the same freedom of schedule as being fully retired.

It works for me.

 

[W2R]

So I've heard advice on early retirement....go slow. Go from full to part time then retire. That may be decent advice, but perhaps the "pull off the bandaid" approach is better...when you're younger and healthier, it's easier to find a new purpose in life in retirement than when you're older...so if you can't do it when you're younger, you sure as heck will fail at it when you're older and frailer and less physically able, so best to get started at it now.

Thoughts on "pull off the bandaid" vs. gradual approach?

I entered my final year of work, with the maximum allowable vacation time carried over. Then I used none of it and accumulated half a year more, for the first part of the year.

From summertime until my November retirement, I started periodic vacations. At my agency, I could take vacations of up to 1 week without my supervisor having to get approval from upper management. So, used up every last hour of vacation time that I had with repeated vacations of this maximal length; 1 week of vacation and then 1-2 weeks of work (then repeat). It worked out very nicely both for the agency and for me.

Despite doing this I still felt like I had ripped off the bandaid. It's such a huge change.

My opinion is that either way is fine, but don't delay full retirement too long. Working part time is still working although it's hard to realize that until being fully retired for a while.

 

[48Fire]

I planned on contracting after retiring. I did a four month stint 1 year after ER. I did another five month stint 3 years after ER. This fall, I almost had another stint 5 years after ER, but the job fell through. I was glad it did

The two contracting jobs gave me cash, renewed some social ties, and confirmed I did the right thing by retiring. I would do this again if I had the opportunity.