Sweet spot for those considering RE

T

tmitchell

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
424
Informal poll here:

For those of you who retired early and looking back/advice for those who aspire:

1. What is the sweet spot in terms of age to balance freedom and the conventional need for meaning/purpose that comes from a career? Did you hit it or would you have triggered RE sooner/later?

2. What's your biggest regret in considering the decision to RE?

3. What was your biggest fear going into RE BESIDES having enough $?

4. Looking back, was that fear realistic? If not, what took you by surprise that may be of value to those aspiring to take the leap?

Thanks!!
 
1. Very situational... 55 in my view. 2. I didn't have the courage to retire sooner? 3. Would I be bored... hasn't been a problem at all. 4. No.

I was surprised that I could be so content puttering around not doing much of anything.
 
pb4uski said:
1. Very situational... 55 in my view. 2. I didn't have the courage to retire sooner? 3. Would I be bored... hasn't been a problem at all. 4. No.

I was surprised that I could be so content puttering around not doing much of anything.
Click to expand...

Did you retire at 55 or a different age? How long has it been since you RE?
 
Had a great career that I loved and never considered the option of full time retirement until possibly my 70's. Then career (real estate sales) was destroyed by the Great Recession (I was mid-50's)-chopping about 10-15 years off the plan. Hustled up PT work to go with greatly reduced sales income and survived until age 62 and early SS. Along the way I found a very satisfying (PT) hobby business, which combined with savings and SS provides a modest retirement income.

Enjoying semi-retirement. Re-arranged spending patterns (downsized, sold a vehicle) to make it all work. ACA has been a nice surprise and great $ saver.

No regrets. Retirement could have been "bigger", but not necessarily "better". PT hobby business, with total flexibility on hours, (allowing travel, etc.) gives all the job satisfaction I need.

About 6 years into the "new program". Ain't life grand?!
 
1. I imagine that the sweet spot in terms of age is personal. I never derived much meaning or purpose out of my career. People know me as a "renaissance man". I get interested in a lot of things and my biggest accomplishments have often been outside of the professional realm. For financial reasons, I could not have ER'd earlier. But I pulled the trigger as soon as ER became financially feasible.

2. No regret, though I was perhaps a bit naive by failing to fully consider the financial consequences of a post-ER divorce, but it all worked out in the end.

3. Health insurance (cost and availability) was my biggest concern going into ER.

4. That concern was partly valid. Obamacare solved the availability part (no pre-existing condition exclusion), but cost was still a big issue. Neither is an issue anymore, since I moved to France.
 
Without divulging to my former co workers my net worth and assets they pretty much told me every negative thing about retiring early and how it will affect my life etc etc etc. I did a lot of research before I took the leap. I have no regrets and I stopped working late last year at 51. I actually enjoyed going to work 5 days a week / approx 55 hours a week but nothing beats being retired.
 
1. Sweet spot around 55, but retired at 57 as couldn't find work but realized I could FIRE.
2. Wish I discovered this site earlier.
3. Was healthcare, but Obamacare has been fantastic in Florida in cost and availability of doctors.
4. The fear can be realistic for Ohamacare depending where one lives.

I just love retirement each and every day, whether busy or not (and did really like my career).
 
I don't have unique answers to your questions, but I would say that for me an unexpected aspect of RE was the degree to which it upset DW's daily routine, and how much she would push back on that.
 
pb4 pretty much took my answers.

I don't know that age really has much to do with that balance of meaning/purpose. Maybe it kind of does for some people because they advance to a position of more power and find more purpose. It my case I became somewhat of a dinosaur and was mostly doing TPS reports (Office Space movie reference) and my job evolved into having very little meaning or purpose. At the end I was just waiting for a push out the door.
 
1-I was ready mentally and emotionally to retire at 47. Corporate America and changes in my role as a manager over the last couple years had burned me out. But I had to stick with it until 55 for the retiree healthcare.

2 - no regrets at all. I could have probably stepped back a level or two at work the last couple years to reduce the stress. I thought about it from time to time....but it would have also reduced the salary. At the time, I thought it would delay my goal of retiring at 55. In hindsight, it might not have, but we certainly wouldn’t have what we have today.

And frankly, I’m not sure it would have reduced the stress anyway. More often than not, we Type A personalities put the stress on ourselves no matter what. I was good at my job, my bosses all thought I was good at my job. So I have no idea why I constantly stressed over everything.....but I always said THAT was why I WAS so good at my job 🤣

3-Fears other than $$? Absolutely none. Between traveling and grandbabies that are now entering our lives - I’m rarely bored. Im much more active, lost 90lbs in the first 2 years and am healthier than I ever was while working. I still have lunch now and then with the few people I was close to at work and have made new friends elsewhere. Life is awesome.
 
1. I retired at 56, but I think the sweet spot is between 55-60.
2. No regrets at all. Just wish I gave LESS notice at my job. Psychologically, it would have been better not to talk about it for so many months before leaving.
3. Biggest fear was not finding people to hang out with during the day and being lonely.
4. Fear was unwarranted. Joined a gym and made new friends. Moved to urban area where there is lots to do and people are around during the day.
 
1) I don't know what the sweet spot is. For me, it was 45 although I thought I would retire in my early 50s. Things came together very quickly in the years (age 43-44) before I retired. I had been working part-time for 7 years before I fully retired 10 years ago.


2) No regrets at all.


3) Health insurance has been my biggest concern and my most volatile expense since I retired. The ACA has helped a lot, especially when I had some health issues in 2015.


4) HI continues to be a concern and it has grown with direct and indirect attacks on the effectiveness of the ACA in the last 2 years.
 
tmitchell said:
... what took you by surprise that may be of value to those aspiring to take the leap?
Click to expand...

Just for fun I took a peek at my health insurance paperwork from 2007, my first year as semi-retired (no more W2 wages). This was in the days before the [A]CA - only medically-underwritten policies were available. My HI policy was with Aetna for $163 / month. The deductible was a few thousand dollars (don't have the exact number available).

For 2019, the lowest-cost [A]CA Bronze plan in my county is $618 / month.

This kind of enormous increase in health insurance premiums wasn't on my radar screen way back then. I never even considered that the gov't would try to make medically-underwritten HI policies illegal.

I argue that you aren't truly financially secure until you are largely insulated from (1) changes in gov't programs / legislation, and (2) stock market performance. Many folks disagree and live a bit closer to the edge than I do. Good luck to them! :greetings10:

FWIW, I'm still able to purchase a medically-underwritten HI policy. My current premium is $125 / month, but my deductible is $25k with 20% coinsurance for a max annual OOP of $30k - ouch! Gotta stay healthy! :)
 
Last edited:
tmitchell said:
Informal poll here:

For those of you who retired early and looking back/advice for those who aspire:

1. What is the sweet spot in terms of age to balance freedom and the conventional need for meaning/purpose that comes from a career? Did you hit it or would you have triggered RE sooner/later?
Click to expand...

I had no need for meaning / purpose that comes from a career. It's just work.
My sweet spot for retiring was the day I was born but understood the need to do something for a while in exchange for being able to do nothing for a longer while. I was 38.

2. What's your biggest regret in considering the decision to RE?
Click to expand...

No retirement related regrets

3. What was your biggest fear going into RE BESIDES having enough $?
Click to expand...

Other than continued financing, I had no fears relate to retirement

4. Looking back, was that fear realistic? If not, what took you by surprise that may be of value to those aspiring to take the leap?
Click to expand...

The way I see it, just to be sure, all fear is realistic. If you're not worried about it you're under a misapprehension. So make sure you got it nailed down to the extent possible so you only have to worry about the extent to which it was not possible.

socca

I argue that you aren't truly financially secure until you are largely insulated from (1) changes in gov't programs / legislation, and (2) stock market performance. Many folks disagree and live a bit closer to the edge than I do. Good luck to them!
Click to expand...

Yes! Like what I said above. There's always something to worry about no matter how solid you think you have it. And I have what is considered one of the most solid packages you can get. But, alas, it's claim to fame is it's all a Government program at its basis. When someone dies and leave me Boss I'll feel more comfortable with it.
Click to expand...
 
I'm going to bang the same drum...

1. Everyone's date is different. I'll vote for ~55 as well. (I retired about a year before.)

2. No regrets.

3. Biggest fear: cost of healthcare insurance and cost of medical/dental care.

4. Yes, that was a valid fear. I knew my premiums would increase at a rate higher than inflation, but I never thought they'd nearly double in four years! It's out of control. If a medical procedure eats up the deductible (as happened to me one year), then I end up paying about $15,000 that year in total medical costs. That's a large chunk of my annual budget.
 
I started toward my retiring in 2007 @46 as I had worked since 20 in a sales business traveling extensively, I was probably working at 60% my original hours. My wife and I had a smallish side business in a related industry where we manufactured and distributed goods, we had started it in 1997. Then in 2008 I did my first real volunteer job as president of a small non-profit and did that for 4 years working 20 hours a week(at least) on that. I had to leave the volunteer gig as my mom had started to fail in 2011 and dad needed help and they lived 90 minutes away. I was at my parents quite a lot, mom passed in late 2012, so dad needed company and wanted to spent time with him. He got sick in 2016 and died late that year. Combining all our savings, side gig business and inheritance from my parents I cut my hours to 10-15 hours a week. We also sold a much more expensive home, moved to ski country here in NH and bought a house for 1/3 the price. Life is good, recreating in all four seasons, working very part time and volunteering a little. We use the ACA for insurance, as I am still 57 and my wife is 52.
 
1. What is the sweet spot in terms of age to balance freedom and the conventional need for meaning/purpose that comes from a career? Did you hit it or would you have triggered RE sooner/later?

I think 40 was the sweet spot for me. Since I retired from the military, I initially thought that I would move on to a "bridge career" when that chapter was done but after running some numbers (a few years prior to my AF retirement) I realized that I could perhaps BE DONE FOR GOOD...and that's the road I took.

2. What's your biggest regret in considering the decision to RE?

None that I can really think of. I have been doing exactly what I thought I would be doing.

3. What was your biggest fear going into RE BESIDES having enough $?

A lot of people have asked "What will you do?!?" so after hearing that over and over and over, it became a real fear...but I have gotten over that fear since I have had no problems keeping myself busy...without having someone (a boss) TELL me what I was going to do.

4. Looking back, was that fear realistic? If not, what took you by surprise that may be of value to those aspiring to take the leap?

I think so, especially at my age. I have never personally known anyone to retire so early, so I couldn't really get a personal perspective as to what retiring so early would be like. The surprise? I think that has been my DW's attitude. For the last several years, I have been pretty busy with my Dad and that kept me occupied. He has since passed and now my time is really my own. Nonetheless, my DW w*rks from home and has made a few comments like "now you can get a part time j*b"...which...yeah, I am not doing that. I am not real sure why she has made this comment (a few times now), but if she can't get it out of her system, we will need to figure it out before it becomes a *real* issue.
 
"A lot of people have asked "What will you do?!?""



Whatever I want, whenever I want.


Up to, and including, nothing if so desired.

:)
 
Last edited:
Planning to retire in a year or less at 59/60.

While it's not far from our sweet spot, hindsight says that leaving during an early retirement window last summer would have worked. It now looks like I'll have to get through 2019 on the job.

While I'm having a good year at work so far, it looks like both my wife and I have stuck with the rat-race a little too long.
 
We retired once in 2002 at 50 and 45 respectively to go sailing in the Eastern Caribbean, had no intention of going back to work.

We sold the boat and moved to Florida in 2006 drove about for a while and then my old company offered me a job that I took. DW got bored and went back to work too. We both Retired permanently in 2012 & 2013 respectively.
 
Last edited:
There are as many answers as there are Early Retirees. While each person's response might be anecdotally interesting it has very little application beyond that. What might matter to me could just as easily be a huge yawn for you.

Bottom line is you accumulate your monies, and take your chances. And, hopefully, come what may, you enjoy yourself...
 
Retired back in 2007 at 50.

Only regret was not having the income to invest during 2007-2010 or so.

Health insurance is expensive, but I planned for it.

Other than that, and what I know now, is still would have quit at 50.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Potential RE purchase approaching RET
Replies
23
Views
2K
ATby55
A
2HOTinPHX
Inspirational videos for those considering one more year.
Replies
5
Views
1K
Gallaher
G
njhowie
Kona Village Resort Re-Opens
Replies
14
Views
948
Montecfo
M
ShokWaveRider
For Florida Beach Bums Only - How do you like where you live and why?
2 3
Replies
66
Views
8K
Shanky
S
T
RE 2 Year Update - Same problems when retired, but better still to retire
Replies
12
Views
3K
Koolau
Koolau

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom