The one more year syndrome

S

Sk08

Dryer sheet aficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2022
Messages
38
Would like to get feedback from some of you that ER but found yourself stuck in "the one more syndrome" after you reached the financial number you spent decades working and sacrificing to achieve.

Seems like something is always going on in the world to make a person think they better work a little longer, the markets might crash. Age 47, so a lot of years to rely on investments.

(Hoping to hear from those of you that did not like your job)

How you were able to get past that hurdle?
 
Last edited:
I didn't spend decades stuck in the OMY syndrome but I did for a few years. BS bucket just got too full. As simple as that!

As Audreyh1 pointed out above, there has been a lot of discussion about the OMY syndrome here.
 
Last edited:
I picked a date. I planned everything with that date in mind and I stuck to it. It just so happens I retired in the middle of Covid and a bear market. I lived to tell the tale. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. There never is or will be a perfect time. Educate yourself on SORR strategies.
 
The market might crash at any time, and probably will. But it also has times when it soars.
Set an AA that lets you sleep at night, what does firecalc say for you?

The emotional switch from save to spend is a difficult one for many.

AI have a quote from a forum member posted by computer:
"You are no longer in a saving mode, you are in a slow, spend down mode." It has helped me many times. Thank you to my fellow forum member who typed that one day that just resonated with me during a struggling "money" issue!
 
I was able to work part-time, remotely, set my own hours, and I had plenty of vacation available. And the work was mostly easy. They just wanted me around for my experience should a customer hit a nasty problem with the product. The pay basically covered my expenses and covered medical (a big unknown pre-ACA) so I didn't have to dip into my savings. It was so easy and took so little away from my life I just couldn't see why not to stay.

When that changed, I left. I think there weren't enough problems to justify paying me so they told me I'd have to go back to full time and pick up some new work, knowing I'd probably say no. I got a small farewell package, 3 months pay. Some of the buys work had gotten annoying so it was nice to be done with that.

So I retired at 49 with a decent buffer. That buffer grew a lot with good market returns bu I couldn't have relied on that and retired earlier. So I have no regrets. Had I hated or been too stressed from my job I would've left sooner.
 
Thanks for the replies, and mentioning omy.
I sometimes struggle finding what I am searching for and only found a few old post, but omy brings a lot of results.
 
Sk08 said:
Would like to get feedback from some of you that ER but found yourself stuck in "the one more syndrome" after you reached the financial number you spent decades working and sacrificing to achieve.

Seems like something is always going on in the world to make a person think they better work a little longer, the markets might crash. Age 47, so a lot of years to rely on investments.

(Hoping to hear from those of you that did not like your job)

How you were able to get past that hurdle?
Click to expand...

While I wasn’t sure we had enough for me to retire, I was certain I needed a change and also that we had enough savings for me to take some time off and then look for a lower paying or part time job.

I took one year off, then extended it by a year. After that I started to seriously consider full time and permanent unemployment, aka early retirement. It took a couple more years before I finally admitted to myself and my family that I wasn’t going back to work.
 
If you are certain that, barring major extenuating external uncontrollable circumstances, your number is good and sound and your expenses allow you a SWR with enough wiggle room for lumpy stuff, or to move discretionary stuff around if you feel the need, then OMY will simply be extra padding you don't need.

You get past the hurdle by triple checking your numbers. You cover things like taxes, healthcare. You evaluate what happens if your insurance doubles, you need a new roof and AC in the same year, can you weather that stuff? If you can, you jump anyway.
 
One More Year Response

I struggled a little with this before I decided to go. I retired last year at age 48. I convinced myself that despite my worries, I wanted to place my health and happiness first. I always knew that worst case scenario I could get a part-time job if I needed to, or perhaps because I wanted to. Currently I am 15 months in, and after some initial jitters early, I am 100% sure I made the right decision. No matter what decision you make there will always be “what ifs,” but I decided to prioritize, my own health and happiness.
 
It’s definitely a transition. We approached it as “semi-retirement,” as in a dimmer switch vs. an on/off switch. That has worked for us, mentally and financially.
 
I spent a lot of time stress testing my financials (firecalc, etc.). Ultimately decided I had enough money and had had enough of work life. In other words, confident control of my time was of greater value to me than more financial savings.
 
OP I hope you don't mind, I had a look at your first thread, from early 2022. You said at the time firecalc gave you 78%. Hopefully you've done well since then, but for a 47 yo with a child, you'll want to be 100% or very close to it.

You also cited an expected budget of $60k per year including insurance for 3. That's tight in many areas. It's less than DH and I planned when we retired at 47 with no kids. Make sure you have a lot of confidence in that number, and that it covers the unexpected stuff, as well as enough to enjoy the next 50 years.
 
It does not seem to be OMY syndrome. It is rather unrealistic expectations I would say. In this situation, I'd set the realistic goal and work to reach it.
Honestly I did not even think about the retirement before I turned 50. But I understand someone well prepared can do it at any age.
 
Aerides said:
OP I hope you don't mind, I had a look at your first thread, from early 2022. You said at the time firecalc gave you 78%. Hopefully you've done well since then, but for a 47 yo with a child, you'll want to be 100% or very close to it.

You also cited an expected budget of $60k per year including insurance for 3. That's tight in many areas. It's less than DH and I planned when we retired at 47 with no kids. Make sure you have a lot of confidence in that number, and that it covers the unexpected stuff, as well as enough to enjoy the next 50 years.
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning a few numbers from our thread Feb. 2022.
That was when we first felt we were close to ER and didn't have our numbers accurate. Looking closer at our budget, we found we won't need to withdraw nearly what we originally thought. One big thing we overlooked was still adding money to same taxable investments we would be drawing from.

Even though our investment portfolio is close to the same now as it was when first asked for opinions, we are now at a solid 3% WR. And 3% at firecalc is close to 100% And that's not including the year and half liquid we have in money market, This past year I was forced with crazy OT, so that helped get our liquid up.
 
Hopefully you'll get to pick a time of your choosing to leave the workforce. My megacorp tossed me out on the streets, along with *many* others over the years leading up to and after my release. About 2-3 years before I wanted to stop working.

DW kept working for benefits, while I addressed some long-standing family issues, the primary being an inherited house her side of the family let sit empty for SEVEN years.

We found an aggressive realtor in that area, while I traveled daily for almost a month to help fix up the house and clean up the yard with the in-laws. Finally got the house sold and a huge weight off of my DW's shoulders. And a decent chunk (~$250K) added to our savings, along with the elimination of monthly costs for the empty house.

Somehow, it all worked out. If I had been laid off 6 months earlier, I would have lost 60% of my already modest pension.
 
Last edited:
Another job vs OMY for me

Hey OP - OMY for each person is different. Hitting your number gives you more room to treat work differently. Is it basic work BS or really BS. If your BS bucket is full, it's time for you to leave. However there might be other things you enjoy enough for you to stay.

I have not ER'd yet, but hit my modest numbers at age 43 @ 4% SWR, comfortable number at 46 @ 3.5%, now about 2.0% at age 54 while upping the current spend on nicer vacations now and retirement budget.

I decided to try another job, something new and interesting with purpose. The last job was almost 10 years of building and improving things. It was fun until it wasn't, so I left.

Just when I thought I was ready to move on to ER as the #1 option, a former coworker reached out to me about an opportunity. Well, the job is a headache, lot of issues. Guess what, I think it would be fun to see the progression of fixing those problems. So I started OMJ (one more job), it'll probably be 3 - 5 years before I seriously consider ER again as long as my health stays good. It's not always about the $$, what is your purpose, can you have fun and get paid? Up to you, on why ER or why put of with stupid coworkers, etc. Good luck.
 
Sk08 said:
Thanks for mentioning a few numbers from our thread Feb. 2022.
That was when we first felt we were close to ER and didn't have our numbers accurate. Looking closer at our budget, we found we won't need to withdraw nearly what we originally thought. One big thing we overlooked was still adding money to same taxable investments we would be drawing from.

Even though our investment portfolio is close to the same now as it was when first asked for opinions, we are now at a solid 3% WR. And 3% at firecalc is close to 100% And that's not including the year and half liquid we have in money market, This past year I was forced with crazy OT, so that helped get our liquid up.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that inflation has been awful the past couple of years, so your future spending may be higher than you think. Up 10.5% since the start of 2022 and 19% since the start of 2021.
 
I exceeded my number at around age 50. Disliked my job but it was fairly high income. I have been able to do more and more part-time the last 5, or so, years. It's been really good for me. I deal with less and less headaches and still have some income. That income declines each year. If it stopped tomorrow I feel much more prepared. I am not jumping off a cliff now. I will say the being able to get the headaches off my desk has made my job much more bearable. At this point my work is down to 5-10 hours a week so it's almost non-existent. This has worked well for me but I realize not for everyone or every job.
 
Exchme said:
Don't forget that inflation has been awful the past couple of years, so your future spending may be higher than you think. Up 10.5% since the start of 2022 and 19% since the start of 2021.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I've been living through this "awful" inflation, and must admit I've had sticker shock on things like food and cars, and am aware of the increased cost of housing. But I don't consider it awful. I was just starting out in the late '70s, and that's the inflation I considered pretty awful. This is just a somewhat bumpy return to normalcy. The incredibly (and artificially) low inflation over the past decade or so is the outlier, to me.

Although it could be that the reason this inflation seems so bad is that there hasn't seemed to be a corresponding increase in pay for many people. I know DD is in a job where they don't give yearly cost of living increases. She recently calculated her starting salary 10 years ago, and accounting for inflation she's only making $3000 more than when she started. I think there are a lot of people in that situation, even though somebody keeps posting gov't numbers showing that pay has been increasing. I suspect it's sort of a case of the haves vs the have nots. The have nots are bearing the brunt of the inflation.
 
I reached FI at age 51, but I didn't hate my job then and had no intention of retiring (that early). I'd had enough by age 57, and retired then. Fortunately our net worth has more than doubled since I retired, so I may have just been lucky. I'm 69 yo now, so lucky indeed.
 
I could have retired earlier than I did - as DH was willing to keep working so that I could do so. I made an initial attempt but wasn't ready. As I was annoyed with my employer at the time, I did jump ship.

With regard to there always being a potential stock market crash - well SORR is something to build into the plan.
 
I had faith in my number and my plans, so I was able to pull plug @ 55 yrs. old. Additionally, I witness multiple friends with parents and several co-workers who died much too soon. It comes down to none of them were on their death beds wishing they had worked more. They all wanted more time with family and friends. I was not going to get caught in that OMY trap and I have zero regrets (it did help working with a new Engineering Director who was the biggest AssHat I have ever worked with). Have faith in yourself and move on....
 
IMHO reaching 'the number' is only half of the equation.

The other half....YOU have to be ready. Only you know the answer to that.

I have known several just one more year people. The reality was that not one of them was ready for retirement for various reasons. When they were ready, one more year was replaced by next week or next month.

In my case, I had my number at lease two or thee years prior. I was ready financially but not otherwise. I rationalized it by not wanting to leave money on the table. I did not need the money, I wanted it more than I wanted to retire early. So I went at 58/59 rather that 54/55.
 
Last edited:
I was FI for several years and then a voluntary early out offer came along and I grabbed it. Then a year later, I was asked to come back to work, doing only the parts of the job that I enjoyed at a very high salary, so I took the job. Now for the first time in my life I am totally blowing all of the after tax dollars from the job on extravagances. So far this year, two new cars, three vacations and some home improvements that in the old days, I would have labored through myself.

My point is, go ahead and take the plunge. You never know where things will lead and what other opportunities may come along.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Five Years Retired: Lessons Learned
2 3
Replies
54
Views
9K
Dtail
D
street
The first million takes the longest to achieve
6 7 8
Replies
192
Views
13K
mathjak107
M
D
Social Security - Any stabs at this one?
Replies
6
Views
894
Drake3287
D
S
Dry Eye Syndrome - tips?
Replies
22
Views
1K
PatrickA5
P
street
Eight years of ER where did the time go....
Replies
20
Views
1K
REIJM
R

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom