Wish you had done it sooner? Yes or No?

[WhiskyDave]

One common thing I continue to read, is that many early retiree's wish they had pulled the plug earlier...Not necessarily having regrets, but knowing what they know now, wished they had just made the decision earlier?

So, you guys would be the best to ask and poll this...Yes, or No? and why?

 

[Out of Steam]

I retired in the fall of 2019. Because we moved at retirement, it would have been nice to have had another 6-12 months to travel and establish ourselves before the pandemic.

We probably could have retired a few months sooner, but any earlier would probably have been without the retirement incentive I received.

 

[Pellice]

No. Moneywise I could possibly have left one year earlier, but I did OMY very intentionally, "just to make sure," and was glad I did. I was not tempted at all towards an additional year, and felt very secure that I had "gone a little over." That framing did the trick for my overly cautious personality, and I haven't had any anxiety about money since.

 

[Animorph]

50% yes. I retired about the right time, but DW retired about 5 years later. That was 5 active years I lost. I'm having to reduce the activity levels during our travel now, and we haven't made it through our travel list.

If you expect an active retirement, you might look at something like 70 - your retirement age as the number of retirement years you might expect to enjoy physical activities (adjusted to your expectations). Retiring five years later eats up a big chunk of that time.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I would have reduced our overhead earlier on and retired sooner. We had a lot of unnecessary spending in our budget we cut once we retired that didn't lower our quality of life one bit, things like reviewing the auto insurance and making the house more energy efficient, but maybe a hundred or more of those that really added up. I wish I would have made time to do that earlier in life and retired 10 years sooner.

 

[W2R]

I wish I could have retired earlier! I had to continue working for two years beyond FI until I was eligible to keep my employee/retiree health insurance.

On the other hand, I was pretty ambitious and driven so I would not have been happy retiring too early. Probably the best age for me to retire (if neither health insurance nor nest egg size had been an issue), would have been at around 52-53 years old. Instead I retired at 61, and by that time I felt I had had more than enough chance to accomplish whatever I was going to accomplish at work.

 

[sheldon cornped]

It was always my intention to retire at 62. I was obsessively running calculators and estimators for several years prior to retirement. I could have retired a bit earlier and been fine, but a situation developed at work that enabled me to accept a severance package at 61 in January of 2015. That one year severance automatically extended me to 62. I immediately took my pension and started SS at 62. That made it possible to not withdraw any investment income. Fast forward to today, it was the perfect time to pull the plug. No regrets. I consider us fortunate in all regards.

 

[rk911]

One common thing I continue to read, is that many early retiree's wish they had pulled the plug earlier...Not necessarily having regrets, but knowing what they know now, wished they had just made the decision earlier?

So, you guys would be the best to ask and poll this...Yes, or No? and why?

my original intent was to RE at 50 but couldn't get the ducks lined up. had to wait until 55. my last day on the books was age 55+1-day.

 

[martyp]

No. It was exactly the right time for me. Fifty-five years old in 2011. My last year of work was exceedingly stressful. Of course I would have liked to have avoided that but it was also the circumstance that prompted me to consider early retirement.

 

[Jerry1]

My plan was to go at 55 when I vested in my retiree health insurance. However, finances can always be better so I asked if I could work part time. They let me and I have no regrets. I worked PT for two years and then they had layoffs. I volunteered and they agreed. In being let go, I got a one year severance so financially, that gave me one more year.

Of course if I was financially ready and was comfortable carrying the cost of health insurance, sure, I wish I could have gone earlier. However, I went as quick as I think was practical.

 

[travelover]

Just in the nick of time. MegaMotors expected everyone to go by age 55 and they were not subtle in hinting. As it turned out, I went at 54 and they paid me a generous sum to go.

 

[street]

No.
I loved my job and when I retired at 58 the timing was just right. I was having fun still had the energy and drive. I think if I would have gone earlier, I might have been satisfied what I needed to accomplish in my working years.

It was at that time in my career that the things I loved to do in the outdoors were getting shortened by workload. So, it came down to my time was worth more than a paycheck at age 58. I was ready and never looked back and never been back to my workplace after 5 years.

 

[Helen]

I would have liked to have retired five years sooner to be able to help my Mom more. We lived 2,000 miles apart. I had to reach age 56 to qualify for lifetime health insurance. This was before the ACA was enacted.

 

[2017ish]

Yes, as of right now, given the market performance in the 4.5 years since we retired, I appear to have been too cautious. But.... it has only been 4.5 years, which is too soon to tell.

 

[MRG]

Maybe but I didn't have a good path for health insurance. I left at 56 in 2013, rode out COBRA for most of the year before ACA started. While it would have been good to do I wasn't ready. Who knew it was a great market to retire into.

 

[RunningBum]

Knowing what I know now, sure, but there was no way to know that 11 years ago, so I do not regret building up a buffer before retiring.
If I knew then what I knew now, I would've sold all of my stock holdings on 2/19/2020 and bought them all back, maybe on margin, on 3/23/2020, if that's the game we're playing.

I don't think you can count on the next 11 years to be like the last 11, so if I were a fringe candidate to ER now, I'd be trying to build more buffer or at least see if the market settles down first.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I retired at 63 just 2 months ago. I retired on the date I had planned for several years based on my years of service and age that optimized my pension. I also was obsessive about running numbers and budget etc.
I also had to make some decisions before I retired. Was I going to move? I decided not to. I needed to switch health insurance plans prior to retiring to establish a new PCP. So I was doing a little at a time luckily most of it was done prior to 2020 because then things got more dicey.

If I had retired at a younger age I don’t think I would have been happy. I still had a lot of ambition and in fact in 2019 at the age of 60 I was going to school and working.
But my ambition decreased significantly at age 62. Why- who knows. Maybe it was just time.
I’m quite content to putter around and do errands. My days are filled. My friends who are retired come over for visits. I loved my career. I don’t miss it.
So I’m glad I retired when I did.

 

[Alan]

We retired at age 55, would have retired at 53 but decided to hang on a couple of years to get retiree health insurance. Worked out really well in the end.

 

[Retired Expat]

Sooner, no. Retired early at 53 almost 10 years ago but unlike most here retired overseas where most costs are really low. Fully expected I would have gone back to “work” after a healthy break but in the formal sense never did or wanted to, despite lots of opportunities. Instead did a few projects for myself that created a passive income stream and the market has really cooperated (current situation not withstanding).

Zero regrets or thoughts that I should have retired sooner or later. Everything worked out just the way it should!

 

[JoeWras]

No. It was exactly the right time for me. Fifty-five years old in 2011. My last year of work was exceedingly stressful. Of course I would have liked to have avoided that but it was also the circumstance that prompted me to consider early retirement.

Me too. 55 was just right, so far.

I was offered part time, but I saw others do that and the part time part was not always well respected.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

No regrets on my OMY. I delayed from 2020 to 2021 as COVID added a lot of uncertainty in the market and also in how I could enjoy my freedom. Seemed really dumb to walk away from a secure job (and also WFH for the first time ever) when the world was shutting down. The last year was brutal (mentally I was done) but cushioned my savings a bit more and the market chugged along. If COVID did not happen, I would have regretted if it was just cold feet and not a significant geopolitical event that changed the chessboard a bit.

 

[old medic]

I could have retired 3.5 years earlier, but stuck it out since DW still had to work (still does) and it just help add extra padding, Plus was covered by insurance. Now we can afford to NOT make money and I qualify for ACA.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

DW and I retired (The first time) at 49 (me) and 44 (DW) to go sailing for 3 years. When we returned, we did not w@rk for a while then DW started volunteering at the local health department who offered her a job so she went back for a few years. My old company asked me to come back part time working from home. Then we both retired fully a few more years later and have not w*rked for pay ever since. We are very happy with that arrangement. ACA was crucial to the last time we retired.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I ER'd at 50 years 5 months. I worked in a small business for 32 years, 28 of them as a sole proprietor. I was simply exhausted and staying longer would have been bad for my physical & mental health and worse yet my marriage. 6 years later no regrets. Financially we're in fine shape, thanks to the equity and real estate investments.

I sold the business on a 10 year contract with the agreement I'd be available to consult as needed, I got a call yesterday on how to handle a head ache and I quickly realized how glad I am that I got out. 4 more years on the contract payments and then I can start withdrawing SEP, Roth and dividends, real estate rent income as needed at age 61.

I thought of a part time J*& but working for the sake of working didn't appeal to me. I do volunteer a quite a bit and help out some elderly folks. Including myself.

Back to the original question. I'm glad I pulled the pin at age 50. It was no accident, that was my plan since I was 22.

 

[Aerides]

I went at exactly the right time. We met our goal, DH went part time, and I planned to go the following spring after 1Q incentives (HSA load, Annual Bonus/raise, Profit Sharing, 1Q 401k match, etc.). Our pay structure meant over 40% of our annual pay occurred in the first quarter, and you had to be there on the last day of the quarter for matching. So, 4/1 was always the best date to give notice.

Late in the summer I started angling for a package. Not overtly, just... career goals not matching with company direction and my experience there, might be time to look elsewhere but I'd be crazy to go with my tenure and..blah blah...nudge nudge wink wink. Got a "well don't decide anything something something coming..." response. 3 months later I was on a list, when my division decided to consolidate locations. I could get a paid re-lo at my level, or I could package out. Over a year severance + add ons made it a no brainer. I ended up leaving the following June, as the final date was all done by MC. For about 6 months I was super frustrated, as there was no firm date or plan, just verbal stuff (division didn't properly align with HR before making initial announcements).

I was definitely dead man walking the last couple of months once things became official and public. I turned 47 a few weeks before my last day.