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Old 11-27-2014, 05:23 AM   #21
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Francis, there is a link on the "Best of the Boards" that covers the OMY (One More Year) Syndrome. You may find some wisdom, related to your issue, at the post in that thread. I know I did....

Here is the prologue to that thread, with the link highlighted in red.
- No matter when you FIRE, there is always some set of reasons why you should wait "just one more year." Yet this also seems like a psychological trap - you can always justify waiting, and in the meantime precious years of FIRE go slipping away. Click here to learn how other's knew when the time was right.

Welcome to the forum Francis.

This is interesting. I don't recall the thread but it dates back to just after I joined the forum. I had lurked for quite awhile before officially joining.

As a long term OMY-er, I can relate to the hesitancy to give up a secure income stream. I don't dislike what I do but I'm ready to move on with my life. I don't need the money and haven't for many years. I've clearly been working for my grandchildren's benefit the last few years.

To a certain degree I feel like the French police chief in Casablanca that says to Rick he shouldn't throw away beautiful women because they may be scarce someday. I've got a well paying, low hassle job. That hasn't always been the case. It seems so wasteful to not keep it.

I've got 12 more "in-office" days before resigning/retiring.
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Old 11-27-2014, 05:36 AM   #22
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I'm like this fella.
But in many ways I kick myself, because I saved like a crazy nut, sometimes 50% of my pay went into 401K, now I realize that I'll be paying too much in taxes as I pull the money out.
That's one of my issues. I've piled a bunch of money into a SERP plan that will give me a big payout about a month after leaving the company. That drives me to retiring in the first part of the year. I had stayed on to help on a project earlier this year when things were busy. When I was about to retire, I ran the numbers on my income taxes. The difference in retiring back in August 2014 versus January 2015 was over $60,000. Yes, it's only money but I'll wait and save the taxes. Even by waiting, my marginal tax rate will be 33% in 2015. If I had taken it in 2014, almost the entire payout would have been at 33% plus I'd trigger the ACA taxes (that I don't understand). I don't dislike my job but I'm ready for a reset.
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semi-retire - just some thoughts/ideas
Old 11-27-2014, 06:48 AM   #23
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semi-retire - just some thoughts/ideas

Hi Francis,
I stumbled upon what I consider to be the ideal plan (for me anyway) ... semi-retire. In my profession, I found I can become a consultant and work as little or as much as I want each year.

I know very little about the pharmacy field that you are in - but googled it and found two things: (1) there is such a thing as a pharmacy consultant and (2) there are part time pharmacy jobs out there.

My quick search even revealed a part time pharmacy job in Raleigh North Carolina which in my opinion is beautiful and might be a great place to [semi]retire. So, if you are also wondering where to live, you could combine finding ideal part time work with what you might consider an ideal location. Maybe you can find a part time job, working for and with people you like, in a smaller community with less stress.

Just some thoughts ... it does not need to be all or nothing. If you hate your specific job and find it intolerable ... and you have the financial security to change ... take advantage of that while you are still relatively young until you find the ideal situation for you.

All the best with your decisions.

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Old 11-27-2014, 07:03 AM   #24
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Francis, what you are experiencing is typical. Been there, done that. We are creatures of habit and change is hard. What you are experiencing is even harder when you are financially secure, making good money and still like your job and the people you work with which was my situation a few years ago when I retired.

After a lot of thinking, I decided that I valued having more free time to do what I want more than I valued having more money that at the end of the days would just make our kids more wealthy, so I quit. But it wasn't easy to voluntarily give up a job that many people would have coveted.

Another factor is that it seemed that every time I opened the newspaper there were obituaries of people about my age or younger who have died and I had a great uncle who scrimped, saved and sacrificed for his retirement and then dropped dead of a heart attack 6 months after he retired. I didn't want to end up like him.

No regrets at all. I love being retired and having so much free time to do what I want to do and spend some time helping others.

It's a leap of faith............ jump!
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:15 AM   #25
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Hi Francis and welcome. My grandfather was a Pharmacist who owned his own store. He later sold it but continued to work there. That didn't work out too well and they let him go. He was devastated but then spent the next ten years working part-time. He chose his jobs and named his hours. He said getting let go was the best thing that ever could have happened.
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:28 AM   #26
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I'm in that winding down process now and know exactly what you mean. I'm a physician in the same state as you. From the fear of loss of prestige to the transition from saving the paycheck to withdrawing from assets, from getting up at 5:00 and being worthless after 7PM it is all strange and very new.... There are days of boredom and restlessness....
Francis: EastWest Gal hits the nail on the head for me. I'm a professional from Pennsylvania who is about to give notice that I am retiring, and that I will consider a part-time gig so long as it's mutually at will. That part-time work could smooth the transition for both me and my firm. My partners will accept it, or I will walk after a reasonable notice. 19 work days till I enter the phase in which I will give my notice. Scary, scary.

But I think you need to get to the point where you just conclude that you have to push through the fear and get on with it. We both are facing the siren song of OMY. (In my case, for example, my net worth goes up by around a quarter mill a year on average for every year I stay chained to my desk.) But it's at the point where I (and apparently, you) have enough money, and are probably using OMY as a crutch to avoid taking a psychologically risky leap.

You are on a board with a bunch of smart and capable people, and they (especially those engineers! ) can really analyze every aspect of their finances and life to the Nth degree. But while I can't hold a candle to the engineers and their deep analysis, I know that I'm spending too much time analyzing all the angles, and I just need to flick the switch and get on with it. It will pan out for me and I will forge a new way of living. It will pan out for you, too. Don't die at your desk, Francis.
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:30 AM   #27
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I struggled with "One more year" syndrome for 2 years after vesting of the minimum years for a 50 % retiree medical insurance subsidy. Those 2 years were terribly corrosive on my mental well being , and that was time I could have spent helping my father in his last years of life.

Instead , I squandered the precious, non-replaceable time staying at a job I no longer found tolerable, just for a little extra money.
Thanks an interesting perspective, thanks. I agree how a job can affect your mental being. I feel my job changes my personality in a way that blocks my happiness. Constantly. When I'm off a few days it's almost i have to detoxify from the job - day 1 I still think about work but after a few days off I see a definate improvement in my personality/outlook.

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Old 11-27-2014, 07:42 AM   #28
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I feel for you then if you're working like the pharmacists I see at the local CVS store. Those people are being worked to death, always on the phone and doing what seems to be two things at once. I can see that they will be burned out very quickly.
Thanks for asking about my job. I was going to post more details but wasn't sure if others were interested in the specifics. No names or emplorers of course.

I work in hospital pharmacy. It was a decent, even great job for years. A while ago a for profit hospital chain bought the hospital and things slowly but consistantly changed for years till it's at an intolerable level. The final blow, within the last year, was to make our schedule so outlandish in the hope that people quit. We have hired new pharmacists specifically to work odd hours - evenings and all nights. That was fine. Now, they are releasing all these new hires from their shifts and making us long term employees work the bad hours. Oh, let me add that they can hire the new pharmacists for about 25K less than the long term workers. So, it's like they want us out. Maybe that's why I can't make the break - because I don't want them to force me out.
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:42 AM   #29
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:48 AM   #30
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I'm in that winding down process now and know exactly what you mean. I'm a physician in the same state as you. From the fear of loss of prestige to the transition from saving the paycheck to withdrawing from assets, from getting up at 5:00 and being worthless after 7PM it is all strange and very new. I now have 1-2 weeks off and 1-2 weeks of work at a time. There are days of boredom and restlessness, but I feel so much better physically and so much more alive in the relationships that really matter.

You might want to check those FAQs and some books about early retirement. I found that hanging out here made me realize that overall, retirement with adequate finances can be absolutely amazing. Within a week of joining this group, I made up my mind to pull the plug this year but my exit was slowed by being offered more money for less work.

The books and the FAQs made me more prepared. I hope they help you too. Life is too short to stay at a job you hate. Time does not equal money. Time > money.


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Thanks a lot. You make a lot of sense. I definetly relate to how a bad job can wear you down physically. I will check out the books you recommended. Best of luck with the issues you are dealing with too.
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:52 AM   #31
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From your post , I see you are a pharmacist. That is where the rub comes in. You entered the field in a different era, an honorable profession, which it still is, to help people, not just make a living.

You are stuck with a mindset of Duty to help the patient. Years ago, the employer also had a mindset of duty to loyal hard working employees.The later is long gone.

The drive to reduce medical cost , and increase productivity has permanently overtaken service to the patient , and dignity for the professional. 0% chance of the old ways coming back You will need to embrace that.
You are 100% correct. The profession is nothing like it was. I'd also add for profit hospital chains to the list of what changed for the worst.
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Old 11-27-2014, 07:57 AM   #32
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But if you stop, I would be willing to be that within one year you'll be wondering why you waited so long.
Sorry about the losses you suffered. It's odd you mentioned if I do retire i may wonder why I waited so long. Because this is a recurring theme in my life - I wait too long. I held onto a car for far too long, finally bought a new one. and that was my thought - why did I wait so long. There are other examples. I thought it was delaying gratification whick is good for savings. But I guess I did it to excess.
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:10 AM   #33
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Another factor is that it seemed that every time I opened the newspaper there were obituaries of people about my age or younger who have died and I had a great uncle who scrimped, saved and sacrificed for his retirement and then dropped dead of a heart attack 6 months after he retired. I didn't want to end up like him.
This isn't the reason I want to leave work but I noticed the same thing. Worked with a guy who retired early and shotly thereafter dies while going to the sink for a drink of water. Heart attack. My uncle died at 69 years old. He lived alone and they found him on the kitchen floor. On the counter was bread, cold cuts, mayonaise. He was making a sandwitch when the end came. I guess we can think we have more time - but who really knows?
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:12 AM   #34
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Hi Francis and welcome. My grandfather was a Pharmacist who owned his own store. He later sold it but continued to work there. That didn't work out too well and they let him go. He was devastated but then spent the next ten years working part-time. He chose his jobs and named his hours. He said getting let go was the best thing that ever could have happened.
Thanks for your perspective. Pharmacy has changed a lot. About 10 years ago I worked with an oldtimer who owned his own pharmacy. He said he could earn a decent living filling 50 prescriptions a day. Today many pharmacists I know who work for chains fill 600+ prescriptions per day.
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:19 AM   #35
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But I think you need to get to the point where you just conclude that you have to push through the fear and get on with it. We both are facing the siren song of OMY. (In my case, for example, my net worth goes up by around a quarter mill a year on average for every year I stay chained to my desk.) But it's at the point where I (and apparently, you) have enough money, and are probably using OMY as a crutch to avoid taking a psychologically risky leap.
I think you are right. My friends periodontist retired suddenly in his early 50's. He was surely making a decent buck. His reason was he vauled his time > more money. I don't know if you are familiar with Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Funds. He always says to know when you have "enough" savings because more is just adding to a pile of money that you'll never need.
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Old 11-27-2014, 09:16 AM   #36
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Francis, only you can decide what your dreams are and what you'd like to do if you didn't have to work for a living, but I can assure you there's more to life than a job and a good salary. I quit this year at age 61- had planned to work to 65 and when the politics got toxic I quit. My last day was one week after I gave notice.


I've always been high-energy and a bit ADD, and a lot of people wondered how I'd handle retirement. I've slowed down a bit but I'm doing more volunteer work, taking a course at the local community college just for the fun of learning, and I'm at the Fitness Center every day. The house and the yard are a bit tidier than they used to be. I've had to get over the shock of taking money OUT of the retirement savings but that would happen no matter when I retired.


Don't postpone it. Life is too short to spend in a soul-sucking job when you don't have to be there.
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Old 11-27-2014, 11:30 AM   #37
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Welcome, Francis. Agree with the above who suggested part time or consulting to transition to retirement. You will be fine. Do you know the term "paralysis by analysis"?

We had four pharmacies in our town when we moved here in 1978. Now we have one: Walgreens. Lots of hourly techs, one overworked pharmacist per shift. Just one of many jobs that has changed substantially over our lifetime.
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Old 11-27-2014, 12:07 PM   #38
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For some of us the mental part of retiring is harder than the financial side. You could certainly give retirement a try and then go back to work and or volunteer if you can't keep yourself satisfied with the freedom.
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Hi - I'm 55 years old, could retire financially, just can't do it
Old 11-27-2014, 12:30 PM   #39
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Hi - I'm 55 years old, could retire financially, just can't do it

Francis, I understand your hesitation. I was on OMY mode and finally decided on a date to retire In 2015. In 2013 I began to prepare by joining several organizations for my outdoor interests/hobbies as I was concerned about how I would adjust from a structured life of working. I noticed more people my age getting diseases or dying, I found that I was resenting work because it was keeping me from my new hobbies and my mother's health was in serious decline. However, I was hesitant to give up the good paycheck. Negative changes at work started effecting my attitude and performance - I was becoming a negative employee (not acceptable for me). My mom's poor health was the final trigger and I retired at 56 on 8/1 this year. My mom passed away on 8/28. I was able to spend those last days with her without worrying about work - such a blessing. I am the executor for her estate and have been able to focus on that and enjoying some of my hobbies without guilt. It was a good decision for me and so far no regrets. DH will join me May 2016!
Good luck with your decision.


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Old 11-27-2014, 03:56 PM   #40
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So, it's like they want us out. Maybe that's why I can't make the break - because I don't want them to force me out.
There is in fact life after retirement. When I retired, like many, it was leaving a position that if I didn't get back into quickly (computer forensics) that I'd never get back into because the field changes so rapidly.

Six months later my sister said of me and DW "I haven't seen you two looking so relaxed in years". It was then that we lost any reservations that we may have had about retiring and moving to WV from the Washington, DC area. Had we stayed we'd have had a pile more money. But we'd also be miserable.

So I suggest that letting them force you out might be a good thing:

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