Ice hockey, dachshunds and being afraid to cut the cord...

[irishgal]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking for a bit and have found the site and the members posts to be very helpful.
Wondering if anyone else had this problem--

I'm 56, female, single, athletic and yeah I have wiener dogs. Fierce wiener dogs I might add.
I am in healthcare, fried, disinterested, and my advisor at Bernstein has run the necessary data to continue to assure me that I will be fine and can ER.

Despite this, I cannot pull the trigger and give notice. I get very anxious, start worrying about the "what ifs" and I end up at the same place, thinking I am ready to go but scared to death.

Anyone else go through this silliness?

Thanks for any advice!


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[razztazz]

Sorry, I had no silliness at all. They wanted me gone and I wanted them dead... I mean gone too, so everybody was a winner. I did it on very little money too, figuring if anything happened I'd pull it out of somewhere. (I did have free medical though which took a load off)

I am 57, single, as athletic as I can be, and I also happen to have a fierce (I think he's just mean-spirited) Dachshund too. Small world.

 

[ls99]

As my old Ju-jutsu master was fond of saying, what if always hurts. He proved each time time some visiting smart alec would propose by saying what if I do xyz.

If you play Ice hockey fear should not be in your vocabulary.

Just get on with it. Why prolong the pain, when you could be free?

 

[travelover]

Nearly everyone goes through this and why wouldn't they? Our lives are organized for us from the time we are 5 years old or so. It is scarey stepping off, but you can do just it, like so many of us have.

And guess what? It's great!

 

[bingybear]

run your own numbers... most here likely will say to use firecalc. I think most advisors will steer you correctly, but I've heard of some that are way off. Double check your spending... include health insurance and heath expenses. Even those in good shape can have a really bad years with medical expenses. At 51 I ended up getting a dual chamber pacemaker. At 53 (now) I'm ER, still hike mountains with full pack (DW with me), race sailboats (not that good at it, but it is fun).

For me it was good to run my own numbers.. so I know all the assumptions. But then again... my FA is an idiot... and always stares at me when I look at the mirror.

 

[irishgal]

Sorry, I had no silliness at all. They wanted me gone and I wanted them dead... I mean gone too, so everybody was a winner. I did it on very little money too, figuring if anything happened I'd pull it out of somewhere. (I did have free medical though which took a load off)

I am 57, single, as athletic as I can be, and I also happen to have a fierce (I think he's just mean-spirited) Dachshund too. Small world.

That's great! It is a small world.


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[irishgal]

As my old Ju-jutsu master was fond of saying, what if always hurts. He proved each time time some visiting smart alec would propose by saying what if I do xyz.

If you play Ice hockey fear should not be in your vocabulary.

Just get on with it. Why prolong the pain, when you could be free?

Good question....


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[irishgal]

Nearly everyone goes through this and why wouldn't they? Our lives are organized for us from the time we are 5 years old or so. It is scarey stepping off, but you can do just it, like so many of us have.

And guess what? It's great!

So true, about our lives being organized at an early age. Thanks!


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[irishgal]

run your own numbers... most here likely will say to use firecalc. I think most advisors will steer you correctly, but I've heard of some that are way off. Double check your spending... include health insurance and heath expenses. Even those in good shape can have a really bad years with medical expenses. At 51 I ended up getting a dual chamber pacemaker. At 53 (now) I'm ER, still hike mountains with full pack (DW with me), race sailboats (not that good at it, but it is fun).

For me it was good to run my own numbers.. so I know all the assumptions. But then again... my FA is an idiot... and always stares at me when I look at the mirror.

Good idea. Perhaps that will help me feel less nuts.


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[Derslickmeister]

No silliness here, I do have a mighty fierce wiener dog though. His name is Herman, he is an 8 year old chocolate Dachshund.

 

[martyp]

I ER'd at 55. It solved my problem at work and their problem with me. win-win.

There will always be unknowns and anxiety about taking the ER leap. I believe these decisions are influence by push factors from work and pull factors of imagined ER life. Of course most people experience the anxiety. I've been ER'd for 4 years. My wife is considering ER but even after watching me she still is anxious about it.

 

[irishgal]

No silliness here, I do have a mighty fierce wiener dog though. His name is Herman, he is an 8 year old chocolate Dachshund.

Sounds like we have our own dachshund club here!


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[irishgal]

I ER'd at 55. It solved my problem at work and their problem with me. win-win.

There will always be unknowns and anxiety about taking the ER leap. I believe these decisions are influence by push factors from work and pull factors of imagined ER life. Of course most people experience the anxiety. I've been ER'd for 4 years. My wife is considering ER but even after watching me she still is anxious about it.

Glad to know I'm not alone.


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[Choices]

We are really proud of our doxy grandpup! He is a pretty tough little guy.
They don't eat much and should be pretty cheap to keep for an ER.

Run your numbers in firecalc and anyplace else you can find, take a deep breath and jump. Life is short.

 

[petershk]

Facing the same anxiety.

From what I can gather if you run the numbers in several ways and they look pretty solid... You will most likely delay longer and after a couple years wish you hadn't.

I found it helpful to post my financial specifics and get a quick evaluation from people here.

I suspect that advice is very good so you could try that as well.

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[LarryG]

Hi Irishgal. I don't have a wiener dog, but I also play ice hockey. I retired a little over 2 years ago four weeks after turning 57.

I strongly encourage you to take the plunge. I too had fears about all this, as I left a pretty high paying job, but like you, the numbers were "there" that I was FI and could do it.

Taking the final step was still hard though - I still recall my hand shaking somewhat before I clicked "Send" on the e-mail I had composed telling my bosses and HR that I was retiring. But everything since then has been great, and I am so, so glad I left when I did and did not fall into the OMY syndrome as befalls many.

As my last words of encouragement, if you are playing hockey at 56 then I know you can handle fear. After all, we face that every time out on the ice, right? FIRE won't be perfect, and every once in a while you will get knocked down to the ice, but being a hockey player, we just bounce right up, catch our breath on the bench, and are ready for our next shift. Corny as that might sound to the non-hockey players on here, the analogy fits (as you know).

Good luck !

Larry

 

[rodi]

Welcome to the forum.

You might want to look at this FAQ - I found it useful when I was on the fence about retiring at age 52.
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/some-important-questions-to-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html

 

[EastWest Gal]

Run Firecalc. Do a budget and figure out your spending. Hang out here for awhile. I joined this group 13 months ago and within a month I knew I didn't just want to retire; I HAD to retire.

Besides, if you're in healthcare, there's such demand you will not have a problem going back, even freelancing, part time.


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[bclover]

Not silliness at all, I'm in the same boat. I have given myself the deadline of October 1 2016.

I'll be 56 at the time. My job has become a toxic, stressful mess so I'm making plans on getting out. right now I'm just trying to figure out what the heck I want to do with myself.

Good luck.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking for a bit and have found the site and the members posts to be very helpful.
Wondering if anyone else had this problem--

I'm 56, female, single, athletic and yeah I have wiener dogs. Fierce wiener dogs I might add.
I am in healthcare, fried, disinterested, and my advisor at Bernstein has run the necessary data to continue to assure me that I will be fine and can ER.

Despite this, I cannot pull the trigger and give notice. I get very anxious, start worrying about the "what ifs" and I end up at the same place, thinking I am ready to go but scared to death.

Anyone else go through this silliness?

Thanks for any advice!


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Welcome from a fellow wiener dog fan. I had one growing up.

Can you downshift instead of going cold turkey on the job? Can you work part-time or do contract work? Any hobby jobs you might enjoy that could still bring in an income?

I have several little hobby jobs that I can do from home part-time and that is working out to be a nice balance for me.

 

[38Chevy454]

I will repeat what I have said before, you may have a job to retire from, but what do you have to retire to? I think that is where you are reluctant, the unknown financial aspects and at least in your orig post, don't say what you want to do (besides get out of working). We all can use a goal, or something to strive for. Retirement is a great goal, but only if you have plans to do things to keep busy and be happy. Lot of definitions of what being happy and what level of busy is. You can define those yourself.

 

[irishgal]

Welcome from a fellow wiener dog fan. I had one growing up.

Can you downshift instead of going cold turkey on the job? Can you work part-time or do contract work? Any hobby jobs you might enjoy that could still bring in an income?

I have several little hobby jobs that I can do from home part-time and that is working out to be a nice balance for me.

I wish I could do the slow wind down and do last time where I am but the job is full time and also requires travel, some international, so PT would not work. But I do think there are options that are PT that I would do so thanks for the idea, it might be a better way to exit.


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[irishgal]

Run Firecalc. Do a budget and figure out your spending. Hang out here for awhile. I joined this group 13 months ago and within a month I knew I didn't just want to retire; I HAD to retire.

Besides, if you're in healthcare, there's such demand you will not have a problem going back, even freelancing, part time.


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When you say "had to retire" what to you mean, if you are willing would you share more?


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[irishgal]

Facing the same anxiety.

From what I can gather if you run the numbers in several ways and they look pretty solid... You will most likely delay longer and after a couple years wish you hadn't.

I found it helpful to post my financial specifics and get a quick evaluation from people here.

I suspect that advice is very good so you could try that as well.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

I think I will post my numbers here this weekend, thanks!


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[irishgal]

Hi Irishgal. I don't have a wiener dog, but I also play ice hockey. I retired a little over 2 years ago four weeks after turning 57.

I strongly encourage you to take the plunge. I too had fears about all this, as I left a pretty high paying job, but like you, the numbers were "there" that I was FI and could do it.

Taking the final step was still hard though - I still recall my hand shaking somewhat before I clicked "Send" on the e-mail I had composed telling my bosses and HR that I was retiring. But everything since then has been great, and I am so, so glad I left when I did and did not fall into the OMY syndrome as befalls many.

As my last words of encouragement, if you are playing hockey at 56 then I know you can handle fear. After all, we face that every time out on the ice, right? FIRE won't be perfect, and every once in a while you will get knocked down to the ice, but being a hockey player, we just bounce right up, catch our breath on the bench, and are ready for our next shift. Corny as that might sound to the non-hockey players on here, the analogy fits (as you know).

Good luck !

Larry

Only a few more hockey players and we will have a team!

I agree, reality is that my anxiety is more driven by, well, the fact that I worry a lot than by the numbers.



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