Need your advice on when to retire!

[Fielding]

Do you have any savings aside from pension ? (like $1 - $2 mil ) ?

I agree. If there's a healthy portfolio already, waiting around for a bit more pension may not make the most sense.

Is your retirement plan just this pension + Social Security?

 

[HarveyS]

Option 2. Time > $. Give minimum notice - 2 weeks sounds good to me. If you are indispensable then you can negotiate with the micro manager.

 

[caninelover]

Agree with other about killing option 3

In my experience those types of bosses, i.e. the p.i.t.a. micro-managers don't like not having control at all.

If you tell them you're retiring he/she will likely just put a bigger microscope on you and professionally flog you daily for the remaining 9 months.

So I would go with either 1 or 2.

I am wrestling with a similar choice but I may OMY it until early 2022. My work situation is not miserable though - if it was I'd pull the plug.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

In my experience those types of bosses, i.e. the p.i.t.a. micro-managers don't like not having control at all.

If you tell them you're retiring he/she will likely just put a bigger microscope on you and professionally flog you daily for the remaining 9 months.

So I would go with either 1 or 2.

I am wrestling with a similar choice but I may OMY it until early 2022. My work situation is not miserable though - if it was I'd pull the plug.

I dunno, the OP could start with option 3 and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well, the OP could deploy option 2 at that time. The OP could say the change was due to health reasons. No reason to explain further, saying it's personal.

 

[REWahoo]

I dunno, the OP could start with option 3 and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well, the OP could deploy option 2 at that time. The OP could say the change was due to health reasons. No reason to explain further, saying it's personal.

If OP did as you suggest and was asked to explain, I'd think it would be a great time to state the health reason was due to anal glaucoma*.



* https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/how-did-you-decide-to-fire-104190.html#post2440690

 

[Gallaher]

It’s easy to offer conjecture in hindsight.
Now that I’ve been retired a few years (forced to resign) and things have gone spectacularly well, I’d add a fourth option.

4. Walk in and quite tomorrow! Get on with the rest of your life. You’ve worked there 37 years. Go do something else. Life is short, money is not everything. With a $50K pension you will not be reduced to eating cat food unless you want to.
Things will work out great for you. Thirty seven years is a long time to do anything. Sure, you’ll miss it but you’ll get over it.

 

[Happyras]

Option 2. Time > $. Give minimum notice - 2 weeks sounds good to me. If you are indispensable then you can negotiate with the micro manager.

Big +1 for that and the new option #4 above!
Too many of our friends are just at 60 and dying off. I never regret retiring at 61, but I do regret not retiring sooner. TIME>$, believe me its really true.

I had all those petty struggles with small impacts to pensions, income, and in the end it is just noise. We are on the obese side of retire, but even if we were just comfortable in assets/income I would still do it sooner than I did.

You have to look at what is possible to enjoy now, that in even 10 years will not be.

For my last days working I did a lot of early morning work from home conference calls. The young engineers would note sometimes that they had a Happyras siting in the office. Take the pressure off your self and let your boss go boss someone else. You can make the last weeks of working fun, and get out of there and on with a great life.

 

[RxMan]

Only you can prevent a FIRE.

 

[Blue531]

Is it possible that the new manager was put there to purposely make you miserable so you would leave early being you've been there a long time? That the company is trying to push you out and save money? Are there others who have been there a long time feeling the same way as you? My boss was so glad (he hid it well) when I told him I was stepping down to part-time (because we did not get along). He was so glad, he left me full-time until I got all my vacation pay. Maybe your boss will be glad to know you are retiring soon enough. Hard for us to determine. You may have to go with your gut. Just the fact that you are considering leaving earlier than you wanted says the situation is almost untenable. Good luck to you!

 

[Jerry1]

Do not inform the company of your retirement. I have a friend that did that. The company gave buy outs to other people, but did not give him on because they knew he was going to leave. It was a budget reduction and to get the buy out, the manager had to actually eliminate the position. They didn’t want to eliminate his position and wouldn’t work around it so he ended up just retiring as planned.

Put me in for either quitting now or recognizing that you have FU money and change your attitude. Micro manager my butt. Do you the way you want to do you and just ignore him while maintaining your professionalism. Heck, he might encourage you to leave early.

However, as Gallaher points out, option 4 is the best.

 

[pb4uski]

....Put me in for either quitting now or recognizing that you have FU money and change your attitude. Micro manager my butt. ...

What FU money does:

You want me to do what? and by when? Yeah... good luck with that.

You wanna fire me? Make my day!

 

[street]

I was with rare company I guess that didn't throw me under the bus when I gave them one year notice. That is what my company asked of me, when I was going to retire.

I had know issues and problems after I gave my notice to retire one year ahead of time. It was all about transitioning and training for a the new individual. I was treated maybe more then fair.

I could see this attitude wouldn't be a norm for this type of notice.

 

[Happyras]

What FU money does:

Don't forget your leverage as well. Hard to fire or layoff an older employee. I would assume there is a company severance benefit. If they lay you off, do you get 2 weeks pay for every year of service? If so, leverage that as a buyout if you simply chose to retire or force them to lay you off.

I have no experience with such matters (uhm, well maybe a little)

 

[Sunset]

OP - don't tell the boss more than 2 weeks in advance, and be prepared to walk that day.

Also be sure to use your vacation days, especially if you don't get paid out on vacation time.
You could also think of using some sick days to ease your time while remaining.

Knowing your current actual expenses for a few years, and other savings (if any) would help a LOT.

 

[Markola]

Nearly everyone is going to leave $ on the table to FIRE. How much those bucks are worth to continue living in one’s particular pool of toxic waste and for how long is their responsibility to decide.

 

[cat4ever]

Assuming you have the other savings and income sources like SS, to help meet your budget needs, I would take the retirement now. Enjoy a slightly earlier start to retirement than you had planned. You can add time to the beginning of your retirement, but you can't add time to the end of it.

Depending on the stress level of your job, and on how much you fill your free time with staying fit, I think you definitely CAN add time to the end of your retirement, precisely by adding time to the front.

 

[Slade]

Thank you for your advice!

Thank you to everyone for your advice! Much appreciated. My expenses will be fine whether I retire now or in January. I have about $500k in 401k.

Right now, I am taking it one day at a time. I don’t think I ever believed the saying, “One bad day from retiring”, but now I’m living it.

I will say March has been the longest month in history and why does time go so slow when you have a retirement date in sight?

 

[Slade]

Update!

What I didn’t say before my first post is that my boss, on a Thursday, a few weeks ago, said, “I don’t mean to be a micromanager, but...” and then proceeded to tell me she noticed I send work emails after normal work hours and wanted me to start coming into the office 3 days a week to make sure I was focused (I’m exempt). I told her we’ve been working long hours long before the pandemic. I thought about it and sent her an email and told her I have underlying medical conditions and don’t feel comfortable coming into the office. She then said she would postpone me having to come into the office.

Today, she sent an email and said effective immediately, I’d like for you to send me a daily update that summarizes your accomplishments for that day. It can be a bulleted list of items. Please include the approximate amount of time that you spent on each task.

I’m not in second grade.

At the beginning of our weekly meeting an hour later, on April Fool’s Day, I told her I am retiring April 30th. She said ok, you can disregard the email about sending the daily update.

So I guess I didn’t make it to January like I planned, but you can only take so much. I’m joining you all on April 30th and I am relieved to leave that toxic environment. Life truly is too short.

 

[gamboolman]

Congrats Slade.

As to your "Boss".... Wow.

I used to tell folks including some of my bosses - Do you know what Boss spelled backwards is ?

Double SOB....ha

I retired 1-Feb-21 and while I had a good and satisfying career for the most part - there was definitely some Double SOB's in the mix...

Again, Congrats sir. Enjoy the next chapter of life

gamboolman....

 

[RobbieB]

Daily updates...

Congrats and have fun! Slack the whole month and if she doesn't like it she can fire you!

 

[CindyBlue]

What I didn’t say before my first post is that my boss, on a Thursday, a few weeks ago, said, “I don’t mean to be a micromanager, but...” and then proceeded to tell me she noticed I send work emails after normal work hours and wanted me to start coming into the office 3 days a week to make sure I was focused (I’m exempt). I told her we’ve been working long hours long before the pandemic. I thought about it and sent her an email and told her I have underlying medical conditions and don’t feel comfortable coming into the office. She then said she would postpone me having to come into the office.

Today, she sent an email and said effective immediately, I’d like for you to send me a daily update that summarizes your accomplishments for that day. It can be a bulleted list of items. Please include the approximate amount of time that you spent on each task.

I’m not in second grade.

At the beginning of our weekly meeting an hour later, on April Fool’s Day, I told her I am retiring April 30th. She said ok, you can disregard the email about sending the daily update.

So I guess I didn’t make it to January like I planned, but you can only take so much. I’m joining you all on April 30th and I am relieved to leave that toxic environment. Life truly is too short.

Sheesh...you boss made a poor decision. By her actions, she is losing someone who works their tail off, including beyond normal work hours. But congratulations to you!

 

[Aerides]

Today, she sent an email and said effective immediately, I’d like for you to send me a daily update that summarizes your accomplishments for that day. It can be a bulleted list of items. Please include the approximate amount of time that you spent on each task.

I’m not in second grade.

I hope you said that..

But still, grats on making the decision!

 

[cat4ever]

I think very soon you'll be thanking your boss for "accelerating your transition" (sounds like a very managerly term, doesn't it) into the wonderful world of retirement.

 

[street]

Good for you and I wish you well, freedom is priceless.

I sometimes feel management seem to know or put a little more pressure on when they feel a person is getting close to retire. That extra work or stress they attach will push that person over the cliff.

I just seen this happen to a friend that management changed his hours and to be available on some weekends. That changed pushed him right out the door and he didn't think twice about it.

I'm not saying that is what happened in your case thou.

 

[bltkmt]

Daily updates...

Congrats and have fun! Slack the whole month and if she doesn't like it she can fire you!

This.