Need some encouragement

[bob58]

Wow! How does one get the courage to finally quit?  When you retire at 59, you know you have to live on less than your regular salary (for me 2/3 of my regular salary per year to survive). You know you  have to get your own insurance.   You know you just cannot spend foolishly anymore because the retirement funds just don't equal the salary you once had.  Being in a rut is hard to get out of when your job pays so well even though you are unhappy more often than not going to work. 

Did any of you out there have difficulty just saying "I quit".  Was it hard?  Did you momentarily have regrets leaving your job security? Did you want to work part-time, and were you forced to because of your finances. 

I am having one hellava time quitting my high paying stressfull job and saying enough is enough.  Help!

Bob58

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Wow! How does one get the courage to finally quit?  When you retire at 59, you know you have to live on less than your regular salary (for me 2/3 of my regular salary per year to survive). You know you  have to get your own insurance.   You know you just cannot spend foolishly anymore because the retirement funds just don't equal the salary you once had.  Being in a rut is hard to get out of when your job pays so well even though you are unhappy more often than not going to work. 

Did any of you out there have difficulty just saying "I quit".  Was it hard?  Did you momentarily have regrets leaving your job security? Did you want to work part-time, and were you forced to because of your finances. 

I am having one hellava time quitting my high paying stressfull job and saying enough is enough.  Help!

Bob58

Hello Bob. Millions were (are?) in your shoes. It's natural for most
to wonder/worry. You can read my story (repeated ad nauseum
according to some here) in past posts. Briefly, once I decxded to go,
I was gone in a year. Very little planning and not much money.
That was 1993, and although I went back to work briefly, I never
had any regrets about quitting. It (quitting and the aftermath)
was easy for me. But, I am a different breed of cat. Here is the
key. I didn't ask anyone. I didn't plan every detail. I didn't
wait. I wanted to ER and so I just did. I didn't hate my job, and I still wish now I had gone sooner.


JG

 

[retire@40]

...How does one get the courage to finally quit? When you retire at 59, you know you have to live on less than your regular salary...I am having one hellava time quitting my high paying stressfull job and saying enough is enough.  Help!

At age 59, how many more Thanksgivings do you think you are you going to celebrate in good health? If you are lucky, maybe 20 or 30?

Is that enough motivation to quit now and enjoy your remaining 20 or 30 good years?

 

[Mr._johngalt]

At age 59, how many more Thanksgivings do you think you are you going to celebrate in good health?  If you are lucky, maybe 20 or 30?

Is that enough motivation to quit now and enjoy your remaining 20 or 30 good years?

Good post retire@40. I have a good friend (retired dentist)
who quit at 62. He is now about 68 and back working almost full time. I tried to set up a fall fishing trip with him. He was too busy.
I reminded him that we don't have all that many autumns left.

JG

 

[Martha]

Did any of you out there have difficulty just saying "I quit". Was it hard? Did you momentarily have regrets leaving your job security? Did you want to work part-time, and were you forced to because of your finances.


Bob58

I haven't been able to say "I quit" either. I decided to work part time and have for the past year. The upside is getting good health insurance, throwing more money into the 401(k), and having the security blanket of work. The downside is that it is still work. If you are interested in the semi-retired life, you might want to read ESR Bob's book, Work Less, Live More.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I haven't been able to say "I quit" either.  I decided to work part time and have for the past year.  The upside is getting good health insurance, throwing more money into the 401(k), and having the security blanket of work.  The downside is that it is still work.  If you are interested in the semi-retired life, you might want to read ESR Bob's book, Work Less, Live More.

I would like to "dabble" but I don't. I've (still) got the inclination
but not the drive. As time passes the inclination is fading away.
The smallest interference with my freedom to do what I want when I want is annoying. DW has taken to calling me GOMEZ because of this.
I don't know where she picked that up, but there is a little song that
goes along with it. Anyway, she tolerates it.

JG

JG

 

[KB]

I had trouble saying I quit.

Before I did, I had 3 years basic expenses in the bank and took a 100K line of credit on my paid off house. Just in case. I will start tapping my first pension in 2 years and the second pension in 4 years. SS is 9 years away.

I do have an income from my family, and save about 50% of it..... So eventually I will have enough to cover all those gap years in the bank so to speak. My last resort would be to sell my house which is worth more than 500K.

So, all in all, my financial plan could be considered somewhat iffy.....but it was worth quitting work for the freedom to live my life as I choose. I don't regret my ER....It's only been almost 5 months..

 

[Nords]

Welcome to the board, Bob. If it's as easy as JG says then everyone would be doing it. But you can too.

Wow! How does one get the courage to finally quit?  When you retire at 59, you know you have to live on less than your regular salary (for me 2/3 of my regular salary per year to survive). You know you  have to get your own insurance.   You know you just cannot spend foolishly anymore because the retirement funds just don't equal the salary you once had.  Being in a rut is hard to get out of when your job pays so well even though you are unhappy more often than not going to work.

You get the courage by finally deciding to rescue yourself from a toxic situation. Sure, retirement has its problems (challenges), but they're YOUR problems and you're in charge of their solutions instead of being a cubicle rat on an exercise wheel. The advantages (and longevity) far outweigh the disadvantages. There's a reason that they're called "golden handcuffs".

Did any of you out there have difficulty just saying "I quit". Was it hard? Did you momentarily have regrets leaving your job security?

It's like smoking cigarettes. You "enjoy" it but you realize that someday it's gonna kill you. Eventually the latter realization exceeds the enjoyment, your brain clicks over to a decision, your body agrees that you're ready, a tremendous feeling of relief washes over you, and you start the quitting process. Once you get past the decision point it's a lot easier, but it's not easy. However it will save your life.

You begin to realize that "job security" is as oxymoronic as "prison rehabilitation." The idea is to REPLACE your employment income, not to abandon it for a life of deprivation. You'll still have income from a pension/401(k)/SS, right? That's at least as secure as your current employment, and much less likely to go through a merger or a round of layoffs. If you want to work part time, then go ahead. You can always quit & retire again.

Did you want to work part-time, and were you forced to because of your finances.

Don't want to and haven't had to.

One nice aspect of retirement is the opportunity to relax, destress, get some sleep & exercise, and start learning & thinking coherently again (or perhaps for the first time since you entered the workforce). When you're working it's very hard to visualize your retirement life and even harder to make a plan to get from one to the other. But if you have time off you can see what the life is like and make the plan to bridge the gap.

I was offered jobs after retirement, but by then the whole commuting/workplace concept was anathema. The money wasn't worth the price, especially to family harmony. As much as our kid complains bitterly about our eternal presence, she really likes having us around to check up on her every thought & deed when she needs us.

I hope I'll never work for money again, but I know that I can if I have to. There are job opportunities everywhere if you're willing to go part time without benefits.

I am having one hellava time quitting my high paying stressfull job and saying enough is enough. Help! Bob58

Help is here but you're the only one that can make the decision and complete the process. If the "58" implies that you're only a year away, then visualize your new life in 2006 and try to decide what has to be done between now & then... and go do it.

One big help to those considering retirement has been to take some time off. Two weeks is an absolute minimum, four is better, and six is great. Don't travel the world or rebuild your house or "stay in touch with the office" or try to complete the great American project. Just relax, get plenty of naps & exercise, and try to live a life without the workplace or lots of To Do lists. Pretend that you're not going back and that your replacements are just going to have to learn how to run the office without you. After a couple weeks you'll start realizing what kind of life you want. You'll find it a lot easier to finish the financial planning and make the personal transition. Aided, of course, by over 1600 assistants on this board...

 

[AltaRed]

It still is a tough choice to go 'cold turkey' into a new life without the salary lifeline.  My body was telling me back in 2004 that it had enough of long weeks and crazy international air travel. But I was not mentally prepared to make the break then.

However, this past summer I finally decided that continuing this 'rat in an exercise wheel' way of life was not going to prolong my life any and I was getting more frustrated and envious of FIRE's on this Board.  So I jumped off the high board and DW and I finally made building commitments on a place that we will have to relocate to when it is done in the Spring of 2006. So our countdown is underway. 

If you think you will have continued difficulty pulling the plug, you may wish to consider making some non-reversible commitment when you think you are about ready. Then it's no looking back.

P.S. I will be 57 the day I walk out of the office next Spring.  So I'm taking a discounted pension and all that to walk away and lengthen my golden years

 

[Mr._johngalt]

It still is a tough choice to go 'cold turkey' into a new life without the salary lifeline.  My body was telling me back in 2004 that it had enough of long weeks and crazy international air travel. But I was not mentally prepared to make the break then.

However, this past summer I finally decided that continuing this 'rat in an exercise wheel' way of life was not going to prolong my life any and I was getting more frustrated and envious of FIRE's on this Board.  So I jumped off the high board and DW and I finally made building commitments on a place that we will have to relocate to when it is done in the Spring of 2006. So our countdown is underway. 

If you think you will have continued difficulty pulling the plug, you may wish to consider making some non-reversible commitment when you think you are about ready.  Then it's no looking back.

P.S. I will be 57 the day I walk out of the office next Spring.  So I'm taking a discounted pension and all that to walk away and lengthen my golden years

"Non reversible commitment" is an interesting idea. In spite of my
exit from the workplace, I almost always had back up plans to my back up plans (DW finds this annoying). However, one of the first things I did
when the ER idea hit me was to sell off the major product line being
produced by my little company. That pretty much forced me to follow through with the dismantling. It worked out fine although after I was
well down that road I saw a different path I could have taken. By then it was too late
to reverse the process.

JG