Convincing myself that I have enough money to retire

[medved]

My financial advisor says I have enough. FIRECalc gives me a 100% chance of success, using spending that is higher than what I would actually spend. A two percent withdrawal rate would give me more than enough spending. My wife says we have enough and I should retire whenever I want to. But somehow I am not sure I have really convinced myself. I guess I know it intellectually but I do not feel it. I’m not sure what to do about this. Maybe I should see a psychologist to talk through the issue? It’s like a mental block of some sort, I think. Thoughts?

 

[MBAustin]

Looks like you've been around here long enough to realize that you're not the only one who feels this way when making the decision to retire. Perhaps acknowledging that you are FI and can make the decision when you want to could be a useful perspective. Also, doing some planning on what you will be retiring TO could help get you excited about what's next. Good luck!

 

[REWahoo]

My financial advisor says I have enough. FIRECalc gives me a 100% chance of success, using spending that is higher than what I would actually spend. A two percent withdrawal rate would give me more than enough spending. My wife says we have enough and I should retire whenever I want to. But somehow I am not sure I have really convinced myself. I guess I know it intellectually but I do not feel it. I’m not sure what to do about this. Maybe I should see a psychologist to talk through the issue? It’s like a mental block of some sort, I think. Thoughts?

I've seen dozens of posts similar to yours over the years. My advice is to keep working until something comes along to convince you it's the right time. Hopefully it will be something other than a health problem, but it often is.

 

[Gallaher]

Maybe you really like your job and don’t want to leave it. Nothing wrong with that.
Maybe you are unsure about the future but nobody can tell the future.

I know for sure, it is a powerful thing to do whatever you want everyday. Perhaps it’s time to consider “why” you saved and scrimped all those years. It may not have been the right plan for you.

 

[MRG]

There's many emotions with leaving what we spent our life doing. In my case someone above me made my life he!! so it was easier.

Perhaps you should go talk to someone.

 

[medved]

Maybe you really like your job and don’t want to leave it. Nothing wrong with that.
Maybe you are unsure about the future but nobody can tell the future.
.

I never really loved my job. I was pretty good at it, and it pays quite well, but it was also very stressful and exceptionally time-consuming. Every year, I like it a little bit less. But I am still making very good money, which maybe complicates the decision.

I am certainly unsure what the future will bring. But I do not want the future to involve working forever, or working until I have a health event.

 

[COcheesehead]

The tried and true answer that I have seen on here many times is you not only need the money, which you have, but you also need something to retire to. Maybe you need to work on that more.

 

[T-Minus]

I recently went through the exact same mental calculus as you, Medved. Every financial model, advisor, etc. all told me I was “good to go” at a rate MUCH higher spending rate than I planned to spend. What pushed me out was looking at the issue from another perspective. I don’t know how old you are, but I was 56 when I was in the throwes of my decision. Then, I looked at my parents - and considered how long they lived, when their declines began (less travel, less active, etc.), then applied those numbers to my current place in life. Turns out, if I use them as a yardstick, I had about 20 years of active retirement left, followed by another 5-10 years of decline. I had worked since the age of 16, so I figured I’d put in 40 years work for 20 years reward. And, the reward part was shrinking every year. So I retired at age 57 (after OMY) and am now busy reaping the rewards of those 40 years working, saving, and denying myself. I made the right decision and have no regrets. I hope this shift in perspective helps...

 

[RunningBum]

Think about what you'd do with that extra money. Decide if it's worth continue to work for that extra stuff. That's the best way I see it. If you can already cover all of your expenses, and have money to travel, dine well, etc., I think you may find that there's just no reason to keep working. Or maybe there will be for you.

 

[CaliKid]

I am in a similar position and thought about just retiring. However, I have not yet. Instead I find myself working less and working smarter. I am down below 20 hours a week in office (but still check email when out), vacation more, and fire or turn down bad/annoying clients. It's hard to turn down good income so am going to try to keep working less and see what happens.

 

[joylesshusband]

Keep working.
Revisit the matter in a few years.

 

[Dtail]

We don't know your age, which can help assist in the thought process. Many posters here have spoken about seeing friends and family members pass on in their 50's and 60's without getting a chance to retire.
Just another aspect to dwell on a bit.

 

[medved]

We don't know your age, which can help assist in the thought process. Many posters here have spoken about seeing friends and family members pass on in their 50's and 60's without getting a chance to retire.
Just another aspect to dwell on a bit.

Just turned 55. I know a decent number of people who died in their 50s. So I agree with you.

I have not really scrimped or denied myself; I have lived pretty well. But long work hours and work stress have had a big impact on me and imposed a heavy cost.

 

[MRG]

We don't know your age, which can help assist in the thought process. Many posters here have spoken about seeing friends and family members pass on in their 50's and 60's without getting a chance to retire.
Just another aspect to dwell on a bit.

+1

A guy I really liked left at 60, massive heart attack a month later.

 

[RunningBum]

Just turned 55. I know a decent number of people who died in their 50s. So I agree with you.

I have not really scrimped or denied myself; I have lived pretty well. But long work hours and work stress have had a big impact on me and imposed a heavy cost.

I'm not a big fan of making life decisions on outlier events like knowing someone who died in their 50s. I wouldn't rush early retirement just in case that would happen to you, because I think people also have to make sure they are ready to NOT die early or even at a normal age and might have to fund a long retirement.

But in your case, you seem to be so set, you wouldn't be rushing anything. You may be thinking of various unlikely but possible things that could derail your retirement, but IMO by far the most likely thing to derail your long and prosperous retirement would be work related health issues or even dropping dead from them.

 

[Music Lover]

Just turned 55. I know a decent number of people who died in their 50s. So I agree with you.

I have not really scrimped or denied myself; I have lived pretty well. But long work hours and work stress have had a big impact on me and imposed a heavy cost.

Every year that you continue working you are giving up what is likely the healthiest remaining year in your life.

As several people have commented on this site...even if you live into your 90's, you likely only have 20 or so "good" years left. If you work 5 more years, you will have lost 25% of those years. And they're gone forever.

 

[kgtest]

This question is asked in many forms around here. I think my answer would be do it, especially if the numbers work. Emotionally is a different topic, but I doubt anyone would ever say I regret not working longer.


Maybe.



There might be the rare few that take work to the grave, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Bezos, etc. Me personally, I feel work is terribly overrated.



I had relative quiet stress free job past 42 months after a stressful contract gig and 4month layoff. Looks like more layoffs in the future as I report back to w*rk from a 11 day vacation. Hey, at this pace, I'll only need to find a new job 2 to 3 more times before FIRE lol.



The ironic thing is I build robots that creates value directly related to staff reductions. They wouldn't dare put out the robot builder who puts out the manual laborers... or would they?

 

[Carpediem]

We were having dinner with a retired couple last night. He is/was an Engineer with the Army Corp. He knew I was considering retirement. He said to me, "It sounds like you have hobbies that you're interested in so I think you should go ahead and retire. You won't ever get that time back". Time > money.

 

[eytonxav]

Do you have a plan on how you would spend your time in retirement? Once the richness and excitement for that plan outweighs the one more year syndrome, it will be time.

 

[Octogirl]

+1 this: "Every year that you continue working you are giving up what is likely the healthiest remaining year in your life. "

DH and I noticed our jet lag lasted longer after last trip and that signaled an aging change. YMMV

 

[Rianne]

OP in a position to make that decision. A family member in mid 60's cannot make that decision b/c DB/DSI blew that dough for the last 25 years.
There comes a time when health, irritable moods, stress, outlook on life becomes lost in the fray of forced workload. If the finances allow and you can't take it anymore...why wait?

 

[Mdlerth]

If you're not ready, you're not ready. And that's ok

Your FA tells you you can retire. Your calculations tell you you can retire. Most importantly, your wife tells you you can retire. If 2% will cover your cost of living, then I, an anonymous stranger from the interwebs, will echo their conclusion: You can retire.

Maybe the financial aspect is just an excuse. Sometimes our minds play tricks on us, dribbling on undeserved guilt and leading us to rationalize our way into behaviors we don't really want. Do you feel some desperate urgency to retire? I hope it's not because you've been reading this forum and think that unless you retire right away your life is wasted. Look up the abbreviation FOMO.

If you are tired of your j*b but unwilling to leave, citing financial fears which have no real merit, perhaps you should consider finding a different j*b. I know, easier said than done when you're over 50.

But may not be relevant, depending on the j*b you seek. High-paying, high-expertise, high-stress jobs can be tough to switch. If you're a surgeon or a pilot or a C-suite executive, it took a lot of effort for a lot of years plus a bit of luck to reach the top; a long campaign that you may not be up for repeating.

But suppose you aimed for a totally different occupation, one in which the real benefit is maximizing your fun instead of your paycheck. Two years ago, a friend of mine gave up his engineering career to follow his dream of live theater. His wife was on board, so he jumped in. His income probably dropped by 4X, but he has enough. Best of all, he's loving every minute of it. Good luck!

 

[daylatedollarshort]

In general I think it may seem a bit surreal to have enough to retire early when many peers and households in the news and surveys are living pay check to paycheck. When we decided we had enough to retire, I ran my spreadsheets first and then we went to an adviser with our 401K to check my numbers. He tried to talk us out of retiring early, despite the fact that his own online planner showed that financially we were in good shape to retire.

 

[RobbieB]

I dunno. If I was you I'd quit.

Maybe you're one of those "puritan work ethic" guys?

 

[FREE866]

Do it! but like others have said have an idea of what you will do with your time. Some people, and I'm not saying you're one of them, are not content without structure and always "have to be doing something".