How Do You Know It's Time to Retire?

[MasterBlaster]

If you don't hate your work, here are 3 obvious questions, you should have answers to before you take the leap...

when-you-should-retire-work-fortune: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

The biggest variable, experts say, is how you feel about your current job. "A lot of times, that can be something negative," says Betsy Werley, executive director of the Transitions Network, an organization for women over age 50 who are exploring what's next in their personal and professional lives. "You wake up in the morning and can't stand the thought of going to work."
Then it's definitely time to pick a quit date. If you don't loathe your work, however, then here are three more questions experts recommend asking before penning your resignation letter:

the answers to the question posed in the article are given below...

1) get a life
2) get the spouse and family mentally onboard
3) get a life

 

[rescueme]

"How Do You Know It's Time to Retire?"

IMHO, if you can't answer this question on your own, then it's not time ...

 

[MasterBlaster]

"How Do You Know It's Time to Retire?"

IMHO, if you can't answer this question on your own, then it's not time ...

Not everyone has thought this all the way through.

yet many retire when their peers do, or when they become pension eligible or a pension trigger hits, or when a re-org takes place.

 

[grasshopper]

I had a great life before retirement, hit the magic number and hit the road.

 

[67walkon]

When you start posting on these boards, its time.

 

[MasterBlaster]

When you start posting on these boards, its time.

We'll Ok then, I guess I'll just have to go down and give notice.

I did kind of like some of the people here though.



before retirement:

and after retirement:
(note the subtle differences)

 

[arebelspy]

I like my job quite a bit, yet my answer to that question would still be "as soon as I am financially able to."

 

[Ronstar]

I like my job, but today was my first work day since I turned 56. Throughout the morning it seemed like I just wasn't grasping things. My assistant complained that I couldn't hear and that I'm scatterbrained. About noon I thought "What am I doing here?".

I often think about knowing when it's time to retire and I'm afraid I'll be too scatterbrained to recognize the signal.

 

[East Texas]

I agree with Grasshopper - when I hit the magic number it was time to go. The magic number in my case was age. I had been playing with the money numbers since my mid-20s and knew back then I would retire when I reached 55 (earliest retirement with retiree health insurance). It was not a hard transition since the plan had been in place for 30 years.

It's much easier to retire on your own terms than having your health or someone else make the decision for you.

 

[Telly]

I agree with Grasshopper - when I hit the magic number it was time to go. The magic number in my case was age

My magic number was 8:55 AM. A minute previously at 8:54 AM, I didn't know that I had one. At 8:55 my new boss, who I really didn't have anything to do with, came in sat down with a gray look on his face, shook his head and said "I'm sorry Telly, I'm really sorry". Massive downsizing via the burst and dribbles torture method had been going on for at least 8 months by then.

 

[Nobulife]

I can honestly say I never gave retirement a thought until the day i retired. Since it was involuntary it came as a bit of a surprise but now the shock is wearing off and I am starting to feel like myself after months of confusion, depression, and neurosis. So now I have to get a life, a new life and I am starting to see a future that can be as interesting as I want it to be. Top priority is making memories. My husband is 5 years older than me and has severe arthritis so once he pulls the plug next year we will concentrate on doing things that he may not be capable of doing 5 years from now. Fishing is top of the list and finding a way for him to be mobile so we can explore places or even simply do the grocery shopping together.
I have had a number of letters to the editor of the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail and the local newspaper published and one was turned into an editorial. I will now have plenty of time to get on my high horse about political and social issues and craft letters expressing my opinions.
I will continue to serve on strata council and if I move to a co-op will volunteer in that community.
I will enjoy mooching about in thrift stores looking for treasures and avoid shopping malls as much as possible.
I will propagate Stepotcarpi, knit, play with my cats, read books, try all Nigella's recipes, solve crossword puzzles, read Truthdig, Skype, read newspapers, sleep late and stay up late, torture myself with Suduko, spend time with my mother, do jigsaw puzzles, chat on the computer with complete strangers about bacon and other important issues and occasionally run a vacuum around the carpets and wash the kitchen floor.
Reading threads on this site has been a great help so thanks to everyone on here.
Yesterday I pretty much bottomed out emotionally and now as the song goes, its a new day and a new life and I am feeling fine.

 

[traineeinvestor]

I started thinking about retirement when the job stopped being rewarding in non-financial ways. Hitting the number which gives me confidence that I will not be back in the workforce for the money will be the trigger for going.

 

[JBmadera]

When, for the second time in 5 years, I was down-sized. Not going to try getting back in. I'll leave the hi-tech rat race to the younger folks!

 

[old woman]

I have a target amount of money and age 65 for medicare. I reached the money and have more than that after the last couple of weeks. I need enough margin to allow for stock loses so maybe 100K extra. At 65 I can get Medicare but in October I could get COBRA to last until 65 so if it job goes bad I might just not look for another.

I like my job most days and they pay me a lot of money, hard to just quit then worry if I have enough money.

 

[scrabbler1]

When the last pieces of my overall ER plan fell into place (at about the same time) in the summer of 2008, I knew it was time to go. Those last two pieces were my company stock value hitting the $300k mark and having found an individial health insurance policy which fit into my budget.

 

[East Texas]

As a side note: The only major difference I see between the two photos in MasterBlaster's post is the guy looks a whole lot happier in the second picture.....

 

[brett]

Mega corp that I worked for went through 16 years of serious downsizing. I loved my management position and most especially the people that I worked for. Management changed, and the last 3 years were no fun. All that downsizing-I had to do my share of it-makes you very cognizent of your own financial well being. My finanical plan fell into place. Presto, a new VP and I got a very attractive package. I went last year at 59. Yes, it has taken some adjusting. I do not want to go back into the industry...not sure that I want to work. We are travelling when and where we want. Time to do those things that we want to do before the meter runs out. We have government universal health insurance so that was/is not a concern.

 

[swodo]

It's time to retire when the response to your boss changes from:

"perhaps we should rethink that position" to

'that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard"

 

[REWahoo]

It's time to retire when the response to your boss changes from:

"perhaps we should rethink that position" to

'that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard"

 

[freebird5825]

...when going to w*rk feels like a trip to a dentist who is going to fill 5 deep cavities at 8 AM with no Novacaine.

 

[JakeBrake]

Boss and I both retired from Megacorp as part of a massive downsizing. Boss shoved me out the door 3 days early because he could not leave until the people who reported to him who were leaving were gone.

 

[yakers]

Didn't read the article but the thread seems to have missed that something like 1/3 of all retirements are triggered by medical considerations. In my case I had a 'cardiac event' decided to retire. Work was pretty good but I am intent on doing some of my life plans now.

Nice to have more money but money < time in my calculations.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I have been slowly cutting my hours and I am down to just under 20/week. I expect that I will pull the plug in about a year. I find that my motivation to get to work seems to be dwindling.

I am starting to realize that I need to pick a date or it will never happen. I turn 60 next June and will then be eligible for widow survivor benefits so I am starting to focus on that as a FIRE date.

 

[obgyn65]

I like my job too but getting bored sometimes. Planning for ER in July 2012, age 47. However, I may keep on working after that at least part time. I don't know when will be the right time to fully retire.

 

[Delawaredave5]

Top priority is making memories.

+1. I meet a lot of people who could retire but don't because work "doesn't suck".

I'd hate to wake up one day and regret spending a decade in a "doesn't suck" state - when that precious time might have been aggressively used to "make memories".