Retirement delaying excuses

[Dd852]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purplesky Maybe these are just valid reasons to not retire at 50. Why call them excuses. Just enjoy the security and peace of being able to retire at anytime you want.

Absolutely! The key is the freedom to chose - not feeling forced by external factors either to work or to quit. Just because this board is heavily skewed towards those who prefer not to work anymore does not mean that is always the right answer for everybody. Trust your gut, and be profoundly grateful for being able to chose and then to change your mind!


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[Which Roger]

Regarding home improvements, if you retire and have the inclination, you can do a lot of the work yourself, and probably save more in labor costs than you could earn working while having someone else do the job. So cross out excuse #1. :-)

[RAE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover I can't fathom ever having some spare time on my hands and wishing that I was at work instead doing any of a dozen different things.

+1. I must admit, I am reading these responses and shaking my head. Not only did I never suffer from OMY syndrome, I could hardly stand waiting until I was first eligible for early retirement, at the agency I worked for. Like MusicLover, I have so many other things I am interested in other than work, that I couldn't wait to get out of that place and get on with the rest of my life. I am 5 years into retirement now, and retiring at age 54 1/2 was absolutely the right decision for me. Sure, I could have gotten a larger pension had I stayed a few more years, but there's no way it would have been worth it. I've had 5 years of pure enjoyment, when my health (and fitness level) is still good enough to allow me to do whatever I want to do. You can't get those years back, folks.........so think about that when you keep postponing retirement for just "one more year"......

[steelyman]

I think part of it might be that we are brought up associating the word "retired" with "old". That's not always true, of course, but delaying retirement can let you think, "hey, I'm not retired, I'm not old".

[rayinpenn]

A few days ago a colleague of mine made managing director. There's no doubt she deserved it; in the office until 7-8 most nights of the week. Funny but at 60 that's the last thing I'd want. There are just too many MDs that have lost a husband or a wife along the way? Is it worth it?

My technical job pays well and affords me balance. I leave at 5 and the stress level just isn't there...

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[Samz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky Just think of the all things that you normally do when not working and all the things that you want to do but no time for them.

I'm thinking...1) sampling pricey craft beer, 2) sipping less than $10 per bottle wines, 3) hiking in the woods / trails near my home...before 1 & 2!

I definitely need to develop more of the type 3 things to do!!

[tennisno1]

Lots of good things said already... One added perspective. I'm pulling the plug from mega corp March 2016 at age 55.. I've been doing the heavy international travel thing for the last five years. This is one weeks travel as an example. Boston to Zurich overnight flight, shower at airport, train to office. Early to bed that night, office next two days in Zurich, flight to London, meetings in London, late London flight back to Boston....land around 10 Boston time, which is 3am Zurich time, office in Boston Friday. That's just an EU trip, I will just say Far East and Australia are even more challenging. Time changes and grind of travel every two weeks wears you out. I'm my case not a lot of time to see the sights. I do want to go back to some places with my wife and am glad to have been around the globe.... But in the end my view is travel is one full time job and the other full time is thejob my company expects of me starts when I land.

Good luck with your decision.. Everybody has a unique view and journey to take


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[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennisno1 Lots of good things said already... One added perspective. I'm pulling the plug from mega corp March 2016 at age 55.. I've been doing the heavy international travel thing for the last five years. This is one weeks travel as an example. Boston to Zurich overnight flight, shower at airport, train to office. Early to bed that night, office next two days in Zurich, flight to London, meetings in London, late London flight back to Boston....land around 10 Boston time, which is 3am Zurich time, office in Boston Friday. That's just an EU trip, I will just say Far East and Australia are even more challenging. Time changes and grind of travel every two weeks wears you out. I'm my case not a lot of time to see the sights. I do want to go back to some places with my wife and am glad to have been around the globe.... But in the end my view is travel is one full time job and the other full time is thejob my company expects of me starts when I land. Good luck with your decision.. Everybody has a unique view and journey to take Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

Yup! That sounds about right about international travel according to the marketing folks at our division - a lots of time spent on transit and work but very little time to do any sightseeing.

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samz I'm thinking...1) sampling pricey craft beer, 2) sipping less than $10 per bottle wines, 3) hiking in the woods / trails near my home...before 1 & 2! I definitely need to develop more of the type 3 things to do!!

The list of the things to do (other than work) is almost endless, e.g., biking around the lakes, hiking in the mountains, fishing, tennis (my favorite), walking on the beaches, botanical gardens, visiting museums, reading at the public libraries, bookstores, movies, gardening, taking arts classes, spending time with grand kids, eating out at exotic restaurants, meditating, taichi/Qi kung, fixing up the house, etc.

[haha]

Why are op's reasons pejoratively re-characterized as excuses?

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[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

I'll post a pro for taking the job - all depends in the amount of travel! I was traveling internationally but ended up with a 2 year stint in Australia - all housing, taxes paid with a much lower stress job and at 3x my US take home pay. Plus 6 weeks vacation and a 20k paid travel budget which we used to travel all over Bali, Phuket, Great Barrier Reef, South Africa. Places I thought I would never ever ever get to see. It was an amazing 2 years, not to mention all the trips to Margaret River on the weekends. So, if you can add extra days/weeks to your travel, it can be great fun, if your spouse comes along. On the other hand none stop solo international travel without extra time is just a drag. You end up sitting in hotels and airports and planes thinking why am I doing this...when I could be home, with my honey, and my little dog. And you get fat. I told them earlier this year after 4 back to back trips that my traveling days were done. I've only got a few more weeks and I will be out the door for good. I don't want to spend another 5 minutes working, I'm DONE

[bclover]

Lol Brian, I'm worst than you. i'm 55 and can retire AND I loathe, hate and despise my job.


I'm still afraid to make the leap.


Like others have said , I'm counting my blessings, the situation could be reverse. I could be 65 and not able to retire.


I've set a date of 10/16 hopefully my head will catch up to my heart

[Drake3287]

Like I just said on another thread, retiring is the best thing you can ever do! Everyone I've ever worked with, including myself, went through the same thing about delaying retirement. Although it's great after you finally do it, it's pretty normal to be a little hesitant in pulling the plug. I got over it pretty quickly!

[ArkTinkerer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky Yup! That sounds about right about international travel according to the marketing folks at our division - a lots of time spent on transit and work but very little time to do any sightseeing.

+1

Be very careful assuming the company travel will be anything like what you have in mind. Have I had a couple nice trips in my career? Yes. But most of them have been very rushed--first trip to France I spent a couple hours in a bar and saw the Eiffel Tower out the plane window, saw London only passing thru the airport. And the higher up the ladder the less time they seem to have. Coworker moved into a management position. Lots of travel. Very little leisure either on the road or at home. Don't think that was the path he thought he was taking.