Were you nervous when you retired?

[4nursebee]

Investments are sufficient to retire, far in excess of needs, wants, desires. SO retired a year ago, I am part time. I am at a decision point to cut the cord, perhaps decide this weekend, Monday, end of month. With stretches of days off I really don't mind going in to work but when the alarm rings in the am it really gets on me. Then having to wear a mask all day bothers my ears, nose, breathing. Then working harder while other folks sit around bothers me. Missing out on exercise that day bothers me. You get the idea, having enough money increases the drag of work!

So clearly facing the decision, and being emotional about it, it seems the easiest thing to do is to quit work when it is easy, not emotional. But I could end up working forever this way. At some point one just has to cut the cord and be done with it?

I've worked since I was old enough to mow lawns, rake leaves, ring cash registers at MCDs, clean homes and offices, sell food, wait tables.

We have plenty to retire to:
Nothing if we choose.
Enjoy good health, increase it with exercise and better diet.
Farm interests, lots of work here
Real estate investments
Some travel, have a few plans
dance lessons together!
Music lessons if disciplined enough.
Using VPW, monthly amounts available should double compared to what we have been living very comfortably on.

And yet, the thought of quitting work is scary. This despite saving too much.

I picture I'll just have to make the decision, live with the anxiety for a while, see how the money comes in automatically, get used to the idea.


Is this what it was like for you? How did you deal with it? How long did it take for the nerves and anxiety to get better?
I'd really like to be on the other side of this decision.
Thanks,
4RNB

 

[Dash man]

After running various retirement planning tools and speaking with our wealth management guy, I was convinced we could make it. I wasn’t nervous, but thrilled! Work had become physically painful from sitting in front of a computer all day that I couldn’t wait. No regrets. DW did decide that she wanted to continue to work until she didn’t like it any more. That took two years for her to begin negotiating an exit package which included pay and healthcare for a year for six months work to bring her replacement up to speed. She was only nervous about keeping busy, but it wasn’t a problem since grandkids came along. Life is good!

 

[rodi]

I was VERY nervous. But after convincing myself and my husband that financially we were there.... and having a VERY bad day at work. I spent the weekend thinking on it, and gave notice that Monday.

When I bought my first home I was nervous for about 6 months after - had I bitten off too much? But that faded as I realized it was all good.

It was the same with retirement.... nervous that I'd missed something and it was a big mistake.... but that faded as I realized it was all good. 6 years in, it's still all good.

 

[RobbieB]

I figured I had enough so I quit. Not that early, when I was 59. I'm way over 4% WR and it's not sustainable, but college expense and home improvement should be over end of next year.

The covid market drop scared me a little, but hey look what happened after that.

Right now I'm glad I'm retired, less chance of getting the covid eh?

On my last day of work, when I left the Company Car in the parking lot and a co-worker drove me home, I had my "OMG, what have I done" moment. But that was gone the next day when the alarm clock didn't go off.

 

[Aerides]

I wasn't, DH was. We were more conservative in spending/travel the first two years, but after realizing "this is working, we can relax" now we are. I think in a partnership it's important to the the more nervous one drive, at least at first.

We are now building a pool. A big chunk of change. DH ran the numbers again and saw literally no difference in our 30 or 40 year outlook. He's getting more comfortable now.

 

[rayinpenn]

Don’t laugh, it took me a year to accept Ray you don’t have to go to work and that’s ok.
- never bored
- take naps
And stay busy in a million ways.

Trust me you will be more than fine. I’m loving retirement.

 

[kimcdougc]

You gotta bite the bullet at some point. DH retired Feb. 2015 on my birthday. Almost six years later and all is well and we bought a house to boot. You will get over your anxiousness quickly. Good luck with your decision.

 

[jollystomper]

I think it is natural to feel some level of nervousness about any change, even one you perceive is good. Since I was not running from my job, but running into retirement, I could not say I was completely 100% comfortable, maybe 98% comfortable , even though my "glide path" to retirement worked out better than expected. I did not use that nervousness to hesitate, but to better work on my plan. That is why I thought about coming back for contract work six months to a year down the road (and which my management said if I was interested to let them know).

But after a few months, that little nervousness went away, and any desire to go back for any kind of work continued to wane and eventually disappeared, as I realized more and more how much freedom I had, and my retirement planning was working better than expected.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Were you nervous when you retired?

Yes I was nervous.

But that was 19 years ago. and in a few more years I will become eligible for SS.

 

[Souschef]

Well, as some here have said, when you FI bucket and your BS bucket are both full, it is time to go.
That was my situation, with the way things were going. I had a nice going away in the conference room, picked up the left over cake and my briefcase and walked out the door. I did not look back. I drove to the train station. got on the train for the last time, and headed to my new home. DW picked me up and the rest is history. I have NEVER had any feelings of anxiety

 

[CyclingInvestor]

It was strictly a financial decision for me, no nervous feelings here.

I reached my #, stayed 2 more years while work was relaxing, then left at 48 when the work environment soured. No regrets in the 14 years since.

 

[Bamaman]

Our megacorp overreacted to the 2008 economic conditions and they retired everyone over 55/30 years on the job with 1 day's notice. Didn't have time to get nervous. Boy, they paid dearly to get rid of us.

But I was well prepared physically, fiscally and mentally to never 'hit a lick' again. And I have not. But honey do's are yet to be finished--12 years later.

 

[thepalmersinking]

Just waiting on the Riff package. I’m the meantime I’ll keep chugging along. Someone said it pays to wait. I’ll wait 2 more years and if no riff package comes then I will exit. In the meantime I am slowing myself down

 

[tmm99]

You say you went part time a year ago. Did that make you nervous? You say you have plenty of money. What are you nervous about? If you're a nurse, I imagine you could go back part time later if you felt like it? I don't really see a big downside...

I wasn't too nervous as I tracked my expenses for several years before my retirement and triple checked if my retirement savings were enough for my budget (less than 3% WR) using several retirement tools like Firecalc, Fidelity Retirement Planner, I-ORP, etc.

 

[statsman]

Given my mega-corp "retired" me 3-4 years before I was ready, absolutely.

 

[street]

Yep I was nervous! Even thou I had enough I was very sacred of retirement. I liked my job and enjoyed going and doing it till the day I stopped, so it was a case of missing what I loved to do.
I retired at 57 and it took a ~year to idle down and really enjoy living life. I learned here what retirement means and what I missing from not doing so. With out this site and the very good people here I don't beleive I would of retired till years after I did.
Looking back now I should of went years earlier then I did. I have not had so much fun since I was a kid on summer vacation.
I hope you find the answers you need to proceed in life.

 

[MRG]

Nervous?

Yeah in 2013 I trembled. Thought I needed to stop bathing or something, to reduce expenses.

Today I feel fortunate, and clean, at 63 to enjoy life. One of these days I'll check into this SS stuff.

 

[REWahoo]

Nervous? No - unless that's what you call how a 6 year old kid feels on Christmas morning, because that's exactly how I would describe my emotion upon retiring. Sans the green coloring, whenever I looked in the mirror this is what I saw:

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, very, because I wasn’t quite 40! It was a huge step to take so young, a massive life change, and living off of investments alone was quite intimidating. But I’d been planning for a long time and on paper everything looked like we had more than enough, and I thought I had a sustainable investment plan, so we took the leap! I kind of had a millennium ideal deadline.

I set up a regular monthly deposit to our checking account that mimicked a paycheck. It still took a couple of years to get used to living off of investments alone. But after that it seemed like old hat.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

In planning for retirement my wife and I made three budgets. One reflected our expected income/expenses, one a worst case (requiring serious downgrading/cutting back), and one in between. Knowing that we still could be reasonably happy even in the worst case situation of income loss, banished any jitters. Also, realizing that living that worst case was still a better outcome than continuing w*rk, was a relief. Lucky for us, our best case not only came to fruition, but has improved annually in the five years since we retired.

-BB

 

[chassis]

@4nursebee You said you have enough money for wants and needs.

Turn in your notice when you arrive at your next shift. If it's Monday, September 28, 2020 at 8:00am, then that's when I suggest you hand in your notice. If it's sooner, all the better.

 

[racy]

OP, since you're trying to decide this weekend, you might Google something like "get over fear of retiring". Naturally, 100s of websites will appear. Here's one from AARP: https://tinyurl.com/y5levyam

I've been retired 7 years and love it! It took me about a year to adjust and find several volunteer gigs to fill my need for purpose.

 

[Dtail]

I volunteered for a good severance package, but thinking I could be reemployed. After 15 months of searching, I discovered I could retire and by then, there were no feelings about work that I missed anymore. I don't stay in contact with any past colleagues, as I don't want to think of any What Ifs, etc.
Retirement for 3 years has been fantastic and never bored. Sunday nights...just means I get to think about playing Pickleball on Monday.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I was very nervous too. Not for the financial aspect though. But after securing excellent Florida Blue healthcare via ACA, we did not look back.

 

[Montecfo]

I was VERY nervous. But after convincing myself and my husband that financially we were there.... and having a VERY bad day at work. I spent the weekend thinking on it, and gave notice that Monday.

When I bought my first home I was nervous for about 6 months after - had I bitten off too much? But that faded as I realized it was all good.

It was the same with retirement.... nervous that I'd missed something and it was a big mistake.... but that faded as I realized it was all good. 6 years in, it's still all good.

Yes. If you think about it, we all make a big "purchase" when we retire. We are buying freedom at the price of foregone wages.

There can be some buyer's remorse, but that quickly fades in most cases.

I was not worried since I had done all the worrying already in saving to hit my numbers. I was more concerned I might get bored but that has not been the case.