Did you retire at the right time?

[Starsky]

Retired at 53, as soon as I could.
Massive Heart Attack at 55.
Spock says: 96% perfect.

 

[LimaPop]

Nearly 80 now, I retired at 53 in 1993. These years in retirement have been quite wonderful for me with the obvious drawbacks: people I loved have died off, and my health is deteriorating. I'm glad I didn't work any longer. There have been no financial problems for me, these 26 years later. I married for the first time in my life in 2017, after the Obergefell decision made same-sex marriage legal. I'm happy in my marriage with the one drawback: he is much younger than I am, and I'm likely to run out on him by dying years before he does.

Thank you for sharing, the Obergefell decision was way overdue. Love is love and it was so wrong for the government to discriminate for so long....

 

[robnplunder]

Financially, retired just about at the right time.

Emotionally, retired way too late.

Physically, retired at 53.

 

[Badger]

It would have been nice to retire earlier than 64 but I enjoyed what I was doing. I also had major back issues before I retired that required 3 surgeries in one year with the last fusing my lower back. Fortunately health insurance paid for it. If I had retired earlier the cost would have cut into a nice size chunk of my retirement investments. Thankfully in a year I had Medicare and Tricare to cover the next 5 years with 4 major joint surgeries and a knee replacement with more to come. If not for the timing my retirement would be a bit more different on a more limited budget than it turned out.


Cheers!

 

[scrabbler1]

I retired at the right time. I retired nearly 11 years ago at age 45. This was in late 2008 when the markets were crashing. But, the crashing markets created a huge buying opportunity because I was able to sell my company stock while it was still high and buy thousands of (extra) bond fund shares at a rock-bottom price, all at the same time! Those twin transactions have proved beneficial the entire time to my ER and will continue to be that way going forward forever.


I also chose a date (10/31) which allowed me to barely finish the big project I was working on.

 

[arch57]

DW 6 months too early

My DW retired at 54 1/2 in mid 2013 and I was still working. Her job was very stressful and we cashed out a bunch of options and restricted stock at $70/share that had been under water for years (stock dropped to $17 at one point). We paid off mortgages on our primary and vacation home. And I said to my wife at the time “I’ve got my best friend back” because the job was really affecting her negatively.
However, during tax season that next year I came across the fine print of her options that somehow we missed that said if she stayed until age 55, which was only 6 more months she would vest on the remaining options that we had to forfeit. My fault for not finding this but you also think her HR department would have told her that. Anyway stock ended up shooting to $280 and we would have profited nicely but there’s more to life than money and financially we’re still in good shape and enjoying our freedoms from corporate rat race.

 

[griffithee]

I retired at the earliest time I could. 44 years old in 2013. DW followed me exactly 2 years later in 2015 at 41. Neither one of us regret it in the least. Now we just argue about who is going to leave the house today and give the other a break.

 

[rick55]

I left 6 yrs ago, at 58. After my boss had a big arguement with the future CEO he and his people became toxic. One by one we were passed over for promotion, could not get funding for important projects, or ridiculed. The boss was forced out, and the new boss met with me to tell me how hard things were going to get, so I gave notice.

The timing was perfect! It was the right time. 2 months shy of 30 years, but I was ready.

 

[ChiliPepr]

Ask me how in five years.... I retired June 30 this year, if the market crashes I retired too early, if it plods along I retired just right, if it repeats the previous 10 years I retired to late.

 

[dlhanson]

I retired at just the right time, May 9, 2009. I loved my work as a college teacher for 8 years after I retired at age 50 from a corporate job. But DW was having medical issued and she needed me home with her. She is better now so are traveling internationally frequently.
My only source of income is an IRA and SS. The IRA is 40% bigger than when I retired.

 

[papaof2]

At the right time, although I wasn't even thinking about retirement. The year I turned 55 I was eligible for some perks (including a year's salary added to the retirement fund) that I didn't think would ever be repeated and my better half agreed with me. Those perks weren't offered again until 20 years later and during that time many people were "let go" with little or nothing.

I had no sooner started back to university to complete my degree than another department of the company called to ask if I would come back as a consultant but with flexible hours so I could continue my education (nice to be wanted ;-) That later led to a job with the consultant management company my company used. After graduation, a friend asked if I could translate Subject Matter Expert talk into computerese, which got me a couple of years doing contract programming for the US military. Along the way, I did some programming on handheld devices for startups in Georgia and California. Now that I'm "retired" (for the fourth or fifth time), I design and build small solar power systems for my own use (equipment shed out back; solar "generator" for 8 to 20 hours of backup power - depending on the season - during frequent commercial power outages; info on both shared online) and I write fiction (two books published in Kindle format, four in the pipeline right now).

 

[morriss003]

There probably was a poll about this but I've never seen one. Did you retire at the right time, or:

Way too early
A little too early
At the right time
A little too late
Way too late

It was the right time for me. I owned a computer assembly business, and once Emachines came on the market I could see the handwriting on the wall. I leased computers to businesses a few more years before letting go.

 

[replyguy]

Early and late. I was on track to retire at 62.
My father passed and left a great deal more money than I would have earned. I worked 2 more years, realized I hated it and quit at 56. I really regret working
those last 2 years.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I’m pleased that the conversation has turned from simply financial to the rest of the question. I loved
my work, but I realized it was more stressful than it used to be and I didn’t like those super-busy days.

I retired at the end of June, at 65. I know, not exactly ER! I left my stressful job and moved to Vermont at 63, taking another job 3 days/week. I had a long commute (on a secondary road through beautiful villages and farmland) and after a big winter storm I realized I didn’t want to do it any more. I actually don’t mind driving in the snow, but the morning and evening commutes that day were a combined 3 hours. I knew I was safe financially (and I have a consulting gig that I both love and hate), so I cut my hours further and set the date.

In the last 5 weeks, I have been sleeping better than ever. I spend my days in the garden, with the chickens, exploring volunteer work, and moving old 401(k) and 403(b) plans to my IRA. So far, it’s great!

I still get anxious - I have to begin taking some money out of savings and stocks, and this week’s market fluctuations made me nervous. But I know that I’m in this for the long haul, and I have other options if my Vanguard index funds drop. I think the “decumulation” phase will just take some getting used to.

 

[Montecfo]

A little too late, but I wanted to max my modest pension. Hated to leave money on the table, but would have been OK.

Well, you can't retire without leaving money on the table! I know I did.

Just try not to leave too much tikk me on the table.

 

[RobLJ]

I semi-retired at 57 and moved to Reno and it was the right time. My blood pressure had steadily risen, and although I enjoyed work, I had just led completion of a major project. I was given the opportunity to work online for 12-15 hours/week 9 months a year for 1/2 salary and I took it and never looked back.
DW is 4 years younger and instead of me completely shutting down, she retired last year due to my semi-retirement.
Bottom line is I feel retired; I can ski, hike or fly fish when I want; life is good, and my blood pressure is way down. Also the portfolio is up 35%! The grandbaby is 3 hours away with another due at the end of the month.
Hiking in Ireland for 2 weeks in July rocked.
We now have 35% slack in the budget so I can stop whenever I want, and we can just shut down multiple trips and other spend the dough items if needed. I'm putting in solar this month and getting an EV early next year.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I retired in my early fifties and in hindsight we could have both retired sooner. If I had known then what I know now I would have watched our spending closer, saved more, maybe bought a smaller house, and retired earlier. But I'm glad we at least retired when we did.

 

[Old Microbiologist]

We retired when I was 56 when we realized we could live on what we had and on my military pension. We also left the country and haven't looked back at all.

 

[eba1225]

I'm 54 now, and could probably swing it with the "55 rule", but I have had alot of serious health issues, and have a pension/SS that won't start until 62. Yes, I would love to be retired now, but reality says no...still have a college student at home, and paying for a wedding for my other one.

Wow, I have the exact same conditions with age and kids, plan is when the college kid gets out retirement will occur.

 

[jollystomper]

Right now I believe I retired at the right time at age 60. Financially, I could probably have retired in my early 50s - but of course that is with 20/20 hindsight. Factoring in the desired retirement comfort level, relationship with wife and family, my physical health, and career timing, age 60 seems to have been the right time for me.

Of course, things may look different 5 years from now (assuming I am around), we'll see.

 

[MRG]

I left a year early according to the plan of retiring at 57. I left because my VP was a screaming idiot, however he gave me an extra year of freedom.

I left in 2013, rode COBRA for 7 months before ACA started in 2014. While it is nice to think I could have left earlier, it really wasn't possible.

 

[Oh no]

I retired involuntarily at age 60, but the time was right for me.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Age 40...and just right.

Almost 5 years in and it's been a fantastic ride.

 

[wrigley]

59 and still working. It's not the right time yet!

Mike

 

[Dtail]

Would be interesting in hearing how many folks felt they retired too early.