How abrupt was your final decision?

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm still w*rking (COVID with a splash of OMY made me miss my planned date) but really feel like I'm close to just walking away. While I've been planning/working towards FIRE for my entire career, I feel more and more like my final decision will be (or seem to be to me -and certainly to others) abrupt and that I'm going to wake up one day and just put in my notice. As a planner and risk-averse person this seems so odd but I'm almost positive that one day I'm just going to do it in an almost impulsive way. Did you have a catalyst and what was it?



FLSunFIRE (So over it, someone push me, please; I know once I do I'll be in a better place yet still..........)

 

[KarlH]

My main reason for hanging on has been workplace health insurance. My wife printed her employment contract this morning, and once we have health coverage I'm going to pull the plug.

I found a decent health plan with our doctors and good coverages and copays at a rate that I found well withing my FIRE budget ($1100/month family coverage), but DW is rightfully cautious that these plans can go astray and we suddenly find ourselves with a 2500 monthly healthcare expenditure.

Insurance aside, I have run all the FIREcalc at 3.5% and 4% and we get 100%. I'm probably waiting too long and worrying too much. Hopefully last day by October 16.

 

[COcheesehead]

I had a glide path for 5 years. I picked a date and worked towards it. I was ready. I walked out the door on the date I picked 5 years earlier. Covid or no Covid, I finished July 10th, 2020.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm probably waiting too long and worrying too much.

This pretty much sums up 2020 for me!


FLSunFIRE

 

[LRDave]

Leadership team planning meeting for FY2020.... There were going to be some headcount cuts in our groups. We were getting top heavy. Also the targets given by the top were going to make our bonuses unlikely to be obtainable.....

After the meeting, I arranged to ride down the elevator with my boss and said I thought there was one-to-many people in that meeting and I was pretty sure who the one extra person was.

I called DW as soon as I got in the car and told her: "I'm pretty sure I just got myself retired.." It worked out great - I was strongly considering it anyway and it made for an easy reduction at the top with no bad guys.

 

[5Miler]

My original plan was to retire when I turned 55 in 2008 which in retrospect, would have been pretty crappy timing. Plans were short circuited when I got laid off two weeks after 9/11/2001. Took almost a year to find a decent job and ended up rejoining a previous company when a VP I used to work for found out I was looking. I originally left because of politics but told myself I would stay at least a year out of respect for my VP who I really liked but he was not the VP I worked for.

Fast forward to late 2011 and I'm still there. Managers and employees were dropping monthly. I was the last manager remaining in the Southeast from eight when I first hired on. Repeatedly told my VP that I would not be upset if I was next in line to go if a new RIF would happen. In early February 2012, VP called and asked if I was really serious. I told him I was going on a vacation cruise the end of the month and had no real plans to return. My last day was the Friday before our Saturday cruise. The VP (really good guy) expressed deep regret he couldn't do the same. I did enjoy the severance and the extended unemployment available at the time.

 

[Born2BRetd]

I retired a year earlier than originally planned. I came back from a nice vacation and as usual work didn't stop just because I wasn't there and I had work coming out of my ears. A colleague in another department I worked closely with told me she had been promoted and that I would get a green employee who wouldn't know anything about what we did. I decided I didn't want to have to train them or deal with the extra work this new person was going to cause me. I was out the door in 9 days.

 

[chilkoot]

I’m not[I recommending this,even though it worked out...

Upon turning 55 I qualified for retiree medical coverage, the final threshold I wanted to cross. I decided on OMY, just because that was when the mortgage would be paid off and I thought that would make a nice, neat finish line.
Two months later I had a stroke and ended up never going back to work. Less than a year later Megacorp shut down my department and everyone was laid off anyway.
From the vantage point of several years later, everything worked out financially and I’m about 99% recovered. Those two months don’t seem like much in retrospect but I sure would like to have experienced them.
Leave for real life as soon as it’s practicable. You never know when the choice won’t be yours.

 

[braumeister]

While I've been planning/working towards FIRE for my entire career, I feel more and more like my final decision will be (or seem to be to me -and certainly to others) abrupt and that I'm going to wake up one day and just put in my notice.

Sounds like classic OMY syndrome. I would advise you to pick a date, any date that seems right to you, and aim for that. That way you would feel a bit more in control of the situation.

In my own case, my minicorp was rumored to be acquired by a megacorp, and that sounded like the perfect excuse for me to hit the road. It worked out exactly as I expected, and I had a huge grin on my face when the purchase went through and two weeks later there was a massive layoff.

 

[USA]

Very abrupt. One day and a wake up.

 

[davebarnes]

Abrupt.
My longest/largest customer of 20 years just aggravated a bit too much one more time.
Age 70.5, May 5, 2019. Sent email on that Sunday terminating the relationship. Went on vacation to México the next day. Did not answer phone.

 

[MRG]

I planned on working. OMY till I was 57. One WFH day gone wrong and I was talking to my Fidelity guy and gave two week notice the next week! It felt insane then and awesome now.

If your ducks are in a row, go!

 

[CardsFan]

I guess I am the planner in the bunch.

DW and I looked at finances in Jan 2015. Good to go. Plan was to retire on my 60th B-day, in August 2015. Even scheduled a 6 week trip to Florida for October. Told the boss in June. He asked if I could stay on to the end of the year. I said OK, part time (3 days/ week, with same reduction in pay), full bennies, and I am still leaving for 6 weeks in Oct/Nov. No problem, and I could work remote when when ever I wanted.

So, actual retirement day was 6 months later than planned (Feb. 2016), but I really just coasted that last 6 months, and got paid well to do so.

 

[pb4uski]

....Did you have a catalyst and what was it?..........)

My catalyst was when we downsized homes and sold our main home. At that point, our annual expenses were a lot lower because we were down to one home rather than two homes and our nestegg was full with the proceeds from the sale of our main home which we owned free and clear... so we were in great shape financially.

Fast forward 8 1/2 years... were are back to two homes, but the added home a condo in a LCOL area and annual costs are less than half of our former main home's annual costs... and our portfolio is about the same as when I retired despite funding our retirement for 8 1/2 years and replacing our 1-car garage with a 2-car garage with bonus loft and paying for the condo.

 

[RunningBum]

I got to a point where I knew I was FI, and just looking for a shove out the door. I was working part-time from home with very little responsibility so I didn't feel the need to push myself, but I was ready mentally for any day to be my last. As it turned out I got a bit of an exit deal after a final 3 months, so it wasn't abrupt, but it could've been.

 

[Gumby]

I had my precise date planned for many years in advance. Right up to the end, I enjoyed my work and the people in my office. I retired only so I could do other stuff with my life.

 

[travelover]

I got a buy out, but the following 4 months of being a lame duck were agonizing at times. Once you can no longer be fired, it does affect your work hours.

 

[intent]

I've been tentatively planning on giving my 2-week notice around late March/early April next year. However ... I had to go into the office yesterday for the first time since March. It was a mildly shocking experience. I enjoyed talking to a couple of people who also had to come in, but I was hard-pressed to stay for more than a few hours before I felt an urgent need to get out of there.

Working from home has really been fantastic and, if we continue to do so, I can easily work until (and maybe even past) my planned departure date. But if MegaCorp says we all have to come back to the office full time, I might find myself making an abrupt decision.

 

[CindyBlue]

I'm still w*rking (COVID with a splash of OMY made me miss my planned date) but really feel like I'm close to just walking away. While I've been planning/working towards FIRE for my entire career, I feel more and more like my final decision will be (or seem to be to me -and certainly to others) abrupt and that I'm going to wake up one day and just put in my notice. As a planner and risk-averse person this seems so odd but I'm almost positive that one day I'm just going to do it in an almost impulsive way. Did you have a catalyst and what was it?



FLSunFIRE (So over it, someone push me, please; I know once I do I'll be in a better place yet still..........)

My DH and I had sort of planned to think about retiring together in August of 2021 (I'd been working on my retirement logistics for a few years by then, though.) We both loved our work, and did it for 40+ years for me and 50+ years for him. But our workplace conditions were getting worse and worse...we were very like the frog in the tale of the frog in the pan of water, slowly heating up. I thought I'd be the one to wanted to retire. I never imagined hubby retiring (ever, actually.) But all of a sudden in January of 2019, he told me that he was done. It was like a switch had flipped. Just flipped! I was so surprised, and spent the next couple of months trying to see if he really meant it and if he would be ok not working - he was so absorbed in his work, and so happily busy, that I thought I'd have to worry about him getting depressed or something if (when!) he left work.

So we submitted our resignations in March, and were they ever surprised! One of us, maybe, but not both of us! But you know what? The place is moving on without us (though not as well, we keep assuring ourselves!) And we are learning how to be retired and beginning to like it

 

[MBAustin]

I had planned to ER at 57 but realized in mid-2010 that we had done all the major financial things needed before retiring (remodeled and moved into retirement house, sold old house, bought new car, $$ set aside for rest of kids college) and had more than enough to last. My j*b was getting progressively more stressful and less fulfilling so I started thinking seriously about ER. Gave 6 weeks notice in late August and walked out happily on 10/1 (waited for my birthday to get a small pension bump). No regrets.

 

[HI Bill]

Five+ OMYs for me. My original goal was 50th birthday. My wife wanted a house. I wanted to live in HI. The house will cost twice what a condo does. We also wanted to travel. So, I w$rked for 5+ additional years to double the travel budget. But now that we're in the middle of a pandemic, we decided to buy a better place and forego 2/3 of the travel, at least for now.

 

[target2019]

For the last 4 or 5 years I started thinking of one more year in December. The decision boiled down to how happy I was working for the customer, and how well the boss supported me. The balance grew negative each year. Eventually I decided part time or out. After a year of part time, I knew in December I'd get out end of February 2020. They got about 7-8 weeks notice and wasted all of that. But the one year of part time was a warning shot, so they had only their own lack of decision making when I left.

 

[Big_Hitter]

mine was certainly abrupt, but I had been planning on retiring for a while but one day I just decided to pull the chute

one of the top 5 best decisions I've ever made too - I should have retired 3 years ago

 

[athena53]

I've told this before but it was still one of the great moments in my life. Planned to work till I was 65. When I was 61, politics at the company I'd joined 18 months before got toxic. On a Friday my boss pretty much threw me under the bus in a meeting and because I'm frequently too "nice" for my own good, I was too stunned to call him on it. I'd had financial planners from 2 firms tell me I didn't need to work for a living and my numbers were similar. Discussed it with DH (already retired, 15 years older) over the weekend, quit on Monday, last day the following Friday.

I can't believe that was over 6 years ago (May, 2014). Life is good.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

One day DH asked when he could retire. We had always just assumed we would both have to work until at least after the kids were out of college. But then I started looking at the Consumer Expenditure Survey and realized we already had more than if enough if we could lower our expenses. So the answer was tomorrow, if he was willing to review all the expenses in exchange for never having to work again. He was happy to do that. We stayed in a HCOL area and kept the house, but with optimizing all our expenses, paying less in SS and income taxes, no longer having to save for retirement and the kids eventually growing up and off the payroll, our overhead went way down.

I wish I'd run the numbers watched expenses closer and been more interested in ER sooner in life as I think we could have retired another ten years earlier. Even retiring when we did, it initially seemed too good to be true. I made my spreadsheet with my calculations, but we weren't sure it would work until we ran our numbers by the 401k financial adviser with his online retirement planner and then it seemed real.