Danmar
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I discovered that retirement improved my health significantly. That is priceless!
Yes this may be one of the most important benefits. More time for fitness activities and easier to eat better.
I discovered that retirement improved my health significantly. That is priceless!
I don't know your friends but all of my friends were both jealous (because I could and they couldn't) and ecstatic for me. No one will likely think less of you and I would venture if they do you probably don't need/want them as friends...
Yes this may be one of the most important benefits. More time for fitness activities and easier to eat better.
What will I do all day? Take up a hobby. Do volunteer work. Finish all those projects you've been putting off at home. I work harder now than when working.
I didn't think of ER until I found this forum last year soon after I sold one of the the two businesses I owned.
There was a chain of events that led me to finalize my decision:
1. My dad passed away early last year at age 83--made me realize that we all have finite time on earth, it is best to enjoy the time doing something I like to do instead of just working to make more & more money.
2. Later in the year 2014 I had a gallbladder attack-they removed my gall bladder. Those four days in the hospital made me realize that I may not even last as long as my dad lived and decided that I must sell my business & ER soon.
3. Thereafter another wake up call came in December 2014--this time it was my lower back and the sciatic nerve that pretty much left me incapable of walking more than a couple of blocks
I finally realized that my sedentary, high stress lifestyle had created health issues for me and unless I made major changes in my lifestyle I may never be able to enjoy the retirement that I so eagerly dreamed about.
I have now listed my business for sale and expect to sell it within 12-24 months. Have reduced my working hours from 10+/day to 5-6 hrs/day, joined a gym and started working out 5 days a week. Have started cooking my own healthy meals with fresh ingredients.
I now feel better and lighter than I have ever felt. Know for sure that I can fill my days with meaningful activities that do not involve working for a living. Looking forward to ER as soon as my business sells.
You too will figure it out soon.
Cheers.
Thank you all for your further thoughts. I'm really torn to be honest. It is fear - mostly that I won't 'make the most' of the time.
I do feel a sense of excitement at the freedom and possibilities (slightly tempered by the fact that my freedom is currently constrained by caring responsibilities for children and elderly relatives).
I suppose part of it is sadness at giving up my career, which hasn't really reached the heights I had hoped - and I certainly don't want my retirement/next phase of life to be blighted by feelings of failure. My career progression has really run into the sand lately, and I feel demotivated and burned out - but I want to retire for positive rather than negative reasons. (In other words, I want to jump rather than be pushed!)
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Me too. When I retired, I had 90 days to extend my key man insurance of $1.5. million without a physical. I had been climbing the 19 floors to our penthouse twice a day. I was in such good shape that the agent ordered a new physical and got better coverage from another company.+1
I've had health issues for the last several years. Finally I got scared enough to follow my Dr's suggestions. I used to rationalize I didn't have time to do the work. Now I realize I don't have the time, to not do the work.
It's disgusting to me how I let w*rk change my priorities. If I'd dropped over dead on the j*b some folks might be a little sad for a couple of days. Then back onto the same hamster wheel going in mindless circles.
Lots of great advice in this thread. Ever bit of of it true.
How did I retire? As the OP said, it is indeed difficult to let go of that paycheck. And most early retirees are in their 50s, hence at the top of their game and command good pays.
Quitting cold turkey is indeed hard.
Quitting cold turkey is indeed hard.
It isn't like giving up smoking. For some of us it was easy - and exhilarating.
No argument with "exhilarating" but if you had a very well paying, or responsible job that required a real emotional and intellectual commitment...
...quitting can be an emotional challenge.
Yes, for all those years, one has commitments that take up all of one's time, and so one forgets how to have fun! Instead of calling it retirement, one may consider calling it going back to " the school of finding enjoyment in life". I was going to say "we are not born with the knowledge of how to have fun", but that's incorrect. We are, but we don't get to exercise it, and we simply can't execute effectively on having fun after being chained to the cube for so long; we forget how to have fun. And it doesn't have to be headonistic; your fun can be what someone else considers work. But be careful there, because we've had the " should" pushed on us, that we may try to fool ourselves into believing some "fulfilling" pursuit that sounds good to others is fun when it isn't.It took a while for me, lack of proper planning on my part. As far as what to do all day, that's easy now. What did you do on summers when you were off from school? Before you started w*rking, even babysitting or mowing lawns! I play like I'm 12 years old again, hiking, walking, stop and talk to strangers, fishing, helping friends and strangers. We're all different but most have been told what to do for manyi years, j*bs, school, family commitments, your told what to do, by when.
I did.
Certainly it is for some, but for those of us who could separate the job from who we were, the emotion associated with retiring (early) was far more exciting than challenging. We're all wired differently...