Today was my last day.....

[Rickt]

Congratulations Looking4ward!
You retired after how many years at work and at what age? Would love to hear how you planned your retirement.
Cheers!

 

[Cassie]

I too say congratulations, and welcome to the other side!

 

[GT1 Doug]

Welcome to the club!

 

[EllisWyatt]

Today is my one month anniversary. It's been great...no, make that awesome. The first week I didn't have to get up at 3 am to drive 350 miles to the office felt like I had just started summer vacation. Now, I can't believe I did it for so long. And I'm finally getting projects I've delayed for years accomplished.

Life is good- enjoy!

 

[pjm-7]

Congrats! Joining you at the end of the week.

 

[Helen]

Congratulations!!!! I hope you enjoy your retirement to the fullest!

 

[gauss]

Uh oh.. you know what that means?

I am guessing that it means that Looking4Ward was a full-time employee of early-retirement.org!

-gauss

 

[Options]

Congratulations. What a wonderful way to say goodbye to your colleagues.

 

[PERSonalTime]

Congrats! You'll really know you're into being ER'd when you can't remember the day of the week. LOL

 

[scrabbler1]

Having been retired for 5 1/2 years after working full-time for 16 years and part-time for 7 more years, I can echo the sentiments mentioend by the others. I began to enjoy some of the benefits of retirement starting in my PT years such as being able to do my errands on the weekdays I was not working. Nothing like going to the bank or a supermarket on a Wednesday morning at 11 AM and seeing in those places more employees than customers, making it a quick and easy time getting in and out.

I also enjoy watching the local traffic and transit reports (especially the transit; I used the trains to get to work for 23 years) and saying to myself over and over, especially when there was trouble, "I am sooooooooo glad I don't have to deal with THAT CRAP any more!" The commute, even in the part-time years, was by far the worst part of my day.

Never having to set the alarm clock any more, except for the very rare time I had to actually BE somewhere early (relating to my volunteer work), was another great part of ER.

And simply being able to come and go as I please is a nice perk. For example, I decided the other day (as I mentioned in another thread) to join my ladyfriend in her upcoming visit from NY to Kentucky to visit her family. No need to get my boss's approval to take 2 weeks off. I can just......GO!

 

[Cassie]

I look forward to weekdays more than weekends now actually. During the weekdays everyone is at work, and I have the whole town to myself. I can drive around without traffic, shop without crowds, and enjoy some peace and quiet.

All the crazy people come downtown during the weekends, and I tend to stay in more and look forward to Mondays when peace and quiet returns to the town.

I do agree with you! I love Monday mornings now and look forward to the week. I rarely go out on weekends, I save my home chores for those days.

 

[WannabeRetired]

Congratulations Looking4ward! You retired after how many years at work and at what age? Would love to hear how you planned your retirement. Cheers!

Congratulations!! Yeah, I'm curious, too. Maybe you don't mind sharing?

 

[Looking4Ward]

Sure - I'll be 54 next month. I've been saving aggressively and investing wisely for 20 years. I explained to my closest friends that I traded a six figure income for time.

I've always been frugal and think that frame of mind is only going to grow going forward. My needs are minimal and I have no debt, so withdrawing less than 4% of my investments each year will provide me with more money than I've ever spent before, not to mention in 16 years I'll be doubling my monthly available funds when I start SS at 70.

It took me a couple of years to get comfortable with the amount of savings I thought I needed, but I'm sure it will be okay.

I'm still planning on staying plugged-in, I serve on a national board and just got back tonight from a 5 day board meeting. Not too mention that my employer wanted me to stay on the payroll as an advisor, and the amount they are continuing to pay covers my expenses each month.

So I'm really happy with the current arrangement.

 

[WannabeRetired]

Wow, that really sounds great! Congrats!

 

[kimcdougc]

But Monday mornings are still rough for retired people that have Monday morning garbage pickup. You still have to get up to get the garbage cans to the street.

My advice would be to take them out Sunday night.

 

[Looking4Ward]

So far, so good. The first week I had to travel to another state for an extended board meeting. When I got back on Thursday night I packed for a family vacation the following day. We spent last week on the coast, relaxing on the beach.

Tomorrow is the first Monday that I've been home and don't have to go to work. It doesn't feel like a Sunday evening at all.

I think the biggest thing I need to work on is suppressing the urge to check the markets a couple of times a day and my portfolio balances every evening. Haven't been able to shake that habit so far. Luckily, they've been going up for the most part and I haven't had to deal with any disheartening plunges in value.

 

[Sarpy]

But Monday mornings are still rough for retired people that have Monday morning garbage pickup. You still have to get up to get the garbage cans to the street.

My advice would be to take them out Sunday night.

Too funny. Yes, early garbage pick-ups are a definite infringement on the ER bennie to sleep in on Monday mornings. But I also fooled them and started taking the bins out the night before (our garbage bins have tops to protect from whatever critters want to get into them).

 

[Walt34]

My advice would be to take them out Sunday night.

That's what I do. Had my fill of waking to alarm clocks.

 

[athena53]

I think the biggest thing I need to work on is suppressing the urge to check the markets a couple of times a day and my portfolio balances every evening. Haven't been able to shake that habit so far. Luckily, they've been going up for the most part and I haven't had to deal with any disheartening plunges in value.

No problem with checking them- I do that frequently! I just want to be careful not to start trading frequently or aggressively. I've done well with slow and steady, buy and hold, and occasionally weeding out underperformers. This probably is not the time to start day trading.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Got to love retirement when your biggest concern is having to remember to take out the garbage cans!

 

[REWahoo]

Got to love retirement when your biggest concern is having to remember to take out the garbage cans!

It is far more complicated. First you have to remember what day it is, then you have to remember which day is garbage day, then you have to remember to take out the garbage.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

It is far more complicated. First you have to remember what day it is, then you have to remember which day is garbage day, then you have to remember to take out the garbage.

This really hits home to me. Seems about every other week I forget one of the above! My garbage gets out correctly about 2 out of 3.

 

[Totoro]

It is far more complicated. First you have to remember what day it is, then you have to remember which day is garbage day, then you have to remember to take out the garbage.

Not to mention remember taking the can back in!

In Belgium it's even worse, since they have four separate garbage schedules: one for plastic/metal, one for paper, one for green things and everything else.

It used to be five (batteries and chemical waste). And they all have different packaging requirements too.

Imagine the stress from living on such a strict schedule

 

[W2R]

It is far more complicated. First you have to remember what day it is, then you have to remember which day is garbage day, then you have to remember to take out the garbage.

So true. You forgot remembering to do it before dark for safety reasons (the night before), and remembering to don shoes and appropriate clothing before going out there so as not to shock the neighbors.

Naturally many/most of us retirees do not take trash out on trash day itself, because we are sound asleep until well after collection time.

 

[ER Fireball]

... then you have to remember which day is garbage day...

One of the dumb things that happens: perhaps twenty years ago, in the middle of some intimate activities, DW blurts out- "Tomorrow is Garbage Day!"

We still laugh about that...