What led you to retire??

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I echo many of the same reasons as others have posted. I *did* have a j*b that I thoroughly enjoyed...flight testing recently modified airplanes. Taking a bigass jet to the absolute limits of it's capability and every now and then...a little bit more. What's not to like? Well, the flying part was only about 5% of my j*b and 95% of it was mere bull squeeze. Since it was a limited tour, I knew my time was short and after having the absolute freedom I had as an independent operator/tester of airplanes, there was NO WAY I was going back to the "real Air Force" with many rules and worse management. Plus, my mil retirement was ready for me on day one...so pulled the plug. It's almost been 5 years and I am thrilled that I left when I did.

BIL is a commander for a group of Viper pilots. I only see what I see from the outside looking in, but it makes my measly little IT job look like chump change compared to what he does. Saw him launch 8 F16s in less than an hour tooling around the runray on the Guard Cart...and here it takes the bank I work for like 1 week to fund a loan...and you guys are launching 300+ Million worth of aircraft in less than an hour. I am so impressed. He says the only people who thinks his job is cool are 5 year old boys...I disagree! I am a grown man and still badass to me!

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 When I looked at the retirement numbers I realized that when work-related expenses went away, like pension contributions and SS plus a few others, I could make more money selling t-shirts out of the back of a van and it finally occurred to me to ask "Why are you working?" We had zero debt, DW was stressed at her job, and we were banking 49% of our income.

That’s a good point that I think some people miss (I did). While working, a lot of money went to monthly deductions from gross pay. Pension contributions, Federal/State taxes, health/dental premiums, misc like parking, and contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts (I maxed both Roth and pre-tax 457 through work as there was no match and separate individual Roth).

When I left, those dropped significantly and it made a big difference. Can’t get away from taxes though (and I moved away from a state tax-free state).

[Franklin]

I am a southern republican guy who moved to Hollywood/Beverly Hills (22 years ago) and made great money in the entertainment business. My fellow C suite peers were way too liberal for me and my political views put me at odds with the boss. That oddity combined with my mom and last sibling passing made me decide it was time to return to my roots. S0, retired and moved east.

[CoolRich59]

For me, it was another day at megacorp -- SSDD. But, for some still unknown reason, that day I'd had enough. No major crisis, meltdown, etc. I just decided I was tired of dealing with internal clients who ignored my advice and recommendations, then whined and complained when the bad things I'd warned them about happened.

I went home that day, talked to the DW and we agreed that I would retire as soon as feasibly (i.e., financially) possible.

Next, I found this forum. Within a month, I'd "memorized" http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ire-69999.html, fired my FA, moved my money into Vanguard, and started running FIRECalc and other retirement calculators.

Although my FA had been telling me I needed to work several more years, the retirement calculators were showing I already had enough $$ to last until the DW was 100. That was a very pleasant surprise, to say the least.

A couple of days after that, my manager was telling me about the next steaming pile he was going to dump on my plate and, before I was aware of what I was saying, I told him "Sorry. You'll have to find someone else. I'm retiring."

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolRich59 For me, it was another day at megacorp -- SSDD. But, for some still unknown reason, that day I'd had enough. No major crisis, meltdown, etc. I just decided I was tired of dealing with internal clients who ignored my advice and recommendations, then whined and complained when the bad things I'd warned them about happened. I went home that day, talked to the DW and we agreed that I would retire as soon as feasibly (i.e., financially) possible. Next, I found this forum. Within a month, I'd "memorized" http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ire-69999.html, fired my FA, moved my money into Vanguard, and started running FIRECalc and other retirement calculators. Although my FA had been telling me I needed to work several more years, the retirement calculators were showing I already had enough $$ to last until the DW was 100. That was a very pleasant surprise, to say the least. A couple of days after that, my manager was telling me about the next steaming pile he was going to dump on my plate and, before I was aware of what I was saying, I told him "Sorry. You'll have to find someone else. I'm retiring."

This put a smile on my face. Outstanding example of the BS bucket reaching the full mark.

[jollystomper]

I had no real complaints about my work, salary, or time. Ultimately it was to choose to have more time for myself, to wake up every day and decide what I did or did not want to do. Running the numbers showed it would have been feasible as early as age 54, but - since I still enjoyed the job, the salary, and had good health - kept working to build a comfortable buffer, and at age 58, with major family expenses behind me, started my "glide path" (documented in another thread) resulting in me retiring at age 60. I still "root" for my Megacorp and former co-workers there to do well (after all, they are paying my pension ), so there is no looking back in bitterness, just satisfaction in what I was able to accomplish.

[fh2000]

DW and I both left our IT work place the first week of 2019. We have no pension, and did not receive any severance. We simply planed for this beginning 5 years earlier.

We wanted to travel and stay close to her parents back in our home country for their final years (now 94 and 84), so we purchased a condo right next to them. Once our withdraw rate shows below 3.5%, we gave our notices and started to become international snowbird staying there 4-5 months, and the rest months in Los Angeles.

[YakGrl]

Family caregiving reached the point that it needed to take priority over the job.
I was financially prepared for early retirement but had been waiting for a buy-out offer possibility every year, but my position was never on the list.
Family health issues became most important and pushed me to give notice. No regrets.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo ... the BS bucket reaching the full mark.

Exactly!

[jpeter1093]

I'm on the same page as Sunset. Personal life got more importance than the IT job and we thought we could pull it off. That was April, 2019 so we're still newbies but now it's ALL personal life!

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolRich59 A couple of days after that, my manager was telling me about the next steaming pile he was going to dump on my plate and, before I was aware of what I was saying, I told him "Sorry. You'll have to find someone else. I'm retiring."

That makes the highlight reel!

[gerntz]

I had enough assets years before I retired, but had most always enjoyed my work - consumer products development. But the last two years I realized little was new anymore - was getting redundant. The excitement was going.... gone. So I stopped.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 I never wanted to work in the first place......so, when I could afford not to, I didn't.

Exactly. I would have retired at 18 if I didn't need the money.

[Bamaman]

MegaCorp overreacted to the business turndown of 2008. They retired everyone that was 55 or older and 30 years on the job. And a hold harmless agreement was required to be signed to old them not liable for age discrimination.

They paid dearly to get rid of us. 1 year severance, 5 weeks vacation, unemployment for 50 weeks, substantial pay supplement until our age 62 and health insurance at their cost until age 65.

[Bir48die]

I'm with many that I never liked working. It was a necessary evil. I have always been in the camp of work to live.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum That makes the highlight reel!

The best part was running back to my office and calling the DW to say "Um, guess what I just did."

[savory]

I think the mistake we make is to think as leaving work as retirement. I always thought of retirement simply as an opportunity to make a choice. My choice.

I needed to make enough money so I could control my choice. It may have been to stay at work. In fact after I left my job, I did a few things including my own little consulting business. I just wanted to try it but did not need the money.

I am happy I approached it that way. It required a self awareness of interests so when I was FI, it was not as much of a challenge to decide what to do.

[Red Badger]

1. DW health issues
2. BS bucket at capacity
3. Got educated financially at WhatsaMatterU (cum laude)
4. This forum
5. Fish are biting

[friar1610]

Two retirements for me:

- Navy: At about 28 years ran into that "you'll know when it's time to retire" feeling. Didn't dislike the Navy and could have easily remained for two more years but knew I'd just be marking time until mandatory retirement at 30. One day I sat through another meeting from hell and went directly from there to the personnel office and submitted my retirement letter. Retired a few months later.
- Second "career": worked for several Beltway Bandits defense contractors but never really enjoyed it. As I'd continued to live as I had in the Navy (no new house, car or wife), I saved a large percentage of my civilian salary. Once I thought I had enough, I bailed. In retrospect I could have bailed sooner as I overestimated expenses in retirement.

[Austin704]

I liked my job and the people I worked with, and had a lot of autonomy over my day-to-day work. But I’d grown tired of the commute, seemingly endless meetings, and bureaucracy. So, after 23 years and when my finances allowed, I said Adios! That was 3 months ago at age 53 and so far I don’t regret the decision.

I will say that I’ve yet to really “find my passion” in retirement and have struggled at times to fill my time meaningfully. But at least every day I know I’m free to let my interests take me where they may... and I absolutely love mornings taking my time waking up and drinking coffee...