Did any of you regret early retirement or is anyone worried about leaving too early?

[socca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 ... But overwhelmingly, the group responded, "Retire? I won't do that...I would be bored. I have to have something to do!" That is pretty sad....that is an admission that you have to have someone TELL you how to live your life. ...

Not always. If you are 'the boss' then you answer only to the current business climate and your own personal standards for performance excellence.

I was lucky to be able to semi-ER 14 years ago. So ... when do I fully retire? Well, it will probably be the day that my future DW demands it.

[Gallaher]

Didn’t get a choice, was downsized at 57. Fortunately, I saw it coming 30 years ago and decided to take action and prepare myself.
I could have found another j*b pretty quick but I had been on the road for 30 years, corporate sales/sales management.
Since retiring I moved, built a house and moved again. Building a house during COVID was a blessing since we had nothing else to do. Actually, did lots of the work myself with wifey.
Had to cancel lots of travel and family visits.
At this point I am positive:
* I abhor corporate politics
* could/should have retired sooner
* financial situation today is much better than I anticipated.

[sergio]

I've gotta say this is an inspiration thread for us younger guys.

My goal would be to get out of the rat race sometime in my early 50s, once the youngest is off to college. Then I can switch to adjunct teaching math at a local university to keep my mind active, maintain some contact with the outside world, and basically pay for the beer I drink.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socca Not always. If you are 'the boss' then you answer only to the current business climate and your own personal standards for performance excellence.

Or answer to clients...which can certainly be worse!

[FIREd_2015]

No regrets because everything worked out but in hindsight if I had know how Social Security was calculated I might have stayed in the work force a few more years to max out my SS payment.

[Tiger8693]

I am not that young (58) and was thinking to retire in a year or two until some health issues. I have been a manufacturing operations guy for 25+ years, so part time/consulting gigs are lost to me. Unfortunately, will probably be working until medicare, but it sure is nice to hear some of these success stories and live vicariously!

[socca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 Or answer to clients...which can certainly be worse!

Current business climate = clients/customers, suppliers, regulators, competitors, corporate officers, managers, shareholders/partners, contractors, subcontractors, crooks/thieves/scammers, employees, acts of Satan, lawyers, accountants, accidents, etc., etc., etc., ...

[geeky_grrl]

Retired 4 years ago at 45. I don't have any regrets about that, though I wish I could convince my SO to retire as well. He's still stuck in OMY mode.

[ejman]

Retired at 52 - 18 years ago at the peak of my earning years. Sometimes I think if I had worked a few more years I could have another million or two. Then I think how would my life be different if I had another million or two? And the answer of course is not at all. I retired to a place I love (SW Oregon) I always wanted to live in the middle of a forest in a cool place and so it is. I've enjoyed it immensely so I'll go along with Francis Albert.

[flyingaway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergio I've gotta say this is an inspiration thread for us younger guys. My goal would be to get out of the rat race sometime in my early 50s, once the youngest is off to college. Then I can switch to adjunct teaching math at a local university to keep my mind active, maintain some contact with the outside world, and basically pay for the beer I drink.

Whenever I read a post like this one, I ask myself if I should retire, since I am a professor, which is a job that some people would do in retirement or volunteer.
I can tell you that teaching is still a job. I struggle almost everyday between keep working and call it quits.

[martyp]

I’m guessing these are not the answers the OP was looking for.

I ER’d at 55 exactly 10 years ago. No regrets. I am now living and married in Bangkok, Thailand.

[USGrant1962]

To start, my plan was always to semi-retire and do some consulting to stay engaged with the business I did for 33 years. I pulled the megacorp plug at age 55 (and 4 days) in March 2017, but stayed with them as a "casual" employee for the rest of the year. They only called me in for a couple of days, which was fine.

The minor regret is that first winter, where I got somewhat bored. After that, independent consulting ramped up to about 1/3 time, vacation travel ramped up, we bought the family summer place, and all was good.

Then Covid hit and I got a taste of the boredom again. For 2020, the work helped but we cancelled 4 diving trips, my 3 live poker leagues died, and were not able to visit one of our sons who lives outside of driving range - ugh.

So without Covid I would say there was a bit of a transition, but otherwise no regrets.

[6miths]

Oh yes I regret all that money left on the table... then I think about what I would have had to do for it and how much of an impact the money would have on my life - Nah!

[Markola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths Oh yes I regret all that money left on the table... then I think about what I would have had to do for it and how much of an impact the money would have on my life - Nah!

For those who go voluntarily at peak earning, that is the opportunity cost/trade off, isn’t it? Maybe it helps to think about it as bargain hunting: We bought the largest volume of free time left for our lives with the minimum amount of money required, or at least DW and I did.

[flintnational]

Lets see. Today, I had a two hour breakfast and coffee with a friend. I excercised. I started a batch of wine. I took a nap. All before 1 PM today. Put me in the "no regrets" group. The DW has been at the lake all week with a group of girlfriends. I think you can safely put her in the "no regrets" group also. Fired at 53 almost 7 years ago.

Most have to rebuild their lives when they Fire. Make sure you have a plan. It can take a few months or a couple of years. Mine is still a work in progress. I picked up extra charity work this winter to fill some time.

[qwerty3656]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational I picked up extra charity work this winter to fill some time.

Is it as you expected? I saw another thread where a number of people were disillusioned and had stopped volunteering because it was full of politics, in-fighting, not-my-job type stuff.

[tenant13]

I retired almost two years ago at 55. It was kind of pre-planned but was triggered by one of 3 the events I had told myself would trigger it (the company I worked for went out of business and while I was immediately snatched by someone else I just did that to keep my health insurance for another 2 months).

The only regret I have is that I didn't do it earlier since my idea of retirement is vagabonding all over the world. Covid put a kibosh on that for the foreseeable future: I doubt I'll be able to buy one way ticket somewhere random and decide later what to do next.

[flintnational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qwerty3656 Is it as you expected? I saw another thread where a number of people were disillusioned and had stopped volunteering because it was full of politics, in-fighting, not-my-job type stuff.

I spent a fair amount of my career involved in senior mgt with some of the issues you mention. So, I pick my charity opportunities carefully. I pack boxes of food at a food bank. Rarely speak to anyone. And, it appears I do it correctly. No one complains. I will leave the mgt to others. Wednesday, in 2 hours, I packed 27 boxes of food.

[Musica40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LakeRat1 Been retired now for 7 years, left the workforce at 52 now 59, DW was 59.5 now 66.... We are Florida residents in Ft Myers 8 months, we also had a condo at Lake of the Ozarks until this past November for our summer months. Sold the condo at the Lake and now own a condo in Wichita KS, where our kids and grandkids live..... I did question myself the first two weeks after retiring, but then began to really enjoy the decisions we made ..... We do travel quite a bit within the US and at least one trip to Mexico each year...... No regrets, lost 120 lbs to be able to travel and enjoy being able to move around without the struggle of all the extra weight ..... We are from the midwest, so we have taken trips to Lake Tahoe, Redwood Forest, went to the balloon fest in Albuquerque, a stop at the Royal Gorge in CO, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, Nashville, to name a few ...... Again, no regrets .... The important thing is to live within your means and Live Life while you can

You are living my life. Enjoy!

[SilentWalker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola For those who go voluntarily at peak earning, that is the opportunity cost/trade off, isn’t it? Maybe it helps to think about it as bargain hunting: We bought the largest volume of free time left for our lives with the minimum amount of money required, or at least DW and I did.

But isn't it typical in most Megacorps that your best year is your last year, regardless of the age? At least seems to me the case in mine. Any OMY would be same or higher total compensation than any prior year was. That, outside of the obvious layoffs and other involuntary departures.