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

[qwerty3656]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[RetireeRobert]

Retired at age 54 with my three kids then ages 7, 11, and 17. Took me about 20 minutes to adjust to retired life.

Never looked back, and never had any regrets. As I think about it now, I think I would have regretted NOT retiring when I did.

 

[Lewis Clark]

The only aspect of retirement I could possibly regret would be if, at some point in the future, I started running out of money. Then, I might wish I had worked longer or saved more.

Our withdrawal rate is low enough that running out of money is very unlikely.

 

[street]

Retired at 57 just about 5 years ago. No regrets, but I can say at times it would be nice to have that pay check I left behind, even thou I didn't need it. I guess greed for money is a down fall for me a natural saver and frugal ways all my life makes me want to live that way.
Time has went by so fast and I stay busy.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Took me about 20 minutes to adjust to retired life.

What took so long?

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.

I definitely can relate. DW's OMY has been going on for 6+ years now.

 

[scrabbler1]

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.

A fellow retire-at-45er.........Congrats to you too! My SO lives paycheck-to-paycheck so she won't be retiring any time soon, either.

 

[SilentWalker]

A fellow retire-at-45er.........Congrats to you too! My SO lives paycheck-to-paycheck so she won't be retiring any time soon, either.

Different situation but the similar end result. I will be retiring next year to raise our young kids. At that point my DW will be returning to work for potentially another 20 years for what she says. Very helpful for continuing employer HI coverage but not really necessary from FI standpoint. Regardless, something DW really wants to do, as she is significantly younger than I.

 

[tmm99]

Retired about 6 years ago. To be honest, I never looked back and thought of how much more money I would have made by working longer. I have a feeling I would have if my money was tight, but that's not the case, so no regrets.

 

[Dtail]

A fellow retire-at-45er.........Congrats to you too! My SO lives paycheck-to-paycheck so she won't be retiring any time soon, either.

Sounds like the SO shouldn't become a DW.

 

[FreeBear]

Sounds like the SO shouldn't become a DW.

Or you can become a regular poster on the Blow Some Dough thread.

As for me, another 45'er ER, no regrets at all, except would have retired earlier stiff if I had saved more and had ACA around to back me up.

 

[Gadabout]

Retired in 2017 @60, DH had retired over a year already, also @60. No regrets for either one of us, especially since we got in a few years of unleashed world travel right up until March 18th of 2020. Now we have been home almost a full year (or at least stayed within our home state) and are still VERY glad to be retired.

 

[Nightcap]

Retired six years ago tomorrow. Happiest six years of our lives, hoping for many more.

 

[KonaTom]

Ten years in, retired at 53, and not a single regret. More like a happy dance every day. That's not to say I wasn't concerned those first few months.
Felt quite strange not getting a paycheck and took a while to get comfortable living off investments. And when you're running on a treadmill for so long it felt weird to step off. Probably because I didn't "plan" to retire when I did. I just came back from a vacation and decided I had enough.

If you trust in yourself and believe in your financial plan, you'll have no regrets.

 

[meleana]

My husband retired at 65 and 8 months and I retired at 62- both earlier than we planned but not really “ early” retirement as per this forum. Not that we didn’t want to retire early but we thought we would not be able to until I at least could be on Medicare. Thankfully a few only financial advisor set us straight.

No regrets at all. Except the darn COVID restrictions messed us up right after we retired and moved.

We still can’t even believe we are retired. I many times forget about money - which was never like me- and concentrate on what I am going to do each day. I have no idea if it will all work out but I don’t care. Lol!

 

[Jamie1101]

No regrets

From the exposure I've had on this forum I realize I'm in a distinct minority in that I worked production as an auto worker for one of the "big three". Early on in my "career" I started to save and invest for my retirement with "30 years and out". This got me retired in September 2005 at 53 years old.

Full pension, covered health care, vision and dental... I doubt very much any production worker has these kinds of benefits anymore...

Perhaps it is because there was a hard line between my work life and personal life there was never any slack or boredom when I retired.

My 30 years of factory work was a means to retirement. I did not despise work but my life was always defined by what I accomplished outside the factory.

I plan on collecting my pension for way longer than I worked.....

 

[Car-Guy]

I've been retired almost 10 years now. Only regret is not retiring sooner...

 

[FreeBear]

We still can’t even believe we are retired. I many times forget about money - which was never like me- and concentrate on what I am going to do each day. I have no idea if it will all work out but I don’t care. Lol!

+1 Love it!!


I worried a bit for the first few years because the market went sideways just as we bailed out. Now 6 years in the market has been great to us and we are focusing of living out our lives.

I plan on collecting my pension for way longer than I worked.....

No pension, except our egg nest, but I agree with the sentiment. Fortunately, we didn't w*rk that long so it's easier to "break even"!

 

[SnowballCamper]

No regrets here, 2.5 years without a job. I'm umm how old...2021-1974=47, 46 since I haven't had my birthday yet this year.

 

[CardsFan]

From the exposure I've had on this forum I realize I'm in a distinct minority in that I worked production as an auto worker for one of the "big three". Early on in my "career" I started to save and invest for my retirement with "30 years and out". This got me retired in September 2005 at 53 years old.

Full pension, covered health care, vision and dental... I doubt very much any production worker has these kinds of benefits anymore...

Perhaps it is because there was a hard line between my work life and personal life there was never any slack or boredom when I retired.

My 30 years of factory work was a means to retirement. I did not despise work but my life was always defined by what I accomplished outside the factory.

I plan on collecting my pension for way longer than I worked.....

My cousin-in-law (Is that really a thing?) had the same deal with one of the Big 3. He worked his tail off and took all the OT he could get. BUT, now retired, they (pre-covid) travel about 1/3 of the time.

There are many ways to be FIRE. A solid pension is not a bad way to get there.

 

[JeKa]

11 years in May. I have never looked back.

 

[Dtail]

Hi Forum,

I was wondering if anyone here left, and regrets it? OR those who are on the edge are worried about regretting it? IF so, what did you regret? What went wrong? What was the "I wish I knew...." Be it money, spouse not wanting to travel, boredom, etc

Thanks as always to anyone who replies!

100 posts with no regrets.