When did the anticipation of retirement really kick in?

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indigo Mule I started anticipating the reality six years out. I'm at four and a half years out now, and I am anticipating so intensely that I can taste it. I think about it every single day. I tell myself I am sticking it out for my future self (pension and limited subsidized post-retirement health benefits). This is a visceral longing for the freedom from the workweek time suck. Between commuting and working long hours, more than half my day is spent NOT doing the things I'd prefer to be doing. This is not a fanciful daydream of "well, it will be nice, someday..." This is a strong impatience to be there. I have worked without a break (part-time during later high school and college, fulltime otherwise) since I was 15, and I am ready to be DONE. My vacations are "practice retirements" and I revel in the freedom of filling my days how I want to fill them.

+1

I could have written this post.

[scrabbler1]

If I can add one more thing to my earlier post: I knew I was really getting close to my last day when, instead of muttering to myself several times a day (on the few days a week I was still working), "Why am I still working here?" (before I had given my resignation notice) I was muttering to myself a countdown of sorts, "8 more days...." or "7 more days....." or "2 more days....."

[gozer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ER Eddie I didn't intend to ask, when is the first time you began to look forward to retirement. I meant rather, when did the anticipation level really take off? When did it start to feel so close you could taste it?

I think the first time I had an "I can't wipe the dang smile off my face and my cheeks hurt day" was about 10 months out. I am still 8 months out. The feeling comes and goes for me.

My planning phase began in 1992. Most of the time it's just execution of plan for me so far.

[FreeAtLast]

I started really thinking about it when I became FI. I first semi retired then retired 4 years later.

[ChocoKitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ER Eddie I think that'll be a turning point for me, too. Until then, it's a fantasy in my head, an abstract plan. No one knows except my family, and ideas can always change. Once I give notice, though, it becomes much more real and concrete. Then it's all out there on the table. And hopefully it's one long downhill coast to the finish line (at least that's how I imagine it).

This is how it happened for me. For so many years, RE felt like a hypothetical exercise. Then after I gave notice last week, it hit me: OMG, it's really happening! It still feels quite surreal, and I've kept my real reasons for leaving secret (no one knows I'm not heading to another job). So I guess it won"t actually hit me until I'm several weeks into RE, when it's the longest break I've taken from work in 18 years.

[Brdofpray]

I voted for other. Due to the vagaries of DW's pension system, she had to declare her intentions 2 years in advance for maximum benefits. As soon as that happened, the ER ship was launched. Soon after, we bought our retirement lot and began building our new ER home. At that point, we were all but gone.

[Redbugdave]

I knew that I could not keep doing the job about 13 years ago. I felt, (really do now more than ever), like a round peg in a square hole. The way the job has changed over the years made it completely different than it used to be...and not for the better. I had been saving all along and had the house paid off by then. I started to to get that good feeling when I hit the 5 year mark. I am down to about 8 months to go and am really beginning to feel it. I'm, "Walking In Memphis". When I am off for a couple days now, my mind keeps flashing that my freedom will be like this permanently pretty soon! What a great feeling of anticipation. There's so many things I need to be doing!

I drive around and see all the people that have to work a crummy job because they have to survive. And that's for their whole lives. And I realize all the suffering was worth it. I will be in that shrinking minority of being financially independant. God has been good to me.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave I drive around and see all the people that have to work a crummy job because they have to survive. And that's for their whole lives.

I see that too, so many at work that will never, ever be able to call their time their own. One guy's wife has for the second time run up $40k in cc bills. She's a part time hairdresser! Why someone would do that is beyond my comprehension.

He's not going to retire anytime soon.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I see that too, so many at work that will never, ever be able to call their time their own. One guy's wife has for the second time run up $40k in cc bills. She's a part time hairdresser! Why someone would do that is beyond my comprehension. He's not going to retire anytime soon.

I have a friend who has a similar situation. His wife could currently receive more in take home pay with her pension retired, than she receives take home while currently working. However, he encourages her to continue working as that is 8 less hours a day she has to spend money, than if she wasn't working. They owe more money on their house now than they did when they bought it 30 years ago.

[Dawg52]

About 2 years out for me. I applied for individual health insurance at that time and was approved so I knew I was good to go.

[Amethyst]

I read so much on this forum about wives who spend lots of money and never count the cost. I wonder how often it's a case of a young man being attracted to a certain feminine "look," which he somehow fails to realize takes a whole lot of money and effort to maintain. (Hair extensions/coloring; stylish clothes and shoes; make-up; tanning; exercise classes, etc.) The woman may not have much of a job, but she only sees it as a source of income for her man-catching beauty tricks anyway Then after she gets married and doesn't care what she looks like any more, the spending habits don't change...
If I were a young man, I would definitely look for natural beauty in my mate

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 IOne guy's wife has for the second time run up $40k in cc bills. .

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst I read so much on this forum about wives who spend lots of money and never count the cost. I wonder how often it's a case of a young man being attracted to a certain feminine "look," which he somehow fails to realize takes a whole lot of money and effort to maintain. (Hair extensions/coloring; stylish clothes and shoes; make-up; tanning; exercise classes, etc.) The woman may not have much of a job, but she only sees it as a source of income for her man-catching beauty tricks anyway Then after she gets married and doesn't care what she looks like any more, the spending habits don't change... If I were a young man, I would definitely look for natural beauty in my mate

Natural beauty? That's what you look for in a girlfriend. In a wife, you want to find the smartest one possible, and make sure she has a nice work ethic and a decently high paying job, and drives a crappy car, and doesn't mind your crappy car. The wife doesn't have to know about any of the girlfriends with the natural beauty.

[Amethyst]

My impression throughout life - and this will sound really sour, I know - is that when a man says he wants to marry a smart woman, he doesn't mean someone with great intellect. He is thinking more of what my parents would have termed "canny," meaning she doesn't spend money foolishly, isn't easily cheated by tradespeople, and has a well-paying job.

That doesn't mean there aren't men out there who are attracted to intelligence for its own sweet sake; but I think they are fairly uncommon. In fact, I have met men who find intelligence, without any "practical" (i.e. money-making or money-saving) application, off-putting. That is only my observation, skewed by my not having met the people of this forum or their spouses.

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO Natural beauty? That's what you look for in a girlfriend. In a wife, you want to find the smartest one possible,