Anyone here who blew it? Retired too soon?

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I know this might be painful, but is there anyone here who can take an honest look back and admit that they FIRED too soon?

If so, what warnings did you miss, and what lessons would you care to share?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah me. Working behind a desk was easier than raising a baby!

I honestly dont think I'd have missed much by retiring...eh...5 years earlier than I did. By then I knew what I "could do" and that I had an understanding of my potential. Thats avoided a lot of "coulda woulda shouldas". I would have gravely regretted waiting 5 more years. In a few months i'll be at my 5 year ER threshold.

Had I waited, I probably would not have had the time to pursue the medium long distance relationship with the woman i'm married to, not gotten married, not had my son, and lost another inch off my hairline. Instead what little I lost appears to have grown back!

ER is better than minoxidil!

 

[yakers]

It may not be the ER that got the hormones back up

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

It may not be the ER that got the hormones back up

We know something "got up" at least once after ER, so ER can't be all that bad.

Seriously though, CFB made the right decision. He can always go back to work (shudder), but he can never get the first few years of his child's life back...even for all the money in the world.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wouldnt have even gotten this far. Momma lived an hours drive away, and if I'd have kept working, I really wouldnt have had the time to do all that driving. Would have been a non-starter.

Another benefit to ER thats gone previously undiscussed. The ability to increase the radar range on dating...

 

[frayne]

Don't think many would own up to it if they did. That said, I read or heard a cliche something to the effect of; I'd rather be 80 and broke, than 60, and dying with a bucket full of money.

 

[TromboneAl]

Also, no one will really know if it was too early, money-wise, until he/she is 80 or so.

 

[Martha]

Donner started a good thread about whether we would talk here about failed retirement plans: http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=2800.0

From his initial post on the subject:

Top ten things you will never see posted here: I ER’d and …..

10. …. My portfolio tanked….

9. …. My money ran out…

8. ….. I was bored to tears…

7. …. I began fighting with my DW/DH…

6. …. I had a heart attack in the first 6 months…

5. …. I couldn’t keep up with inflation…

4. …. I had to use the credit cards to pay the bills….

3. …. I moved to a new community and I hate it….

2. …. I had to go back to work….

 

[maddythebeagle]

I think John Greany's board has a "land of busted retirements". I think a few stories are along the lines of financial advisors screwing people.

http://www.s152957355.onlinehome.us/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=BUSTED

 

[brewer12345]

IIRC, there was a guy who posted as "duggg" who retired a few years ago with a low six figure portfolio. He was a youngish guy who was living a pretty bare bones lifestyle in an older RV. I often wonder if he made it.

 

[Martha]

OldAgePensioner retired, joined the board, and decided he wanted to work for a while more. Though judging from his most recent posts after his illness, it looks like he has retired again. His posts while he went through the process of deciding what to do were enlightening.

 

[Andre1969]

I'm at the point now that I'd be half-tempted to just say up-chuck on it all and retire. but my portfolio's only around the $350K mark, and I figure I'd need $2000-2500 per month to live, so maybe I'd better not pull the trigger just yet. I did figure that if my net return (if that's the right name for it, taking the ROR on your investments and subtracting out inflation) averages around 8.5%, I could pull it off. That's a big "If" though!

 

[REWahoo]

He's not on the forum (can't get him interested in joining us for some reason) but I've posted before about a friend I grew up with who worked for an oil company in the middle east. He amassed a very nice nest egg, retired in late 1999 at the age of 51. He relied on the services of a finacial adviser to manage his portfolio and told me shortly after retiring "my financial guy says I'm set for life".

Heavily invested in tech stocks, he suffered a 60% loss in 2000 and went back to work less than a year after retiring. After 5 years working in the US, he returned to work in the middle east in January, hoping a couple more years of savings will finally get him back to where he was when he first retired.

Two critical mistakes:
- Retired into a major market downturn
- Relied much too heavily on others to manage his money

 

[brewer12345]

Two critical mistakes: 
- Retired into a major market downturn
- Relied much too heavily on others to manage his money

I'd change the first one to "retired with a way too highly concentrated portfolio".

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas. I agree with Trombone Al.

 

[bongo2]

I know one guy in Minneapolis who ERd at 42 and is now back to work. I don't know him well enough to ask if he ran out of dough or just got bored.

 

[Sheryl]

Didn't ***** have to go back to work?

I came on-board about the time he was finally banished, so I never really followed the whole story.

 

[retire@40]

There was also a guy here called Jack Key (I think) who was going to show us how he was going to retire early at 37 with something like $250K.

He's gone and his blog is down, so I guess he figured incorrectly.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'd change the first one to "retired with a way too highly concentrated portfolio".

My thoughts exactly...poorly diversified. I was well invested from 2000-2003 and except for that one screwup with the QQQ's when the market went into its slide, did pretty well with balanced funds and reits.

 

[haha]

Also, no one will really know if it was too early, money-wise, until he/she is 80 or so.

Well, only your executor can say if you succeeded- but failure is a diffrent thing. It might be a lot easier to figure out if you were getting too close to the line for comfort anywhere along the way. That IMO, is failure.

Ha

 

[REWahoo]

I was well invested from 2000-2003 and except for that one screwup with the QQQ's when the market went into its slide, did pretty well with balanced funds and reits.

I'm going to own up to having been a Dirty Market Timer in late 1999. Moved half my portfolio to D&C Balanced and the other half to cash and bonds.

No claim to any real skill in my timing, just got very uncomfortable with equity prices and all the Y2K "the sky is falling" BS.

 

[audreyh1]

I know some folks (can think of one couple in particular) who retired in 1999/2000, but severe hits to their portfolio in 2002 and returned to work in 2003.  I think these folks had a) never heard of the 4% rule and b) were mostly invested in high-flying growth stocks.  Many, many folks today still think you can retire and expect to pull 8 to 10% out of your portfolio and do OK.  Many, many folks don't understand about diversification, asset allocation, etc., either.  It's amazing.  Anyway - the good news is that these poor folks seem to have put their financial house back in order and are retiring again.

Gosh - so many folks see to get the WORST advice from financial advisors.  Such a ripoff, in SO many ways.....

I know of one guy who retired in his 40s.  In spite of having an apartment in Paris, and traveling between the US and Paris doing all sorts of cool stuff, he got bored and somewhat depressed without a job.  He went into a political consulting/attorney type position for the Texas senate and seems to be much happier now than when he was retired.  He is still financially independent.  He truly believes that one cannot be happy without some type of job.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

OUCH! http://www.s152957355.onlinehome.us/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1109786644

 

[wildcat]

I actually know a guy who experienced a busted ER. He ER'd in his late 30's after riding the bull market tidal wave. His portfolio dropped (heavy in large caps and other seedy non-cash producing companies), his health insurance shot up and he consequently returned to work full-time. Luckily his old employer accepted him back.

I spoke with him about his "experience" and he basically told me he had no plan, just figured he had enough and his portfolio would continue to grow. He also did not count on some of his health problems and medications he had to take as a result.

I don't mean to be the spoiler on this thread but it is a story that illustrates what can happen - poor planning, medical problems, concentrated portfolio, and flat/declining growth of a portfolio.

 

[Nords]

I know this might be painful, but is there anyone here who can take an honest look back and admit that they FIRED too soon?
If so, what warnings did you miss, and what lessons would you care to share?

A fellow naval officer retired at age 41 with plenty to live on for the rest of his life, but found that he couldn't handle the responsibility of his own entertainment. I think his symptoms were actually bordering on chronic depression, until he found solace in the structure of the workplace.

He's still working. He doesn't need the money, but he says he's happy.