At what age did you pull the plug?

[Midpack]

Curious as to when you retired? 57

Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Good decision because we were comfortably FI. However, sabbatical and then an encore career were just as viable if not more than conventional retirement. After almost 2 years I haven't been tempted to pursue an encore career, but I won't rule out working again at something I truly enjoy (not in my old industry).

Or should you have done it sooner? Nope.

But when someone else retired would have no bearing on my decision, especially at this forum of select early retirees. YMMV

 

[Donzo]

I got free at 49 - I will be 57 this summer. These last 7+ years have been great!

 

[scrabbler1]

Curious as to when you retired?

I was 45, back in late 2008. I turn 50 in a few weeks.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited?

It was a good decision. The pieces fell into place rapidly in the 12-18 months prior to my retiring.

Or should you have done it sooner?

I could have done it earlier in the year (2008) but the pieces had not yet fallen into place and I wanted to have a certain cushion to assure me that the plan would work. ERing in late 2008 during the big market downturn was a huge benefit for my ER plan.

 

[NoOneGetsIt]

WHAT I thought the "D" stood for dependable

My guess was "dedicated"

 

[walkinwood]

We were 48 (me) and 45(DW) when we first pulled the plug in '08.
It was the right time for us since we were prepared & had many years of historical data to back our spending plan

The downturn in 08/09 scared us enough that we worked for a while in 2010 to allow the portfolio to recover. We celebrated thanksgiving '10 by walking away again & haven't looked back so far.

 

[razztazz]

Curious as to when you retired?

38

Was it a good decision or should you have waited?

Good decision. All the angles had been figured

Or should you have done it sooner?

Would have liked to have done it sooner if it had been feasible

 

[Onward]

Curious as to when you retired?
Was it a good decision or should you have waited?
Or should you have done it sooner?

Age 46. Had my fill of dastardly people, and eventually realized they are at every company.

Work environment blew up just as I was hitting my magic number. Ciao!

It was one of the very best decisions of my life. It still gives me a little thrill of joy every day.

My only regret is that I didn't escape sooner, but I got a late start and couldn't afford it till 46. Never had "one more year" syndrome. That's a strange concept to me, since we are very mortal.

 

[FIREd]

Curious as to when you retired? 36
Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Three years later, I think this was a good decision.
Or should you have done it sooner? No, it was early enough!

 

[RE2Boys]

Curious as to when you retired? at age 50. Organization downsizing and offered early retirement pension. Spent several evenings pouring over spreadsheets to see if I could retire with 1 & 3 year old. Pulled the plug. Also had decent investments.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Priceless to spend time with sons as they grew. And I do a three month gig each year in work culture doing tax returns.
Or should you have done it sooner?Nope, not without pension.

 

[WyndChym]

My last day at megacorp was my on 52nd birthday… seven years ago… today! DH was surprised how quickly and easily I adjusted. He originally planned to follow a few months later but changed his mind. He finally decided the time was right for him to leave megacorp, and retired the first of this year! Now it is me who is surprised how quickly he has adjusted. His only regret is that he did not retire a couple years ago. We are very blessed.

 

[Amethyst]

Only if you care what unspecified Other People think. Their opinions are utterly beyond your control.

Amethyst

I was thinking that 53 is just too early to retire somehow -- ...Aren't I being reckless or lax or irresponsible somehow, by bowing out so early?

 

[imoldernu]

Curious as to when you retired?
Retired 1989 age 53.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited?
Cancer scare, just as I was about to take on big debt to grow my young business. Could't bear to leave DW with large debt on a new business. A chancy start. Turned out OK... still here...

Or should you have done it sooner?
Probably should have been later, but we squeezed through, took a chance, and turned frugal, and "lucky".

A wonderful 23 - 24 years.

Best part about retiring at an early age, is the safety net in being able to retrench, if it doesn't work out.

 

[jon-nyc]

I was 44, so far t seems like a good decision but I'm only a week into it!

I've been FI for quite some time, bit now seemed right for a bunch of reasons.

 

[LauAnn]

In 14 more work days --@55

Not a moment too soon. Would have done it earlier if I could have.

 

[freebird5825]

Curious as to when you retired? 48. I consider it a "sabbatical from chasing a paycheck" that has lasted 6 years and 5 days. April 1st was my FIRE anniversary.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Excellent decision. I looked 10 years younger within a few months (quoting my physician).

Or should you have done it sooner? Not a possibility.

 

[ER Eddie]

Only if you care what unspecified Other People think. Their opinions are utterly beyond your control.

Amethyst

Right, but everyone internalizes social mores to some degree, and that's what I was speaking of. Not particular other people and what they would think, but just the internalized beliefs about working in our culture, the ones that I assume most of us share.

I'm used to going my own way, for the most part, so that didn't bother me too much. I think my bigger concern was the financial piece. It's hard to walk away from a big (or medium-sized, anyhow) paycheck and make the jump to living primarily on investment withdrawals. There's a certain leap of faith there. I guess my faith was a little shaky yesterday. Better today.

 

[MBAustin]

Curious as to when you retired? 53

Was it a good decision or should you have waited? Definitely a good decision.

Or should you have done it sooner? Probably could/should have done it 18 months earlier when my BS bucket was full to overflowing, but knowing we needed to move and buy a new car, I wouldn't even think about it.

 

[unclemick]

Plug was pulled by the company and I was suddenly unemployed @ 58 or so. To my surprise we had plenty of pensions/investments that will last until we are 100+.

That's OK. I'll get over it.

Ditto - except age 49.

heh heh heh - I used to joke about 84.6. Now I will happy to go as long as possible.

 

[Delaney]

I was sharing with my DH [I think that means husband?] about this blog and he asked me what the average age of the FIREs was so....

Curious as to when you retired? I retired a year and a half ago when I was 47.

Was it a good decision or should you have waited? I have mixed feelings. I feel I didn't put in enough years to "deserve" retirement. I really think I have the money I need, but I keep looking at the numbers and imagining worst case scenarios and I'm not sure why. I think maybe it seems just too good to be true.

Or should you have done it sooner. I think I got TOO burnt out at my job by the end. I may not have had the funds to retire earlier, but perhaps I should have considered other options 5 or 6 years ago. The problem was that I thought the other options would have resulted in a big drop in income and would have made it impossible to retire early. And maybe other jobs would have turned out just as bad.

Someone posted this quote.
22. Over prepare; then go with the flow.

I think this might be the ER motto. I've done step 1 (Over prepare) and now I have to stop worrying and go with the flow.
.

 

[Lakedog]

- Age 51 (in 2008).
- Great decision.
- Earlier would have been even better (but only a year or so earlier would have been possible).

 

[ls99]

Exactly 59.5

 

[ejman]

52, yes, no, no. I always assumed DH meant "dead horse" as in "stop beating that poor DH"

 

[palomalou]

Yes, DH=darling husband, DW=darling wife, DD=darling daughter, DS = darling son

Possibly on occasion, DH=d#%& husband etc.
But not by any on this board.

 

[TOOLMAN]

Exactly 59.5

Also my plan, unless I succumb 2 the OMY syndrome.

 

[Katsmeow]

Actually I've always heard that DH, DW, etc. means either Dear Husband (or whatever) or D****d Husband