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

[Gumby]

The Little Sparrow speaks for me.

 

[ncbill]

Retired earlier than anyone else on this thread has mentioned, at least so far.

Didn't plan on it being retirement...left to take care of a very ill parent...that ate up the next decade or so until they died...was able to work part-time for a friend of the family, mostly to have health insurance...spouse returned to teaching once our kids hit grade school.

Like I've said before, I tell people I'm unemployed (not retired) just to see their reaction...

 

[dingo]

I retired on Jan 2 of last year a few years earlier that I had always planned. The money that I left on the table was a concern , but it reached a tipping point with a lot of things at work. All heck broke loose with covid a month or so later.

My wife started working from home which is a mixed blessing. We had to nix some travel plans and have not done things with friends but overall it has still been great. The peace of mind factor of being free far out ways any positives that working life may bring. The money thing seems to work itself out . I haven’t missed it.

 

[austin944]

After a year of early retirement, I returned back to work. I missed the collaborative atmosphere, intellectual stimulation, and social aspects of work.

I tried volunteering at various places, but so far they have all felt like unpaid work with less collaboration, stimulation, and socializing than regular work, and more arbitrary rules.

Volunteering felt like I was working with random strangers, rather than working with close friends who I helped, got help in return, and went out to lunch with. I felt like part of a "tribe" at work. I have formed close friendships at work, but none so far with volunteering.

It is true that you can do many more things in ER than you can at work, but I have to find friends who are willing to do the same stimulating and collaborative things that I enjoy.

I am currently working to find or create the right kind of environment for my needs, and I think that's going to take some time. Once I find it, then I plan to go back to ER. Until then, I am doing what I like best so far. I am still volunteering, but trying to be more imaginative about what an ideal volunteering experience might look like for me.

 

[Which Roger]

Just like almost everyone else who's responded, I've had no regrets. But we (the people on this forum) are different than the general population. If you ask the same question of the latter group, you'll get much different answers.

 

[Andre1969]

I'm still working, and my current mindset is that maybe, just maybe, it's still too early for me to retire. Like, perhaps there is something I forgot to plan for, I messed up my calculations, the next time we have a downturn it WILL be different, etc.

But, I have a feeling that once I'm actually on the other side, and have a few years of retirement under my belt, I'll look back and wish I had done it sooner!

 

[Dash man]

I retired at 56 eight years ago next month. Best decision I could have made. DW retired three years later and loves it. This past year has been tough with Covid and taking care of my wife’s father, who lives with us. Both have hurt our travel plans, but we realize how fortunate we are. Three grandkids keep us busy and all live close to us. Life is hood!

 

[Midpack]

I tried volunteering at various places, but so far they have all felt like unpaid work with less collaboration, stimulation, and socializing than regular work, and more arbitrary rules.

Volunteering felt like I was working with random strangers, rather than working with close friends who I helped, got help in return, and went out to lunch with. I felt like part of a "tribe" at work. I have formed close friendships at work, but none so far with volunteering.

+1. I’m sure there are fulfilling volunteer roles (depends on leaders IMO), but I had similarly bad experiences. The people in charge took advantage of the workers, and workers didn’t feel much obligation to contribute. Workers might show up for meetings and assignments, they might not “you’re not paying me, so don’t hassle me man.” Leaders showed up for all meetings but delivered even less on their responsibilities or assignments “I’ve paid my dues, the workers should do it, not ME.” After 3 years of hard work in two volunteer orgs, and do nothing leaders taking credit, I quit. During the 3 years, new volunteers came and went constantly. The do nothing leaders never changed. At least with corporate paid leaders and workers, there are usually consequences for poor/non performance...

 

[Winemaker]

No regrets, whatsoever.

 

[mystang52]

The novelty of retirement never ends. It's great.

 

[Rocket Man]

I semi-retired at 60. Self-employed. I narrowed down the type work I still accept. Work 20 hours some weeks, but less most of the time. It keeps me active and mentally involved, but I still have plenty of free time. DW and I do not have to touch our savings and I probably will not draw SS till 70. I will be 66 this year and I take it year by year. If I get tired of it or have health problems I will stop. Of course, not everyone does or did the type work that is amenable to this arrangement. Only drawback is that I work enough that I really do not FEEL retired. Even though I work much less, I still think about what I HAVE to do all the time. I do not have that totally carefree feeling, which I think would be nice. So, I may stop in another year. We will see. If DW was more interested in travel, I would stop now.

 

[JRon]

Similar to Rocket Man, I am still working as an advisor to my last company - it requires answering an e-mail or phone call once or twice per week. I do have a one hour meeting every 2 weeks that I can attend in person or by phone. I like the people so I usually go in person, unless DW and I are traveling. The unfortunate side of this is I hear about the company problems which causes me some stress. We own hotels and restaurants so plenty of issues in the last year and year to come.

Fortunately I haven’t worked 40 hours for the last 13 years and didn’t thru most of my working life. In my early 40’s, as someone else said, I couldn’t find anyone else to play with, so an office sounded good again.

Now I like having the freedom to do what I want when I want and will give up the advisor role the second the company doesn’t want me anymore.

 

[1242Vintage]

I’m still in the honeymoon phase of retirement. Punched out on May 1 last year at age 56.

The year before retirement I sold my soul to mega-Corp for a promotion to run an office on the other side of the State. Rented a little condo and worked 10 to 12 stress filled hours a days. It was truly a rat race and after a year I had enough.

After my annual review with the CEO I asked, “How much notice does he need before I retire?” We settled on 30 days and I walked out of the office and onto to street to call my wife to let her know what I just did. Her response was priceless ... “It’s about time ... come on home”.

Nearly a year into retirement and I have no regrets. The stress induced weight I gained the last few years is coming off and in exchange am regaining the fitness I once had. Wife (also retired) got two new knees last year and is recovering nicely. I also enjoy a weekly date with Mom and little brother for a leisurely breakfast and a walk.

I figure I added years back to my life by retiring when I did.

 

[austin944]

+1. I’m sure there are fulfilling volunteer roles (depends on leaders IMO), but I had similarly bad experiences. The people in charge took advantage of the workers, and workers didn’t feel much obligation to contribute.

I'm sorry you had such terrible volunteering experiences. I would not call my volunteer experiences "bad", but rather, not as satisfying as I might have hoped. So the search continues.

I've seen some organizations where most of the "volunteers" were people who had to perform community service as punishment for some minor offense they committed. I wonder if you were seeing that in your fellow volunteers and leaders, and you just happened to volunteer for that kind of organization.

BTW, isn't it strange that the courts view community service as a punishment?

 

[Morgan22]

I'm still working, and my current mindset is that maybe, just maybe, it's still too early for me to retire. Like, perhaps there is something I forgot to plan for, I messed up my calculations, the next time we have a downturn it WILL be different, etc.

But, I have a feeling that once I'm actually on the other side, and have a few years of retirement under my belt, I'll look back and wish I had done it sooner!

Still working, I probably could leave now, but I have the same thoughts.

 

[skyking1]

We are two years to go, and working through those issues of leaving the structure and accomplishments of work behind. I don't know that my wife will be there in two years, and other days, she is ready now
This has been helpful to read through. Finding your volunteer situation before you retire is priceless advice, thank you all.

 

[scrabbler1]

I left 12 years ago at age 45. No regrets whatsoever!

 

[O2Bfree]

I retired August 2019 at 57, and DH retired a few years earlier. My only regret is the timing with the Covid thing. We had to cancel our first trip to Europe and other plans, so I might as well have worked another 9-12 months. However, I've heard from various ex-coworkers that the company is losing its reputation as a great place to work, thanks to new management that doesn't know what they're doing and won't listen to the long timers. I talked to someone yesterday, same age as me, who's decided to retire in April. She's a real firebrand who loved her work, but has been suffering the past year under the new regime. So maybe I got out at just the right time.

 

[braumeister]

I've only been retired for 19 years, so it's too soon to tell if I might have any regrets. So far, so good.

 

[idledancer]

I'm sorry you had such terrible volunteering experiences. I would not call my volunteer experiences "bad", but rather, not as satisfying as I might have hoped. So the search continues.

...

Drifting off topic here..

Try to think of things you already enjoy doing. How your skills might be used in a way that makes your time volunteering more enjoyable than time spent practicing those skills alone?

My volunteer gig is something I enjoy doing, and enjoyed doing before I started volunteering to do it, and volunteering to teach others how to do it. It's a casual affair, I can drop in an do it for a few hours whenever I want.

Volunteering in that capacity can be a great deal. I have a hobby that someone lets me do for free while using their facilities, tools, supplies, knowledge and experience. All of other volunteers are there for the same reason, and the paid staff is made entirely of previous volunteers, so we all get along and have a great time.

Imagine if you loved vinyl records and there was a non-profit record shop that needed volunteers to find music they like in a big pile and tell them if the album is any good. Also maybe make a few mix tapes to sell. Also they let you take home a record every now and then.

On topic: I don't regret retiring, but this forum is filled with people so enthusiastic about retirement that they regularly visit a message board to read and talk about retirement. Lots of survivorship bias here.

 

[Freedom56]

No

 

[Sanstar]

6 years retired. I can’t say I love every minute....more like every second[emoji38]

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

I'm still working, and my current mindset is that maybe, just maybe, it's still too early for me to retire. Like, perhaps there is something I forgot to plan for, I messed up my calculations, the next time we have a downturn it WILL be different, etc.

But, I have a feeling that once I'm actually on the other side, and have a few years of retirement under my belt, I'll look back and wish I had done it sooner!

Amen, brother Andre.

 

[Koogie]

I have been semi retired since 2015. I work about two days a week. Short days at that. Overall, I still make about 50% of what I used to which coincidentally equals out to what we spend.

Regret ? Hell no. I love being semi-retired. It has helped me back away from the stress and all consuming nature of running my own small business. It has allowed me the time to foster some interests and hobbies away from work and have my identity not be defined by the business. It also lets me help my elderly mother, visit with her a lot and also help friends out. People have also noticed a change in my demeanor over this time (less hard nosed than I used to be)

Full retirement is probably later this year or early next. I think I would have found it much more difficult without this transition period. I feel for the people who experience difficulty when they go from 100mph to full stop at retirement.

 

[djsander]

No and I don’t think I will. Was offered an early retirement package, took it and retired on Feb 12th. The first week we are shut in do to weather, but I’m not getting phone calls, emails and text on dealing with emergencies during the weather event. Can just relax with DW and plan our move.