Feeling dumb for not retiring?

S

silvor

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
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I've been planning for retirement literally my whole life. I've run the numbers 1000's of times. I'm good to go.

I like the job enough, but it's not all that interesting anymore. And when you don't "need" the money, my motivation has been low the last year. Megacorp decided to take away our work from home benefit and we all now have to come into the office 5 days a week. So, I figured that was my catalyst to quit. Any accommodation is not happening. Part time, consulting, job shift. Was flat out told no.

Except... I'm second guessing it. Not because of the money, that's covered. I've run into a few snags retiring with my rental, my house closing etc. But I have no real reason to keep working.

Anyway, I feel dumb to keep working. Maybe it's one more year? But, then I worry that could turn into another. *sigh*

Anyone go through this?
 
We all do to some extent, some (much) more than others, so don't worry about it. The right time to go is unique to each of us, varies with financials, life expectancy, tolerance for risk, job satisfaction, "something to retire to," and any number of variables. You'll retire at exactly the right time for you, with what you know at the time. There's no guarantee you'll get it exactly right, such is life. Always was, always will be. No point in having regrets later, life is a journey...
 
silvor said:
Except... I'm second guessing it.
Click to expand...
Two thoughts...

1.
Our end date, while unknown, will be what it will be.
So, every extra day you work is theoretically one less day you have in retirement.

2.
In our 50s (where I'm guessing you are at), we are past our peak. We are "over the hill" and are declining that downhill slope.
Not trying to be a downer, that is just reality.
So, this next year is likely the best year you have left, from a physical standpoint.

Conclusion:
If you don't want to retire, that's totally fine. There can be good, non-financial reasons to keep working.
But just remember you will never get that time back, and it is probably the best time health wise you have left.
 
We were financially secure at 52.

I loved my job. So I kept working unit I was 58/59.

I was not ready to retire, and it seems that 10 minutes later I was. So I did. I never looked back.

Being financially ready is only part of the equation. I believe that you will know when it is time for you to pull the plug as it were. Just as I did.
 
Some folks can't wait to walk out the door, some folks enter into OMY syndrome.
You will know when you have "had enough".
 
I took an ER package exactly three years ago after almost two decades of OMYs past FI. I accepted this buyout offer after my mother's vascular dementia symptoms started to become noticeable, plus rumblings that my employer's WFH would be moving soon to RTO which I would not be able to accommodate. So it was family medical reasons.

I expected to adapt easily to my reduced schedule demands in ER, but in retrospect that didn't happen. ER was a godsend for my EOL care for my mother, I never had to worry about missing anything critical at work and could devote all my time and attention to keeping Mom comfortable. And once Mom passed away a few months ago and I soon found that I have a potentially life threatening condition myself, my ability to attend to my own medical needs without concern about work obligations was also a relief.

But now that things are settling down a bit and I can make a level headed comparison, I have to admit that I think I would be better off going back to my old job right now. Unfortunately I believe that job is gone because the last thing I worked on was helping train AI to replace me, and I saw how my team got it running very well just as I was leaving.

My guess is that my work was providing something that I wanted or needed beyond the compensation package, so I don't feel any regrets for not having taken ER decades earlier. The resulting extra padding on my stash is much less likely to be of consequence to anyone but my heirs now, and I feel no regrets about that either.
 
I'm gonna offer a "conspiracy theory" for you, silvor. What if Megacorp is requiring everyone to return from WAH in order to induce people to LEAVE on their own? IOW Megacorp may be attempting to cut the w*rk force on the cheap - no package! If you hang around a few months and wait for the dust to settle on the "Return to Work" edict, it just may be that Megacorp doesn't get enough folks to bail out. They just might offer a package at that point.

Just something to muse about until you decide what you wish to do. If I didn't like my j*b and had enough, I'd bail the next day - which is what I did. But as long as I was enjoying going in to w*rk, I stayed even though I had enough without a pay check. I figured I'd earned the right to enjoy my j*b (until I didn't). Clearly you gotta play this one out for yourself but it sounds like you can't lose anything but time in retirement.
 
silvor said:
I've been planning for retirement literally my whole life. I've run the numbers 1000's of times. I'm good to go.

I like the job enough, but it's not all that interesting anymore. And when you don't "need" the money, my motivation has been low the last year. Megacorp decided to take away our work from home benefit and we all now have to come into the office 5 days a week. So, I figured that was my catalyst to quit. Any accommodation is not happening. Part time, consulting, job shift. Was flat out told no.

Except... I'm second guessing it. Not because of the money, that's covered. I've run into a few snags retiring with my rental, my house closing etc. But I have no real reason to keep working.

Anyway, I feel dumb to keep working. Maybe it's one more year? But, then I worry that could turn into another. *sigh*

Anyone go through this?
Click to expand...
No, never had a second thought. However, here are a few options for you.
1) Ask if you can work part-time...this may give you the best of both worlds for now
2) Ask if you can take a sabbatical for 6 months...that may help you make your decision
3) Think about other work or volunteer opportunities you could do in retirement if you decide to go...I did part time handyman work for 5 years (I limited myself to ~300 hours/year) and enjoyed that.

Good luck and congrats!
 
Without knowing your age, or what you plant to retire 'to', it's hard to give advice. If you have more than enough to live on in the lifestyle that you'd prefer, then it's really about how much you get out of w#rk, and how much you'd enjoy retirement. I find my days full of exercise, cooking, wood working, playing with the home theater, editing photos, and diving. I'm more than fulfilled. YMMV
 
There is a lot of truth in you need to retire to something. If you are not looking forward to doing something different in retirement, then you might as well keep working. WFH during COVID gave me a great trial run of being retired. It showed me that I would be just fine not working.
 
Considering you don't find your job that interesting but you're having to RTO (5 days a week, no less!) you might find motivation to quit from that alone. It's a personal decision for sure, and you have to feel good with it - but for me, RTO after 5 years of WFH would be a no-brainer if I were in good shape financially.
 
I have learned that people's attachment to a steady paycheck varies a lot. In my household, we have long since reached FI. I had no problem walking away from a big salary when I retired five years ago but my wife has been unable to quit. She feels the need for a paycheck way more than I do.
I have managed our accounts so I have seen our savings rise over the years. Her particular problem is that she doesn't really believe the numbers she sees in 401K and brokerage statements! When compounding really kicks in, the numbers increase faster than we can internalize.
But I have made some progress and I think there is a good possibility that she might retire next year. One thing that has worked for us is that I was able to show that despite spending lavishly on travel, our net worth has gone up dramatically.
 
DW wasn't worried about a pay check. Her's was pretty small (and she got to set the salary)!! Doh!!

No, she was "afraid" to hand off her managership to some young whipper-snapper (our 35 year old niece). DW had an inordinate sense of responsibility to make the family business profitable which was a good thing for my sister and me. WE were the ones reaping the yearly dividends - not (specifically) DW.

DW's fear was that our niece wasn't quite up to the task. BUT to "get out" of being the manager (aka retire) DW had to "let go." Our niece didn't really want DW around to "help" as that rarely w*rks and we saw that with my dad coming into w*rk - unpaid - to kibitz every detail. DW had to finally tell him to knock it off. So she knew better than to hang around once our niece took over.

The good news is that it all w*rked out very well. Niece now owns the business and we are totally out of it. Niece is doing great. She doubled her salary the first day and, of course, now she gets all the profits since she bought the business (with a good deal from Sis and me).

Oh, and niece just doubled our rent on the old Homestead. :facepalm: Business is business.
 
I think a lot of people go through this. Since money is not an issue, and your employer is not accommodating, perhaps plan a fun adventure / hobby to give you a bit more motivation to retire.
 
bonvoyage said:
I have learned that people's attachment to a steady paycheck varies a lot. In my household, we have long since reached FI. I had no problem walking away from a big salary when I retired five years ago but my wife has been unable to quit. She feels the need for a paycheck way more than I do.
I have managed our accounts so I have seen our savings rise over the years. Her particular problem is that she doesn't really believe the numbers she sees in 401K and brokerage statements! When compounding really kicks in, the numbers increase faster than we can internalize.
But I have made some progress and I think there is a good possibility that she might retire next year. One thing that has worked for us is that I was able to show that despite spending lavishly on travel, our net worth has gone up dramatically.
Click to expand...
Exactly my 1st world problem...
 
As TACO said (with a minor edit...)
"Our end date, while unknown, will be what it will be.
So, every extra day you work is theoretically one less day you have in retirement.'

AMEN. Allow me to share a story. When I started my last place @ age 35 in 1989, there was a fella named Bob. He had been there since 1959! He was absolutely into "one more year" or even "one more quarter" [Had a CalPERS pension + 401(k) / 457 contribs] to factor in.
THEN ONE DAY, he had a MASSIVE coronary, ended up with a transplant and a completely different retirement than he planned. The lesson **I** learned was -> DON'T STAY A DAY LONGER than necessary. As always, YMMV.
 
My Megacorp gave about six months' notice for RTO. I had no intention of going back, and was willing to cut my hours down to 15/week for the privilege of remaining remote (and keeping health insurance). But they must not have had as many people bail as they wanted (or maybe they became more desperate), because right around the time of the RTO deadline, they offered a buyout to anyone with more than 10 years' service. If I stayed, my cut in hours would have taken effect and it would have taken me about three years to make the money offered in the buyout package. So off I went. Maybe OP will see the same sort of thing happen.
 
Koolau said:
I'm gonna offer a "conspiracy theory" for you, silvor. What if Megacorp is requiring everyone to return from WAH in order to induce people to LEAVE on their own? IOW Megacorp may be attempting to cut the w*rk force on the cheap - no package! If you hang around a few months and wait for the dust to settle on the "Return to Work" edict, it just may be that Megacorp doesn't get enough folks to bail out. They just might offer a package at that point.
... snip
Click to expand...
I've seen this happen in a different form. First, the sh!t package that no one took. Then a year later, the package that nearly everyone eligible took. Time can be a lever. Factoring in healthcare costs might be quite sobering as well.
 
If you do go back to RTO work, hopefully you can do it somewhat on your terms ... since you don't seem to "need" to work.
... refuse overtime work
... do not volunteer your time beyond your job
... do not take work calls outside the office

I worked at home for a few years during Covid and then we all came back to work in the office. I actually liked this. However, work individuals had gotten used to me being available while at home. Work calls after hours, during my dinner at home, ... and the classic "we need this for tomorrow's meeting" calls after 9PM.
I snuffed that out quickly, despite complaints from management. It's just something to look out for.
 
ArmchairMillionaire said:
Just pick a date and stick with it.

I picked July 3rd of this year so July 4th would be my Independence Day. :dance:

That's what worked for me. YMMV.
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Except Independence Day is observed on July 3rd this year, so it loses a little luster.

If I weren't treated very well toward the end, I'd probably make my retirement start EOD of July 6th. 3 and 1/2 day weekend and show up in the afternoon of the 6th and still get paid for the day. That would make up for that lack of luster thingy.
 
junkanoo said:
Except Independence Day is observed on July 3rd this year, so it loses a little luster.

If I weren't treated very well toward the end, I'd probably make my retirement start EOD of July 6th. 3 and 1/2 day weekend and show up in the afternoon of the 6th and still get paid for the day. That would make up for that lack of luster thingy.
Click to expand...
Ya gotta play all the angles - even on your last day! :cool:
 
Just retired. I waited to sell my house of 23 years, then moved to our cabin in the mountains. I sold it faster that I thought, but I wanted that DONE before I retired. Also waited for my youngest to graduate HS this year, otherwise I could have retired a few years ago. So glad I waited for both. I ran the #s a few thousand times also, it helped to build my confidence.
 
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