FIRE soon, feeling angst

[steady saver]

I felt that same angst - 9 1/2 months ago. In a nutshell, I had the opportunity to take a buyout a couple of days before my 57th birthday and I am grateful that I was selected as I had not been happy in my work for a number of years. I generally felt frustrated and financial insecurity (and emotional guilt) prevented me from walking away. Anyway, I did so - and am truly much happier 9 1/2 months later.

My angst lasted about three months. I had not constructed a plan for my days. I was so worried about filling my entire day that retirement was just overwhelming.

Simply, I started with a daily walk, then I found a very enjoyable "side hustle," which provided flexibility on my terms. I joined a couple of groups in the 55 and over community that I live in, enjoyed the pool a lot this summer, scheduled four trips with my wife for next year and started filling in the gaps in order to enjoy my days.

Now, I am no longer overwhelmed, have a healthy disposition and just take things in stride. This past Friday I even enjoyed a spa day - hair trim and shampoo, then a massage.

Starting to really live the life I had always planned.

I

Starting each day with a walk...yes. Clears the mind, gets you moving. Perfect.
I love your last line..."Starting to really live the life I had always planned..."

Thank you for thoughts.

 

[steady saver]

I will be following your journey - since you will be pulling the plug about 5 months before I do (assuming you go by the end of the year, and that I go in the next year as currently planned!), I will get the benefit of your start-of-retirement experiences (thank you (grin!))
Edited to add: My hubby is having a much harder time thinking about retiring than I am. I read him your beginning post, and I think it's helping him understand that others are feeling the same way, and the maybe retiring won't be so bad (thank you again!)

I would be terminating my office lease at the end of the year and that would be it. Then I am free to continue researching and writing without any office to go to or any pressures. Do what I do b/c I love doing it...

My DH will hand in his notice mid-Dec but will not be through until end of Feb. Hopefully he can "vacation out" and leave at the end of January.

Cindy Blue, one thing that came to me when I read your post was this. Do you and your DH both need to retire at the same time? It might just be that you are on different time tables emotionally on this. Could you retire first and then let him come along later? Once he sees how good retirement is, he may be more prone to want to take the leap. But if possible, you shouldn't hold back simply because he's not yet ready. It might be nice to do it sequentially, rather than simultaneously. Just a thought. I'll be rooting for you both and eager to follow your own journey through this.

 

[CindyBlue]

I'm looking forward to your December posts (smile!)

As to me retiring before he does...we both work at the same place and he's not only been working there longer than me, he's many years older than me. We are both at the age where they start getting rid of the "old" folks.
I have told him that I'm pretty sure I will retire in eight months, but that if he wants to work another year without me he certainly can, assuming he'll be offered a contract. It would actually help me financially if he did - I could go on the work health plan as a dependent and save a lot of Cobra money until I reach Medicare age (smile!)

 

[Mdlerth]

Misery loves company

This thread comforts me. I'm on the glide path of what I strongly hope is my last year at the sweatshop, but I predict that when Emancipation Day becomes imminent my excitement will morph into terror.

Confidence in my financial plan will give way to doubt. Guilt due to retiring in comfort compared to my feckless siblings will gnaw at my content. And apprehension over RE being life's final chapter will taint its sweetness.

However, knowing that these thoughts are common will ease my mind. Thank you all for sharing your experience.

 

[HI Bill]

Change is hard. But necessary. And it usually happens whether we're ready for it or not, or whether we want it or not. I'm in the OMM (one more month) syndrome, or more correctly, the one to several more months syndrome. In a way, I'm dreading retirement, as it means I have to tile a lanai (patio), paint the condo, list and sell it, eliminate about half of our posessions, and prepare to move (at least temporarily) to a foreign country. It's sounding more like work, than, well, work. But the carrot at the end is that we'll have freedom to pursure our dive/travel adventures. It will all be worth it as long as the health holds up! Best wishes in finding your way.

 

[Scuba]

I have a friend who retired about 10 years ago. She is a writing buddy and she would talk about her "year of decompression." My DH and I still refer to that. I do think that my angst is calling for at least permission to have that year. I look forward to taking classes for fun.



When I think about my angst, part of it is that I still have my part-time practice, and while I enjoy my work, we all know that working part-time still takes a chunk of time b/c of scheduling, getting dressed for work, fielding phone calls and emails, etc. I hate dropping something that I actually like, but I almost hate more the thought of hanging on to it. I don't think the income makes up for the energy expended at this point. It would be nice, but according to every calculation I run (and rerun...) both FireCalc and Fidelity say that we are just fine and dandy. I think it's the "purpose" part of work that I am hanging on to.

You could free yourself up to find purpose and meaning in a new way, from other sources. Retirement is an opportunity to reinvent oneself and I would encourage you to let the part-time work go, decompress, and see what new sources of meaning and purpose come up.

 

[steady saver]

This thread comforts me. I'm on the glide path of what I strongly hope is my last year at the sweatshop, but I predict that when Emancipation Day becomes imminent my excitement will morph into terror.

Confidence in my financial plan will give way to doubt. Guilt due to retiring in comfort compared to my feckless siblings will gnaw at my content. And apprehension over RE being life's final chapter will taint its sweetness.

However, knowing that these thoughts are common will ease my mind. Thank you all for sharing your experience.

There's a benefit in sharing b/c it reminds us that we're not alone in our angst AND that many heads are often better than one anxious one in trying to sort out things. Yep, I'm seeing just how common this experience is!

 

[HI Bill]

Guilt due to retiring in comfort compared to my feckless siblings will gnaw at my content.

I also have guilt for wanting to retire while I'm able to work...the Puritanical work ethic? Is some countries, there is no such thing as early retirement (Japan). People just don't do it. My father seems to think I'm too young (at 52) to retire. I'm trying to rationalize it as I'm freeing up a job for someone who needs it!

 

[steady saver]

HNL Bill - wow, lots of "projects"...it will be fun once the job is in the rearview mirror!
And yes, you are spot on, it will be worth it once you do it all. And maybe you'll have fun in the process...I bet you will.
Thanks for your good wishes.

 

[HI Bill]

HNL Bill - wow, lots of "projects"...it will be fun once the job is in the rearview mirror!
And yes, you are spot on, it will be worth it once you do it all. And maybe you'll have fun in the process...I bet you will.
Thanks for your good wishes.

Yes, and I failed to list the most time-consuming ones....deleting ~60% of my hundreds of thousands of (mostly underwater) photos, re-digitizing parts my CD collection to a lossless format, buying and configuring new laptops, creating some travel solid state drive RAID arrays, as well as purchasing dry suits!

 

[steady saver]

Yes, and I failed to list the most time-consuming ones....deleting ~60% of my hundreds of thousands of (mostly underwater) photos, re-digitizing parts my CD collection to a lossless format, buying and configuring new laptops, creating some travel solid state drive RAID arrays, as well as purchasing dry suits!

Gosh and you even find time to post here too! You make me tired, ha ha.

How very wonderful to have the excitement that spurs you on to do that. You are going to have a GREAT next chapter! So excited for you!