Former Federal employee - just took the early retirement option

[Happy Homebody]

Hello everyone.

I am a former Federal employee who just retired. Age 56, almost 57. There was no number crunching for the decision. The treatment of Federal employees under the new administration was destroying my physical and mental health.

My husband and I had been saving for retirement at a pretty good level, so we should be okay financially.

I am not really interested in talking about politics. (If there is hate here for government employees, I would rather know now than later.) I think in many ways, I am not that different from people who left a toxic work environment in the private sector.

I am happy I got the opportunity to participate in the voluntary early retirement option. But it felt more like I was being pushed out than it being a voluntary choice.

Right now I am working through my feelings and recovering. Sometimes I feel tense and tired. Sometimes I feel incredibly relaxed. It all happened so very quickly it is hard to process.

 

[pacergal]

Welcome to the forum, from a former government worker.
There are many here.

 

[Koolau]

We love everybody here! We don't care where you w*rk or w*rked. You are welcome here. We hope you will post often and let us know how your retirement is going.

But, just as a check of your own financial status, I recommend you run FIRECalc.

FIRECalc: A different kind of retirement calculator

www.firecalc.com

 

[yakers]

Common in, the waters fine.

Retired from NASA in 2008, loved my job, retirement is better.

 

[zl55lz]

I found that after decades of a non-stop gov't career that it took a good 6 months to mostly adjust to the slower pace of everyday life. It took about a year for me to fully adjust, and I still process some things about my career even after all these years.

I am glad I found this group a few years ago or so and I have found it to be a very gentle, interesting and accepting group.

 

[Gumby]

We've each traveled a variety of roads to get here, but the important thing is that we are here, among friends. Welcome aboard.

 

[SJhawkins]

Welcome, good group of folks here with a wide variety of careers.

We are darn near the same age, happen to be in the private sector. As weird as it sounds I may welcome being let go, sure I would feel different if it happened but it would give me a push to try out this retirement thing.

Mention this before in other threads, feels like I have foot in both retirement and working, as like you it's taking its toll stress wise and it's just time to move. The decision is much harder then I ever thought it would be however!

Welome agian and looking forward to your journey, sure many of us will learn a thing or two.

 

[Out of Steam]

Welcome aboard! As a retired Fed (beginning and end of career), I'm relieved to no longer be working.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Welcome aboard!

 

[38Chevy454]

Welcome to the forum. As previous replies said, we have a diverse background of people here. It takes a while to adjust for retirement, no matter how you leave. Being this is an early retirement board, many were glad to get out.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Welcome! We generally have somewhat jaded feelings about w*rk (since we can't even say the word properly) regardless of what organization it was with. Take your time with the adjustment. It's an opportunity to steer a new azimuth in life.

 

[Al18]

Congrats on retiring. FYI one of the forum rules is politics can’t be discussed here.

 

[donheff]

Lots of retired Feds here. I retired from GSA at 56. Please note that the admins are giving you a lot of leeway on the wording of your introductory post. It will probably be hard to discuss your motivations for ER here because the immediate circumstances were so wrapped up in current political turmoil. But you are very welcome here and everything related to FIRE, except politics is welcome.

 

[Proteus126]

Welcome. I'm in roughly the same spot as you. Will be 55 in June. DoD Fed. Going to accept the VERA next week, with a separation date circa June 30.

Pretty much perfect timing for me. Gets me out 2 years early. I get SRS this way, whereas I wouldn't have enough years to qualify if executing a normal MRA retirement. Love that the annuity is not age-reduced under VERA.

Avoiding the DRP. Feel like DRPing would make me a scalp on someone's wall, and I'm not going out that way. Also, (a) I don't understand/trust the DRP process or my rights under it and (b) being put on LN (administrative leave) in early May would rush my hand-off of work. My division has been good to me, so I'm going to do the hand-off right.

 

[Happy Homebody]

Lots of retired Feds here. I retired from GSA at 56. Please note that the admins are giving you a lot of leeway on the wording of your introductory post. It will probably be hard to discuss your motivations for ER here because the immediate circumstances were so wrapped up in current political turmoil. But you are very welcome here and everything related to FIRE, except politics is welcome

I will steer clear of politics in the future. It was kind of hard for me to word things for my intro. The reason I choose to retire now is 100% due to politics.

I am actually relieved that there is no politics on here. And relieved there is no backlash against government workers here.

 

[oscar1]

Regardless of how you got here this book did wonders for me adjusting to retirement (Pro tip: It’s not about the money, it’s about trying things you always wanted to but never could).

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=how+to+retire+happy+wild+and+free+book&crid=1XXZ83LUH8ITE&sprefix=How+to+retire+ha%2Caps%2C322&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_4_16

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Hello everyone.

I am a former Federal employee who just retired. Age 56, almost 57. There was no number crunching for the decision. The treatment of Federal employees under the new administration was destroying my physical and mental health.

My husband and I had been saving for retirement at a pretty good level, so we should be okay financially.

I am not really interested in talking about politics. (If there is hate here for government employees, I would rather know now than later.) I think in many ways, I am not that different from people who left a toxic work environment in the private sector.

I am happy I got the opportunity to participate in the voluntary early retirement option. But it felt more like I was being pushed out than it being a voluntary choice.

Right now I am working through my feelings and recovering. Sometimes I feel tense and tired. Sometimes I feel incredibly relaxed. It all happened so very quickly it is hard to process.

Welcome.

I am a current Fed Employee, and my wife is as well. I am 60 but only have 14 years with the Fed Govt.

Our initial plan was to hold out till 2029 till the wife rated her pension, she is a VA nurse so her job is as safe as any job can be.

I put my chances of keeping my job at about 75% due in part to the luck of being in the location they tell us they are turning into the central Hub and making others move here.

I would love to be able to retire now, but we were late to starting our retirement saving. But we are working like crazy to catch up

 

[gattara]

Welcome! My husband worked for the FAA, retired at 56, has been very happily retired for 10 years. Lots of helpful folks here, you will be treated kindly and respectfully.

 

[wrigley]

Wife still working for the government (32 years) and still working from home 5 days a week.

 

[Flieger]

Welcome! Just keep it non-political and look for information on retirement/financial topics and you will be AOK!

Flieger

 

[shridog]

Welcome aboard! The one thing I missed when retiring was loss of contact I worked with for 30+ years. Wish I had found this board here 21 years ago when I left the work force. Try different and /or new things. You'll find some that you will enjoy. Learn to let go of the things you cannot control. Enjoy life!!

 

[HarveyS]

Welcome!
You stated "I am happy I got the opportunity to participate in the voluntary early retirement option. But it felt more like I was being pushed out than it being a voluntary choice. "
Just as an FYI, and I'm sure you know this, lots of folks (myself included) got pushed out of jobs in the private sector. I agree, not a pleasant way to leave a career.
You'll feel better the sooner you stop looking back at what happened and start looking forward to what's going to happen. The past is in the past, let it go.

 

[pacergal]

Ernie Zelinski's book mentioned above (post 16) is a good one. The "get a life" tree exercise is one you can return to over and over.

 

[skyking1]

We welcome everybody here but are especially sensitive to anyone who was pushed out or otherwise having a really bad time. I am sorry for your circumstances and that feeling of being afloat in a strange sea.
As @HarveyS pointed out, the seperation circumstances from private sector jobs can be very similar and I appreciate his advice.

 

[target2019]

Hello everyone.

I am a former Federal employee who just retired. Age 56, almost 57. There was no number crunching for the decision. The treatment of Federal employees under the new administration was destroying my physical and mental health.

My husband and I had been saving for retirement at a pretty good level, so we should be okay financially.

I am not really interested in talking about politics. (If there is hate here for government employees, I would rather know now than later.) I think in many ways, I am not that different from people who left a toxic work environment in the private sector.

I am happy I got the opportunity to participate in the voluntary early retirement option. But it felt more like I was being pushed out than it being a voluntary choice.

Right now I am working through my feelings and recovering. Sometimes I feel tense and tired. Sometimes I feel incredibly relaxed. It all happened so very quickly it is hard to process.

Welcome to the forum.

It's regretful that you came to a point in your public service job when your health was being destroyed. I was at that point when I worked for megacorp, whose existence depended on government procurement of their weapons systems. After two layoffs I went on to work for a very small defense contractor, and experienced first hand the extreme dedication of DoD employees. My best friend is an employee of the VA, and going through the anguish you mention. My wife's niece and husband are also at risk within the DoL.

I'd like to take a few minutes to thank you for performing admirably in your job. Some of the finest people I've met along the way were/are public employees. Any hate you experience online or in life because you were a "government employee" is completely unjustified.