Hit my "one year left" date on Friday.

[hmrambling]

Similar camp. I met with my retirement plan folks but haven't turned in anything to HR yet. Retirement folks counsel on different retirement options but they don't really accept any paperwork. HR has to certify the retirement application. I'll guess as soon as I complete my retirement paperwork and turn it in to HR that HR will tell my agency. I'm taking my time with my paperwork to make sure I get it right and am trying to decide when I'll turn it in. I found your thread because I searched "give notice." I can't be the only one with the burning question of how far in advance to formally give notice.

I've mentioned to my immediate supervisor that she doesn't need to continue working on 2027 travel authorization for me because I won't be here. Why put in that effort when it's unnecessary? I also told her that I haven't formally let my office know. I'm chomping at the bit to let them know, though.

 

[Koolau]

Similar camp. I met with my retirement plan folks but haven't turned in anything to HR yet. Retirement folks counsel on different retirement options but they don't really accept any paperwork. HR has to certify the retirement application. I'll guess as soon as I complete my retirement paperwork and turn it in to HR that HR will tell my agency. I'm taking my time with my paperwork to make sure I get it right and am trying to decide when I'll turn it in. I found your thread because I searched "give notice." I can't be the only one with the burning question of how far in advance to formally give notice.

I've mentioned to my immediate supervisor that she doesn't need to continue working on 2027 travel authorization for me because I won't be here. Why put in that effort when it's unnecessary? I also told her that I haven't formally let my office know. I'm chomping at the bit to let them know, though.

Looking back, I sorta envy you (and OP). I had always thought I'd set a date - perhaps a year out - and spend that last year finishing off things, dotting "i's" and crossing "t's," saying my good-byes, basking in the glow of the sadly-sweet final year. But, some things are not to be, I suppose. When my assignment was suddenly changed, I made up my mind over a week-end and announced the next week that I'd be gone by Friday. I'd have preferred several months or even a year to wind down.

Enjoy your final time and do make some great memories of your last months at w*rk! All the best.

 

[RxMan]

Congratulations! Retiring in less than a year is exciting. I may be joining you.

We had our second meeting with our new financial advisor today. He’s on board with us deciding to call it quits at any time. He recommended that I stop part of my 401k contributions (anything above the level to capture all of the company match) and divert all of that extra money to a taxable brokerage account.

We’ve got some things that might make working a little longer a good idea. A big factor is we want to buy a house in the next couple of years. That purchase was worked into our retirement plan.

I’ve all but 100% decided that I will work until either towards the end of 2026 or sometime in the first half of 2027 with the spring being the most likely timeframe.

I guess I’m feeling a strange combination of excitement and anxiety. Retirement always seemed so far away that I didn’t think about it much until about 8 years ago. Once the possibility of retirement became more of a possibility I took preparing for it seriously.

We’ll be relying on our taxable brokerage account to carry us through the first several years of retirement as I won’t be able to use the Rule of 55 to access my 401k. That should work out fine and our advisor said because of our ages we had plenty of years to implement tax strategies such as Roth conversions.

Good luck to you! It’s an exciting time to be this close to retirement. I guess all of that hard work and saving really does pay off!

 

[OK EE]

Congratulations! Retiring in less than a year is exciting. I may be joining you.

Sounds like you're in basically the same boat as we're in. Around 2017 we started accumulating cash because our spend was significantly lower than our W2 wages. We reached out to an advisor that got us squared away. We were mostly invested in 401K only but after that we spread out and got our Roth IRA, brokerage, and HSA accounts funded. Although we do have access to our 401Ks (assuming I don't get let go in the next 7 months), we also plan to fund the near future off brokerage. We're building a second home next year. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[RxMan]

Sounds like you're in basically the same boat as we're in. Around 2017 we started accumulating cash because our spend was significantly lower than our W2 wages. We reached out to an advisor that got us squared away. We were mostly invested in 401K only but after that we spread out and got our Roth IRA, brokerage, and HSA accounts funded. Although we do have access to our 401Ks (assuming I don't get let go in the next 7 months), we also plan to fund the near future off brokerage. We're building a second home next year. I'm looking forward to it!

Congratulations! That sounds great. It does seem like we’re in similar situations.

We’re debating our options regarding housing. Original plan was to move to a different primary residence in our area. We’re also considering buying a second home maybe at the beach or mountains and keeping our current paid off home. This would happen probably within the next three years which means we should both be retired before the home decision/purchase is made.

Regarding our accounts, we were lucky in our combined variety. My savings is dominated by 401k contributions coupled with a much smaller Roth IRA and even smaller taxable brokerage account.

My wife is almost the exact opposite, a majority of her funds are located in a taxable brokerage account coupled with smaller Roth IRA and 401k accounts. This means our combined savings is nicely distributed to have probably about 37% of our total net worth in taxable brokerage accounts.

I hope your retirement will be everything you dreamed it would be. I know that personally I am so excited to retire that I’m now finding it difficult to concentrate on work.