How did you choose your retirement date?

[Koolau]

I'm waiting until around 7/1/2025 for the same reasons as the above. DW is (was) a teacher and was planning on retiring at the end of this school year in June, so I told my employer I would also be done around the end of June or the first of July.

Then things got too toxic at DW's school and she ended up retiring over Christmas break.
But I'm still going to stick it out through the end of June, (June 15th is my 3-year anniversary and I get an additional 2-weeks vacation,) since I already told my employer I would stay through June. I'm not sure what my last w*rking day will be yet, due to vacation rules, etc.

But it'll be somewhere around the end of June or the first of July.

Congratulations on setting your (approximate) date. That's a big part of FIRE - setting the date. Now all you have to do is stick to it and keep your head down for 6 more months. Keep us posted.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

I kept looking for the option labeled “Anger/Ran out of patience” but it wasn’t listed

 

[Jamie1101]

Inspired by the "What age did you leave PRIMARY work?" poll, I was curious how those of us that pulled the trigger chose their last day. While some of use didn't get to choose, others certainly chose to maximize benefits/taxes, I suspect others chose a date based of some personal significance (even year to starting career, birthday, lucky number, etc). Hope this is a fun one!

​

I worked as a blue collar production worker on the GM factory floor. Our UAW contract had the 30 years and out provision where by once you had 30 years of seniority you were eligible for a full retirement with benefits. I began my GM "career" in 1976. I lived in dread we would lose that benefit at every contract negotiation. I began investing, saving, and planning for my retirement my first years at the plant. I have many varied interests and friends outside of work that I focused my life upon. My life goal was never my job. It's a long story but I kept meticulous spread sheets of my working hours of 2005 and knew the second that I had my 30 years seniority. I left GM in late August 2005, nearly 20 years ago. Because of that early planning I never had to work a job again. If I had to have money, I never would have retired as at the time GM was the top tier for factory work moneywise. I plan to collect my pension for longer than I worked.

 

[scrinch]

We were living overseas and I was getting near to retirement when my stepfather passed away less than a month from his 90th birthday. His memorial service was delayed a few months to accommodate the schedules of me and several other family members. I decided to make the trip back to the US a permanent one, and so retired before that trip home.

It worked out well because I got to spend most of that summer in the Sierras, and megacorp ended up selling the business that employed me later that year, so I would have lost my job within a few months anyway.

 

[NeilDH]

I responded that my date was chosen for me; it's kind of half-true. It was a voluntary buyout, offered for a fifth time in six years. At 53 for me and 51 for DW (at the same company), we finally took it, because our workload and work schedule were getting out of hand, and we were not happy with the company direction. I explained just recently in revisiting my first thread here my thought process: TLR is that we simply didn't want a new job after that.

I was planning our finances to retire by 60 (my age), or 55 if the market and my investments really hit right. I really didn't expect the 55 plan to happen. But it turns out we became a One Fewer Year couple , as I was surprised when sizing up our portfolio in 2023 that we could pull off not working. There was a prescribed end date, then we were asked to stay on because of a computer system meltdown (which really cemented our decision), so we stayed another 11 days until we finally called it.

 

[big-papa]

Was contemplating it for a couple of years. Then in early 2022, I got new boss (who was old friend) who asked me what my runway was. Told him 6 months. We talked, then I told him I'd be willing to stay as long as it takes to find and train my replacement. That took longer than anybody expected and 15 months later I was gone - this included a 2 month extension at the end at my request to snag my last RSU's for the year. Lucked out as I received 2 corporate bonuses that were records for the company, a bunch of RSU's that vested when the company's share price was at its peak and a bunch of ESPP shares, also when the company share price was at its peak, along with 15 months of salary. Worked out well all the way around, financially.

It was also a breath of fresh air to be able to have some control over my departure. There were multiple times in my career where that wasn't the case.

Cheers.

 

[Ken_Bogart]

I selected my retirement date in year 2000. I figured I wanted to retire at 55, so I selected Jan 1, 2020. Just after 55th birthday, which left me eligible to stay on the company health insurance (which was inconsequential for me, ACA is a much better deal).

Most important was I set up a countdown clock showing the number of days to retirement. 7000+ days, but it gave me a goal. I have always told my coworkers, if you don't have a target, you will never hit it!

 

[equakesfan]

I selected my retirement date because I wanted to fly across the country to see the total eclipse.

Didn't think about it in the winter when I would have had to put in for vacation time so I didn't request the time. I found out our kids had the week off and we could go if I didn't have to work. That set the retirement date as the Friday (April 5) before the eclipse (April 8). I was already planning for sometime in April but probably not that early in the month.

 

[jgrdarrash]

End of the month I turned 55. I'm now eligible for retiree health insurance and could withdraw from 401(k) without 10% penalty

 

[1242Vintage]

After my annual performance evaluation, I posed a spontaneous question to my CEO, “how much lead time do you need prior to my retirement”?

We settled on 6 weeks and that was it!

CEO’s office was up on the 13th floor, so I went down to the plaza level, called me wife, told her what I just did and she said, “Honey come on home”. Love that girl for her everlasting faith in me and my decisions.

Hopped a plane and was home that later that nigh. I ran out my remaining six weeks as a remote worker from home!

 

[PatrickW]

Chose my date, but kept it secret due to toxic politics. Company announced that they were going to “reduce their footprint”, so I did the One-More-Year thing in hopes of getting a severance.

I got the severance.

 

[hpnutty]

My wife suggested April 1st to see if people thought it was a joke. No one bit.

 

[kilgore]

Single dad. Youngest child graduated college and had a job. Time for dad to graduate from work.

 

[Valid not Invalid]

As a federal LEO needing 20 years of service, I had a 3-month window of time between when I could retire at age 56 and 3/4 and when I had to retire at age 57, mandated. I was working remotely during COVID and had a relocation and my older kid graduating high school in those last three months. So I retired in April 2021, happily at age 56 and 3/4.

 

[albundyz]

My fortune 500 company had an early retirement program that I was grandfathered into. At 56, I had 34 years in. Magic number was 90. I retired asap before they changed their mind.

 

[Koolau]

My fortune 500 company had an early retirement program that I was grandfathered into. At 56, I had 34 years in. Magic number was 90. I retired asap before they changed their mind.

We had a 90 point system as well. I think I amassed 94 before Megacorp decided I was having too much fun and changed my assignment. I never got to 95 before I left.

 

[RobLJ]

I don't think any of the answers apply. We hit above what I thought was the minimum amount we needed, and the boys graduated from college and were gone from the nest to the West Coast, and I could work for 5 years online at half-salary. So then we were gone (I was 57, DW was 53).
It was interesting to see the mix of all the answers here, as always.
And yeah, I was only semi-retired (it felt like being retired, but whatever.)

 

[Koolau]

As a federal LEO needing 20 years of service, I had a 3-month window of time between when I could retire at age 56 and 3/4 and when I had to retire at age 57, mandated. I was working remotely during COVID and had a relocation and my older kid graduating high school in those last three months. So I retired in April 2021, happily at age 56 and 3/4.

I really like your avatar.

 

[Allytx]

For many of the 33 yrs I worked at my job, I loved it. But in the final years, it became incredibly stressful. I had to take anxiety medication to function. After Christmas break one year, I decided to retire. I gave my board (this was a nonprofit) my notice and agreed to work for a few months, so they could hire someone. I worked about 3 months until they hired my assistant as my replacement. Since I had trained her in all my duties as my backup, I was able to retire quickly after that.

My health was part of the reason I left early. That was 10 yrs ago.

 

[meleana]

New Management tried hard to push me (and other long term employees) out. Eventually they won and I resigned (age 62) and never worked again. Then hubby decided he was getting tired (age 65), we met with a financial advisor- fee for advice only- bought a brand new, very small downsized home out of state, put our long term home up for sale and by the end of the year he also retired and we moved.

 

[urn2bfree]

I did plan to stay until a certain point in the fiscal year to maximize benefits, but the actual day was open to my colleagues after that. I agreed to stay as long as they needed to train/advise my replacement. My colleagues and my replacement chose a 90 day overlap period. The replacement chose his start date.
By sheer coincidence the final day of my work landed at the end of those 90 days --exactly ON MY 52nd BIRTHDAY!

 

[Out of Steam]

I had long planned to work 6 or 7 months past my 60th birthday (when I became eligible for regular retirement) so I could retire in the spring. About 18 months before turning 60, a co-worker, who was a steward for the technicians' union, told me that people who applied for retirement incentive payments in the spring of each year nearly always got them.

Since my daughter was just finishing college, I didn't want to retire early. But the following spring, I applied for the incentive with a date at the end of September, and was approved.

 

[Koolau]

I had long planned to work 6 or 7 months past my 60th birthday (when I became eligible for regular retirement) so I could retire in the spring. About 18 months before turning 60, a co-worker, who was a steward for the technicians' union, told me that people who applied for retirement incentive payments in the spring of each year nearly always got them.

Since my daughter was just finishing college, I didn't want to retire early. But the following spring, I applied for the incentive with a date at the end of September, and was approved.

Sorry but I'm ignorant about incentive payments. Is that what I always think of as a "package" to get older folks to retire?

 

[Out of Steam]

Sorry but I'm ignorant about incentive payments. Is that what I always think of as a "package" to get older folks to retire?

Yes, though in the US Federal case, it's fairly modest, $40K paid out either as a lump sum, or biweekly over a year.

 

[freedomatlast]

Waited for a very generous separation package to become available and volunteered to go in July 2019. Started receiving my pension 5 months later. About a year later, the same company offered to me an extremely generous package to come back offering that I could keep receiving my pension in addition to their compensation package. So I'm back for now, but if there's three bad days in a row, I'm outta there!

Along with fantastic market returns, this has allowed my account balances to explode to almost surreal levels and allowed splurges that were once only dreams.