How did you view your job/career by the time you FIREd?

[lucky penny]

"....those rare moments I ask myself if this is still worth it."

This is the critical question for me and I'm on the precipice. When are those "rare moments" too numerous to ignore?

I've been fortunate to have found a niche that is challenging, intellectually stimulating, sometimes thrilling and suits me perfectly. I've done it for a long time, and at times it's still exhilarating. I'm good at it and that's recognized. Financially, I'm definitely there. But...

Stress, deadlines, late hours, inflexible schedule, 24/7. Because of my ambivalence, the w**k is getting a lot harder. I don't want to die at my desk without having done...something else.

 

[Mdlerth]

Did any of you delay retirement because of fear or not having enough yet?

^^^ This.

According to FIREcalc, I could hit FI in 2017, although FEARcalc says it's more like 2018. A few extra bucks in the kitty and I'll be gone so fast my shadow won't be able to keep up.

I don't have the worst j*b in the world. My fellow sweatshoppers are likeable. The business puts out useful products that benefit humanity. The paycheck comes on time, has never bounced, and is more than we live on. I suspect about 99% of humans throughout history would kill to be in my position.

But having to get up at 5am and squander the best hours of each day has lost its charm. I remember having a good day in March 2007, when I taught myself how to use a powerful mathematical tool to solve a problem. Since then... meh.

 

[Ronstar]

I sold my ownership, cut down to 1-2 days a week, and my boss retired turning the reigns over to his son - all during the last few years of work. I always enjoyed my job, but the enjoyment was sinking fast when I retired. It was just too much fun doing other things.

 

[RobbieB]

I did not hate my job or my company or my boss. I was not a manager. I worked at a micro-corp not a mega-corp.

I had enough dough so why bother? Time to do what I want to do and nothing else.

 

[jcretire77]

Not that my story is any different, just reached a point of burn out and not feeling appreciated. When 'new' management came in and the VP decided to micro-manage every decision that was the start. The same VP was vindictive. You did not want to get on the wrong side, oops, I did. So many years of stagnant salary, though I rationalized that as I had probably been overpaid for a few years too. The job details were fine, the co-workers were great and the people we supported were mostly appreciative. Every three years it seems like another RIF happened and overall support personnel were leaving or being let go and there were always new and more complicated tools to support for the designers. It became too much so when the last one came along both my wife and I decided that there had to be something better and there is. I received a couple of emails from former employees who said that I had been lucky to get out when I did as it has only gotten worse. It has only been eleven weeks. That was sad to hear for them.

 

[pb4uski]

I was probably in the minority. I liked my job, my boss, my colleagues and most of my clients. I was in a senior subject matter expert role working 50%, mostly by phone and email, with some occasional travel for face-time with clients. Since we all worked on multiple clients, only one of my clients knew that I was less than full-time.

I made a lot of money for a relatively easy job. The only problem is that it was a high-demand niche (M&A consulting) so I was essentially on-call 24/7, conference calls would frequently get deferred or re-scheduled at the last minute, etc. so I rarely had contiguous time that I could count on having to myself. It was hard to plan on a morning or afternoon golfing with friends being on-call all the time.

In fact, I recall one situation where I had plans to play golf with friends and a conference call that I was tangentially involved in on one-issue popped up. I decided to carry on with my plans and dialed in from the golf course with my phone in my golf bag and my bluetooth earbud on mute so I could listen in. I played 3 holes that way until they were through the agenda item that was relevant to me and I signed off.

Anyway, since I had enough, I decided that I valued free time more than more money and quit.

 

[Dog]

I enjoyed a 38 year career and had every intention to work for 40 years and then retire. I enjoyed my co-workers, but was finding it more and more difficult to show enthusiasm for leadership decisions not to mention championing them with my team of managers. I just felt like I'd seen this - done this before and felt like I was wasting time. The days were dragging and I felt like I was on the verge of becoming a malcontent at work. My mother's health was rapidly declining, so the timing was right to leave and spend more time with her. She passed shortly after, so no regrets at all and I am truly enjoying the freedom to pursue hobbies.

 

[Walt34]

I was a police officer and generally liked my job. There were of course some bad days but generally I was doing something useful and many, many people said "I could not do your job" which I took as a compliment. Eighteen years on the road in Patrol and then went to the Fraud Section that had a huge advantage of being "normal business hours" I'd never had an "8 to 4" daytime job with weekends and holidays off, just like normal people. About zero overtime, but by then we were well enough set that I didn't care.

Around that time (1990-1991) we had bought a home computer at a time when market penetration for them was (I think) about 5% but ramping up quickly. DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0, remember them? Knowing absolutely nothing about computers but very curious about how it worked I subscribed to computer magazines, bought books, joined a PC user group and read a lot, both books and on the BBS for the user group.

At work the office started getting computer crime cases, such as scams on AOL or a local BBS, and one involved data recovered in a homicide case. That got the attention of the "folks upstairs". I would take these scam cases because no one else had a clue as to how to work them and I enjoyed the new aspect. I was also the only one in the office who knew what a batch file was and could even write a simple one. During an in-service training session we had about a two-hour talk by an FBI agent who at the time was the only agent with a PhD on computer science. He gave a fascinating (to me, most others were bored) talk about data recovery from hard drives that had convicted a guy in PA of a brutal murder. That was the second murder the guy had committed and in the first one the police ignored the computer as a source of evidence. Bear in mind this was late 1980's and a home computer was a somewhat exotic device mostly used by scientists and engineers. So it is fair to say the second victim died because the police didn't know what to do with a home computer. I could see that happening where I worked and wanted to change that. So I did.

Looking around the state, I found that there were only five people in the entire state doing computer forensic work, but in a lucky break for me, a non-profit law enforcement volunteer group was having their annual two-week training conference in the Washington, D.C. area that year within commuting distance for me, so I could go to the class.

This eventually got me what I thought was a way-cool job straight out of a Robert Heilein novel. I loved it and often thought "I can't believe they're actually paying me to do this!" It went that way for years but all good things come to an end and eventually ongoing training got more difficult to get, as did software (not cheap) and hardware. The bad guys just steal their stuff, we have to buy it. Also at the time the traffic in the D.C. area was becoming intolerable. I looked at the numbers and realized that there was no financial reason to keep working, so I pulled the plug.

 

[W2R]

Retirement is just another stage in life. I don't think it has to mean that you "hate your job" or are completely fed up, although many do feel that way for a variety of reasons.

When I was a teen, I looked forward to turning 16 so that I could get my driver's license. Woo-hoo! As a driver I entered a new and exciting stage in life.

Similarly, as an adult I looked forward to accumulating enough in my portfolio so that I could retire. And now, I am enjoying this new stage in my life quite a bit.

 

[rodi]

Like many others have said earlier in this thread... I enjoyed my work/career... till the last few years.

In my case there were a series of corporate changes (split, split again, acquired, spun off, sold - all within a few years). Each time there were layoffs, changes (negative) to benefits, and reduced opportunities. Each time the "fun" at work lessened. In addition the work was interfering more and more with "my" time... 5am conference calls 2 x week, and 9pm conference calls on a different day. I lobbied hard for a layoff after the last corporate change where we were sold off... But the layoffs didn't happen on my timeframe. (If I'd held out another 18 months I could have gotten my golden parachute... hindsight is 20/20.) I had that horrible dread on Sunday nights knowing I'd have to go to work on Monday. My final straw was when my boss told our group that three of us would be rotating through a customer site - every 3rd week away from home... I ran my numbers one more time and gave notice the following morning.

 

[scrabbler1]

I liked the job I had for the most part. I worked in the actuarial field although I had long before stopped taking actuarial exams. Being a student of the 1980s, I did a lot of programming work on a mainframe system. This also made me a big fish in a small pond, being able to combine my actuarial skills with programming expertise. I was in charge of the end-user programming in my division.


I was also one of the supervisors in my division, so I had some authority to go along with responsibility. I didn't like some of the grunt work associated with being a supervisor such as writing employee performance reviews.


In the 1980s and part of the 1900s, my enjoyment of the job outweighed the commute I didn't like, so all was good for the first 11 years of the job. Then, the commute began taking its toll on me in the late 1990s. I made some adjustments to my morning routine but it was still a tough go.


What worsened things was when the company announced in 1999 its relocation from lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey in 2001. That made my barely tolerable commute even worse. And there were no good places to eat lunch near the new office. I knew then that this would be my eventual undoing,


I was able to switch to part-time work including some telecommuting for the last 7 years of my career (2001-2008) although the end of telecommuting in late 2003 was the final blow. I hung in for another 5 years but the commute, even down to 2 or 3 days a week in those 5 years became too much.


I was still enjoying the work which was mostly programming related (most of my supervisory responsibilities were taken rom me) but the commute was still burning me out again.


By 2006 I was designing my ER plan, reviewing my expenses and watching the exploding value of the company stock. The pieces of my ER plan kept falling into place, prompting me to ask myself every day while at the office (or, especially, during the commute), "Why am I still working here?"


In 2008, the pieces had fallen into place and at the end of September I gave my notice to leave at the end of October.


My 23-year career was a good one and I learned a lot. While I don't write programs any more, the PC skills I learned I still use today for personal tasks. My auto insurance knowledge is sometimes useful although it is becoming outdated.


I stay in touch with one friend/coworker who has told me about the many changes to the company since 2009. From what he has told me, I wouldn't recognize the place any more! Probably a good thing.


I am soooooo glad I left that all behind, especially the dang commute!

 

[2017ish]

We are in the final months of working. If it were possible to do my type of job properly M-F, with predictable hours, without sacrificing the intellectual challenge and adrenaline of the fight, and with the ability to plan/take longer vacations, I'd likely keep working. Same with DW.

In real life, however, that isn't possible, we have a nice nest egg, and we would like to see more of each other and the world....

 

[nuke_diver]

I never wanted to work so my whole working career was plan/saving to not work. I did work with a lot of great people some of which because real friends (including one old boss in fact). But I always said once I had $1 more than I felt I needed I was out. I couldn't understand anyone who made a lot of $$ and kept working ( I have a friend like that). I always did a good job, and was never laid off but I also stayed far away from any politics and probably stayed at a lower level than I might have but I never worried about making more, just about making enough.

Once I got the number I was gone. Fortunately for me the number was supposed to be July 1st 2015 but the company merged and there were volunteer layoffs offered. I jumped immediately and got out in March 2015 with more money than I would have in July...win win situation

 

[razztazz]

I always did a good job, and was never laid off but I also stayed far away from any politics and probably stayed at a lower level than I might have but I never worried about making more, just about making enough.

Sounds like my life's story. Sometimes we can have the cake and eat it too

 

[NanoSour]

I'm probably in the minority in that I loved my job at megacorp when I FIRE'd at age 49. I had a great boss and worked with great people. My DW was not happy where we were so we picked up and moved across the country. Things have worked out fine in FIRE, but at times I struggle with the thought that I may have left too early.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My work was killing all creativity and left me exhausted and burnt out.

My first 10 years in medicine post residency were very stressful. I was in a large group practice. When we were on call we were expected to see patients who showed up in the ER as well as drop what we were doing and drive to the hospital to attend high risk births. That changed for the better 5 years in, but then we started adding evening hours, more weekend hours, dropped our day off during the week, etc.

I never liked office practice anyway, so I jumped at the chance to work at a night time hospitalist job. But a wacky billing system left us completely under billing and the hospital ended the program 3 years in. It was the best job I had with enough breathing space and time for family which was absolutely critical when my son was struggling with a learning disability.

I was forced to move to a completely dysfunctional clinic and eventually got fired for trying to make sensible changes.

Then worked in a small practice where partnership was initially offered but the other practitioner never increased my hours or pay and never got around to the partnership. I did moonlighting to make ends meet waiting for partnership. I was slowly dipping into my nest egg and started planning to open my own practice when another hospitals job landed in my lap, working with a group of physicians I really respected. My base salary was good and the annual bonus was really nice. I was still overworked but there was a nice camaraderie and importantly, support when life got in the way of work. For several years we were all female and managed to cover the additional hours during 4 partner pregnancies and health problems and deaths of our various parents.

Unfortunately the parent mega medical corp did some weird shenanigans with our attempts to hire more staff in 2012-2013, and my friend who got me the job and who was my support when things got rough (too many babies for one person to manage) ended up stepping down as medical director.

In 2014 I found this forum, did the math, and decided to announce my retirement. I was asked to fill in at another hospital we staffed (a much easier position!) for a few months. In the meantime, half the group quit over the next year because they were way overworked.

When I took the temporary job, the new medical director tried to give me s contract paying me half of what a I should have received. It took him awhile to see his mistake, but when I said I would never work for that little he finally got it. I realized he was a sleaze ball.

I went into medicine for both the security and because it was a meaningful career. At one point I was department chair and could have been chief of staff in my 30s. But with a small child at home and chronic burnout setting in, I lost all ambition. I stopped working on hospital committees in 2004.

The workload was horrendous for most of my career. I was physically exhausted all the time. Having worked my last day July 31st, I still feel as if I'm recovering. I am trying to find out who I am and develop healthy routines for myself. I don't think I've yet adjusted to not working.

 

[Senator]

What was your mindset when you finally retired? How did you view your job/ career by the time you finally pulled the plug? Was the crap bucket full and you were glad to go? Did any of you delay retirement because of fear or not having enough yet? Did any delay retirement because you enjoyed your job so much and got fulfillment and satisfaction from it even though you had enough money to retire early? Did anyone retire even though they were perfectly happy at work?

When I pulled the plug, I was healthy and needed more time to do 'stuff'. I had a full schedule outside of work, and actually made more money outside of work, so the time factor was a big thing. I have 25 rentals that I manage and maintain myself, have a RE license and sell a 1-3 homes a year, HOA president, HOA property manager, had a small mowing and plowing business, etc.

I used much of my vacations over the past 8 years taking classes, doing construction/rehab work on my rentals, and catching up on life.

I did not mind the W2 work, but often I felt it was a waste of my time. Some projects left me little time to do my onn thing when I was working... I have a unique skill set, more of a task accomplish-er, jack-of-all-trades in a technical field. I had the ability to connect the right people to the task, but I began to lose the 'fire' and was more interested in my own things.

I also know the end is coming, no matter how much we think we are able to defy death. If I worked until 65, that gives me 15 years max, probably less. Exiting at 55 gives me an extra 60% more time.

Now I have the time to do what I want, when I want.

 

[Danmar]

I had a wonderful job. Challenging, very well paying but very high profile. The top of my profession. My last boss (CEO) was difficult to work for, expected 100% all the time and quite demanding. I had the utmost respect for him though. I once told him I would rather be a shareholder than an employee. He really liked that as he had shareholders at the top of his mind, always. That was during my wind down period when I was training my successor. By my mid 50's I had and had had enough ( in both senses of the word). No regrets.

 

[kcowan]

I loved my job. But as CEO, I had trained my successor. I asked the Board to fund a major expansion that I would lead. They declined (owing to their lack of vision IMHO).

So did I want to continue being CEO? I decided that I was ready. I could have launched a startup to pursue my business vision but I knew that would be a 5-7 year commitment.

At first, our portfolio was marginal but after a few years, we had enough buffer to stop trading for short term profits. Convertible debentures were our secret weapon. The last one is due in June 2017 and has been delivering 6.25% yield and is currently trading at 4x what we paid for it. Sweet!

 

[brett]

I worked for a great company and loved every minute up until that last year or so. Worked some long hours, travelled, relocated, and worked with some wonderful colleagues, customers, partners, and suppliers. I was given opportunity for advancement, responsiblity, and remuneration/pay for performance schedule was very lucrative.

Looking back it was not the quarterly revenue, profit, growth, customer sat goals etc that caused the most stress. It was having to downside frequently and layoff very good people. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked in the industry and for the organization that I did.

 

[6miths]

I always loved what I was doing in the day to day and felt that I was making a positive difference but long hours and stress and bureaucracy adds up and there are only so many quality years. Got to the point that I felt that it was better to let the youngsters take over and have their turn.

 

[hankster]

As I near the end of my career (planning to FIRE in 2017) I feel the enthusiasm I once had for the job declining. More scrutiny and paperwork have taken a lot of the fun out of it.

I just feel ready to let a younger person take over my position, setting me free to enjoy more time with my family and more time to travel. I'm tired of scheduling my life around job obligations.

 

[MikeWillRetire]

I started my civil engineering career 33 years ago. Back then, I sat at a drafting table doing hand calculations, sketching up designs on paper and handing them off to a draftsman. I enjoyed that. But slowly, the computer creeped into the office. Now, I sit behind two computer screens all day, operating programs that do all of the computations and drafting. It's no longer enjoyable for me. I will walk away from it soon, thankfully.

 

[foxfirev5]

In March of 2009, the bottom of the great recession, I joined this forum. My job of nearly 30 years was on the line and I had to reapply for my current position. Fortunately DW and I led a LBYM lifestyle for over 30 years and were nearly FI. That took a lot of the heat off.
The next few years were OK with work, but the heavy travel was taking it's toll. Earlier this year I realized if I keep putting it off my health and well being would suffer.
Pulled the plug on April 29th and have had no regrets. Not even one moment of regret.
On top of that DW and I have discovered we don't need much money to enjoy ourselves.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I became--and remain to this day--unapologetically and openly hostile to the field I was in. Realizing my dream of attaining leadership within organizations exposed me to all of the hypocrisy and double-speak (careful what you wish for). The higher you rise in so-called leadership within organizations it's all about who and what [censored] versus performance. Performance does count, but a good organizational politician (and/or inept leadership) can cover a universe of sinful mediocrity. I saw this repeatedly, regardless of the organization and regardless of the industry.

I used to laugh at all the MSM business books, celebrity CEO speakers, and consultants continually with their hand out in exchange for their management, "leadership", change management, etc. ad nauseam "solutions", all of which cost a fortune in organizational time, money, and resources, only to disappear with the next regime. I also found those with their snouts deepest in the trough were the ones who most rigorously defended the leadership facade--the Great Wizard does never likes it when the curtain is pulled back. Not that I didn't benefit from the unholy salaries attached to leadership, but I had to decide just how long I going to sell my soul. The last couple years before ER I became totally vacant at work--a hologram-there but not there. It was the only way I survived.

Retirement, OTOH, to use the metaphor, is akin to rolling back the stone and ascending into heaven.

+1 only difference for me was I had great first five years at a small co before it was gobbled up in a merger, and I chose to move on. My industry continued with more and more mergers, with each larger and larger co i was at it became more and more exactly how Options describes. I liked many of my co-workers, after all they were survivors too. But mgmt, um......NO! As soon as I had a reasonable lifestyle available in ER, which was basic FI + 5 more yrs of OMY, i was out of there, at age 55. Still keep in contact with a half dozen or so people, and it has not gotten any better.