Impatience - and dealing with it

[lionfire]

I have 9 more years to go, per plan. 2031.

More and more recently (esp as 2022 was born) I find myself getting very impatient at times - I become moody, jumpy more and more as I get "closer" to my retirement; which is crazy because 9 years is not a short amount of time. A lot could happen by then. A whole lot. But try telling that to my heart - it doesnt care - it is "done" and it wants to jump ahead and retire now. I day dream of that day, that feeling. Some of my friends have recently retired (that doesnt help lol) - and interestingly I can leanFIRE (~7k/mo) right now if I so chose to, but I dont want that either; I have kids in college and want them to complete undergrad before I retire for that extra security. Part of the other reason to pick 2031 is that at this point, I will become eligible for a "pension" of sorts that is pretty useful and amazing financial benefit - it will be more than enough to tide me over from 56 to 62 or so without dipping into savings.

Do others experience this type of "impatience" and how do u handle it? Appreciate it.

 

[Dtail]

Semi related experience.
In Nov 2015, felt restlessness in my career for the first time. Was planning on retiring around age 62, but no set plan.
Turns out, I was offered a great severance package in Jan 2016, so this aspect of my issue was resolved.
If this didn't happen, would probably have experienced some of your feelings.
I would say to try and look at the situation in a positive light and find some other none work "distractions" to alleviate some of the feelings.

 

[Marita40]

Well you have a ways to go so I sympathize. You will have to find some new creativity or interest in some aspect of your job to get through it. I tried to branch out of my immediate group to get to know others in other areas; ie. focused on people. However it wasn’t until my last two years that I was irritated and impatient often. I started to transition mentally by planning and daydreaming for retirement.

 

[Ncc1701]

I hear ya brother, I've got 3 years to go. I installed this retirement countdown app on my phone just to torture myself with daily.

I switched to a low/no stress job and the three year wait becomes more bearable knowing that we would have secured a pension, healthcare and our child would be done with HS by then.

 

[lionfire]

I hear ya brother, I've got 3 years to go. I installed this retirement countdown app on my phone just to torture myself with daily.

I switched to a low/no stress job and the three year wait becomes more bearable knowing that we would have secured a pension, healthcare and our child would be done with HS by then.

Haha, I have to look for that app myself as a way to torture myself more

I am, I would say, at what is the peak of my career right now and I think 5 more years of this, I do intend to do something to reduce to a lower stress job. But it is still 5 years away!

It feels surreal that I am impatient about getting older !!! It is a such a first world/corporate world problem.

 

[MC Rider]

Patience?


Yeah yeah, how long will that take?!

 

[Kork13]

I'm with you... I've got 6.5 years before I qualify for retirement (and the pension that will secure our FIRE plans). My goal is to retire within 4 days of hitting eligibility, and I'm probably too eager in looking forward to that blessed day.

Best I can say is to stay busy, stay interested, and look outside of yourself -- find ways to help/develop the people around you. Not that any of that will make the future come any faster... But you'll at least feel fulfilled with the time.

 

[Ncc1701]

Haha, I have to look for that app myself as a way to torture myself more

I am, I would say, at what is the peak of my career right now and I think 5 more years of this, I do intend to do something to reduce to a lower stress job. But it is still 5 years away!

It feels surreal that I am impatient about getting older !!! It is a such a first world/corporate world problem.

It helps to know you are definitely not alone!

 

[purplesky]

I have 9 more years to go, per plan. 2031.

More and more recently (esp as 2022 was born) I find myself getting very impatient at times - I become moody, jumpy more and more as I get "closer" to my retirement; which is crazy because 9 years is not a short amount of time. A lot could happen by then. A whole lot. But try telling that to my heart - it doesnt care - it is "done" and it wants to jump ahead and retire now. I day dream of that day, that feeling. Some of my friends have recently retired (that doesnt help lol) - and interestingly I can leanFIRE (~7k/mo) right now if I so chose to, but I dont want that either; I have kids in college and want them to complete undergrad before I retire for that extra security. Part of the other reason to pick 2031 is that at this point, I will become eligible for a "pension" of sorts that is pretty useful and amazing financial benefit - it will be more than enough to tide me over from 56 to 62 or so without dipping into savings.

Do others experience this type of "impatience" and how do u handle it? Appreciate it.

I have 4 more years to go to get a full 30 year pension amount and my impatience is killing me.
Basically my last 3 years bumps my final pension amount by $20,000 per year so if I don't retire now the money left on the table is real and stupid to walkaway from.

With almost a decade to go you have to ignore your retirement date if possible.

I am starting to experience retirement anxiety because I can go early now with low cost insurance until age 65.

Pension handcuffs.

 

[young-ish]

Yes absolutely. I was impatient and OCD re quitting the last 4 years of my working career. These feelings didn’t leave me until I quit for good.
If you really don’t like your job then saving more & spending less is the best medicine.
Happiness really doesn’t cost anywhere near as much as your lean fire #. You can live a great life for way less.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I had anxiety and panic attacks about work for much of my career. Only from 1999-2010 due to a busy life outside of work and a quieter schedule, did I not experience that. Some days I'd swear and yell in my car while driving to work. It was only when I joined this forum and shared numbers did I realize I could already retire that the anxiety and burnout ease.

Nine years is a long time-I wouldn't count it down yet. But make the most of your non-work life, taking care of yourself physically and mentally, and as was suggested before, cut spending and increase saving and investing. I wish I hadn't been working 12+ hour days standing most of the time the last few years of work, as now I have all kinds of lower body arthritis to show for it.

Another thing is that you may be jumpy due to winter and Covid, things unrelated to retirement.

 

[CCdaCE]

I have 9 more years to go, per plan. 2031.

More and more recently (esp as 2022 was born) I find myself getting very impatient at times - I become moody, jumpy more and more as I get "closer" to my retirement; which is crazy because 9 years is not a short amount of time. A lot could happen by then. A whole lot. But try telling that to my heart - it doesnt care - it is "done" and it wants to jump ahead and retire now. I day dream of that day, that feeling. Some of my friends have recently retired (that doesnt help lol) - and interestingly I can leanFIRE (~7k/mo) right now if I so chose to, but I dont want that either; I have kids in college and want them to complete undergrad before I retire for that extra security. Part of the other reason to pick 2031 is that at this point, I will become eligible for a "pension" of sorts that is pretty useful and amazing financial benefit - it will be more than enough to tide me over from 56 to 62 or so without dipping into savings.

Do others experience this type of "impatience" and how do u handle it? Appreciate it.

I read this awhile back, and couldn't help but relate to the same feelings and finally had to reply. I have 10-15 years left. I saw that date/timeframe as the finish line, and it still is, but, you don't have to sprint to get there. Or save all your plans for then. Heck, you might not want to [insert hobby] then, or your outlook or the world will change making [hobby/goal] less desirable. I know it can be difficult to take much of a chunk of time off, but, that has helped me, if you have that option. Another thing is the crushing responsibility I feel as a parent/provider, but, taking time off from those duties helped too. I mean, someone has to get them to football and lego club, but, maybe your significant other or another parent can share the task, for once, and not be you doing it 100% of the time. Surprisingly the kids will be fine and everyone can adapt.

So, anyway, it helped to delegate those tasks and plan a week off doing something you want to do, or with just your friends, and enjoy the moment and reflect on how far you've come. ...not just doing something [trip/activity] everyone else has agreed to, which seems to have happened to me, at times. Time flies, and if you don't stop and look around you might miss life, paraphrasing what Ferris Bueller said.

Seems like you could be at that place in life, to celebrate a small victory, where the job and kids would survive. Don't wait until the finish line, start researching and preparing and go a step towards your goals now as practical as that can be without taking a month off, or something.

Bought land 4 years ago, but, last year we had a well drilled and got a boat running/set up like I wanted. One step closer to a fishin' shack. Sometimes by doing these things your assumptions are challenged and desires change instead of putting it all on a pedestal until the finish line.

The day to day grind of the next 9 years will be there unless you find places to add value to your day to day life, instead of "clock watching" like I was doing.

Best of luck.

-CC

 

[target2019]

9 years is less than one decade.

Your retirement savings may double in that period of time.

I remember the drudgery of a megacorp job. I made a days-weeks-months-years calculator that opened with my default settings in Excel. I usually preferred the months-to-go number.

 

[pacergal]

9 years may seem like forever, and I remember when I hit the 10 year mark, then the 5 year mark. I really had to re focus on the job and not retiring.

What I did was make sure I used all of my vacation time off every year. I needed that for my mental health, I was one of those who usually took less time off and saved a bunch.
Ridiculous, looking back. I had plenty of sick time saved back then, if needed for a health issue.
I noticed when I started doing that, I felt more at ease with the time left.