Maybe just need a push?

[Cantwaitanylonger]

Health care: Should be fine
Money: Should be fine
Kids: Should be fine
My mental state: Still a little wishy washy

It looks like my plan is in place. I am going to work about 6-8 more weeks to wait out the bad weather and put in my notice. Every time I have second thoughts (often), I go back and re-read this thread and I feel better about my plan.

I even have 2 weeks of vacation buried in the 6-8 weeks.

My mind is made up (I think). Please everyone, don't let me change my mind.

 

[pacergal]

Countdown begins!
Look at pictures of your Grandkids every day and think if the wonderful times you can spend with them when you no longer have to be in the office working!
congratulations on making your decision.
I doubt you will regret it.

 

[Lucie]

Health care: Should be fine
Money: Should be fine
Kids: Should be fine
My mental state: Still a little wishy washy

It looks like my plan is in place. I am going to work about 6-8 more weeks to wait out the bad weather and put in my notice. Every time I have second thoughts (often), I go back and re-read this thread and I feel better about my plan.

I even have 2 weeks of vacation buried in the 6-8 weeks.

My mind is made up (I think). Please everyone, don't let me change my mind.

We won’t let you change your mind! Congratulations!

 

[freedomatlast]

I have a love/hate job situation. I love the actual work but hate the politics/empowered millennials/reviews/timelines etc. Everything is a Teams meeting with 30 invitees. No one can use the phone anymore.

I can strongly identify with your quote above and decided to retire in 2019. Best decision ever. Then about a year after I retired, an unsolicited opportunity came along to do consulting where I can do the work I love with no politics or corporate nonsense, and the pay is extremely high. So now it's the best of both worlds.

Recently as a part of the consulting gig, I had an opportunity to return to the old office and had a chance to chat with former coworkers and see the present state of affairs. Let's just say conditions there have continued to decline and this visit further reinforced the fact that I made the right decision to retire when I did.

I offer this just as a way of saying that there may be different opportunities that lie ahead after retirement. So cutting the cord at your present job doesn't necessarily mean the end of employment or your career, if you don't want it to be.

I also like your decision to wait till spring to retire when there will be plenty to do outside and plenty of opportunity for exercise and activities for better health.

Shortly after retirement, I vividly remember being outside on a weekday in the summer in the sun with a gentle warm breeze and reflecting that I had made a great decision and feeling so fortunate I was no longer required to be inside under fluorescent lights 50 hours a week.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

I can strongly identify with your quote above and decided to retire in 2019. Best decision ever. Then about a year after I retired, an unsolicited opportunity came along to do consulting where I can do the work I love with no politics or corporate nonsense, and the pay is extremely high. So now it's the best of both worlds.

Recently as a part of the consulting gig, I had an opportunity to return to the old office and had a chance to chat with former coworkers and see the present state of affairs. Let's just say conditions there have continued to decline and this visit further reinforced the fact that I made the right decision to retire when I did.

I offer this just as a way of saying that there may be different opportunities that lie ahead after retirement. So cutting the cord at your present job doesn't necessarily mean the end of employment if you don't want it to be.

I also like your decision to wait till spring to retire when there will be plenty to do outside and plenty of opportunity for exercise and activities for better health.

Best of luck to you.

Great thoughts! I am not ruling out a no-stress fun job in the future. And, as with your situation, you never know what opportunities may be presented. It's comforting to think of an exciting future when my thoughts are pretty bleak with my current employment.

 

[Exchme]

I would not claim SS at 62 though. Since you are 5 years older, male, and with a pre-existing condition, odds your wife will outlive you by a lot. The larger of the two benefits continues after the first spouse passes, so for her sake you want to maximize that. If you pass before claiming, your wife can get your full FRA amount as a survivor benefit at 66 and 8 months. Opensocialsecurity.com is a great site for figuring out the optimum claim strategy.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

I would not claim SS at 62 though. Since you are 5 years older, male, and with a pre-existing condition, odds your wife will outlive you by a lot. The larger of the two benefits continues after the first spouse passes, so for her sake you want to maximize that. If you pass before claiming, your wife can get your full FRA amount as a survivor benefit at 66 and 8 months. Opensocialsecurity.com is a great site for figuring out the optimum claim strategy.

Thanks for your perspective. I am torn between doing what you say and taking it early because of my health.

 

[Bee4]

I recommend retirement and starting to spend your money. I get it that it feels weird to start spending and not earning. But if you are feeling this antsy at 62 the next 3 yrs will be really trying. I am within 6 months of retirement at 65 and have experienced that feeling for a year, and can't imagine feeling that way for 18 more months. I even went to 3/4 salary last June and that helps. It is not worth it to do what you are doing, especially with your health scare. Your financial picture is plenty solid, and your kids will be fine without a windfall.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Health care: Should be fine
Money: Should be fine
Kids: Should be fine
My mental state: Still a little wishy washy

It looks like my plan is in place. I am going to work about 6-8 more weeks to wait out the bad weather and put in my notice. Every time I have second thoughts (often), I go back and re-read this thread and I feel better about my plan.

I even have 2 weeks of vacation buried in the 6-8 weeks.

My mind is made up (I think). Please everyone, don't let me change my mind.

Don’t change your mind! Everything will work out fine. You have planned well and you deserve to retire.
I retired at the end of December at age 63. Felt the same as you-loved the work hated the politics. I had one open ended issue that was not resolved before I retired. I didn’t change my mind I decided if it didn’t pan out the way I planned I would figure it out. Well last week it was resolved as I had anticipated.
I say this to encourage you to not change your mind.

 

[old medic]

Health care: Should be fine
Money: Should be fine
Kids: Should be fine
My mental state: Still a little wishy washy

Every time I have second thoughts (often), I go back and re-read this thread and I feel better about my plan.
Please everyone, don't let me change my mind.

I officially retired on the day you started this thread... So i can't push... but I'll pull you along

Everyone is nervous as they stand in the airplane door... check your rigging, take a deep breath and jump... drift and enjoy the view.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

Thanks for the updates to this thread. I really want to retire but still have reservations. The stock market is down. I am concerned about insurance. I keep hearing stories about health care providers not accepting ACA insurance....not sure if this is a problem. I need to do more research on this.

My employer offered an opportunity to work reduced hours and still keep my insurance. This indecision is honestly driving me crazy.

 

[HI Bill]

...I really want to retire but still have reservations. The stock market is down. I am concerned about insurance. I keep hearing stories about health care providers not accepting ACA insurance....not sure if this is a problem.

Hi, given your health situation, you have no idea how many years you have left (like the rest of us), but I would consider cancer a wake-up call, and would retire post-haste. Yes, the stock market is down. But if you have a reasonable asset allocation, and especially if you have 3 years of expenses set aside in cash/equivalents, it shouldn't really matter. When I RE'd last year, I ensured I could live for 3 years off the bonds/cash, without hitting equities. I've since moved most of my bonds to a MM account, which with the things are going, is looking like a semi-reasonable move, with the possible exception of inflationary pressure.

Yes, you should check out the ACA plans (health sherpa or your state's web site), and see what plans cost, and what you will need to pay for the coverage that you will need. I was turned down by dental providers because I had a DMO plan, and they didn't want the low payments with no copays. So this year, I had to switch to a PPO plan.

Set the countdown timer, and don't waiver! Life's short...!

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

I do appreciate the responses. This is the only place that I can openly discuss my options.

My AA (excluding my primary residence) is kind of weird... about 15% cash, 15% income producing real estate, and 70% equities. It has honestly done very well for me over the years, but is down about 200K over the past 3 months. I do have more than 3 years of cash on hand though. I think I am OK with sequence of returns risk, but would prefer to leave in a better market/world situation (if that exists).

I am wondering if anyone has experience with using ACA plans? The cost is reasonable (even with gold plans) but I would consider them as more of a catastrophic alternative. I would rather not have to switch doctors with my health history though. I am getting all of my health updates done in the coming month. If all is well, I am one step closer....

 

[Aerides]

I keep hearing stories about health care providers not accepting ACA insurance....not sure if this is a problem. I need to do more research on this. .

You are 62, (let's say 62.5 since this thread) and get 18 months on Cobra. That leaves you only one year to worry about the ACA. You can spend 1 hour to look up the doctors that accept the plans you'd like on healthsherpa. You can ask your doctor, hey, do you take (not yours but..) "Florida Blue Select"? You can google "what insurance does Dr. So-and-So accept?" and find out.

I've found zero issues. Sure, some don't take my plan. Same as some didn't take whatever my employer offered. Same as every few years my employer changed providers or plans and I had to adjust.

 

[skyking1]

^what she said. I am betting those reduced work hours will have an even higher ratio of those lovely team meetings. Do enough homework to make yourself comfortable, but do that work and not dwell on the feels.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

Thanks for the healthsherpa link, very interesting website. I will also take your advice and ask all of my doctors about the insurance they accept. I have been somewhat paralyzed with indecision and just need to get off my keester and learn more about this.

 

[pacergal]

You can check your State ACA website, put in your doctors and plans will show up that they belong too. I think you need to create an account, but do not need to sign up just to check plans.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

You can check your State ACA website, put in your doctors and plans will show up that they belong too. I think you need to create an account, but do not need to sign up just to check plans.

Thanks for this. I just did and found that the ACA policies that I prefer are all covered. It looks like I can get a nice gold plan for about $1000/month. My work will not give me the cobra costs until I enter my resignation (some goofy HR rule). Does anyone have an estimate of current cobra costs for a large company?

 

[pb4uski]

If your use of health care is modest, look at bronze and silver policies as well. We bought bronze policies for 11 years and saved a bundle given our deductible and co-pays were less than $2k a year on average (some years more and some years less) and the bronxe premium was much less.

If you know of someone who recently resigned or retired then they should have received a COBRA notice and can tell you what the COBRA premium is.

Another way to estimate it is to take the total of code DD on your 2021 W-2 (what you and your employer paid for your health insurance), multiply it by 110% and then divide the result by 12.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

Another way to estimate it is to take the total of code DD on your 2021 W-2 (what you and your employer paid for your health insurance), multiply it by 110% and then divide the result by 12.

Thanks, Just did that and my cost is around $2K/month. Looks like ACA is going to be much less expensive.

 

[pb4uski]

Thanks, Just did that and my cost is around $2K/month. Looks like ACA is going to be much less expensive.

I just read something that suggests the 10% should be 2%, but I don't think that helps you much.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

I just read something that suggests the 10% should be 2%, but I don't think that helps you much.

I read the same thing and used it in my calculations. You are correct.....it doesn't help much. ACA is much cheaper but the coverage is not quite as good. Still considering my options but I have learned quite a bit today from this thread.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

Well, I'm 8 weeks further down the road and still have not made a decision. My employer has offered a part time option that allows me to continue with the same health benefits. I am somewhat torn as to what to do. I almost wish the option wasn't offered to make the decision easy. Continue for another year or jump now?? Should I take a vote?

 

[street]

Well, I'm 8 weeks further down the road and still have not made a decision. My employer has offered a part time option that allows me to continue with the same health benefits. I am somewhat torn as to what to do. I almost wish the option wasn't offered to make the decision easy. Continue for another year or jump now?? Should I take a vote?

If I may ask? What is the number one thing holding you back? There is nothing wrong with continueing working.

That one question will or should make your decision easier.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/prospective-fire-people-don-t-delay-113702.html


This thread should do it.... One thing I love about this community is putting living above the numbers (while acknowledging the importance of the numbers as they apply to living)