OMY Why?

[Kickernick]

I'm interested in hearing why people would work OMY after FIRE for reasons OTHER than "financial insurance"? Extra travel, nicer car, help out kids? What is "worth it" to you?

 

[Totoro]

I'm interested in hearing why people would work OMY after FIRE for reasons OTHER than "financial insurance"? Extra travel, nicer car, help out kids? What is "worth it" to you?

Extra travel and financial insurance. semi-FIRE right now, but will likely pick up some work next year for those reasons.

 

[Senator]

Definitely the extra financial insurance. I am 55 now, will be 56 when I FIRE.

The risk of working OMY is minimal. The risk of not working OMY, and I actually needed to, could be the rest of my life not being able to do the simple things that I am planning on.

If I was 65, I would be thinking different. There are not as many OMYs left.

 

[Meadbh]

Because calculations that indicate one is FI do not predict the future with certainty. People with conservative risk tolerance want to build in some contingency funding.

 

[REWahoo]

One word: chickenhearted

 

[Cooked]

One word: chickenhearted

+1 It was easier to run FIRECalc and every other calculator than to make an actual decision.

 

[phil1ben]

I am 55 and have been FI for a number of years. I have my own business with about 30 employees and need to put a transition plan in place which I have not done. Now that my youngest will be going to college in September, 2015 I hope this will be the year I get this done and retire in 2016. This is only my first use of the OMY card as I originally planned to retire in June 2015. I hope not to use another card because there is no reason for it.

 

[Whisper66]

Good question. For me, I was financially able to retire anytime in the last 4-5 yrs. I knew the financial numbers and thought about it but never really very seriously because:

(1) My job was enjoyable and challenging
(2) Nothing ever happened that really irked me enough to get serious about retiring
(3) Before leaving a good job and jumping to retirement, I wanted to really think through an exit plan and what I wanted to do after retirement - felt like a lot of work and I had plenty to do already (a bit lazy I guess)
(4) Nothing in home situation was really demanding me to retire.
(5) Youngest in the family was graduating college in a few years (this year) and seems like it would be prudent to see if he would graduate and find a decent job (he did) to lessen financial uncertainty on me and my wife.
(6) in a couple years (this year) I would be eligible for a pension which seems like a nice goal to reach.

So those were my reasons. Nothing too specific driving the OMY other than nothing driving me to retire as soon as I could have.

 

[2017ish]

I'm interested in hearing why people would work OMY after FIRE for reasons OTHER than "financial insurance"? Extra travel, nicer car, help out kids? What is "worth it" to you?

Travel. Dining (and wining). Travel for 20+ years. Oh, and did I mention travel?

"Past performance is no guarantee of future results" applies to all financial calculators.

Finally, to have extra cushion both for expected lengthy retirement and because both of us would have hard time going back into our professions (and DW's specialty) after several years off.

 

[JoeWras]

2 reasons for my OMYing.

1) Waiting for DW to retire in 3 years. She'll get nice medical for both of us, we hope. And we'll retire "in sync"

2) Waiting until 55 gives more flexibility for withdrawals from both of our 401ks. This is not a show stopper, but would just help. If I get RIFed, I'm done.

 

[Texconsin]

5MY

I'm interested in hearing why people would work OMY after FIRE for reasons OTHER than "financial insurance"? Extra travel, nicer car, help out kids? What is "worth it" to you?

Medicare.

 

[growing_older]

My numbers barely pencil out as FI, so I wanted additional cushion for contingencies and ability to easily deal with the financially unexpected. I especially want financial cushion for future market ups and downs. My job isn't pushing me out and after some years of dealing with an unpleasant boss, I have been reassigned to a pleasant one and somewhat enjoy work again. Probably temporary. Meanwhile, I'm actually doing valuable work that actually helps people in a way I couldn't if retired. I'm nervous about the uncertainties of health insurance, with talk yet again of changing or curtailing ACA. My kids are still dependent on me and I want to get them through college. I think I have a handle on those expenses, but feel more in control if I am still working until they successfully graduate.

 

[Texconsin]

Yogiism

Because calculations that indicate one is FI do not predict the future with certainty. People with conservative risk tolerance want to build in some contingency funding.

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."

 

[2B]

I decided I was barely FI in 2005 or 2006. Two kids were in college and retiring seemed an unnecessary risk. About then, DWs parents developed serious heath issues and it was necessary to keep MIL in a nursing facility and FIL became unmanageable with Alzheimers so he enter assisted living. It was obvious we were trapped and wouldn't be able to travel much as long as they remained alive.

Three years ago, FIL finally passed away. I could have easily retired then but the 2008/2009 was too fresh a memory. Security won out but we made numerous European trips.

My plan is to finally retire on 5 Jan 2015. That's when I'll resign. Official retirement will be when my transition of a few weeks are completed.

 

[CoolChange]

Chickenhearted

One word: chickenhearted

This might be a good word for it.

Another word wold be experience: I have seen entirely too many corporate financial plans created by MBA/CPA types and reviewed by boards which were entirely too optimistic in every scenario except for the asteroid strike (worst possible case).

I cannot stop worrying that my own plan may suffer similarly. So, chickenhearted.

 

[timo2]

OMY?

 

[robnplunder]

Travel ... and also, this forum members reviewed my situation and recommended that RE'ng now was too risky. Who am I to go against collective wisdom? I bit down on my lips decided to go 6 more months before reevaluating the situation.

 

[W2R]

Health care! I wanted to wait two extra years until I qualified for partially subsidized retiree health insurance. In 2009, we didn't yet have the PPACA. Still, one could tell that our health care system had major problems and nobody seemed to know what to expect. I wanted my health insurance covered so that I didn't have to go out on the market and beg for it at exorbitant rates.

The cool part about doing this is the extra $$$ funnelled into one's retirement accounts.

 

[RetireAge50]

Waiting 2.5 more years for pensions to have COLA (otherwise they would be non-cola). Also to pay college tuition for children and purchase RV.

 

[jollystomper]

For, my job isn't causing me stress now. It is more like a hobby, and the income is ridiculously high for us. So I am not "fed up", or find myself having trouble waking up and getting to work. Being FI I no longer concern myself with promotions, raises, politics, etc.. I can to speak my mind which I do, but always in the context of trying to help other advance. I can work from home when I like, and I am more measured not by how much time I put in but by my results in helping others. With an empty nest most of the year, when I do have to travel DW can come with me so it becomes more a vacation.

The ability to build on FI is certainly nice, and to take care of already budgeted things out of current income is definitely a benefit, but the above reasons are primary. Should that change, I choose can pull the cord on a moment's notice. If Megacorp chooses to get rid of me, I can accept that with no hard feelings.

 

[chilkoot]

To put it succinctly, I didn't hate my job. If I'd been chomping at the bit to get out the door, I would have done so a lot earlier. I'd been FI for a few years but decided to use a certain arbitrarily chosen event as my excuse to retire.

 

[Midpack]

I'm interested in hearing why people would work OMY after FIRE for reasons OTHER than "financial insurance"? Extra travel, nicer car, help out kids? What is "worth it" to you?

Lots of good reasons, extra safety factor, don't hate work/co-workers/boss, don't know what to do all day, health care, just chicken, etc. But for everyone:

• "FI" is at best an estimate with many variables & unknowns, so
• not a single number to begin with, and
• there aren't any guarantees.

No one can say with certainty they're FI at any stage of retirement, you'll only know for sure when you finally go poof...

 

[Options]

I'm going to approach the question from an entirely different angle. I call it frugal fatigue. After years of doing without, retirement expenses completely covered now, if I work another year I can buy all kinds of toys I've done without for years. It's only an idea I'm playing with.

If I should choose this option, it will only be done by consulting or contracting, and even then intermittently, a year at most. My entire PF could vanish today and I would still quit my current employer as planned 3/15.

 

[timo2]

I'm going to approach the question from an entirely different angle. I call it frugal fatigue. After years of doing without, retirement expenses completely covered now, if I work another year I can buy all kinds of toys I've done without for years. It's only an idea I'm playing with.

That's the place where DW and I are.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm going to approach the question from an entirely different angle. I call it frugal fatigue. After years of doing without, retirement expenses completely covered now, if I work another year I can buy all kinds of toys I've done without for years. It's only an idea I'm playing with.

If I should choose this option, it will only be done by consulting or contracting, and even then intermittently, a year at most. My entire PF could vanish today and I would still quit my current employer as planned 3/15.

Thats kind of what I did. I had a spreadsheet that said that I could have retired in 2007. But DW wasn't ready. So I started reducing work hours. I still maxed out my 401k, but spent the rest of my leftover $ on toys, hobbies, and travel. It worked out great. 6 years later I was only working 1 day a week and had more than enough toys to keep me busy for full retirement. But more importantly, DW was ready to pull the plug, so I retired.