Waited too long to retire?

[HI Bill]

It would be foolhardy to walk away from this when I'm so close. But I could. FireCalc shows that we'd have to essentially double our current spending budget in order to get below a 98% success rate.

Draggon - If you currently have the ability to take double your current spending budget annually, and you don't want/need to increase that budget in retirement, then YOU ARE WORKING FOR MONEY YOU WILL NEVER SPEND. In the OMY syndrome on this board, we see this over and over again.

Are you wanting to leave a large bequest? If not, try to get over the psychological barrier of what you're giving up to retire now. My first major medical issue started at 47, and now at 52, my knees are having problems. You never know how long your health will last, and whether you'll have the ability to do the things you want to do in retirement. I have some friends who wanted to hike a 500-mile long Camino in Spain as a pilgrimage/discovery. They waited until age 58 to attain maximum retirement benefits, and are barely able to make the journey.

Best wishes!

 

[Rianne]

We didn't sit down and do the numbers until DH was so fed up he could not stand it any longer. Probably could have ER earlier, but it didn't occur to us. When we figured out, HEY! this is way do able, it felt like Nervana.

 

[FI_RElater]

...Draggon, It really depends on your drivers; for us it was KNOWING that we would be good in retirement....(”safety first” attitude) I retired at 59 (not really “early” on this forum) but with pension and HI, but also a nice big nest egg. We had moved to a better location (from the midwest) that allowed us to enjoy the outdoors... both out our deck and within a short drive. our safety-first situation also gives us the flexibility to keep a lower equity level (45-50%) so we don’t have to worry much about the stock market.

So for us in your situation, we’d be out the door once we hit 55..... you obviously seem not to need extra, and the guaranteed extra income plus medical should allow you to SWAN. I’d get any “procedures” done beforehand {I had knee replacement plus a couple other before I retired, had sick leave to cover, and could recuperate w/o worrying about the j@b}, make sure that you take ALL the vacation/PTO that you are entitled to ( in other words, enjoy the “today” as well), and really consider where and what you want to do after the two-plus years.

 

[DeborahB]

I retired in 2000 when I was 34. There wasn’t much talk about early retirement I had heard but I had an experience that moved me. I met a really old man and his wife camping in our RV’s on a beach in Mexico. The guy was 93 and had been retired 50 years from a water company job in Canada. He said he was glad to have retired so your and had a lot of great years of freedom before getting old.
Shortly after that I ran the numbers and decided I’d had enough servitude. I don’t think I could have done it earlier but I wish I could have. I can tell my body is starting to break down now but I’ve had lots of fun.
The hardest part was trying to explain to friends and family what enough is.

Great! And if you think your body is breaking down now, at 42, well.... it gets worse. Do everything while you’re young. You can’t count on always having good health. I wish I’d been able to quit at 34. Congratulations, seriously.

 

[FreeBear]

My "one more year" syndrome unfortunately has merit. My work benefits are now a curse. I'm too close to qualifying for "early retirement" (in company terms) to rationally throw away the benefits I'll receive when I get there in 2.1616 years (but who's counting?) versus leaving now. Upon turning 55 in two years, my pension immediately receives a bump as if I was 65 (i.e. nearly doubles the monthly payment at 55). On top of that, I still qualify for nearly-free post-retirement medical coverage to 65yo. It would be foolhardy to walk away from this when I'm so close. But I could. FireCalc shows that we'd have to essentially double our current spending budget in order to get below a 98% success rate.

Ahhh, the Golden Handcuffs!

In the beginning, I had the opportunity to w*rk for Megacorp, but chose a highly technical role in MiniTech. Much of the w*rk was interesting and even facinating, and it payed above average for the area. I didn't realize the power of Megacorp and BigGov bennies like pensions and retiree healthcare until I nearly FIRE'd on my own and discovered this forum.

Still, no regrets. Mini-Tech was outsourcing and offshoring. I simply got out in my mid 40's when DW and I saved enough. No golden handcuffs at Mini-Tech.

 

[TwoByFour]

Waited too long to retire?? The past is water under the bridge. Not much point in worrying about it now. You know what they say, today is the first day of the rest of your life.

 

[street]

I have told many people my only regrets in retirement is that I didn't do it earlier. Even at 20 months into retirement I still get exited over the thought that I'm retired.

 

[gerntz]

Retired at 64 & don't regret it. Work kept me stimulated & still made a lot of time to do the things we wanted. Finally reached the point where finances were worry-free & had an idea of what I wanted to do next.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife went on disability at 52, and I followed 8 years later at 58 1/2. Since I got unemployment for 50 weeks and a year's severance pay, it was a perfect time to go.

10 years later, I realize I never had time to work anyway. We're too busy cutting grass and chronic building--something.

 

[Draggon]

Draggon - If you currently have the ability to take double your current spending budget annually, and you don't want/need to increase that budget in retirement, then YOU ARE WORKING FOR MONEY YOU WILL NEVER SPEND. In the OMY syndrome on this board, we see this over and over again.

You may very well be correct. I look at it from three angles; traditional golden handcuffs (vs simply OMY), additional safety (most probably over-safety) for a lengthy retirement, and well, we may get creative and figure out how to spend a lot more than we ever thought we would...

Are you wanting to leave a large bequest?

Oh, heck no!

My first major medical issue started at 47, and now at 52, my knees are having problems. You never know how long your health will last

I hear you. I do. And sorry to hear you've had problems. So far, we're both pretty healthy, so chances are (I know - no guarantees!) we'll be ready to enjoy our lives to the fullest in two more years. Just two more...

Best wishes!

Thank you! You too!

 

[Draggon]

So for us in your situation, we’d be out the door once we hit 55..... you obviously seem not to need extra, and the guaranteed extra income plus medical should allow you to SWAN. I’d get any “procedures” done beforehand

That's how I keep myself going and focused. I'm only increasing our safety net and still retiring early by most folks standards. I never really expected to be in this situation as I'd always planned on being another Warren Buffett in investing and getting out at 40... when that didn't happen, we adjusted to Plan B, and here we are...

Luckily, I can't think of any procedures I might need before then, but will certainly keep this in mind.

make sure that you take ALL the vacation/PTO that you are entitled to ( in other words, enjoy the “today” as well), and really consider where and what you want to do after the two-plus years.

For sure! Really good at getting all my PTO...

 

[Draggon]

Ahhh, the Golden Handcuffs!

I didn't realize the power of Megacorp and BigGov bennies like pensions and retiree healthcare until I nearly FIRE'd on my own and discovered this forum.

Exactly. And the "kids" we hire today, even at semi-Megacorp, will have the freedom to go whenever they can afford to since they no longer place these handcuffs on hiring day...

 

[HI Bill]

...we may get creative and figure out how to spend a lot more than we ever thought we would...

That's most of what's driving my OMY syndrome. Better house, more travel, better cars...maybe a boat! And more security.

 

[iloveyoga]

Just right, 54 for me and earlier for DH.

 

[HadEnuff]

Retired at 64 & don't regret it. Work kept me stimulated & still made a lot of time to do the things we wanted. Finally reached the point where finances were worry-free & had an idea of what I wanted to do next.

Likewise, here. But I didn't have a megacorp making my life miserable. I was self employed, and was able to find an enjoyable and rewarding balance between work, play, and family. No regrets waiting until 62.

 

[Andre1969]

I'm still w*rking, at the age of 48. I'd like to go out at 50-51, and some days the freedom feels so close I can practically taste it. I have a feeling that, when the time comes, I might look back and realize I actually *could* have gone out now. But, if that happens I'm not going to obsess over it.

 

[Octogirl]

OMY

I am working full time - OMY. My DH is already retired and we travel 3-4 x/year. I teach at a state university so I am fortunate that some of my work can be done from home. Still I look forward to 2020 when we have a very safe nest egg. All kids (but last one) are on their own and we are gently pushing the last one to "figure out" a sustainable life situation.

 

[Starsky]

I know I retired just right (me 54/she 65 DINKS). I also know my wife thought that I retired too early. She wanted me to work more years so that we'd have more money in retirement to keep our lifestyle intact and felt very unhappy that I made the unilateral decision to quit my job. Fair enough. I agreed to continue to do some consulting on the side - which I did, but it was not terribly time-consuming - and our lifestyle didn't diminish one bit. (I quit because we had achieved our number of $3M+ that we had established for our retirement plan, with a nice monthly cash flow from several rentals, and I didn't see a reason to chase more paper - and I hated my job.)

On the other hand, two years into retirement I had an otherwise fatal heart attack - I say otherwise, because I had the 'widow maker' in the ER and not in my office at work. The financial part has only been good so far. Our assets are 10% more valuable than when we retired. I don't think I could be luckier.

That day in the ER, my DW stopped complaining about my retiring early and hasn't said anything about it since. Needless to say, my consulting days were over.

 

[Tailgate]

Retired along with my DW. She at 59, me at 62.
We pulled the plug as soon as the financial picture was in place. 5 years in, no regrets whatsoever.
The guy who took my position (VP/GM, high stress job) was 57. A couple of years in, he had major health issues with his heart, but recovered. Stayed on the job and just a couple of weeks ago, he cleaned out his office late one night and split. No advance warning.. no one I've talked to knows why.

 

[FreeBear]

I retired within a year of hitting "my number". Financially, this roughly corresponds to maintaining our existing lifestyle. If times get tough, say a bad market or healthcare costs, we'd have to cut back since our SWR is probably on the high side, at least for most folks here. I could easily blow 10-20% more dough, but I just hated my j*b.

Originally, DW wanted me to tough it out 2-3 more years. We'd easily have more than enough bling if I had ridden it out a few more years, but then again I hated my j*b.

Right now I frequent the "let's move somewhere warm and sunny, but still nice and in the USA" threads on this forum. I'm coming to grips with the fact that it wouldn't make sense financially to chase such dreams. Maybe it would have been possible with at least 3 more years at w*rk, but as I said, I just hated my j*b.

We're planning to continue snow birding as finances permit rather than plan for a major relocation. I love not w*rking.
Got to run and check on the salmon smoking on the grill!

 

[firemediceric]

I guess I'll go in the camp of regretting not retiring earlier. From the start of my career I had the aspirational goal of retiring at age 55, which also coincided with a accelerated stock vesting age at the company I worked for and the college graduation of my youngest. So in that respect I never seriously spent much time while I was working determining "how much" was "enough" to retire on, more so deferring to the assumption that 55 was the age to consider it and in reality I was doing everything reasonable to achieve that . It was only when I started getting closer to 55 that I started seriously assessing my overall finances and expenses. It sounds pretty careless and haphazard, and in many respects it was, but I was too busy working and trying to live life to allocate time to fully evaluating finances and retirement calculators. I did know that we were LBYM and saving like mad.

The one piece of advice I learned and now give to others is not to wait for artificial milestones. Too many people of financial means say things like "I still have one in college" as a reason they aren't retired. In retrospect it was a poor one for myself - last month alone my portfolio gained by 1.5 times my annual spend. Of course while I was working I didn't have the time/inclination to track my portfolio monthly like I do now. Even my stock vesting, while a 6 figure amount, wasn't worth sticking around for as in reality I'll never in my lifetime spend the dollars generated from it. Now I'm spending my time figuring out how much to gift to my children and how to tax efficiently pass it on to them when we die - that is in my spare time from trying to live our life to it's fullest while we still have the health to enjoy it.

It strikes a chord with me when you write that you have money you'll never spend in you lifetime and not waiting on artificial milestones. I tentatively plan to retire in the latter half of 2022 at age 54. The rub is that is the same time I can enter the DROP which will put roughly $5k into an investment account for me each month while I continue to draw my regular paycheck. Coworkers who have completed 5 years DROP have left with >$500K in that account. That's an enticing figure.

At the same time, in speaking with several of them a few years post-retirement, they still haven't touched those funds as their pension has been sufficient. Pension is 85% of our pay plus some supplements. Most guys end up with a pension net of 100% or better of what their take home pay was. My thought is why work another 5 years for money that I may never touch. Still, it's an awfully big carrot to have dangled in front of me.

 

[Bir48die]

I retired at 60. Did P/T for six months. Have "officially" been retired for 2 1/2 years. Had a chance to do some consulting again. After turning 63 I just could not get geared up for it so turned it down. Now I don't even consider myself "early retired" as several of my friends have joined me.

Most of my day to day buddies are 8 to 10 years younger. Most of them are in the cruising stage of life so many of them don't work all that hard. However, just had a 55 year old friend in Marketing stay overnight. After we had dinner he was up until midnight and back at it at 5:00 finishing up a presentation. He is not a happy camper.

The great thing is that everyone that I've spoken to at my old company said I got out at exactly the right time. Things have changed for the worse since then. I just love it when I have good timing.

 

[FreeBear]

I
At the same time, in speaking with several of them a few years post-retirement, they still haven't touched those funds as their pension has been sufficient. Pension is 85% of our pay plus some supplements. Most guys end up with a pension net of 100% or better of what their take home pay was. My thought is why work another 5 years for money that I may never touch. Still, it's an awfully big carrot to have dangled in front of me.

What a deal! MegaGov or MegaCorp The MiniCorp that occupied most of my professional career froze the pension early on. Was cashed out the end. The extra $$ was nice, but not a gaime changer.

Most of my day to day buddies are 8 to 10 years younger. Most of them are in the cruising stage of life so many of them don't work all that hard. However, just had a 55 year old friend in Marketing stay overnight. After we had dinner he was up until midnight and back at it at 5:00 finishing up a presentation. He is not a happy camper.

Another good deal! Some of our 40-50 somethings "coasted", and their jobs were sent offshore. Other 40-50 somethings busted their buns and, alas their jobs too went offshore. Some were or became political hacks and joined the management shark tank. Most were eaten by other sharks.

 

[DrRoy]

I RE'd at 57 3/4 and feel like I hit it fairly well. A colleague at Metacorp retired before me but with 42+ years and at 66, and his heath turned south shortly after. I always felt that he was taking too long and still do.

 

[firemediceric]

FreeBear, I work for a city FD. We have a defined benefit pension. We contribute 8.75% of our pay for a benefit of 60% after 20 years. 5% additional for each year up to 100%. At 25 years service or age 55, whichever happens first, the member can enter the DROP. Some other supplements also for years of service.

Once the member is no longer paying union dues or contributing to retirement, it gets most pretty close to 100% even if they work only to 25 years.