What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

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namajones
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What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by namajones »

What finally did it for you? Was it a number? Your age? A bad boss? Just "tired of it all." A new goal? A new post-retirement career? Some combination?

I'm on the cusp, personally, and for me it has to be a combination of number, changes at work that I don't like, my age, and probably (though not sure) just being tired of working or, perhaps more precisely, being tired of work impinging on my final years of (still healthy) years left on this earth.

So I'm thinking that with all big decisions like this, it's probably some combination of things that prompts people to go.

Am I right? What made you decide "I'm out"?
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cheese_breath
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by cheese_breath »

As soon as I could afford it I was gone.
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Netherworld
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Netherworld »

I knew for many years that I wanted to retire early. Once I hit my 'number' I pulled the plug a month later.
Freefun
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Freefun »

I was told to.
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Old Guy
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Old Guy »

Age (71), didn’t need anymore money, stress, cold icy weather and the need to move to a warmer clime.
bob60014
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by bob60014 »

Though I had the option to stay and I liked the job, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. A buyout, good enough to be done with it all.
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GerryL
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by GerryL »

I picked my retirement date -- May 2015 -- several years in advance. It was based on timing of my earned sabbatical and qualification for RSUs and assorted benefits. BUT THEN I was suddenly offered the option to retire a year earlier with almost all the $$$ I would get by working another year. Took the offer and never looked back.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by RickBoglehead »

Hitting a milestone that brought increased benefits.

When my wife hit 10 years last week, she qualified for a paltry pension, 1/2 of her accumulated sick days (two months worth is 1/2), AND the ability to buy medical benefits from the state. This last one was the only reason she kept working years 9 and 10. She did enjoy her job, but we want to retire and do things. I did a cost analysis as year 8 drew to a close, and was able to show how much we would lose over the next 25 years by not making it to year 10. She didn't want to leave anyway. Then the pandemic hit. This year was 100% virtual until 2 weeks ago, and she would have quit had the early May date not been soon. She's got less than work days to go.
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ychuck46
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by ychuck46 »

Stepped out of bed one day and the ankle gave out after decades of sports usage and injuries. Surgery to rebuild my ankle would require me to be non-weight bearing for three months. Wife said it was God telling me to stop and join her in retirement, that she had already been in for six years. Finances were not the issue; we had enough. I had just been working since I was about 7 yo and it was hard to wrap my head around that this was it for not collecting a paycheck. That thought didn't take very long to be dispelled, though. Retirement has been great.
sandburg
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by sandburg »

I didn't like the job, hated the commute, earned enough points to get insurance until Medicare started, so I retired at 62 and 3 months. The commuting madness really pushed me over the edge though.
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JoeRetire
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by JoeRetire »

namajones wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:10 pm What finally did it for you?

So I'm thinking that with all big decisions like this, it's probably some combination of things that prompts people to go.

Am I right? What made you decide "I'm out"?
As is usually the case, it was a combination of things.
- We were already financially independent for many years. So working was a matter of "want to" versus "have to".
- Work was starting to go south rapidly. My company was acquired by a megacorp about 4 years prior, and the writing was on the wall. I hung in for a few years through many re-orgs, until my remote boss decided he wanted me to manage a team in the mid-west and show up in the NY office while most of my work was in Massachusetts. Traveling was a deal-breaker for me, so I knew I would either find a new job or be done with work.
- We owned both a primary residence and a second home for weekends/vacations. Prepping to leave for the second home was making it difficult to get all the yardwork, shopping, etc. done for our primary.
- I had a bunch of things (hobbies, volunteer work, etc.) I wanted more time for
- My wife had successfully wrapped her head around me being retired
- I waited until a major 2-year-long project was complete, so that my team would be left in as good a position as possible once I departed

I decided the time was right to retire. I gave two week's notice and left. I was 60.

After a few months, I was asked to come back and help out my successor. I agreed to do so part-time, two days / 16 hours per week. I did that for a year, then called it a career.
Last edited by JoeRetire on Mon May 10, 2021 1:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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PhoebeCoco
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by PhoebeCoco »

I had enough money to retire, was considering working for 2 more years to get enhanced health benefits.

I asked the Universe for a sign.

Soon after, my manager said, "If someone doesn't retire, we're going to have to lay someone off."

I volunteered to retire then and there.
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nisiprius
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by nisiprius »

A sudden health event, out of the blue, that got me a helicopter flight to an emergency room. The short version is: lost X pints, got X pints, all better now; given that I did recover, my life expectancy is no different than before. But it made me think.
Last edited by nisiprius on Wed May 12, 2021 10:05 am, edited 10 times in total.
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lws
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by lws »

I retired when I became eligible for full pension and full medical subsidy.
flyingaway
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by flyingaway »

namajones wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:10 pm What finally did it for you? Was it a number? Your age? A bad boss? Just "tired of it all." A new goal? A new post-retirement career? Some combination?

I'm on the cusp, personally, and for me it has to be a combination of number, changes at work that I don't like, my age, and probably (though not sure) just being tired of working or, perhaps more precisely, being tired of work impinging on my final years of (still healthy) years left on this earth.

So I'm thinking that with all big decisions like this, it's probably some combination of things that prompts people to go.

Am I right? What made you decide "I'm out"?
I am going to retire next year or this year for all the reasons that you listed.
Barefootgirl
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Barefootgirl »

A nagging, continuous sense that I might run out of time, before I run out of money. It then became a calculated roll of the dice. Time will tell. Until then..... :)
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Watty
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Watty »

I had a year in my early 50s when I when I went to three funerals of people that were more or less my age. I was not real close to any of them but that does get you thinking. My wife and I also had some health scares at about that time that we recovered from.

I retired about five years later as soon as I felt comfortable with my numbers.

A few years ago I went to my wife's 50th class reunion and they had a memorial wall with pictures of a LOT of people who had already died. There was also at least a quarter of the graduating class that they had not been able to track down to let them know about the class reunion. I would assume that a fair number of them had also died.

It is important to realize that you may not have a long time left.
rikki
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by rikki »

Burn out from my profession (medical oncology). I did not love my work the way I had for 30 years, and have had no regrets. Avoiding prolonged burn out helped me also avoid the associated anxiety and depression I witnessed in others in medicine.

It helped that I had lived below my means for my entire adulthood. I made the finances work after making the decision to retire early.
UpperNwGuy
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by UpperNwGuy »

I had planned to retire on a certain date, but about a year earlier I got crossways with the head of my organization. I decided I didn't need that, so I accelerated by retirement by nine months. Financially it didn't make much difference.
chemocean
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by chemocean »

I wasn't having fun any more at work because of the bureaucracy.
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David Jay
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by David Jay »

I was getting a day older every single day.

[edit] And my Dad passed at age 67...
Last edited by David Jay on Mon May 10, 2021 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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tibbitts
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by tibbitts »

I hardly ever see this mentioned on Bogleheads, but I retired when I did because I wasn't good enough at my job any longer and wasn't being as productive or contributing as much as I wanted to. I wasn't told that and could have kept working. I did hold out maybe a few months more than I would have for some benefits to vest, but if I felt I was doing a better job I would have probably stayed for full retirement (another 10 months or so.) But then I would have retired anyway because I wanted to travel and do other things I didn't have time for. As it happened the pandemic hit right after I retired, and took away almost everything I wanted to retire to do.

If not for feeling the way I did, I would have at least stayed a few months into the following year, vs. retiring in December. There would have been substantial advantages obviously to having a "short" work year - low zero tax rate, etc. But I felt that wouldn't have been the right thing to do.

I wonder if we don't see my reasoning mentioned more on Bogleheads because Bogleheads are still good at their jobs - or just delusional.
Last edited by tibbitts on Mon May 10, 2021 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ScooterBob
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by ScooterBob »

I left a year earlier than I planned. 55 was my goal but left at 54 because of new boss. He was hired over the internet on Skype. He wasn't a 10th of what the higher ups thought. They wouldn't admit their mistake. I held on as long as I could. My exit interviews have gone down as historic according to the folks that stayed. The market rising right when I left made up for missing that extra year of work. I probably should have left the day he arrived. I thought it was actually a gag - that's how ludacris it was. Retirement has been even better than I thought...

Bob
vested1
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by vested1 »

After passing a succession of financial goals I knew that I was ready but was hoping to work a bit longer for a firm that would utilize me to my full potential, and pay me accordingly. Instead I was pursued and hired by a number of firms, one more dishonest than the last. I had already retired from Megacorp at the top of my game after 31 years, but the sheer audacity of my new employers at flaunting the rules and sometimes the law always made me feel that I was leaving town before the sheriff rode in, even though I refused to follow illegal directives. I was alone in that commitment, and yet I was never fired, which irritated coworkers who agreed to bend the rules or to cheat customers when asked.

The final straw was when my newest employer broke their promises and required me to stop by the office every day after saying I could work from home 3 days a week, resulting in a 5,000+ mile a month commute on salary, no overtime, no reimbursement for parking in SF, or for bridge tolls. They also wanted me to work 7 days a week, every week, proclaiming emergencies when there were none. I didn't comply with their demands which confused them. I quit after 4 months with zero notice and never worked again. All my previous employers, including Megacorp called and asked if I would return. I was never tempted to do so.
remomnyc
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by remomnyc »

When I was enjoying work, I planned to work until 70. When I stopped enjoying my job, I started planning and replaced my retirement target age with an amount. When I had enough to comfortably maintain my current comfortable lifestyle, I decided to call it a day.
slyfox
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by slyfox »

I had always planned on retiring early but wasn't sure when I would reach "now is the time". I always thought it would be a logical thing - when I felt I had enough and then even more than that for every possible "what if". After working from home for the past year I feel like having to go back to the office would feel slightly soul crushing for me so it became a decision more on the emotional side. I knew this was the right time to give my notice. I think if the pandemic hadn't interrupted the rhythm of the day to day grind for me I would still be doing One More Year. Our finances are good and DH's job covers healthcare. This time has also shown how short life is and this is not a rehearsal!! :beer
TonyDAntonio
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by TonyDAntonio »

IBM let me go. Wouldn't hire me for any entry level job. Wouldn't let me do my job for half the pay and no benefits (I already had benefits form the company that outsourced me to IBM). I looked around a bit and then decided to see if I had enough to retire. A Vanguard advisor thought I did. All my internet research said I probably did so I retired at 55. It's been 6 years and I'd be lying if I didn't say that a great stock market helped. We live modestly and now have more money than ever, a paid off house, two relatively new cars and 0 debt. I think we made it but I'll never say for sure.
BarbBrooklyn
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by BarbBrooklyn »

Driving over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in a driving September rainstorm back to the Brooklyn neighborhood where my secondary office was and not finding any parking...I still liked what I did for a living, but it became clear that the travel component might kill me.
Last edited by BarbBrooklyn on Sun Oct 09, 2022 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Escapevelocity
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Escapevelocity »

Work at my Megacorp got stale and emotionally tiresome in my late 40s but some golden handcuffs in the form of equity compensation made it financially wise to stay until 55. Managed to create a new position at age 52 that kept me sane for these last few years, but barely.
marielake
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by marielake »

It was a combination of things. I had a recent financial planning session with Fidelity and realized my SS and pension covered my expenses. I'd also purchased a home in a warmer climate. I calculated the months I had saved in earned time pay would get me to Medicare age. I knew I could do it financially. The kicker was commuting into work one day, I decided I'd had enough. It was the train commute that made my decision. I told my boss I was resigning and he told me I could work from home. So, I moved south and worked from home. Officially retired at 65 and then was asked to stay on per diem on my own schedule. It was hard to say no. I worked until I got bored, asked for a raise, they said no. I pulled the plug.
RudyS
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by RudyS »

bob60014 wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:20 pm Though I had the option to stay and I liked the job, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. A buyout, good enough to be done with it all.
Exactly! I was 64 and prepared to work a bit longer, but figured if I turned down the package, in another year they might decide they didn't need me, and no package at that time. So I said thank you, and goodbye.
Dandy
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Dandy »

Was forced into retirement twice - once related to the 2000 economy and another related to the 2008 economy. Luckily I had health insurance when I left in 2000 and a pension when I left in 2008.

The first forced retirement was scary at 52 --a wife that was recovering from a serious illness and two kids one in college and one knocking on the door.

The second was more of a blessing.

My advice is pick you ideal retirement age and subtract 5 -- cause many times your employer makes that decision. the earlier age should be the target for "having enough".
Dave55
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Dave55 »

First retirement at 53, the niche our company was servicing collapsed. Second retirement at 60 I realized one day I did not need to work for any of these reasons: the money, the productivity or the challenge and that was my last day.

Dave
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dred pirate
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by dred pirate »

still working - I am too young / not enough money yet to retire - but one of my good friend co-worker recently retired. His deciding factor - when he woke up and just didn't enjoy going to work anymore...
goblue100
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by goblue100 »

namajones wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:10 pm What finally did it for you? Was it a number? Your age? A bad boss? Just "tired of it all." A new goal? A new post-retirement career? Some combination?

I'm on the cusp, personally, and for me it has to be a combination of number, changes at work that I don't like, my age, and probably (though not sure) just being tired of working or, perhaps more precisely, being tired of work impinging on my final years of (still healthy) years left on this earth.

So I'm thinking that with all big decisions like this, it's probably some combination of things that prompts people to go.

Am I right? What made you decide "I'm out"?
It was a combo of everything on your first line except for a bad boss or another career. I was tired of it all. I have a new goal, but not sure if we can do it. I felt like we had enough money(minimally, by BH standards). The trade off of MY time for their money was starting to look like a losers game, because eventually I'll run out of time.
I was looking for an exit point. I didn't hate my job, or my co-workers but still started dreading going into the office. Then Covid hit, and we were working from home, which made work even less appealing for me. Last November they asked for volunteers for a RIF, and it seemed like it was time. 6 months in, and so far so good.
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fortunefavored
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by fortunefavored »

Hit my number in 2019 and was about to pull the plug.. then COVID hit.. so I did one-more-year for the extra money since everybody was sitting at home anyways.

They were handing out awesome packages going into 2021 so they could outsource everybody to China and hire more diversity, so I took the money and ran.
Golf maniac
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Golf maniac »

lws wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:41 pm I retired when I became eligible for full pension and full medical subsidy.
+1.I was just tired of all the crap at work and could afford to retire.
clarkdfw
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by clarkdfw »

Woke up one day and realized I had turned 70 years old somehow. I said, "You know, I'm tired". I put my small business up for sale, sold it, and retired. I haven't regretted it once.
Every things free
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Every things free »

I plug the plug when I'm having the most fun at a job. I learned that as an elementary school teacher. Stop the game at the funnest point and the children will always want to come back to play. I left public school teaching after 3 years. I realized I couldn't make any money. So I became a business person and off I went. I've always evolved from one business to another. At age 52 I sold my Maytag Home Appliance Center after 7 yrs. of fun.I had a customer base of +10000 families...retired. Financially set.

But kept working and will keep working doing different fun things as long as I'm upright and healthy. I worked at
Natural Grocers Health Store for one year. I learned about nutrition and products. It improved my health. It wasn't fun so I left.

I then went to our City Parks/recreation department for 7 yrs. They asked me to work in our cemetery. I personally took care of 40 acres of cemetery and 500 trees. I dug graves and buried 3-5 people weekly. I lowered the caskets. I dealt with pain, suffering, healing and hope. Extremely interesting and important work. My personality was perfect for that work. It was fun.

I was then asked by a family member to help in his plumbing business. I asked, "is it fun?" Turns out the entertainment level in plumbing is exceptional. I never would have imagined. Everybody has plumbing problems. I'm traipsing through every room in peoples houses. Bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, basement and garages. I see every inch of their house, their stuff and lives.I also got licences for septic system installations, repairs and soil testing. If you'd see what I've seen in restaurants you'd not eat there....ever!
So after 4+ years in plumbing I'm moving on.That type of work should be for someone younger. It was big fun. Soon something else will appear.

For me, work is fun!
Work is simply an extension of "play".
I'm +71 yrs.old.....and still playing.

May you be blessed and prosper in all you do.
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ByThePond
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by ByThePond »

I was getting just a bit weary of the routine and wanted to call it a day before I started getting stale, but the precipitating factor was an injury that made me realize how easy it was to jeopardize one's retirement years.

It was time to start enjoying those years while I still could.
Cycleon
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Cycleon »

Despite loving the people I worked with, I decided to leave the ‘churn’ of a company that had lost its direction after many reorgs. I just got tired of dealing with it.

My situation supported leaving at the age of 58. I had enough saved and had benefits through my husband, retired several years before. The benefits made it possible. We are not rich but have everything we need with enough for little adventures and future emergencies. My personal observation is that we are encouraged to make retirement bullet-proof which is impossible. If you've done a decent job of saving (I'm guessing you have) there are options after leaving your career if a little income is needed.

My only piece of advice is to take a breather after making the decision and let things unfold.

Oh, I left on April Fool’s Day 2018...felt kind of good.

R
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Toons
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Toons »

The amount of "Life Energy"
We "Assumed we would have left"
Given the average life expectancy.
:wink:
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legio XX
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by legio XX »

cheese_breath wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:12 pm As soon as I could afford it I was gone.
Siiiigh! This isn't likely to happen in the time remaining to me, so either the job will go away or I will ... a sudden and unexpected, relatively modest, increase to my net worth would work too. The time to FI is inversely proportional to my age.
BH_RedRan
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by BH_RedRan »

My wife and I decided to retire when we fairly suddenly stopped loving our jobs and began valuing our spare time quite a lot more. We both worked at home since about 2000, she for an employer and me for myself. For me, it happened overnight. I had a hard time getting enthusiastic about my work one week, I just felt tired of it, which was very rare for me. In about a week I had fully decided and a week or so later my wife was also excited about it and we agreed to retire at the end of 2019. We had enough to retire happily.

Since then, Covid happened and we cancelled/stopped planning most of our 2020 trips and decided to take on one more work project each. Here we are in 2021 and we are both about half retired. We plan to be 95% retired by Q3. The decision/realization was like flipping a switch for us. The implementation was not. We both have some interest in our work and our work relationships and are probably dragging our feet a bit. But, we will be done with work by age 60 so we feel pretty good about that.

I think the transition is different for everyone depending on their relationship with their work, family and other factors. Part of the experience for me has been slowly getting used to not saving and getting prepared for pulling $ out of savings. I think that is tough on many people.
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by radiowave »

I may be an outlier, but retiring right on time at FRA. Met all goals this past year re paying off mortgage, starting Medicare, reaching investment goals. I loved what I do/did and could have stay on a few more years, but after 41 years felt it was time. I could have retired a few years earlier, but it would have been a bit more stressful - glad I stayed to the few extra years to get everything ready for transition to retirement.
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Dottie57
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Dottie57 »

Voluntary separation offer from employer looking to hire younger people. So I asked for it since I had decent number and was extremely tired all of the time. Turns out it was an ulcer.

Great to be free.
staustin
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by staustin »

namajones wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:10 pm What finally did it for you? Was it a number? Your age? A bad boss? Just "tired of it all." A new goal? A new post-retirement career? Some combination?

I'm on the cusp, personally, and for me it has to be a combination of number, changes at work that I don't like, my age, and probably (though not sure) just being tired of working or, perhaps more precisely, being tired of work impinging on my final years of (still healthy) years left on this earth.

So I'm thinking that with all big decisions like this, it's probably some combination of things that prompts people to go.

Am I right? What made you decide "I'm out"?
OP, what does 'on the cusp mean?'. Please share your story regarding age and why you've come to this place/decision?

I find it interesting to hear the various situations and perspectives.
Runyer
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Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 7:37 am

Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Runyer »

Pulling the plug in June 2022. Maybe sooner? Have had a great career and enjoyed my work until this year! COVID work and not seeing my kids and grandkids made me realize I’m not getting any younger. Currently 63. I’ve had enough resources for awhile, just working for extras the last couple years! Now I have to figure out retirement!
minesweep
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by minesweep »

An early retirement package.
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy - John Bogle | Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others, it's cheaper! - John Bogle
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Mlm
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Mlm »

I was 61 and had planed to retire sometime between 63-65. The company owner died, then my boss died and the company was purchased by a bunch of crooks. They started firing everyone from the top down. I was miserable and hung on until they got to me. Severance and unemployment insurance got me through the first year or more. I had no desire to start over at that point.

It turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise.
Mary
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