What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

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

Post by wander »

It's a combination of everything. When your accounts are full with money, it's easier to decide when to retire.
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midareff
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by midareff »

Exchme wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:47 pm
midareff wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:40 pm
Exchme wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:35 pm
tibbitts wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 1:23 pm 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.
If people are too infirm, the are not participating much on this forum where a lot of detailed information is discussed at a high level of understanding, so I think there is a self selection process that makes it seem like everyone stays clear and sharp forever. When in fact most folks eventually lose a step or three.
Speaking of infirm.... did you miss the Y in THEY? Sixth word from the start.
I'm not sure if explaining that I'm typing one handed because I fell and broke my arm helps or hurts my case!
Sorry to hear of your issue. Hope you are healing well and recover strongly.
mr_brightside
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by mr_brightside »

midareff wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:38 pm
rick51 wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:34 pm I may have seen this quote on this forum, I don’t recall…

“When you have enough and you’ve had enough”.
Amen brother
in a nutshell this was a description for me.

wife is on-board, we live in FL, finances are 'acceptable' and getting healthcare insurance is possible through the ACA now.

mic drop.

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

Post by midareff »

mr_brightside wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 8:36 am
midareff wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:38 pm
rick51 wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:34 pm I may have seen this quote on this forum, I don’t recall…

“When you have enough and you’ve had enough”.
Amen brother
in a nutshell this was a description for me.

wife is on-board, we live in FL, finances are 'acceptable' and getting healthcare insurance is possible through the ACA now.

mic drop.

----------------------------------------------------
So let it be written, so let it be done!
printer86
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by printer86 »

As I was starting my career in the 80's, I saw many people, like my dad and his peers, being pushed out of their jobs while in their 50's. I knew at that time that I wanted to be FI before I got out of my 50's in case I suffered the same fate.

At 55, I was FI and knew I wanted out of my MegaCorp sales job. So, I informed my management that I wanted to retire later that year. Since I gave them ample notice, they were able to open a job request to fill my position. I spent the last couple months on the job training my replacement, then off I went.

It's been less than a year since I retired, and I don't even think back at my 35 working years. It's like someone else did all that work for me.
walkindude
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by walkindude »

Always had an unwritten goal of being done at 62, but SS at 70. 62 was approaching and I got an offer to divest one of my businesses. Did that and started thinking about winding down my 20 year consulting career. After turning 62 last summer, I no longer look for work. I only take work if it meets 4 requirements:

1 - Only with friends
2 - Less than 25 hours per week
3 - I can't be a single point of failure; there must be a backup
4 - It has to be interesting

I turned down 4-5 jobs over the past 6 months, but last week one finally met the requirements and I'm temporarily unretired. But still a decent amount of time to do what I want. Should be for only a few weeks.

The money aspect of retirement has been good for a few years, but only getting better by working longer.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

walkindude wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:01 am Always had an unwritten goal of being done at 62, but SS at 70. 62 was approaching and I got an offer to divest one of my businesses. Did that and started thinking about winding down my 20 year consulting career. After turning 62 last summer, I no longer look for work. I only take work if it meets 4 requirements:

1 - Only with friends
2 - Less than 25 hours per week
3 - I can't be a single point of failure; there must be a backup
4 - It has to be interesting

I turned down 4-5 jobs over the past 6 months, but last week one finally met the requirements and I'm temporarily unretired. But still a decent amount of time to do what I want. Should be for only a few weeks.

The money aspect of retirement has been good for a few years, but only getting better by working longer.
Nice. Wonder if your list will change once travel opens up more freely?
I think a lot of FI folks will retire in their 50s and 60s, once things are back to a relative normal. So many in my company, I'm sure not all of them are 'loving' their jobs!
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
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namajones
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by namajones »

22twain wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 9:34 pm Last year the college told students to stay home after spring break, and all classes went online for the rest of the semester. She hated teaching online, and doesn't want to do it again.
Sounds like me. I took some courses in "blended" teaching in 2020. Interesting enough, but honestly, online teaching seems like all of the worst parts of teaching (typing/grading) and none of the best (seeing the students/being there).
bltn
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by bltn »

I first thought about about retiring in my early 50 s when family and personal issues arose that made me think the situation might be handled better in retirement. We had saved enough to comfortably maintaine our spending level. However I kept going , worked through the issues, and continued my job which I enjoyed, with encouragement from my co workers.

About 6 years later, my wife was unexpectedly afflicted with an unusual set of health problems, to which she almost succumbed. At that time, I thought if she recovers but needs significant care and maintenance at home, I was going to retire to provide that care. Financially we were in pretty good shape. She was able to recover and resume most of her normal life, that goodness. I continued working.

Finally in my mid sixties, I decided that despite being in good health, the resource I might have the least of in this life was time. I thought of my father who was in apparent excellent health at 75 when he sold his business and retired. A year later he had a bad heart attack, underwent emergency bypass surgery and survived, but was relatively disabled the rest of his life. I decided I didn't t want to work until I couldn't t do anything else, and retired.

I never identified a "number" that I needed to accumulate for retirement. But I decided that a conservative withdrawal rate would allow us to spend 50% more than we were spending prior to retirement. About that time I found this forum which sync d so well with many things I learned about investing over the years.

Thanks to the recent stock market, our savings have continued to grow. But we have room in our savings for a market correction.
Imadeit
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Imadeit »

Days before my wife passed away of pancreatic cancer at the young age of 55, she said I should retire ASAP. I was 56 at the time. My response was I don’t think I have enough money. She said I know you’ll figure out a way to do it. Transferred all my money to Vanguard and signed up for Vanguard advisor services a month before 2016 presidential election. Stock market took off. Also Received my wife’s pension that was transferred to me upon her death. Realized I would receive her social security as survivor upon my age of 60. That allows me to delay taking my social security until ago 70. After two years Vanguard calculated I had a 99 % chance of money lasting until age 100. Also found out I received health insurance as survivor benefits from my wife’s work. My wife was right, there was a way to retire. Didn’t see a reason to keep working. Decided to retire at the age of 58.
tibbitts
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by tibbitts »

namajones wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 2:03 pm
22twain wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 9:34 pm Last year the college told students to stay home after spring break, and all classes went online for the rest of the semester. She hated teaching online, and doesn't want to do it again.
Sounds like me. I took some courses in "blended" teaching in 2020. Interesting enough, but honestly, online teaching seems like all of the worst parts of teaching (typing/grading) and none of the best (seeing the students/being there).
Maybe it will be like with electric vehicles, and we'll look back on the hybrids as a short-lived but awkward transitional technology. I'd agree that "blended" is probably the worst of the three possibilities (online, blended, classroom.) But it seems like online is here to stay. Almost my entire education career was in-person/classroom, and although I delivered a few online and blended classes that seemed to go well enough, I never enjoyed them the way I did being in a classroom. Probably people starting teaching today would feel differently, so probably they should be the people teaching classes now.
SteadyOne
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by SteadyOne »

Exchme wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:35 pm
tibbitts wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 1:23 pm 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.
If people are too infirm, the are not participating much on this forum where a lot of detailed information is discussed at a high level of understanding, so I think there is a self selection process that makes it seem like everyone stays clear and sharp forever. When in fact most folks eventually lose a step or three.
Excellent point
“Every de­duc­tion is al­lowed as a mat­ter of leg­isla­tive grace.” US Federal Court
Morgan Dollar 1921
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Morgan Dollar 1921 »

Spring is a great time to work in a car dealership, fresh air, sunshine, after having the shop closed all winter, exhaust fumes, used engine oil shop heater noise, odor to heat the building, the many chemicals and gasoline fumes when a new fuel pump goes in a car, and more, you get the idea. Then, by mid-May, the heat of summer is right around the corner. I decided I never wanted to survive another winter like the last one. Girlfriend went to Disney in January, I stayed at home, fell on the ice and had to get a shot in my left knee. Limped around for two weeks, pulling parts from three different storage floor levels. Strike one.

I was going out the front door every day to work for $1.30 hour more than I could net on retirement, pension and social security. My most recent past dealer paid $3 an hour less than this one, so my budget was already clicking good. Only con was 6 months of ACA at a high cost. I knew it would be tight for 4 years until car paid off, but it would last 10 - 12 years at least, maybe 15 with no commute. I was sure I could cash flow my budget for 6 months with high ACA premiums, until I got the advance premium credit for ACA. One of the body shop guys at my last dealer, did the same. Medicare or company paid insurance keeps a lot of people working till 65 or later. Small inheritance the summer before and mid-five digit IRA, pension QDRO & SSA would cover my monthly budget. Both would have ongoing COLA's. I had just turned 62. Strike two.

Boss, had a Wednesday meeting announcing the owner wanted to add tasks and responsibilities to my plate in order to cut costs, by cutting staff. Core returns, warranty parts retention and scrapping. They also wanted me to ID 15 pallets of parts from various dealer buy outs. Parts from the mid -80's and before. He approached me two weeks before I was set to take an unpaid vacation week for my daughter's wedding. I also knew of a pending job change for the girl friend, which would have almost tripled my commute. When I asked about increased compensation for the additional tasks and headaches, he said he would check, but came up empty that afternoon when asking the general manager. Strike three.

I came in the following Monday and told him, I am pulling the plug Friday, he could keep the other employee, not cut the staff. He said, "one week is pretty short notice." I responded, everyone for the last year under the new General Manager, when giving notice, this GM would send them out the door on Tuesday or Wednesday. "Cut them loose!" I am observant, I told him. He said I know that he is lowering morale here big time. He then said, I just cannot believe 35 years of parts catalog knowledge is going to walk out the door, this Friday and never pull a parts order again. I told him, thank goodness the batteries come pre-filled, just one more hazard gone. He laughed. I found out he left about 15 months later. I did do something nice, my last Thursday, the service manager was a good guy, he had just hired a new employee for the service drive, she was struggling financially he said, needed the job, and would I consider selling her my windshirts and polo tops, at a reduced price. I said of course not, she can have them for free. He said if you ever need a reference for this employer, use my name. I may have burnt the bridge, but I kept a row boat tied up beside the bank.
Wash.Invest
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Wash.Invest »

Out at age 49... (had just buried a parent that I had cared for for 32 yrs, and the kids had just left home for college (on their own)).

Finally it was Time to live again :)
the stars aligned. Tho it was a great job with great people, benefits, challenge and paid travel (with family).

A GREAT severance package I had been waiting for 15 yrs to be offered. ! (2 yrs salary, 2 yrs UI and HC (while attending free college)), + payout of vacation (20+ weeks) and sick leave (1000+ hrs) much of which I had accumulated at $2.00-$4.00/ hr...)

Unfortunatley... missed lifetime HC and new CEO had tanked the stock price by 90% and got rid of a lot of retiree and recreation benefits (for active and retirees, including free company resorts worldwide for life ).

so...

Turned the page for chapter 50+ No more annual reviews!

Many, many opportunities have come my way since not being bothered by work!

BUT... If you have really good benefits and LOTS of vacation and can take time without pay.... Consider "Quitting your job and not telling your boss!" (subject of book Die Broke). Go to work, do a good job, Don't over-engage / worry / fret / quit climbing the ladder to heart ache, don't sweat the small stuff, as it is NOT your business to do so. The company will do just fine when you are gone. Several co-workers read that book and had the best final years of their employment as they transitioned very peacefully and productively to retirement.
SR II
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by SR II »

Over the years, the job I loved had changed/morphed into something I didn't like, had an awful boss, was aging out at 62, tired of the gig economy (always looking for the next job), had enough years/hours in union pension fund to get full retirement benefits, spouse had already retired, wanted to travel the world, had enough money and didn't want to drop dead at my desk (as so many in "the business" had done).

That was nearly four years ago and I'm happy as a clam!
livelovelaugh00
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by livelovelaugh00 »

Both my parents retired early from semiconductor engineering career in early 1990s. Their friends and colleagues in their age who continued to work either dead or in bad shape. My parents are in their mid 80s with great health. Over the years I know i will retire early too. Next Spring is the target. Good thing is that I only work 5 to 6 hours per day from home nowadays. I have enough time to do the gardening and exercise. I've already taken 12 days off ytd. One person in my team got 21 days off already. So it really depends on how I adapt the new early retirement mindset.
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burt
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by burt »

It wasn't really a prompt, more like a plan 10 years before retirement at age 60.
The plan was to retire as soon as I had enough savings to maintain my working standard of living.
I was lucky the plan worked out. No layoffs during the final 10 years. Bull market. Tolerable (barely) bosses.
Yes, I was lucky to retire according to plan.
ajbibi
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by ajbibi »

I assumed I would never even think about retirement as I loved my job. Furthermore as an academic, I can maintain a decent salary and just lose the bonuses if I stop doing research. However, I've always been very driven and eager to engage in new projects. More recently however, I'm souring on the profession and the changes in academic journals, [OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]. At 62, I don't see my career taking off much further. But I still enjoy teaching the few seminar classes I teach. So I've decided to mostly retire while remaining at work. I'm winding down all my big projects and not planning to take on more when they're done. Otherwise, I can be semi-retired by just teaching and phoning in the rest of it -- like admin or service work. This decision has taken a big psychological burden off my shoulders.

I do feel bad that I didn't do better and rise even higher, but ambitious academics are prone to this treadmill and many don't retire till they're well over 80 or even 90 years old. I figure I'm blessed to have a kind of pension without a pension by staying as a teacher with a strong basic salary. And if I recover some enthusiasm for academic work then I get back into the game. Also, I have a minor consulting job in the summer that I do and quite enjoy.

Financially I could have easily retired last year before the big stock run-up, so my feeling is that I'm staying on for the extra crazy luxury money, or for leaving to my two sons. And of course, I actually DO like the few classes I'm required to teach.
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saddle_tramp
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by saddle_tramp »

After a 41yr career as a technologist in varied technical fields I was getting tired and I wasn't as sharp as I was in my younger years so it was time to pass the torch to the younger generation.

I was planning on a retirement for two but early onset Alzheimer's for the wife inevitably changed our path in life. Her diagnosed at age 56 and me being at age 57 I knew I would have to keep working to pay for her care. It was ten years later at age 66 in late 2018 that she passed on. So unlike many others who retired early I stayed on well into the second half of my 67th year and retired in May 2019.

Those subsequent years of work and a growing stock market have padded the retirement account well though I would have much preferred to have her around instead. I'll be turning on my age 70 SS benefit on in a few months so I am financially in good shape.
likegarden
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by likegarden »

I was 62 1/2 and stressed out from my engineering job. One day on my way driving home I suddenly could not see out of one eye, next day I retired, gave 3 weeks notice.
BernardShakey
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by BernardShakey »

ajbibi wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 2:41 pm So I've decided to mostly retire while remaining at work.
Not sure I follow you here. Your going to keep working or retire ?
An important key to investing is having a well-calibrated sense of your future regret.
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beyou
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by beyou »

Relocation of my job, which I refused.
DwayneB
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by DwayneB »

Easy answer - my spouse and I both reaching Medicare age. Simply not affordable to go ACA or private health insurance before that. Of all the factors, health care in the USA has to be the main reason people don't retire earlier than they do. Sure if you are in good health maybe you can rationalize retiring with minimal health coverage, but unless you are independently wealthy, you are only one serious accident or one serious illness away from financial disaster.

Plus as a mechanical/aerospace engineer, every year the job gets harder. Companies squeeze more and more out of every employee, the expectations are ridiculous and unsustainable. Not a healthy environment to work in at any age, much less in your late 60's and beyond.
basspond
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by basspond »

My 20 year old self who realized that the generous pension and saving account plans would allow me to retire at 55. I was able to do so with the help of DW and two children who were responsible and attended and finished college at state schools.
walkindude
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by walkindude »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 11:33 am
walkindude wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:01 am Always had an unwritten goal of being done at 62, but SS at 70. 62 was approaching and I got an offer to divest one of my businesses. Did that and started thinking about winding down my 20 year consulting career. After turning 62 last summer, I no longer look for work. I only take work if it meets 4 requirements:

1 - Only with friends
2 - Less than 25 hours per week
3 - I can't be a single point of failure; there must be a backup
4 - It has to be interesting

I turned down 4-5 jobs over the past 6 months, but last week one finally met the requirements and I'm temporarily unretired. But still a decent amount of time to do what I want. Should be for only a few weeks.

The money aspect of retirement has been good for a few years, but only getting better by working longer.
Nice. Wonder if your list will change once travel opens up more freely?
I think a lot of FI folks will retire in their 50s and 60s, once things are back to a relative normal. So many in my company, I'm sure not all of them are 'loving' their jobs!
True that!

New #5 - Can't interfere with vacations
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burt
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by burt »

DwayneB wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 5:32 am Easy answer - my spouse and I both reaching Medicare age. Simply not affordable to go ACA or private health insurance before that. Of all the factors, health care in the USA has to be the main reason people don't retire earlier than they do. Sure if you are in good health maybe you can rationalize retiring with minimal health coverage, but unless you are independently wealthy, you are only one serious accident or one serious illness away from financial disaster.

Plus as a mechanical/aerospace engineer, every year the job gets harder. Companies squeeze more and more out of every employee, the expectations are ridiculous and unsustainable. Not a healthy environment to work in at any age, much less in your late 60's and beyond.
I know so many people who stayed on only for medical benefits.
I was so lucky to retire with Megacorp retiree medical benefits. New hires no longer have this.

I agree. Not a healthy environment at any age.
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Shackleton
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Shackleton »

I hit my number when I received a large inheritance. My hubby had already been retired for 6 years (he’s significantly older than I am). I thought I could still work a little longer and enjoy the work (I had just started a new position at my company) but the reality was that once I didn’t need to work, work drove me crazy and was impacting my relationship. So I pulled the plug and have been extremely glad I did. Retired at 53 in January of this year. Been offered three different jobs since then and just keep telling them “No way!”
“Superhuman effort isn't worth a damn unless it achieves results.” ~Ernest Shackleton
ajbibi
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by ajbibi »

BernardShakey wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 11:26 pm
ajbibi wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 2:41 pm So I've decided to mostly retire while remaining at work.
Not sure I follow you here. Your going to keep working or retire ?
I keep working but i do the minimum. Without research output, there is less pressure but no raises, research bonuses, etc. Only a small part of my job is teaching but if I just focus on that I can continue as an academic indefinitely. At some point I will give that up as well, but not working on big, stressful research projects is considered a kind of partial retirement by many in the field.
sawhorse
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by sawhorse »

I was forced to stop working only a few years after I started working in earnest (i.e., a few years after finishing my graduate degree) due to severe chronic health problems. I hope one day there will be a cure and that I will be able to work in some capacity again.
BernardShakey
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by BernardShakey »

ajbibi wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 11:58 pm
BernardShakey wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 11:26 pm
ajbibi wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 2:41 pm So I've decided to mostly retire while remaining at work.
Not sure I follow you here. Your going to keep working or retire ?
I keep working but i do the minimum. Without research output, there is less pressure but no raises, research bonuses, etc. Only a small part of my job is teaching but if I just focus on that I can continue as an academic indefinitely. At some point I will give that up as well, but not working on big, stressful research projects is considered a kind of partial retirement by many in the field.
ah yes, we call that "retired on the job"
An important key to investing is having a well-calibrated sense of your future regret.
investorpeter
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by investorpeter »

1) Tolerance for BS was already down due to hitting number several years ago.
2) Tolerance continued to decrease as buffer accumulated due to ongoing OMY syndrome.
3) Pandemic did not seem like a good time to pull the plug. Also, BS was at a minimum during pandemic.
4) As pandemic in US recedes, there was a sudden rise in BS due to rash, poor decisions by leadership.
5) BS finally exceeded tolerance so I decided my time was too valuable to waste at a job that was not longer enjoyable.
Arby
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Arby »

I was dreading work although objectively it was less stressful than most jobs. What made it possible was an unexpectedly surge in the value of my ESOP. So I quit in January of the year in which I turned 55 which had positive tax implications.

With the benefit of hindsight, I would have worked two more years since the stock popped when my company when public. But I made the decision that seemed right at the time.

Before I left a one minute conversation with my division boss resulted in a small additional severance payment. Always ask; they might say yes.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

StealthRabbit wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 9:55 pm Out at age 49... (had just buried a parent that I had cared for for 32 yrs, and the kids had just left home for college (on their own)).

Finally it was Time to live again :)
the stars aligned. Tho it was a great job with great people, benefits, challenge and paid travel (with family).

A GREAT severance package I had been waiting for 15 yrs to be offered. ! (2 yrs salary, 2 yrs UI and HC (while attending free college)), + payout of vacation (20+ weeks) and sick leave (1000+ hrs) much of which I had accumulated at $2.00-$4.00/ hr...)

Unfortunatley... missed lifetime HC and new CEO had tanked the stock price by 90% and got rid of a lot of retiree and recreation benefits (for active and retirees, including free company resorts worldwide for life ).

so...

Turned the page for chapter 50+ No more annual reviews!

Many, many opportunities have come my way since not being bothered by work!

BUT... If you have really good benefits and LOTS of vacation and can take time without pay.... Consider "Quitting your job and not telling your boss!" (subject of book Die Broke). Go to work, do a good job, Don't over-engage / worry / fret / quit climbing the ladder to heart ache, don't sweat the small stuff, as it is NOT your business to do so. The company will do just fine when you are gone. Several co-workers read that book and had the best final years of their employment as they transitioned very peacefully and productively to retirement.
Awesome. Will have to read that book. What kind of opportunities came up? Tempted to take any?
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livelovelaugh00
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by livelovelaugh00 »

The moral of my company is very low since we had a new head of engineering. I'm in the process of engineering myself out. The scrum iteration is going to change from biweekly to weekly starting next week, basically iteration planning on Monday and demo on Friday. Everyone hates it. We have unlimited pto policy. I've already taken 14 pto days ytd. Tomorrow will be the 15th day. I have team member have 22 days ytd. I head down and keep low profile. I'm ready and happy to leave any day.
Exchme
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Exchme »

It was a two year process going from 60 hour weeks with full engagement building the future in my dream job, sliding to tired, disillusioned and fed up.

I was leading a large group, hiring great people, aggressively dumping low performers, putting on tons of training, helping other offices, pushing the envelope in technology we used. Incredibly hard work, but was proud of what we were doing and thought I would never retire.

Then a complete new management was brought in that didn't know or care about the unique culture that made the place successful and they tried to drive performance with numbers and industry surveys instead of focusing on the customers and building the teams to meet the customer's needs. Shortly after, the whole division got sold, churning management further and suddenly I was pushed out of my leadership role and back to the ranks.

Didn't feel quite financially set, the money was still excellent, wife wasn't ready to retire, so set the jaw and grimly accepted the new role. After two years of extra savings and the market skyrocketing, it was clear we had money we would never bring ourselves to spend. Health started to decline a little and disgust at watching management tear the place apart grew a lot. Then my wife's office got sold and she was supposed to report to a new place with a terrible commute and be a subordinate instead of doing her own thing. So we looked at each other and said - "Pfui on work, I'm ready if you are", and both retired.
heyyou
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by heyyou »

Having worked thirty Christmases at a package delivery company, I just couldn't face another one when I had been diligently saving for retirement for 25 years. We had just moved into our new, small retirement house with no stairs, having sold the previous one for noticeably more than expected. There were no solid reasons to keep working, just my concerns about the Great Unknown of living off of a small pension and portfolio withdrawals, instead of those larger steady paychecks.
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by LadyGeek »

livelovelaugh00 wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 12:09 am The moral of my company is very low since we had a new head of engineering. I'm in the process of engineering myself out. The scrum iteration is going to change from biweekly to weekly starting next week, basically iteration planning on Monday and demo on Friday. Everyone hates it. We have unlimited pto policy. I've already taken 14 pto days ytd. Tomorrow will be the 15th day. I have team member have 22 days ytd. I head down and keep low profile. I'm ready and happy to leave any day.
I've been retired for over a year and the mere mention of "scrum" gets my skin crawling. Here's a better way to engineer yourself out.

Read Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2021!, set a date, then enroll in the class (post in the thread). Execute the plan. Done.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Barkingsparrow
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Barkingsparrow »

livelovelaugh00 wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 12:09 am The moral of my company is very low since we had a new head of engineering. I'm in the process of engineering myself out. The scrum iteration is going to change from biweekly to weekly starting next week, basically iteration planning on Monday and demo on Friday. Everyone hates it. We have unlimited pto policy. I've already taken 14 pto days ytd. Tomorrow will be the 15th day. I have team member have 22 days ytd. I head down and keep low profile. I'm ready and happy to leave any day.
I'm on a team responsible for building the platform for a complex and ambitious company initiative. To manage this, they adopted SCRUM. I have 5-7 meetings weekly of various types: stand-up, backlog, issues...not to mention additional technical meetings. It seems that the focus is so much on meeting these backlog items and making senior management happy that we've lost sight of the big picture, making some of us wonder how all these pieces are going to fit - like a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle where hundreds of pieces are already lost. The sprints are far too large - with too many backlog items, and too many people involved. It's like watching a 25-car mega-wreck occurring in slow motion right before my eyes.
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daleddm
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by daleddm »

BernardShakey wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 12:40 am
ajbibi wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 11:58 pm
BernardShakey wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 11:26 pm
ajbibi wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 2:41 pm So I've decided to mostly retire while remaining at work.
Not sure I follow you here. Your going to keep working or retire ?
I keep working but i do the minimum. Without research output, there is less pressure but no raises, research bonuses, etc. Only a small part of my job is teaching but if I just focus on that I can continue as an academic indefinitely. At some point I will give that up as well, but not working on big, stressful research projects is considered a kind of partial retirement by many in the field.
ah yes, we call that "retired on the job"

Also an academic ... and am doing pretty much the same. Of course it seems a shame that so many see the teaching as the lowest priority, and I don't feel "retired on the job" but more free to think and plan things for classes. And as far as retirement (financially able to), I am following the lead of a mentor who seems (at 80+) to not only enjoy the classroom and engagement, but still be very effective.

But you can't help but wonder if you're doing the right thing, missing out on other experiences, etc. Which is why I keep coming back to this topic and seeking out similar threads. Decisions at this age (64) seem so darn permanent.
Kruser64
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Kruser64 »

1. Declining real wages
2. Wanting to get my substantial 401k out of company before new management starts playing fast and loose with it. Happened to me in past.
3. Ability to take some of that 401k as a 55+ penalty free distribution
4. 2019 lowest bonus in over a decade
5. Tons of uncompensated overtime
6. Constant threat of outsourcing
7. Me being more productive than ever. Saved the company 25 million $ one Sunday. Got nothing for it.

Spreadsheet panned out, + thank you ACA. Told company "I'm choosing to invest my time elsewhere." So far, so good.
goblue100
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by goblue100 »

Imadeit wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 8:38 pm Days before my wife passed away of pancreatic cancer at the young age of 55, she said I should retire ASAP. I was 56 at the time. My response was I don’t think I have enough money. She said I know you’ll figure out a way to do it. Transferred all my money to Vanguard and signed up for Vanguard advisor services a month before 2016 presidential election. Stock market took off. Also Received my wife’s pension that was transferred to me upon her death. Realized I would receive her social security as survivor upon my age of 60. That allows me to delay taking my social security until ago 70. After two years Vanguard calculated I had a 99 % chance of money lasting until age 100. Also found out I received health insurance as survivor benefits from my wife’s work. My wife was right, there was a way to retire. Didn’t see a reason to keep working. Decided to retire at the age of 58.
Sorry to hear of your loss. It is a sobering reminder we are not all promised tomorrow.
"Confusion has its cost" - Crosby, Stills and Nash
trueson1
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by trueson1 »

Time for the next stage of life - do something different - what ever I want!
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FreeAtLast
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by FreeAtLast »

1) I saw that the health of my 93 y.o. father was deteriorating rapidly. Two months after I retired, he became bed-ridden. I and my siblings took care of him until he died at home another 4 months later. For that reason alone, I will never regret the decision of my retirement date.

2) Besides that, at work, I had been living in a Bill Murray "Groundhog Day" existence. Same "stuff", different day. As someone above noted, my "tolerance for BS" had reached a non-detectable level.

3) My investments had done well and had met my expectations. Time to pull the pin and enjoy the rest of my life. Mission Accomplished. :D
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AllMostThere
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by AllMostThere »

1) Accepted a new position, they came to me and begged, May 2020 - very nice bump in pay
2) Within one month, the new position became total overload of responsibilities with multiple team members in Japan, China, India, Europe, US - East and West Coasts.
3) Was basically tied to my computer starting 5 AM (APAC meetings) and often not ending until 8 PM (West Coast meetings) M-F with multiple meetings on weekends also. For months, Sr. Leadership refused to listen to me that I was overloaded and could not successfully execute to customer satisfaction with this state :oops:
4) Engineering Director was biggest Dysfunctional A$$ Hat I have ever worked with in +25 years of employment - quick to blame me and others for his inability to lead a global team
5) My DM's health was failing quickly, so I wanted to spend more time with her, etc.
6) Realized that I had enough $$ and the current work conditions made it impossible to ever be successful. I could not continue working in a no-win situation, so I pulled plug in Jan @ 55. The function of FU money is amazing!
7) Best decision of my life! Stress has melted away, I am closer to DW & Kids, and I was able to spend some quality time with my DM prior to her passing away in April
8) Life is too short, and I have much to accomplish from my Bucket List!
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Last edited by AllMostThere on Wed May 26, 2021 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ed 2
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Ed 2 »

investorpeter wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 1:09 am 1) Tolerance for BS was already down due to hitting number several years ago.
2) Tolerance continued to decrease as buffer accumulated due to ongoing OMY syndrome.
3) Pandemic did not seem like a good time to pull the plug. Also, BS was at a minimum during pandemic.
4) As pandemic in US recedes, there was a sudden rise in BS due to rash, poor decisions by leadership.
5) BS finally exceeded tolerance so I decided my time was too valuable to waste at a job that was not longer enjoyable.
Lol! You kind of describe my workplace that I no longer enjoy too. But I’d like to stick a little longer. I also seen that BS levels were way lower during Covid, guess people never change ;)
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HIinvestor
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by HIinvestor »

For H, it was a perfect combo:
1. Job was becoming less enjoyable,
2. Traffic & commute worsening,
3. Mortgage paid off,
4. Kids college paid off,
5. Pension & salary was at the max it would both would decrease if stayed longer and be smaller if stayed shorter, and
6. We had more than enough saved.

For me, I’m still working (part time) because I enjoy it and it allows me to do back door Roth conversions. I have no commute to speak of and no boss. Life is good.
SQRT
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by SQRT »

tibbitts wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 1:23 pm 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.
Well, an honest post. Thank you.

My performance certainly declined prior to retirement. Mostly because my retirement date was set(out 3 years) but also because I wasn’t as motivated to perform once I reached FI. Reflecting back, it’s one regret I have, ie I didn’t leave on a more positive note. When I left I was really ready to go though,
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by pennywise »

Exchme wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 11:04 am It was a two year process going from 60 hour weeks with full engagement building the future in my dream job, sliding to tired, disillusioned and fed up.

I was leading a large group, hiring great people, aggressively dumping low performers, putting on tons of training, helping other offices, pushing the envelope in technology we used. Incredibly hard work, but was proud of what we were doing and thought I would never retire.

Then a complete new management was brought in that didn't know or care about the unique culture that made the place successful and they tried to drive performance with numbers and industry surveys instead of focusing on the customers and building the teams to meet the customer's needs. Shortly after, the whole division got sold, churning management further and suddenly I was pushed out of my leadership role and back to the ranks.

Didn't feel quite financially set, the money was still excellent, wife wasn't ready to retire, so set the jaw and grimly accepted the new role. After two years of extra savings and the market skyrocketing, it was clear we had money we would never bring ourselves to spend.
I had a similar trajectory although I worked in higher ed admin. Had been in same role for decades, always one of top senior admins in unit, loved my job, loved taking on challenges and making things come together, worked as long and as hard as I possibly could on every task or project that came my way.

Then when I was almost 60 YO, a new dean came in who did not view me as one of his top-trusted admins and thus sidelined me for anything other than rote tasks of core role. Gritted my teeth and hung on for a few years. Husband got closer to retirement age, our retirement accounts/pensions tipped us into FI, and last straw was buying a vacation/retirement house in our dream location an hour away from where we lived. Every weekend and holiday that I had to close the house up and go back to a miserable job situation got harder and harder.

I also in hindsight see that after so many years in my career and once I hit that significant zero birthday, my heart just wasn't in it any more. As the country song goes 'I ain't as good as I once was but I'm as good once as I ever was'. I could still muster up enthusiasm every once in awhile and thanks to sheer experience I could still handle everything at a pretty high level when asked/permitted to do so but mostly it felt like Groundhog Day-doing the same thing over and over and over. I kept pushing back my 'I"ll leave when' from 'when I turn 65' to '64' to '63' to 'end of the year I turn 62' to 'end of the month I turn 62'

Then husband retired a few months before that last point and watching him spend most of each week enjoying paradise while I trudged along at a job I didn't like any more even though we didn't need the money and I didn't need the aggravation, I realized there was NO reason to hang on. So I retired at 61 and 10 months LOL.

Best decision I ever made, have had not a second of regret. In fact I told my husband last night as we strolled our neighborhood, chatting with neighbors and enjoying a glorious island sunset on a perfect subtropical evening, that I can't imagine being happier than I am now.
Last edited by pennywise on Tue May 25, 2021 9:25 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Elsebet
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by Elsebet »

DwayneB wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 5:32 am Easy answer - my spouse and I both reaching Medicare age. Simply not affordable to go ACA or private health insurance before that. Of all the factors, health care in the USA has to be the main reason people don't retire earlier than they do. Sure if you are in good health maybe you can rationalize retiring with minimal health coverage, but unless you are independently wealthy, you are only one serious accident or one serious illness away from financial disaster.
This is definitely true on my team. There are at least 4 people waiting until 65 to get on Medicare before retiring. One of the more very politically conservative members of the team was even praising the current administration about the idea of lowering Medicare eligibility age to 60 because he would immediately retire.
"...the man who adapts himself to his slender means and makes himself wealthy on a little sum, is the truly rich man..." ~Seneca
scrabbler1
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Re: What prompted you to pull the plug and retire?

Post by scrabbler1 »

For me it was the commute which I couldn't stand any more. I had been working full-time until in 2001 I was able to switch to part-time and mostly work from home. I had reduced my commute to one trip to the office per week and I was okay with that. But in 2003, they ended open-ended telecommuting. I could still work part-time but I had to fulfill my 20 hours from the office. This returned some of the horrors of commuting, as I was now doing that 3 days a week. I knew this would be by ultimate undoing.

In 2007, I reduced my weekly hours worked from 20 to 12. This trimmed one day off my weekly commute and got me home an hour earlier than before. But it didn't take me too long to despise even a twice-a-week commute. I knew something would happen in 2008 which would enable me to retire. I was approaching my "number," which was the exploding value of the company stock in my 401k account, something I already knew I could cash out using NUA to greatly reduce the tax bite and transfer it to my taxable account and live off its monthly dividends.

That "number" got closer and closer as other parts of my developing Early Retirement plan were taking shape, including a green light from my Fidelity Account Executive. At the end of September, 2008, I gave my notice, with my last day October 31, 2008. It was Halloween, all treats and no tricks. I was 45 years old.

I had already built up a good set of activities in my 7 part-time years, so going from working 2 days a week to zero days a week was not a big deal. Totally eliminating the commute was the best part.
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