SelectSys Posted April 27 #26 Share Posted April 27 (edited) I appreciate all the stories above and especially those that refer to refer to health and the fact that no guarantees exist in this life. I worked beyond what I needed to do from a financial perspective driven by a combination of enjoying my work and colleagues, the perceived additional security of having more money, a bit of fear regarding such a dramatic lifestyle change and perhaps the COVID lockdowns as well. Like a couple of others above, a stage 4 diagnosis over 2 years ago. This diagnosis was the big wakeup call that I needed to finally leave my formal working life behind. All is going well today and I am remain optimistic for the future. For now the plan is to enjoy family and friends as well as travel while we can. I do understand the other side of the equation in terms of needing to make up budget adjustments if things don't go as well as you thought financially. I thought about this all the time when I had my own business. My "plan b" was always to go back and get a "real job" if my own efforts didn't pan out as planned. Again, no guarantees exist in this life. Edited April 27 by SelectSys 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nybumpkin Posted Tuesday at 08:58 PM #27 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:58 PM On 4/13/2022 at 11:34 AM, iancal said: In the past few years I have lost three former colleagues. All were in a position to retire. Two were in their very early sixties. The third waited until 65 to retire, then dropped dead. He was in the process of planning a family cruse with children and grandchildren. He never got around to it. I did not want to be one of those people. Retired early and changed our lifestyles-weight, exercise, and what we ate. You have the story that prompted my retirement. DH's mom was Executive Director of a nonprofit; I used to hear her "when I retire" stories. Well, she finally did retire - and 5 months later was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was gone less than a year later. None of those "when I retire" stories happened. I retired at the end of 2022 when I turned 62 after a 35-year career (and I loved my job), but am doing part-time work for them and probably will for another two years. DH isn't retired; his employer does not have a post-retirement medical plan, so he's staying to 65. Fortunately, it's a college teaching position, so he has a month off in December/January as well as three months in the summer. In the meantime, we leave for a river cruise in Europe next week.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now