Early retirement pros and cons

I retired early by choice - it was making me physically ill going to work every day after a horrible new department manager took over. Leaving early cost me because I ended up with a reduced Social Security benefit, but it was worth it. I've posted about that previously on some thread.

My wife had already retired (she was 3 years older than me). Our first year was great - - - some trips, vacation, but soon after, something started going wrong with her voice. It was first believed to be a respiratory issue, but turned out to be ALS, which progressed quickly and she required round the clock care (me) and was gone in less than 2 years. So, the way things worked out, it seems that my retiring early was meant to be.

Had it all worked out with a happier ending, and she had not died, I still wouldn't regret retiring early. The stress of going to that job was not worth wrecking my health over just to hold onto dollars.
 

MACKTEXAS said:
I retired early by choice - it was making me physically ill going to work every day after a horrible new department manager took over. Leaving early cost me because I ended up with a reduced Social Security benefit, but it was worth it. I've posted about that previously on some thread.

My wife had already retired (she was 3 years older than me). Our first year was great - - - some trips, vacation, but soon after, something started going wrong with her voice. It was first believed to be a respiratory issue, but turned out to be ALS, which progressed quickly and she required round the clock care (me) and was gone in less than 2 years. So, the way things worked out, it seems that my retiring early was meant to be.

Had it all worked out with a happier ending, and she had not died, I still wouldn't regret retiring early. The stress of going to that job was not worth wrecking my health over just to hold onto dollars.
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And you had no other job choices? Whenever I had problems with new management, I jumped to a new job and always get more money.
 
January said:
So my husband does voluntary work and his hourly time is worth nothing??

Odd way of looking at it - obviously work is about more than just the pay rate.
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You are correct. In a capitalist society, your husband's voluntary work doesn't yield any monetary value. If that's what he does now, I don't see what the point of debating on early retirement is. He is retired.
 
stevenSC said:
Do you regret leaving early or do you wish you would have done it sooner?
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No regrets. Planned to retire early at age 55 but good luck came along to make it possible to retire 30 years ago at age 54. I will offer a little advice. Before drawing on your 401k ask the holder of your account if you have to deplete it in 15 years. If I began drawing on mine at 59 1/2 the way it was set up it would have been totally disbursed by age 74.

Account agent advised converting 401k to self directed & traditional IRA's. I could build the accounts tax free until forced to begin MRD deductions. Best advice we got since we live comfortably, don't live on a budget & are able to buy "wants" whenever a "want" is picked out.
 
There are a lot of financial advice you can read or watch on internet. But some people just aren't interested in managing money.
 
OldOld said:
You are correct. In a capitalist society, your husband's voluntary work doesn't yield any monetary value. If that's what he does now, I don't see what the point of debating on early retirement is. He is retired.
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yes I know he is retired :whistle:

I am not though, like I said before

and fortunately there are other values than just monetary.
 
Assuming you are not working for financial reasons (as some state that they have no need for additional funds), then you must have a crappy home-life.

When you arise every morning you have a choice. I'd rather spend my day at my job rather than with my family (assuming that you have one).

If you don't have a happy home-life - - - ignore my post ! It only applies to folks who do have a happy family situation.
 
DaveA said:
Assuming you are not working for financial reasons (as some state that they have no need for additional funds), then you must have a crappy home-life.

When you arise every morning you have a choice. I'd rather spend my day at my job rather than with my family (assuming that you have one).

If you don't have a happy home-life - - - ignore my post ! It only applies to folks who do have a happy family situation.
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No I do not have a crappy home life at all.
Because I like my job I must have a crappy home life or spend no time with my family??
What a strange assumption 😵‍💫

One can work and have family time too. It isn't an either / or scenario.

If people want to retire early and that works for them - great.

If people want to keep working and that works for them - also great.

Making derogatory assumptions about others who didn't do the same as ourselves - not so great.
 
OldOld said:
And you had no other job choices? Whenever I had problems with new management, I jumped to a new job and always get more money.
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I didn't request advice, but yes, I could have looked for another job, and might have found one. My wife would still have come down with her illness, and we wouldn't have enjoyed one last good year together. No regrets.
 
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Retired at 55 and glad I did. At 65 the health problems started, like my warranty ran out...lol. The past two years I have constantly been in and out of the hospital, will be 68 next month. The first two years were the best though. I could have went back to work, but no regrets.
 
January said:
really not sure what point you are making now.

I could leave my job and we would draw down from our superannuation.
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If your superannuation is more than what you ever need for the rest of your life, would you still be working now? It's either you don't have enough or you don't think it's enough.
 
CaliS said:
Sounds great! I just turned 62 and I feel very ready to retire - but my husband is not quite there... I need to find him a hobby!

We talked about getting an RV and doing the travel around the us thing ... How much maint. is involved in that? I've watched a lot of you tube videos, and it seems it can be quite a bit. I don't know if we are up for that.
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Things break from all the rattling around that happens when you drive plus all the parts are made of plastic. We had a 1993 motorhome that was in excellent condition when we bought it in 2008 with very few miles.

We only got 9 mpg in a 27 foot motorhome so gas was expensive. RV parks are also expensive. You can’t drive faster than 60 most of the time either so it takes a long time to get there.

We bought it because we wanted to travel with our 4 dogs. We thought we would travel for a year but a month at a time was all we could handle. It was a great way to see the national parks.
 
Teacher Terry said:
Things break from all the rattling around that happens when you drive plus all the parts are made of plastic. We had a 1993 motorhome that was in excellent condition when we bought it in 2008 with very few miles.

We only got 9 mpg in a 27 foot motorhome so gas was expensive. RV parks are also expensive. You can’t drive faster than 60 most of the time either so it takes a long time to get there.

We bought it because we wanted to travel with our 4 dogs. We thought we would travel for a year but a month at a time was all we could handle. It was a great way to see the national parks.
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Thank you! My main concern is emptying tanks. My husband has a bad back and I'm not much better off. Maybe we can rent one and try it out! :)
 
January said:
well not just if they have easy jobs - that sounds rather patronising - I am 62, my job isnt physically hard like, say, bricklaying, and I would be able to manage on money we have now if I retired

But neither is it "easy just clock in and out" either - it is challenging and specialised at times and I enjoy working and yes I enjoy getting paid.

Not sure what you mean by " their lives may just be worth the money" :unsure:
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It's wonderful that you enjoy what you do! If I was still working at my old job; I think I would be happy to keep going too. It's not all about the money, it's often a sense of accomplishment, the social connection, etc.

Everyone should do what they feel comfortable with and no judgements. :cool:
 
CaliS said:
Thank you! My main concern is emptying tanks. My husband has a bad back and I'm not much better off. Maybe we can rent one and try it out! :)
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Yes try renting first. Emptying the tanks is a dirty nasty job. My husband always wore plastic disposable gloves. It takes a while to set up.
 
OldOld said:
If your superannuation is more than what you ever need for the rest of your life, would you still be working now? It's either you don't have enough or you don't think it's enough.
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Or it is a balance - it would be enough, we don't have extravagant lifestyle, but is always nice to have more - and since I enjoy working and I am earning money and not drawing down on my super, that is right balance for me at the moment at age 62

I could retire - I could also work more (am working 4 days/week) - but at the moment what I am doing is right balance financially and otherwise for me.
 
Hey all, been a while!

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but at what point is your life value greater than the monetary value?

I see some small excerpts of news from the UK and the US, that pensions are going to be a problem in 10 years. Maybe at some point there is no money left. No matter how well you planned. Savings, RRSP, bonds, RRIF, even social security is ALL at the mercy of the economy and financial system. Despite laws or rules there are no absolutes anymore.

If someone would have said this 10 years ago, even I would say...stick it where there sun don't shine. But now, with housing crisis, jobs crisis, cost of living crisis, AI destroying jobs, govt ineptitude at all time high, constant wars...tomorrow could be our last day with money!

I understand the love of the job. I loved nothing more than being deployed, having a cause, the camaraderie, the travel, the excitement of missions, the training.
I did all I could to stay in the forces, but when they deem certain injuries as being un-deployable...you have no recourse.

You take the buyout, the full early pension, and count your blessings.
If I could do it all over again, I would. (Without the injuries, lol).

But, that is a life changing question. The balance of health vs money. Do you stay till you can't? Do you have a quality off life left if you stay to long? Do you have security if you leave too early?

Personally with the state of the world currently, I would take them money and run.
 
OldOld said:
If your superannuation is more than what you ever need for the rest of your life, would you still be working now? It's either you don't have enough or you don't think it's enough.
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Some of us still do some consulting because we enjoy it and do not have enough hobbies to fill all of our days. Too much downtime is boring. It may have nothing to do with money.
 
Teacher Terry said:
Some of us still do some consulting because we enjoy it and do not have enough hobbies to fill all of our days. Too much downtime is boring. It may have nothing to do with money.
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I know this is all subjective opinion. But to me, it's always more enjoyable to spend money than working, no matter what type of job it is, unless the job is POTUS or some CEO where the job is telling people to do work.
 
OldOld said:
I know this is all subjective opinion. But to me, it's always more enjoyable to spend money than working, no matter what type of job it is, unless the job is POTUS or some CEO where the job is telling people to do work.
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I decide when I want to see my clients and I book my own appointments. So I have total control of my schedule and I enjoy the work that I do. It’s very rewarding and fulfilling. I also don’t work full-time and this year I will have probably worked about 400 hours for the year.
 
I would just say I book my own first/business class flight too (rather than booking an appointment with clients). And I enjoy my champagne and 3 or 4 course meals inflight than meeting the clients. And I don't feel the need of fulfillment from clients. Nobody(or very few prople) do any work purely for enjoyment or fulfillment, otherwise people would just do it for free.
 

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