Am out next March and the "Care" meter is bouncing off zero. Will get every vacation day allowed rather than lose them as in the past. Maybe the feeling is marking time? Just a general malaise.....I will miss not having to pay for my own fishing guides & green fees

how old are you? curious at what age people are retiring? I'm always jealous of government workers who put in like 15 years and are done

I'm close. It will be this year for me.

Leeman said:

---

I'm close. It will be this year for me.

---

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

I stopped caring

My target is 53. 14 to go.

Blonde Coffee Beans said:

---

I stopped caring

---

Same.

I am there. I could leave now but would like to stay another year. I bought some property and will build a house this upcoming year to 1.5 years and don't want to dip into my principle. BUT... The only thing I am really concerned about is whatever game I'm playing on my phone during conference calls and how long I can shut my door to play said game and not look like I'm completely checked out.

653 days until my pension kicks in. I'll be 51.

I was a banker. Pretty much stopped prospecting for new business. I wasn't going to take 6 months developing a relationship I was going to hand over to somebody else in 6 months. I had plenty to do taking care of my existing customers.

6 months out I gave up training, certifications…

Tatem said:

---

Leeman said:

---

I'm close. It will be this year for me.

---

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

---

Mid 50's.

I retired shortly after turning 50. Career was in high tech and honestly you didn't see a lot of older guys hanging around. A significant chunk of my money came from bonuses and stock options which are much easier than salary to manage the wife on. Wish I'd had a job I didn't WANT to leave as soon as I fiscally could.

I'm a few months away
Stopped working full time about a year and a half ago.
Highly recommend going PT if you can before retiring to really get a feel for how mentally ready you are and what you'll do with your time.

I definitely stopped worrying about when I showed up and when I left the office. Most people I worked with seemed to never care but was important to me to set an example…until now haha

I didn't really do anything that I can recall in the year before I retired. I had my own CPA practice and was always a casual dresser, shorts and fishing shirt, deck shoes if I was dressing up, flip flops otherwise. So nothing changed there.

My changes started a decade or so before I retired. Once I had my practice paid for and our house and a commercial rental property paid for, I slowed down a lot. I quit taking new clients other than when an existing client would start a new business. We have an RV park and quit taking overnight folks, very rarely anyone with a dog or dogs, nobody from the west coast or the upper east coast. Just tried to cruise along until it was time to stop.

My oldest granddaughter, class of '26, started her career today. I cannot imagine just starting out, though I would be glad to do it all over again!

I'm eligible now but not going for another 4 years.
One thing I'm going to stop doing for a whole year is Mondays. I still like the vibe on Fridays.

My job.

Every day is Saturday for me but I still get fired up for Friday for some reason. Still hate Monday.

Quote:

---

For example, I have stopped buying any and all work clothes. No dress shirts, ties, jackets. dress shoes, dress belts, dress socks. In fact, I've gone through my closet and gotten rid of a lot of them.

There are a lot of work behaviors I have started letting go of. I'm obviously never being promoted again. Unpaid overtime is absolutely not gonna happen.

---

I'm years away from retirement and I stopped caring long ago. Don't get me wrong. I do my job. But it's just a means to an end.

Ties and work clothes? Ties went extinct when covid hit. I don't plan on purchasing clothes specifically for "work" ever again.

fc2112 said:

---

I am in my early 60's.

I too am impressed with those that can retire much earlier. They must have had better control of their wives.

---

Or they picked (intentionally or not) a woman who isn't like that.

My wife is frugal as hell; growing up poor with a single mom will do that to you I guess. She spends damn near $0 on herself. Occasional pair of shoes on clearance from famous footwear, a manicure once a year with bday money from her mom, maybe $50 on a purse twice a decade, she has me cut her hair usually lol. She just got excited the other day to find some pants for work she liked on amazon for $20.


And she's the one with the pension to boot, which will allow us to retire in our (late) 50s.

HaroldShipmanAg said:

---

your mom

---

"stop doing"

ToddyHill said:

---

My retirement was a hard stop at 66 years and 6 months. Had I gone a day longer, I could not get 18 months of COBRA for my wife, who is five years younger. While I enjoyed my job, and was working from home, I had to call it quits.

Three years later…I just can't believe the awesomeness of retirement. I'm not in bed by 10 p.m., I don't wake up at 5 a.m., and every day is a Saturday. Very crazy, but I now love Mondays.

This could all end tomorrow…and my wife and I recognize that. To that extent, we just bought two burial plots in an old country cemetery 2 miles from our home.

If I had one suggestion to those 20 years younger than me…delay gratification and save, save, save. It will pay off in the long run.

---

With all of that saving, did you have a hard time turning off the switch to start spending?
I wonder how I will feel about spending money when I am not making it. I definitely live below my means, as I think everyone should, but it's easier to rationalize spending when more is coming in. Once the spigot turns off, I'm not sure how I will feel about it.

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

---

ToddyHill said:

---

My retirement was a hard stop at 66 years and 6 months. Had I gone a day longer, I could not get 18 months of COBRA for my wife, who is five years younger. While I enjoyed my job, and was working from home, I had to call it quits.

Three years later…I just can't believe the awesomeness of retirement. I'm not in bed by 10 p.m., I don't wake up at 5 a.m., and every day is a Saturday. Very crazy, but I now love Mondays.

This could all end tomorrow…and my wife and I recognize that. To that extent, we just bought two burial plots in an old country cemetery 2 miles from our home.

If I had one suggestion to those 20 years younger than me…delay gratification and save, save, save. It will pay off in the long run.

---

With all of that saving, did you have a hard time turning off the switch to start spending?
I wonder how I will feel about spending money when I am not making it. I definitely live below my means, as I think everyone should, but it's easier to rationalize spending when more is coming in. Once the spigot turns off, I'm not sure how I will feel about it.

---

This is a real thing. I had 3 buddies retire 12 - 18 months before me and we all spent a lot of time talking to each other about retirement. This was one of the big topics.

You have to be comfortable enough with your retirement finances to not think you're going to run out of money if you spend more than you take in. And you'll spend less as you age. I read a book that put it like this: the first 5 - 8 years is the Go-Go Zone. You're still young and healthy enough to travel and do pretty much what you want to do. The next 5 - 8 years is the Slow-Go Zone. Still some travel and doing things, but not as much. You'll spend less money here. The next X number of years is the No-Go Zone. Pretty much hanging around the house. Spend way less money here, aside from Healthcare issues.

I've been retired 5 months now and I am more aware of what I spend on things. I'm still a member of a golf club, still go out to eat, my wife and I have taken trips, so I haven't really changed my lifestyle yet. But I am more money-aware than when I had a regular paycheck coming in.