One Week to Retirement

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

With all the great conversations in this thread it makes me wonder if a thread on retirement and the how to's, possible pitfalls, and just general advice could be helpful here.

Your thoughts?

Great idea, not only for the people getting ready to retire (have decided to actually do it), but also for people 5, 10, 15, and 20 years out. The bottom line is that the numbers (cash, age, years to eligibility for pension and SS, and years to potentially live) are just that, numbers, the real retirement decisions happen early in a career because not having that cash flow to retire is the best way to not ever retire. That said, sadly IMO, many people don't retire because they don't have any other passion; work is all they know and have ever known. I was an unapologetic "workoholic" for many years, but I always made time for family and a hobby. It made life very busy working those non-work things in while traveling and otherwise putting in 50-60 hour weeks (thank God for telework and being able to work late into the evening), but it was worth it.

So yes, it's a good topic to discuss so others can possibly benefit from how other people are doing it/did it. Nobody needs to be a financial advisor beyond "save 10%+" or "make sure you at least do the matching portion of your company's 401K plan", but more focused on "life the first day, weeks, months, and years after you retire". I'm only 5 months into my retirement and have no regrets in having retired, and I'm still adjusting to it. It's a nice adjustment, but an adjustment nonetheless...