The post from a little than a year ago solicited comments on what might have led folks into deciding when to retire, and I threw out a few possible thresholds. That list is revisited below. Since I changed my decision after the time of the post, thought it might be worth offering my answers to these questions to reveal how the “when to retire” decision was eventually made. Your comments are welcome.
Is there a nest egg threshold you’re trying to achieve?
$1.0 million always seemed like a nice round number to set as a nest egg target, but actually calculating (estimating) a sustainable, positive cash flow in retirement was the main “minimum” decision point. Of course changing estimated expenses, considering the possibility of part time work, when to pull the Social Security trigger, etc., are all related variables impacting an accurate cash flow estimate. As it turned out, we made a conscious decision to live with a negative (month-to-month) cash flow for the first couple of years, and we can always cut back on our spending if need be.
Planning on a certain age?
My original thinking was that as long as I was enjoying work, I would stay in the work force until sometime in my early 70s. But as I listened to others talk about challenges traveling as we get older, it became clear that the longer I worked, the more I was cutting into travel opportunities. And as it turned out, work over the past four years has not been as enjoyable as the previous thirty plus years, so retiring sooner rather than later became a priority.
Is it a two-part answer with one part being when your spouse retires?
Not for us. Beth worked for several years but has not for the last few years.
Just got tired of working?
That had some impact. I found that as I started thinking more about retiring, I was becoming less enthusiastic about going to work each day, or teleworking. And work-related travel was always a major perk for me, so no work-related travel in the last two years had an impact.
Did it just hit you one day that it was time to retire?
Definitely not. Eighteen months ago I set a tentative retirement date for the end of 2022, based on me working for FAA HQ from Tennessee for the last year. But changing circumstances at work, described in previous posts, caused me to check that retirement cash flow situation again to see if I could retire at the end of 2021 when we were scheduled to move down to the new home in TN. Finally, after considering a handful of retirement date options before the end of 2022, I settled on Dec 31, 2021. Two plus months into retirement, no regrets with that decision.
Or something else that might impact the decision?
I think we all want to pick a retirement date where we’ve reached financial goals and have some reasonable belief that the stock market’s not going to have a serious fall right after that date. Of course there’s no 100% assurance of picking such a date. Sure enough, that stock market drop appears to be happening, and the rapid increase in cost of living continues as well. But there are no regrets in my choice of retirement date. No thoughts of running back to the USG workforce for full time employment. Part time work, though, is another story for another post soon……….