Retirement Notice to my Employer

This week I plan to notify my employer that I will be retiring. I've elected to give 3 month's notice as my employer's retirement office asked that we submit our notice to start processing our retirement paperwork. I think this notice is more than generous to allow my office to locate or provide contingency plans for my upcoming departure. 

Sadly, as I prepare for this decision to notify my employer, a few outlying events have happened that may affect my employer, but not necessarily me. One, being that my employer relies on heavy federal funding to continue with services and medical studies in the coming year(s), they've decided to implement a hiring freeze. So, no replacement for my position but probably hire a temporary employee in the meantime. I don't know how long a hiring freeze will be in place, but I feel that will be an inconvenience. Two, in light of the economy, my speculation will be that we may head into a recession. People will keep a close eye on their finances and be mindful of purchasing big ticket items, i.e. home, car, or large appliances. And three, possibly inadequate staffing may be a challenge for my employer. 

But, as I make my notice known to my employer, I wonder if I will be going into a different time to that may be "poor timing" to retire? Could it be anxiety? Or hesitations with some of these uncertainties? Like everyone else before me, I need to be calm and be steady in my decision. I'm at third base, getting ready to slide into home base and be excited to celebrate my next chapter in life.

San Francisco, CA - Oracle Baseball Park 

My last couple of years of planning is coming to fruition, but I didn't expect to receive a curveball that makes me second guess my decision to retire. I could only hope I manage to think of all the scenarios that I will encounter have been answered. 

Some people whom I've shared my desire to retire asked me, "Why?", "You've Got More Years to Go!" "What Will You Do?" These are just some of the questions or comments I've heard. For me, it's a desire to try something else, spend time with family, friends, a whole host of things. But many financial advisors like to say, "What will you retire TO?" I get that, but there's more to being at the same job for several years, there's got to be more I can do. I'm financially ready for the most part, I've met the Maslow's hierarchy of needs beyond physiological needs to safety & security. I'm trying to hit the top of the pyramid tip to full self-actualization - desire to become the most that I can be at this stage and age in my life. Is that so bad? 

Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Next up is feeling the moment I give notice and the after affects which I will no doubt learn as this week draws near and the weekend arrives. Stay tuned on how I'll learn my decision to leave my current position, learning of the unknowns...

It's happening, I'm planning on retiring!

Well, it's confirmed, I'm fully engaged in planning to retire in 2025. Why 2025? Well, I'll hit 60 and I think I've worked long enough to really take in the moment to call it quits. I'm excited, it's surreal, and at the same time I'm afraid and hopeful that this move will be what I hope for.

I'm surrounded by a number of friends and colleagues who have left the corporate, job, world to pursue other passions or adventures. I've thought about it for a few years now and it's slowly becoming a reality for myself. I know I'll have to figure how to navigate this route to get there. I have a feeling, I have to deal with finances, where to live, how to adjust a new life after working for so many years. I'm not sure where to begin, but I'm hopeful writing this blog helps be sort things out in my head and putting it in perspective on a blog to document my journey. 

Cross fingers, I'm doing this right. It can be lonely, but hopeful again the word hopeful, I did the right thing. 

FINANCES

First off, my first question will be, can I afford to retire? Many of us will have to address the elephant in the room, do we have the money to make it? I would say, maybe I'm 70% there? But, I have to see what number is it to say, I can afford to make the move. 

I read an article that said, you should be able to retire comfortable if you've saved 8x your annual salary.  But it all depends on your way of life after retiring too, it may be enough for one person but another may need more. Here's the article among others that say you should have this amount by retirement. 

How Much Do I Need to Save to Retire? 

Let's say you make $50,000, you'll need to have $400,000 at the time of retirement (for me at 60) and should last you, oh I don't know maybe 25-30 years after leaving your job? That's a tall order for many of us. Who has saved that much when housing and other life circumstances are so expensive? 

I'll need to put together a spreadsheet that helps me see where I'm at to get to this amount. 
In the meantime, I need to save like crazy if I need to reach that goal. Stay tuned, I'll see if that number is even remotely close to my goal. 

Back to the question, am I ready to retire? Let's do this!