Impending Retirement Nears

Last month I submitted my retirement notice and "paperwork" to my company's retirement office and notified my office manager that I'm calling it quits. 

My retirement date is July 1. Somehow I feel a little at a loss on what to do in the meantime. I have yet to do a list of tasks as the date nears. The retirement office will send a draft on my retirement choice or actions than I would approve if that is what is needed. From my understanding, all of the processing should be completed by mid June based on other colleagues who have retired before me. 

In addition to feeling at a loss, I feel also a sense of questioning my decision to retire, wonder if it was the right move, do I screw up on this decision? All these are questions that are swirling in my head to cause me to be in feeling of being frozen I guess? 

Can't Move! 

I figured when I get the draft notice that my retirement is moving along, maybe that will trigger me to make my next steps in preparing my final retirement takes. But not yet. In my head, I want to do a timeline in the office to close things as I have a feeling the last month will be charged with last minute things to do with my job and prepare for the next person to take over my role. 

Things I need to probably do is download all of my personal documents on my laptop to a USB thumb drive and clean the laptop of any of my personal items, prepare an autoreply for my email that I will no longer be with employer. Somehow, I need to put these things in way that will be fluid, but now it's all in alphabet soup mode. I'll need a trigger, so once I get the green light from the retirement office, it will probably give me more clarity. 

Stay tuned, I'm feeling a little bit on pins and needles? 

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...

Rainy Day Review to Retirement Next Year

I'm taking in the stormy weather we've been having in the Northern California area to stay in to do a little writing. It's been a few days after Christmas and I'm really feeling the sense that my desire to retire in 2025 is literally around the corner! 

As I select July 1st as my last day in the office, standard protocol in submitting a retirement/resignation to my employer is generally 3 months. This allows all the paperwork to be processed just in time before I walk out the door. So starting in April I'm letting my director know I'm leaving. 

Personally, I still feel the anxiety and wonder if it's the right time, will I make a mistake by retiring too early, all these crazy thoughts start to surface in my head and making me second guess my decision. 

But as there is constant rain pouring outside my window, I'm given some calmness that all my preparation has been more than enough. I've crossed all my T's and dotted my I's, and it's really going to be my best foot forward to make the move at this stage in my life. 

As for the following, I think I've covered them all, well the ones that I'm aware of. 

FINANCES, ✅

SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE, ✅

HEALTH & FITNESS, ✅

HOUSING, ✅ 

To be honest the only thing that might surprise me is the roller coaster of mentally being prepared. Cross fingers all the networking with previous retirees, watching retirement preparation videos on YouTube, and simply talking to family and friends, sort of "calms" me versus freaking out. 

One person told me that I can prepare as much as you want and also holding off one more year before retiring will never establish reassurance. But I know one thing is that I'm embracing the TIME I have for me to take on another chapter or take on something new. Sure, spending time with family and friends more is a given, and traveling will be top of my to do list, i.e. bucket list new destinations will be the fun part. But going it alone might be a tad stressor for me versus thinking independence. That's for another blog. So for now, enjoying the sound of rain outside my window gives me pause to really settle in and hope 2025 will be exciting, comforting, and new for me. I need to change it up ! 

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!