From the title you might expect this post to be full of “don’t do this” and “don’t do that” retirement advice.
But this “don’ts” post is a bit different.
It’s not focused on the things you should avoid to get to retirement.
Instead this post celebrates retirement greatness by listing the (annoying to terrible) things you don’t have to do once you retire.
It’s my top list of don’ts after 2.5 years of retirement.
I’m looking forward to the don’ts others have as well, so be ready to add yours in the comments below.
Even if you aren’t retired, go ahead and add your dream don’ts! This will be fun!
Before we get started I want to note that while it might sound like I hated my job/career, I actually didn’t. I would say I liked it (not loved it) and had many more highs than lows.
That said, I like doing whatever I want way better. đ
With that out of the way, here are my top retirement don’ts in no particular order…
1. You don’t have to get up early unless you want to.
Haha! I started with a bang, right?!
I remember when I worked I had to drag myself out of bed every day. Especially on those cold, snowy, winter days.
Or when you knew the day was going to royally suck for one reason or another. It was brutal, but duty called and I had to get up.
Nowadays I actually get up earlier than when I worked, but it’s because I want to. The reason I want to is that I have an exciting day ahead of doing whatever I want to do versus what’s dictated by someone else.
If I’ve had a late night or just feel like I need some extra sleep, no worries. I just roll over and get up whenever the mood strikes me.
And it might go without saying, but there are certainly no alarm clocks involved in me getting up. I wake up when I wake up and get up when I decide to.
I’ve used an alarm clock maybe five times in the past couple years.
2. You don’t have to go to work (or anywhere) when you’re sick.
I had to re-live my previous nightmares in this area recently through my son.
He got a bad cold and had to go into work each day or suffer the consequences. (One of his jobs sent him home so others wouldn’t get sick but the other would have fired him if he hadn’t showed up.)
The situation made me recall the countless times I went into work and could barely keep my head up. But there was an important meeting/report/something else that had to be done that day and I was the only person on planet earth who could do it. So I went in.
Over my 28-year career I missed maybe 15 days because of illness. I worked many more days than that when I was sick.
Now if I get sick (which I haven’t been in some time), I get plenty of rest, drink lots of liquids, and recuperate at home as comfortable as I can make myself.
3. You don’t have to attend life-sucking meetings.
My last year of work I bet I broke the Guinness Book of World Records record for most yawns during meetings.
I would literally yawn multiple times during some meetings — so much so that I had to come up with a way of rubbing my mouth so it looked like I was opening it to rub my lips (which is about as bad as yawning).
But I yawned so much because I was BORED TO DEATH. The business was uninteresting and the fact that I reported to an uninspiring boss made it worse.
In fact, meetings without him were generally fine. But if he was in attendance, bring out the yawn-fest.
More on that in a moment…
Anyway, the last time I yawned since retiring was maybe after our horrendous 24+ hour trip to Grand Cayman. And even then it was a happy yawn followed by a great night’s sleep.
4. You don’t have to play politics.
If you work with people, you have to play politics at one time or another.
As you progress higher up within a company, it gets worse since you don’t only have to play for yourself, but for your employees, your division, etc.
It’s unfortunate, but is a fact of life.
And it’s mentally exhausting.
The only politics I play now is when I try to get my wife to spend more on a luxury vacation. She’s still holding on to her money-saving ways and needs a bit of coaxing sometimes. đ
5. You don’t have to take orders from a bad boss.
During most of my career I had great bosses — people I respected and even admired. I was very fortunate.
But I had some bad ones as well.
I had 18 bosses in 28 years (and those are just direct bosses, not counting the people above them).
Of those there were a few nightmares — including the last one who pushed me into retirement.
I won’t go into detail about him but let’s say out of 18 he ranked #18. The worst.
And yet he was the boss. His word stood.
Of course by the time he was my boss I was financially independent and had been around the block a few times.
So I was much bolder at offering a counter-point when he suggested something crazy (which was often).
As you might imagine, he wasn’t too pleased with opposing opinions and we ultimately decided to part ways.
One of the best decisions of my life.
And now I don’t have to listen to a boss at all.
BTW, I’d love to hear your bad boss stories in the comments below. Maybe we can have a competition on who’s had the worst boss.
One story about my last boss for chuckles…
We were having a heated conversation, probably over something stupid, when he said, “Isn’t this business the most important thing in your life?” (not his exact words, I’m sure, but that was the meaning).
Without missing a beat I said, “No. No, it isn’t. It’s probably #5 or so at the highest.”
I thought his head was going to blow off his head! LOL!!!
6. You don’t have to handle employee and co-worker issues.
Of the 28 years I worked, I had co-workers for 28 years. Ha! Of course!
For 25 years I had employees who reported to me.
Just like with my bosses, most of these people (both co-workers and employees) were great. I enjoyed working with them. I also had a special fondness for my employees as their careers, work happiness, and satisfaction were placed in my hands. I wanted the best for them.
But just like any people (me included), many these folks had issues. And their issues became my issues.
A few examples of things I had to deal with:
- Employees using the company credit card for non-work purposes and then not paying their bills each month as the card required.
- Employees going through a high-drama divorce with each other.
- Employees who failed drug tests and then claimed that someone had slipped them a bad brownie at a party.
- Co-workers who ran into several cars in the parking lot and didn’t admit it until they were caught on tape.
- Co-workers having affairs with their subordinates.
It went on and on. I’ve probably forgotten some of the worst stuff.
Then there were just the regular work-related issues of problems with projects, trouble with vendors, inter-departmental squabbles, etc. to navigate through.
It was often like I had children, all of whom were looking at me to solve their various issues.
I do not miss that in any way.
7. You don’t have to work during family time.
Have you ever worked late? I usually worked very late the first decade or so of my career.
Have you ever worked on weekends or holidays? I did all the time.
Have you ever worked on vacation? Ugh. Don’t ask.
I have example after example of working during time I was off and with my family. Most of the time the boss/company expected it and I had to go along.
No more.
8. You don’t have to manage vacation time when you have guests or want to travel.
Two weeks’ vacation. Wow, thanks for being so generous.
Even after I negotiated up to four weeks’ vacation (when switching jobs) and never let that go when moving to new jobs, it was still a balance to use the vacation time.
Not only did we have vacations we wanted to take but we also had visits to our home from family and friends. (Not so much in Michigan, but once we moved to Colorado, the floodgates opened!)
These days I don’t have to check and see how many vacation days I have left if I want to go somewhere or if someone decides to visit.
I’m free.
9. You don’t have to sit for eight hours a day.
This was a killer for me.
Day after day, year after year I was sitting for the vast majority each day.
Science has recently discovered how bad sitting is for a person.
Any extended sitting â such as at a desk, behind a wheel or in front of a screen â can be harmful. An analysis of 13 studies of sitting time and activity levels found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to the risks of dying posed by obesity and smoking.
Ugh.
Now I sit for a few hours a day but…
I also work out every day plus get in about 17,000 steps.
I’m hardly ever sitting for more than an hour without getting up and moving in one way or another. The fact that I drink so much water these days makes sure I’m up frequently. đ
I certainly don’t miss the small aches and pains associated with being glued to your chair most of the day.
10. You don’t have to fight traffic.
Over my career I had good commutes (15 minutes or so) and bad commutes (an hour or more). In fact I had more of the former than the latter, so I got off pretty easy compared to most.
I had a friend who used to live in New Jersey and work in NYC. He had a two-hour commute ONE WAY. Do the math on how four hours commuting adds up over a year and it’s pretty depressing.
Whatever length of commute you have, it probably stinks.
Not only does it add AT LEAST 30 minutes round trip to your day, but it’s expensive and, of course, it’s more sitting.
When we were first married we lived in Pittsburgh. Do you know how hilly it is in Pittsburgh? Do you know how much snow they can get there at one time? Do you know how little they are prepared for it?
One day it had snowed something like 15 inches the night before and the roads were a total mess. When I finally got through to a company representative (you had to call on a landline in those days), he insisted (despite my “are you SURE?” questioning) that the company was open.
I got into my car and plowed/slid all the way downtown for two hours. BTW, it was still snowing at this time.
Immediately upon getting to work I was informed that the offices were closed due to weather. Yes, this really happened.
So now I drove back home, in worse weather, and took THREE HOURS to do so. By the time I got home in the early afternoon, my nerves were totally frazzled. I kissed the ground, thankful that I was alive, and “enjoyed” the couple hours of freedom I had remaining in the day.
Obviously that’s an extreme case, but even a decent snowfall can make a big problem.
At my last company, the owner (the bad boss I described above) was so greedy that he would almost never close the office. The entire city might be shut down, but not our office.
When I told him that making employees drive during terrible conditions was putting their safety at risk, he wondered if I “really cared” about the business. And this was from a company that touted their care for employees. They had even won several “best workplace” awards.
It was total hypocrisy.
Anyway, whether it’s a regular commute or a terrible one, I don’t play that game any longer.
11. You don’t have work-related stress (or much stress at all).
I’ve said previously that I didn’t really realize how much stress I had until I quit work. Then I could quite literally feel it draining out of my face (where most of the tension resided) and body over time.
It took six months or so to leave completely.
These days, there is no work stress, which was probably about 80% of my overall life stress. Of course there are still life things that pop up and cause stress but it’s nowhere near what I had when working.
I have also became very sensitive to stress. I can feel it coming on me now whereas for 28 years it was simply my constant companion. This is one reason we had to take 10-day vacations — because it took three days for me to de-stress enough to begin enjoying it.
12. You don’t get the Sunday afternoon pit-in-the-stomach feeling.
I was thinking about this last Sunday afternoon.
I was closing the curtains for the evening and thought, “Wow. If I was still working, I would have a huge sense of dread right now as I know I’d be facing a new week soon.”
Instead, I went downstairs and enjoyed a movie with my wife.
Does anyone get those pit-in-the-stomach, dread-fearing, sense of hopelessness feelings about 3 p.m. on Sunday?
Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad, but you know what I mean, right? You know the weekend is coming to an end (just after it got started!) and another week of hard work, long hours, bad bosses, and tough co-workers is ahead of you.
And you feel the dread associated with the impending doom.
No, thank you. That’s a sure “don’t” for me.
13. You don’t have to answer texts at 11 pm.
My last boss used to text me late at night to tell me super urgent and life-threatening things like we had a misspelling on a page of our massive website.
Of course I had to respond or else 1) see a flood of extra messages wondering why I wasn’t combing the website myself or 2) face the same grilling in-person the next day.
#Ugh
These days I usually go to bed around 10 p.m. (since I get up early), so even if someone does text me then, I’m asleep.
14. You don’t have restless sleep thinking about the next day.
I never knew how well I could sleep until I retired. It’s so peaceful now.
I was talking to my wife the other day about dreams and realized that I hadn’t had an anxiety dream in as long as I remember.
That was not the case when I was working. I had anxiety dreams fairly often and almost nightly I would wake up with some business matter on my mind.
Now if I wake up the only question on my mind is do I get up to use the bathroom or can I hold it until morning. đ
15. You don’t have to go out when there are crowds.
I dislike crowds.
Not only are they a pain to deal with but they often turn a nice event into a hassle.
But when you’re retired, you can avoid crowds by going places when they are at work.
Here are a few examples of how this plays out for us currently:
- At the gym I used to work out after work (6 p.m.) and it was packed. (Not to mention I was mentally exhausted from work.) I now work out at 7:30 a.m., just after the crowd leaves to go to work.
- We used to shop at the grocery store on weekends. It was packed. Now we go during the weekday (and we usually walk there and back.) I hardly ever wait for anyone ahead of me in a checkout line.
- Just thinking of going to a movie on a Friday or Saturday night gives me the willies. Even going at night during the week is bad enough. We now go in the late morning or early afternoon on Tuesdays. There’s almost no one there (many times we have the theater to ourselves), plus the tickets are discounted!
Name almost any place you might go — restaurant, coffee shop, doctor’s office, DMV, tourist location, etc. — and there’s a busy time and a not-so-busy time.
We go when others don’t, which makes the event pretty pleasurable.
16. You don’t have to skip events because you have to work the next day (or are too tired).
How many times was I invited to an event, party, etc. and I refused because I either had to work the next day or was too tired from work to go in the first place?
One example: Super Bowl parties.
I used to get invited but since we lived on the East Coast and the game would run late, I’d decline because of work.
We now get there early and are usually the last ones to leave.
Many working people don’t come or end up leaving in the third quarter because they “have work the next day.”
That’s fine with me — they leave lots of food behind and, as I said above, it’s generally better without a crowd! đ
17. You don’t have to shave every day.
I dislike shaving.
And though I’m no Grizzly Adams (it would take me a few years to grow a decent beard), I still had to shave every day while working. After all, I worked in a professional environment that required it.
Now it’s Mondays and Fridays — those are the days I shave.
So sweet.
18. You don’t have to wear uncomfortable clothes.
I started my career when wearing suits was the norm.
Things changed over the years, of course, and got more casual, but as I progressed up the ladder we never had as much clothing leeway as most employees did.
Plus, what we considered “comfortable” at work is nowhere close to retirement comfortable.
These days I wear athletic gear almost exclusively. It’s very comfortable. In the summer it’s shorts and a t-shirt. So, so comfortable.
If I have to even wear jeans or heaven forbid Dockers these days, I feel uncomfortable in them. They are tight, made from un-soft material, and feel very constricting.
I need my comfy clothes and that’s what I wear.
And no, I haven’t gotten to the point where I wear PJs out of the house, though I’m thinking they are probably acceptable attire for any Walmart trips I might make.
What’s the Point
So, what’s the point of all this “here’s how great retirement is” talk?
First of all, reading through this, I’m just so thankful. I wish I had retired much earlier. But am grateful that I finally came to my senses and retired when I did. If I hadn’t done that I could still be working and have over a decade more ahead of me.
Second, I realize how peaceful retirement is. I hope you have the same feeling when you retire.
Finally, it’s to show how great retirement is and encourage people to retire as soon as you can. Don’t make my mistake and wait a decade after reaching FI to retire. Do it as soon as possible and these can be your don’ts as well.
Now let me turn it over to you. Any retirees out there who have some don’ts I missed?
Or maybe you’re not yet retired but looking forward to some don’ts of your own. What are they?
Appreciate the list and associated points.
Reconciliation of healthcare, both source and cost, continues to be the number #1 reason people in my circle fail to pull the early retirement trigger. Believing one can afford to pay for healthcare, which I can only assume, becomes a major budget line item for those living debt free.
The thought occurs to me, have we let an entire industry âconditionâ thoughts with respect to medical? I donât need insurance for a broken hand, a cold, stitches, incidental medical. I need health insurance for potentially catastrophic issues.
Thorough list that brought back unpleasant work life memories. My âdonâtâ list would include: Donât have to take off work for appointments and dr/dentist visits and the overall stress of juggling life to-dos with work demands.
Bad boss stories â-
Really too many over my 30 plus years of working in public educationâ
Hereâs one that TOPS my list:
One lady who reported directly to me for over 9 years, after a few twists and unexpected political turns, suddenly became my BOSS â- she was horrible to the people in her own department for years, lazy in her work and didnât work well with teams that were created to focus on problem-solvingââand she was LATE (every day) to work a lot â- she showed up around 10am and left work around 2pm (earlier most days) â-BTWâ- she was protected by my direct report too, so I wasnât allow the step in properly â
Anyway, when she took over the reigns, one of her first decisions (moves) was to institute a âtime clockâ system in every department throughout the entire school districtâ- professional leaders have been punching the clock since 2011 â-
Iâm guessing she really did understand the importance of showing up to work on time, after all.
So glad I left and only wish I wouldâve had the courage to leave that job earlier than I did.
Never work for a jerk ââ- this is what I preach today ?
My favorite is wearing long jeans in the winter with flannel long sleeves. In the summer, cargo shorts and pocket T’s. I love the year-round comfort of cotton. My wife thinks I look like a farmer. My reply is that farming is a noble profession. It also proves I still have a boss. ?
I would love to live a life without alarm clocks and wake up naturally. That is probably one of the best things I look forward to when I retire.
Fortunately where I live we don’t get bad weather often but when it happens I hate having to go to work in in it. We’ve had a couple of times where roads were icy enough that I drove maybe a mile or so before saying F this and drove back home. Turns out they closed early for work anyway and since I work at an outpatient clinic most patients didn’t bother showing up as well.
Absolutely love your article! It made me laugh out loud a few times. Thankfully, my job is not as bad as you last, but, I can’t wait for that wonderful moment called ‘retirement’.
Not retired or even particularly remotely close to it….but I’m looking forward to not having to wear socks every day, regardless of the weather.
It’s a simple thing, but I just hate socks. I’m much happier in flip flops, or around the house barefoot.
One if the better reads so far. As a retiree from the military and DoD shedding the uniform, now wearing sock, sweats all day, is so comfortable. Also not having to work with bosses who lack leadership skills or knowledge of requirements is definitely more stress less. Enjoying yourself is akin to paying yourself First.
My retirement countdown has begun and I will be retired this time next year. After reading your post I headed downstairs to make breakfast and prepare my lunch to take to work (because I refuse to waste money eating out or getting take out every day and I eat healthier too). I realized that once I retire I donât have to prepare lunch in advance the night before, or scramble in the morning to figure out what to pack for lunch each day. Looking forward to having lunch freedom!
Great list, ESI.
Iâll add two more- the first is not having to use the public toilets at the office.
I always go to brush my teeth after lunch and am often met with assaulting smells in the bathroom (ever hear of a courtesy flush gents?). Iâve also been working in the Middle East so itâs not uncommon for someone dressed in local attire to pick up their stinky feet out of their sandals and plop it in the sink (right next to my freaking face!) to wash it for ablutions prior to the mid day prayer – and this is at a very high end government facility that is arguably world class. Yes, itâs as disgusting as it sounds. I very much prefer the comfort and privacy of my own bathroom, thank you very much.
Another point to add is that you can be yourself on social media and not under constant thread of being âCompany PCâ for risk of getting terminated. If something doesnât make sense, call it out- no need to pussy foot around for fear of criticizing the boss or leadership as this would be an immediate grounds for dismissal.
So Iâm looking forward to and grateful for leaving all this behind. Iâm also out of full time work as of the end of this month and looking forward to doing occasional consulting at this point and it feels soooooo good!
Hooray for a wonderful list. I loved this post.
-Mike
I spend everyday fighting against many of the norms that come with the work. The closer I get to FI the stronger I get! I can’t wait to travel at my leisure. The suit life sounds awful. I am lucky to work in construction management and can wear blue jeans and a button down! #MoveTheSuperBowlToSaturday
Wow… I’m not retired but based on this list I’m feeling pretty lucky these days… I’m in sales so in general I’m managing my own schedule- sometimes I’ll start late and work later in the day/night. I used to manage people but it wasn’t too bad. Bottom line the only thing that I have to deal with (for the most part) is stress. Constantly making sure my numbers are good- when they aren’t it stinks. There always some politics and boss “issues” from time to time but knowing you are in good financial shape certainly helps alleviate the stress…
I have a close friend that like me is in his 50s. He’s seriously considering retiring early- mostly because of the horrendous traffic he has to deal with. I decide when I go into the office and I enjoy my 15 minute back road journey. Flexibility is HUGE to me.
People that aren’t retired should look at that list to see where they are really at in life wrt career. Missing big events with the kids is unacceptable and you never get that time back! Huge motivation for FI!
Great article and enjoyed the humor! Makes us all realize there is a fantastic life for us when we move past the â1 more yearâ hurdle. Iâm now so free of having to check my iPhone for emails and texts all day/night and can enjoy my time with my family (as my wife and daughter shared with me, Iâm now much more present when with them.) Note: Retired 9.30.18 after 34 year career in Finance/IT leadership (57 years old) and now have a side hustle 2 days per week helping a friend in cyber security doing some business development leveraging my healthcare contacts.
I just got back from vacation in Maui and the best part about coming home was that I didnât have to go to work when we got back! Absolute heaven!!!
I identify with this. It’s like coming back from vacation to continue the everyday vacation!
A friend who retired after 40+ years with a utility commented that every day was now Saturday . . . and he said it with a big grin.
Thank you, you made my day! I am still in the phase of making that big leap of retiring in June, my birthday! I am stressed right now just thinking if I am doing the right thing and your words of ” having done it sooner” resonates loud for me.
Among all the things you said, the stress I have now and for the past 30 years will be the best benefit of retiring which I hope dissipates in 6 months like yours. Hopefully it will help me live longer too.
Back in the late 80s, I had just been promoted to manage a state minerals department. I walked back to my office from a morning meeting to see my new secretary clipping her toenails on her desk (I know; eeeeewwww!) Otherwise, I have been very fortunate with both bosses and employees (and the nightmares have been minimal).
Retired and Happy
Good article, I have been retired 8 months now and I loved my job, had a great supervisor, generally had good staff working for me, and a lot of flexibility and autonomy! So I struggled a bit with the idea of retirement, but I can say now even under ideal conditions at work, knowing what I know and feel now, I should have retired a year earlier! Love the flexibility, reconnecting and traveling. I no longer say to my wife, I wish I had one more day, every Sunday night. I made my retirement job to get in the best shape that I can, be healthy and don’t save things for later. I’ve even enjoyed tackling the list of honey-do’s I recorded for over two years in preparation for retirement. I highly recommend retiring as early as possible.
A couple of things that I miss from working part-time for a while, and that willbe nice to go back to when retired: Having the time and the mental energy to take care of personal matters (medical, financial, shopping) instead of trying to squeeze it in the middle of work or on the weekend.
Not being on the road during rush hour. HUGE one for me!
Eating meals on time- ironically, I am usually MORE regular with mealtimes when my schedule is wide open than when I work! My work is unpredictable and my meals are all over the place. Hate it, and it’s unhealthy too.
More time to spend with my pets, and the ability to care for more animals in need.
Fortunate to work for myself for over 30 years. But a few of the things you mentioned rang a bell with me…
European based clients who would text at all hours of the night because of the seven hour time difference…and dreading the Monday morning email dump from the same Europeans after they started their week deciding what the newest crisis were going to be.
I didn’t have “direct” bosses but I defiantly had some less than stellar clients. The most liberating lesson I learned in 30+ years is that you can fire a client. Once I learned I could just say “no” to some dishonest assholes, my income went down a little, but my quality of life went way up.
My biggest issue though was being away from home so much. For 17 years I was not with my wife for Thanksgiving or her birthday because I was away. And most years we weren’t together for my birthday or anniversary either. I missed several family cruises and other vacations.
I sure don’t miss hanging out with American Airlines personnel on a regular basis.
Going to the nature center for a five mile walk now, then lunch with my wife. I’m glad I finally drank the retirement Kool-Aid.
I have noticed that training is hard to come by on a lot of jobs. When you retire, you no longer have to figure out how to do something and pretend you are good at it for the benefit of someone else.
I will be retired at the age of 45 in just 1.75 years!!! I am counting the minutes! I have 4 kids, 7 chickens, 2.5 acres to garden and maintain (which I love to do), money to travel and a beautiful and kind partner to share it all with.
I am not sure what I did right in this life but I am very fortunate!
Bad bosses? Anyone work for a parent?
I worked for my father for about 6 years… while living in the same house. Talk about bringing work home with you!!!
He was a tough, old-school, boss and expected me to do it better than anyone else in the company because he didn’t want to be embarrassed. The pressure and stress were almost unbearable. Maybe the only good thing is that it was like boot camp. Everything after that seemed easier and I always strove to be the best wherever I went.
I’ve also had boomerang bosses. They manage you, you escape, and then you end up reporting to them again later. That’s a lesson in “don’t burn bridges”!
I can completely identify with the pit in the stomach Sundays. Both my wife and I talk about that often. Don’t miss that in any way. These days we’re lucky if we even know what day it is… oh yeah…it’s “Saturday” again! đ
Most of the rest of your points are mirrors of our own in retirement. I just kept going “yup” as I read down the list.
Isn’t funny that when you don’t have to wake up early, you actually get up earlier? There is such a big difference between doing something because you want to versus having to.
Ugh on waking up in the middle of the night with stress dreams – BTDT still.
I like my job, my boss & my colleagues currently; however, I do look forward to the day I don’t have to come to work. In dreaming of retirement, I’d add the following don’ts:
1. Packing my lunch – not that I mind this so much and I will probably still do meal prep post retirement…but I won’t have to đ
2. Dealing with busy work seasons – mine is in Q4 which is lovely (sarcasm) timing with the holidays.
3. Keeping up with policy – for me this is most specifically tied to Healthcare Reform. Don’t get me wrong I’ll want to stay up on changes in policy in this country after I retire. However, with my career I have to keep up on this stuff. I’m always adjusting and playing by the dynamic rules. Again there is a difference between having to do something versus wanting.
Overall, great list and it’s certainly inspiring to keep my eye on the prize.
Great post and mentions many of those things that I will not miss. Early retired into another line of work with the wife, helped wrap things up (selling a number of properties) for her so she could close her business (real estate brokerage) Then took a number of great vacations but in the end could not fully break away as the last 2 of our litter were still young enough to require “adult supervision” so had to be home more than we otherwise would be. So went back to work, on my terms. Hit FI a few years back (no debt, rental properties and large retirement accounts that we can tap into in 5 or so years so this is just gravy. As I went back to my former long term employer it’s nice to know most everyone and how to navigate the “chaos”.
Love the posts, have turned many of our friends onto it as well, keep it up!!
How funny! Yesterday I blogged about things I won’t miss when I retire. Some of my things are on your list, but most of your list are things I never thought of. That Sunday dread is a real thing – and I like my job.
I’m looking forward to the freedom you describe.
I agree with every word you wrote, even though I had a great job working with great people. I always tried to see the positive things we were all contributing to the company and country, in fact I felt guilty at leaving the team to start my retirement. But now, looking at the whole work situation from a distance, and comparing it to the life I have now, I have no regrets about leaving. I made a lot of sacrifices for the company, and I’m glad I can now devote myself fully to my family.
However, nothing is perfect. As they say, the bad thing about retirement is that you never get a day off!
I work as a nurse and these âdonâtsâ could not sound more desirable to me.
On a rotating schedule, I have to not only wake up early, but some days I have to sleep all day and stay up all night.
I canât call in sick, because one nurse short is not an easy spot to fill. Even though we get sick time, we are penalized for using it (which is funny, because we take care of sick and immunocompromised patients, yet we are expected to take care of them if we are sick). If we are ever late or call in sick, we get âpointsâ, which add up (to a very low number) and if they do, we receive disciplinary action. Also, if you call off Monday, Friday, or a weekend, you get double points and are expected to make up the shift.
I consistently miss weekends, birthdays, events, and holidays with my family.
Instead of sitting for 8 hours, I stand for 12.
My vacation time is very, very hard to get, and if you are a new nurse, donât expect any because vacation time selection goes by seniority.
Every action I take or decision I make at work or ever medication I give is intensely calculated. The stress of accomplishing all you have to do as well as take emotional care of the patient creates is so difficult to do sometimes. You often leave wondering if you could do better even after you worked harder than ever.
I know it sounds like I hate my job, but itâs the price I have to pay to do what I want, which is help people. However, by reaching financial independence, I can change my hours, work part time, or even on a PRN schedule. I can leave the hospital and take a lower paying, less stressful nursing job. I would have options.
I loved this post because it spoke to me greatly for why I am working so hard to get out of debt and build wealth. I donât want to not work, I just want to be able to do something that makes me feel good every day and makes a difference.
I can relate to bad bosses. A few years ago I had a boss who required us to travel to our office in China for 2 weeks annually. Since I couldn’t pack 2 weeks worth of workout and business cloths, I used the dry cleaning service in the hotel (which was part of our corporate policy). When I get back he told me how unhappy he was about this charge and that I should have spent my own personal time to research laundry service in Shanghai to save him money on his budget. Keep in mind, this was $100 out of $10,000 trip.
This is only one story of many I have about this guy. Needless to say, he was such a bad people manager, his entire staff was removed from him just before a very large revolt was about to strike. đ
My job is amazing. I work with awesome people. Very nice and helpful co-workers! The job is fun and not very challenging. Very repetitious. This allows me to listen to background music. For years I did my best to learn another language. Studying as I worked. Kept my mind very busy. Now I listen exclusively to podcasts. Getting inspired to pursue FI. I am thankful for a job where I can listen to background radio. I realize most careers do not allow any sort of distraction. I am happy to go to work most days. I do work full-time. But I see my 8 hour shift as a part time hobby. My commute is a few blocks. I have a lot of hobbies that I prioritize often. I work on them daily, before work. I am usually asleep before 9pm and always up by 3 or 4am. I love to workout. I also bought myself a pool table for my last birthday. Now I get to play every day before work. I am so happy when I get to work, it’s hard to bring me down. Mgmt. is sometimes unbearable but I have learned not to stress over little things in life. I pack my lunch every day. Complete with healthy snacks. Mostly because most days I CHALLENGE myself not to spend a single penny. I started once a week. Now, with financial independence as my goal, it’s most days. I love my family. I have 5 kids ranging from 13 to 26. I have one sister and feel blessed to have both my parents living. I try to enjoy my family and loved ones as much as possible. I recently had my 50th birthday and I feel great. I have worked at my present job for almost 29 years and have no intention of retiring. I am currently preparing for my encore career. I am following my passion of cooking. Squeezing in cooking classes and demos whenever I can! Looking forward to my 2nd career! I loved your article on Top Retirement Dont’s! That Sunday dread is a real thing! I work every Saturday til 5pm. I am sad to miss out on family events. But those closest to me, book parties when I can attend. I honestly work every day and I am okay with it. Keeps me out of trouble. So, luckily I don’t dread going to work. I do dream of working part time though. I do love to travel and enjoy it tremendously! FI has taught me to enjoy frugality, budgeting and all my hobbies! Working on being the best at everything that is important to me.
I donât have to go to holiday parties and celebrate birthdays of people that you donât really like!
Bad boss story; ‘freak’ snow storm in NY one year. Snow was so bad that it caused numerous power outages throughout NYC and Long Island resulting in numerous gas station closures. It was unexpected and many commuters along my travel route had gotten stuck in the traffic, running out of gas and abandoning their vehicles along the route. I had a 40 mile (1 way) commute with about 30 of those miles along the aforementioned highway. Phone calls (landline) throughout the day would not go through (power outages and volume). Therefore I was a no show as angrily explained by my boss who was dissatisfied with my choice not to come in. He was the boss and I was a no show but the angry part ignored many other factors. I’m not FI yet but this is one of the irritations that keeps me focused.
Great list! I would add:
Don’t have to gulp through breakfast and get dressed in a hectic manner day after day.
Don’t have to read only work or profession related materials. Now there is time to read about any interesting pursuit.
Don’t have to worry about the weather and its impact on my daily commute.
Don’t have to worry about co-workers calling in sick and it becoming my problem.
Awesome list! If anyone is on the fence about retiring early, this list should be required reading to help potentially sway their decision. I am looking forward to retiring sooner rather than later, and all of the points in this list resonated strongly with me.
I can’t wait to retire. I’m targeting 50 years old to get out of the game. Life is too short to spend it at work!
I did not realize these applied to everyone!
Only thing i would add is the chance to do all the things I enjoyed but had to give up because of work.
After 30 years in my previous profession which required me to commute, deal with bosses/coworkers and everything else the article refers to, I was fortunate enough to get a great job working remotely from my house which eliminated at least 90% of the problems. I now have no stress and wear what I want, but still get to contribute and do a job that I find interesting – that I can probably do for the next 10 years. My only issues now are the sitting for 8 hours (which I find difficult) and juggling my 4 weeks vacation time. So, yes, I’m not “free”, but for those of us who can’t financially afford to retire yet, I would recommend this as a possible hybrid solution.
I’m 4 weeks away from giving my retirement notice. April 26th is the plan (I turn 58 on the 25th).
When you gave your retirement notice how much time did you build in to allow the company to find your replacement?
I gave two weeks, but others have given months or even a year.
It depends on the situation, your position, whether there’s an easy or hard replacement, etc.
I had a wonderful relationship with my boss and gave him 5 months once I knew my plans.
I gave 4 months notice to retire. That way my boss and team had time to make adjustments.
I’ve always heard that two weeks is the minimum notice. In my case, I gave 5 1/2 months notice and trained my replacement during that time.
Normally, Iâm told anything from 90 days to 6 months is standard notice for those in leadership positions.
As a senior leader, I am orchestrating my retirement and succession plan to simplify things for my leadership.
In consulting with others, the retirement process does take time. Especially, when dealing with different groups to cover HR paperwork, healthcare options, pension, 401k, etc.
This post is an “instant classic”. I like it even better than the earlier post about why you can wear sweatpants or shorts all the time. The work (bad bosses, stress, always on call)/commute examples are things most of us can relate to. Very tangible examples. Thanks and keep up the great work.
This post has pushed me to early retirement today. Just told my boss I will retire in 3 weeks. Thank you very much.
I’m 63 and have a boss 27 yrs old. Yelling at me because a machine broke down. Its my fault and we have to much work to do. Do you understand me ?? So I took some sick days and talked to company manager, I retired the next day. The box store can go to H. Life is to short to deal with morons.