For the better part of 18 months now (since January 2025) I’ve been planning on retiring “early” at age 57 at the end of 2026. It’s a pending decision that I’ve been thinking about often for years. According to the calendar the time is just a little more than 6 months away. Wow! What I’m planning is a significant life change and as it gets closer I must admit that there is some nervousness regarding the taking of the step into what will be a kind of unknown for me. After all, it’s 35 years since I graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree and full-time work has been my life, except for a few brief periods, since then. In a way it feels like I’m breaking a 35 year habit.
What I told myself back in January 2025 was that in June 2026 (which it is now) that I would make my final decision in terms of whether I would actually retire at the end of 2026. There were two reasons for keying in on June 2026. First, with 6 months to go I figured it would be a good time to assess whether or not my retirement financial goals had been met. They have been, and then some. Second, I wanted to make a decision in advance so as to offer my employer sufficient time to plan for my departure. My position with my employer is not one that can easily be filled on short order and I’m not looking to burn bridges or greatly inconvenience my current co-workers. That being the case my plan has been to inform my employer by the middle of July 2026 so that they have a good five and a half months to recruit and train a person to take my place.
My final decision on early retirement is that I will retire at the end of 2026 and as such I will notify my employer of that decision within the next couple of weeks. I mentioned above that I’ve more than met my financial goals for retirement, and will continue to do so for the remainder of 2026 while I’m still receiving income and company benefits like the 401(k) matching funds. Besides the financial aspect of things there are three other factors influencing my desire to forge ahead with this bold plan.
- My life, including my personal health, is in the order it needs to be for me to retire early.
- The situation with my employer and the demands of my job continues to frustrate me.
- My desire to do the things I’ve planned to do during an early retirement (traveling more extensively chief among them) remains.
From time to time I still have asked myself the following question. If I wasn’t frustrated with my employer and I had a positive outlook for the future of my work experience would I make the same decision (to retire)? The answer that I’ve given to myself consistently is that I probably would still retire. The reason being that, at my age at least, time is a precious commodity. No one knows what the future holds and with all of the above being true doing the things that I can do now, while I know I can still do and enjoy them is a major factor driving my decision.
I admit to having been inspired by the writings of people who’ve been retired for decades on some of the “old school” early retirement websites. One of those websites is The Retire Early Home Page, which has been run since 1999 by a guy who retired in 1994 at age 38. The other website is Retire Early Lifestyle, which is run by a couple who retired starting in 1991, also at age 38. Through both of those sites I’ve found books on early retirement and interviews with early retirees that provide great information on the process and the lifestyle. One thing that’s struck me in spending time reviewing the considerable content on the sites above is that I haven’t seen any regret expressed regarding the decision to retire early. That’s not to say I haven’t read of ups and downs associated with early retirement but ups and downs will occur while in the midst of your career too.
So I’m confident going into my planned early retirement that it’s the right thing for me at this time. It will be up to me to make the most of the time and to manage my finances responsibly after my days of paychecks, bonuses, profit sharing and 401(k) matching are over. But I’ve been managing my finances responsibly for years now, so I don’t see that as an issue. If, for some reason, retirement at age 57 is not for me or if life circumstances change I can always return to the workforce in some capacity. Because what I’m doing with retirement at this time is not meant as a condemnation of work and productivity, especially when a person needs to earn money to meet life’s necessities.
I have seen articles in the media (although generally my opinion of major media coverage on the topic of finances and retirement is low) where people warn against early retirement (or even retirement in later years) because it will lead to boredom, inactivity and a decline in health. Perhaps that’s the case if a person decides to spend their retired days in a lounger with a beer in hand binge watching reality TV, or any TV for that matter. Some people do that for sure. It’s clear though that the vision and practice for retirement can differ widely from person to person. I count myself as someone who sees retirement as an opportunity to be more active in ways that will improve my health and offer positive stimulation.
My final thought (which ties in the with title of this post) is that my plan to end my career was never conceived as a burning of bridges. Surely some people fantasize about flipping the proverbial bird to their employer or colleagues on the way out the door. That’s not me though. Options will be left open. Perhaps a couple of years goes by and I decide that I’ve done well on my “bucket list” and want to return to a career…perhaps even a different career. That option will be available and knowing that somehow makes this process easier. At all times in life we are forced to deal with change at some level and there surely will be changes to face in my future. For now I’m happy to initiate the change on my terms and enjoy the possibilities of the unknown ahead of me.
In The Midst Of A Journey 