Community Chat

[SeaMaiden]

What was your age when you quit your last job for good and retired?  

I was 58 in the year 2013 and had just had my double knee replacement.  I took the summer off of my job of 25 years to have the surgery and recuperate.  I was suppose to return in October.... but by the second month off, I knew I did not EVER WANT TO RETURN TO WORK.  25 years was just enough!   I called my boss and told her the news.

It was a very hard decision to make. I spent a good week debating all the pros and cons.  My rational mind  told me "YOU HAVE TO WORK"... ...My practical  mind  said  QUIT!.   I worked for a small family owned store.  Not a corporate setting.  Now it has been almost 4 years since setting step into that store. I had both my hips replaced over those years as well.   

Things are good. I have a routine but not one that is structured to the point of me feeling stressed or the like. I love that I can decided what I want to do and when... and when it snows I do not have to worry about driving in the snow to get to and from work.  I do not really care what the weather does now.  If I do not feel well, I do not have to call in sick.   I can eat my supper early... about 4-5PM instead of getting home from work at 8:30PM and having to eat supper at 9 or 10PM.  Much less stress. Not dealing with the public or with people to me is a true blessing. Customers use to drain the life out of me everyday...  It was very stressful. I do not miss that at all.

Now 61, retirement  is going OK. Still working on myself and finding more joy and peace within myself.  I think that is a process that will never end. 

[meallen616]

I am 65 now and retired,

[kitty60]

I pretty much "retired" at 52.  We had sold our business and while I had a part time job for a couple of years after that we decided to make a major move so I left that.  I love the freedom to do what I want with my days, I am involved with church and volunteering but I have done a few part time things that I can control.  Never do I want to go back to the daily grind that controls me.

[SilleeMee]

I didn't quit. They forced me into retirement due to a progressing disability. I was only 46.

[gmkb]

I, too, was 58 when I last was employed.  Even though I liked my work, I never looked back and have enjoyed retirement.

[Suziepeach]

I was 49 when I retired.  I could tell it was time, I could give no more of myself.  I never looked back either.

[reiki604]

I retired at 61 a year and a half ago when the office I was working out of moved from 5 minutes away to over 2 hours away. The position was restructured to give me more than double the staff to manage and iincreased my responsibility with no additional compensation. I decided it was not worth it and have never looked back. I have a better relationship now with some of the people I worked with so I still get the gossip from the job. The phrase not my circus, not my monkeys really hits home at those times. Even after a year and a half, I still feel I'm on vacation!

[sweetee2]

I'm also 61. I left my job after 18 years to take care of my dad. It was 5 years ago last November. Never look back, never been back. I was a Tailor at a high end department store. Very high stress, horrendous work load. Right now I would have been working 10 hour days and 40 days in a row. When my dad's MS was too the point he needed 24 hours care, I said H yes, it's got to be easier than what I was doing. 

[cotton4me]

I had planned to work until I was 70 but ended up retiring early at 61.  It was challenging for me because I loved my job and wasn’t ready to retire.  However, my home life required me to quit.  It took me a while to get used to retirement and find my niche but now I love it.  I’ve developed new hobbies. I spend my days doing things I enjoy, things that enrich my life.  I enjoy being physically active so I spend a lot of time outdoors hiking in the woods.  Now that I’m not sitting at a desk all day I’m actually healthier and happier.   

[Suziepeach]

To retirement- a closet of what to do's when you want to do them or not .