I am done doing....

After more than 30 years working for the same company, i officially retired yesterday. I set the goal many years ago to retire by 55 and i turned 55 earlier this week. I have accomplished everything in the corporate world i set out to achieve so time for new goals.

A few years ago we were in Maui and we ran into my wife's cousin...he had been an accountant for a major firm for 35 years. I asked him "Bill, what do you do now".... right disgusted he said "DOOOO....I am done DOING...I DID for 35 years." I though that was both hilarious and so profound. Once you have achieved something why keep doing it over and over.

So what now...I plan to do all the same stuff but less rushed. I will walk the dog without racing to get home to leave for the office. I will go to the gym without watching the clock because i raced to the gym straight from work and need to be home by a certain time for dinner. And that said, i have agreed to contract back to the company as an advisor...but i set boundaries...no Monday or Fridays and no meetings before 9am. I am calling it "reverse weekending" Instead of 5 days on, 2 off, i am going to do 5 days off, two on.

Cheers
That is awesome. Soak it up. Enjoy the freedom.
 
Life is too short and you take money with you when your time is up. Congrats on making a plan and it worked. Very happy for you.
I see so many people working into their 70's because they have to, not because they want to and it is unfortunate.
I love the idea of remaining busy with work by working a small amount but not pressure/demands, I intend to do the same - sell my 1//2 of the business and just work a few hours a week. Good role model @Oldguyjiujitsu !
 
as a young guy who will get a modest provincial pension when i retire, can i ask what you did to prepare to retire at 55? like when you started, what steps you took etc
 
Life is too short and you take money with you when your time is up. Congrats on making a plan and it worked. Very happy for you.
I see so many people working into their 70's because they have to, not because they want to and it is unfortunate.
I love the idea of remaining busy with work by working a small amount but not pressure/demands, I intend to do the same - sell my 1//2 of the business and just work a few hours a week. Good role model @Oldguyjiujitsu !
Thanks. 100% agree. Options in life don’t have to be work or retire, a hybrid I feel to be a very good solution. two days of work per week allow me to continue to stay active in the industry and top up my pension plus i get added time to focus on jitz club, lifting, the dog and the lake.
 
as a young guy who will get a modest provincial pension when i retire, can i ask what you did to prepare to retire at 55? like when you started, what steps you took etc
Nothing wrong with a modest pension. Is it defined benefit? If yes having a guaranteed stable base income os outstanding. Remember that when you’re no longer making contributions to your pension, CPP, EI and a lower tax bracket the take-home is usually pretty healthy.

With the scenario of a pension as a base, Working to paying off the mortgage was a priority, maximize your tax-free savings account and live within your means.
 
Working to paying off the mortgage was a priority, maximize your tax-free savings account and live within your means.
Exactly. I did FIRE so it was a tight reasonable budget for 10yrs. Every extra dollar was saved. Live way under my means saving the balance. Housing is number one and sounds like you are done your mortgage. Make a huge difference. I did a semi annual review my finances last month $840 per month covers absolutely everything from car and house insurance to property taxes and all utilities, internet, phone, etc. A 100k/yr job minus a generous 8% matched pension is a take home of about $2600 E2W which plumps up the savings quickly for someone that wishes to. Plus there are those two extra cheques every year as well that I call "found" money. All found money is never spent at the time I was in FIRE mode. After the self-sacrifice of 10yrs it made literally a night and day difference in life.....

I still stringently budget however now I open the silos up a bit- travel during FIRE was $20/wk now it is $150/wk that I am not in FIRE mode. Here is a small glimpse. This is my personal budget and am in no way suggesting I am right or wrong it is only what I do. I am single, never married, no room mates since 1997 so it's a bit of rougher go of things which only means more self sacrifice and factor that in so I am safe.

Golden Rules
1. I will not spend more than $1000/yr depreciation on a vehicle. My last four used cars were two Toyota Echo's and two Corollas.
2. My vehicle purchase is determined by usage needs and total cost to 350,000km, everything after that is a bonus.
3. Cook what I eat unless it's planned for.
4. Look for sales and seal a meal it. I have two chest freezers with lobster, T bone steak, back ribs, ground beef- all at an average of $3/lb.
5. Be happy with good not the best.

It's all about budget for me. Strict during FIRE however allows for further planning into the future such as "what happens if I have a stroke and am incapacitated". Well I don't want to sit in my own shit in a public housing unit so I plan for that. If I don't use the money for it because it's not needed that good for whom I leave it to in a will. Insurance before 55 is not that pricy. After 65 it sure is.

With FIRE that imaginary line moves drastically the design of life potentially.
 
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Nothing wrong with a modest pension. Is it defined benefit? If yes having a guaranteed stable base income os outstanding. Remember that when you’re no longer making contributions to your pension, CPP, EI and a lower tax bracket the take-home is usually pretty healthy.

With the scenario of a pension as a base, Working to paying off the mortgage was a priority, maximize your tax-free savings account and live within your means.
with inflation adjusted, around 55-60k annual. but the kicker is the hefty penalties for each year you retire before 65, same with cpp (if that even exists once i retire.) i don’t remember off the top of my head but i think retiring 10 years early is almost a 50% decrease. i plan to work until 65, but i would also like to get myself in a position where i can say fuck this i’m done at 55-60 if my body gives out/if i get ptsd. paramedic.
 
with inflation adjusted, around 55-60k annual. but the kicker is the hefty penalties for each year you retire before 65, same with cpp (if that even exists once i retire.) i don’t remember off the top of my head but i think retiring 10 years early is almost a 50% decrease. i plan to work until 65, but i would also like to get myself in a position where i can say fuck this i’m done at 55-60 if my body gives out/if i get ptsd. paramedic.
-36% on CPP if taken at 60. Loss of 0.6% per month
+42% on CPP if taken at 70. Increase of 0.7% per month

Old age pension starts at 65. Plus 0.3% per month to hold off but both pensions must start at 70. Break even point is somewhere around 75ish if I recall correctly.
 
-36% on CPP if taken at 60. Loss of 0.6% per month
+42% on CPP if taken at 70. Increase of 0.7% per month

Old age pension starts at 65. Plus 0.3% per month to hold off but both pensions must start at 70. Break even point is somewhere around 75ish if I recall correctly.
a numbers guy that’s what i need! so let’s say someone has a 100k salary and stops working at 55, and takes cpp at 65. with those 2 years (after dropping the lowest 8 years of earnings,) of $0 income, how much would that person’s cpp drop vs working to 57?
 
a numbers guy that’s what i need! so let’s say someone has a 100k salary and stops working at 55, and takes cpp at 65. with those 2 years (after dropping the lowest 8 years of earnings,) of $0 income, how much would that person’s cpp drop vs working to 57?
Yes drop lowest 8yrs. Please note this is from the age of 18 on.

Retiring at 55 or 57 doesn't change anything it is income during those years that does. I'll take it right to the one side of the equation- Retire at 55 or 57 no matter. Survive on saved cash until 65 then draw CPP. Worst case with respect to loss of benefits. The years at low income count. What is the actual result?? If someone has say earned the max from 22yrs old until 55yrs old that is 33yrs of full potential minus 7yrs at pretty much zero that will drag down the average. There are calculators out there that will tell you exactly what the numbers are.

My financial advisor told me. Get diversified in your net worth if you want to retire early. Based upon what I see you should target equal value house to RRSP to cash if you want to retire at 55. Do not draw any companies pensions until you are 62min. Draw you RRSP's according to the the combined federal/provincial taxation base which is $53,891 at 19.05% tax. Do not go over to preserve your tax differential base you created when you deposited it (RRSP's come off the top of net income so it goes in at a break of the highest tax bracket so I want to take it out at the lowest possible tax bracket). If you lose a couple hundred per month max on CPP lifetime versus maximizing the differential on the taxes you will save during the 12yr plan you will be much further ahead (12yrs is to draw CPP at 67 increasing the benefit paid due to the reduction of income having a low income from 55 to close the full payment at 65 as if someone didn't have any low income years. The two additional years is to get the RRSP's down to a level that it doesn't just sting so bad when you are required to RRIF your account at 71).

This is just a scenario and every scenario is different and have different actions to get best results. Being loaded with RRSP's at the end of the game could be one of the worst mistakes someone could make not only from taxation (death will kill off a TON of RRSP's to taxes) to full claw back of CPP. Myself I couldn't care less if I got a full clawback because that means I am earning over $130k/yr in retirement.
 
First off congratulations. I think you have it right. I always tell people that for me winning would be waking up without an alarm have a leisurely breakfast, go to the gym and chill, maybe find a hobby, live without responsibility.
 
And that said, i have agreed to contract back to the company as an advisor...but i set boundaries...no Monday or Fridays and no meetings before 9am. I am calling it "reverse weekending" Instead of 5 days on, 2 off, i am going to do 5 days off, two on.

Cheers
That’s my situation. We were fortunate it worked out the way it did. I hit my 30 years with a very healthy pension and next April My wife will hit her 30 years with a good pension.
Both defined benefit, fully indexed
Since you have Monday and Friday off and your wife has a year to go can you please make her breakfast on those days?jk or if you like cooking?
Congratulations you found the good life now, enjoy. What will your day look like tomorrow? Finishing some of the projects? What one do you think you would want to start first? What ever you do enjoy and do things at your pace. (y) ;)
 
Since you have Monday and Friday off and your wife has a year to go can you please make her breakfast on those days?jk or if you like cooking?
Congratulations you found the good life now, enjoy. What will your day look like tomorrow? Finishing some of the projects? What one do you think you would want to start first? What ever you do enjoy and do things at your pace. (y) ;)
It was a great first week. Did lots but was not rushed.

Stayed at the lake until lunch on monday (mowed the lawn on my rideon), came home and went to the gym, then some meal prep. Tuesday did some chores, worked on my side my side, walked the dog, taught jiu jitsu in the evening, worked Wednesday and Thursday, friday went to the gym, costco and back to the lake.
 
Congrats for getting out at a good age.
I think a couple days a week is perfect.

I worked insane hours for many years, 120 hrs or more per week sometimes. Often 30-40hrs straight with no sleep.
I pulled the pin for almost 2 years in my early 40s, wanted to retire forever after that time. But I told myself go back for a few more years to bolster the investments.

About 6 months ago I told work I will only work a 2wk on 2wk off schedule. They didn't like they idea but I told them that is all the time I can give them. So that is what I am doing now easing into my retirement. By 50 I plan on fully pulling the pin and living in Mexico most of the time. If I want some extra cash I can always come back and contract for a few months. Life is far too short to waste it all at work.
 
I stopped working at 49. Volunteering, travelling and socializing take up the majority of my time. No partner or children so all my time is mine. Of everything volunteering is providing the most satisfaction of them all even over improving things around the house. Hobbies like restoring old radios from the 1910's, 20's and 30's is fun but have to be careful they can be restored to working condition BEFORE I start restoring or it's furniture LOL!!! Some of the parts if needed are impossible to find and installing a newer solid state amplifier is taboo.

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