Congratulations to all those who are enjoying retirement. This is a very personal decision and everyone’s circumstances are different.
I retired from the IT industry in August of 2018 after 42 years at age 64 1/2. My last job, I started on the ground floor of a company with less than 20 employees in 2003, it grew to over 1500 when I retired. Unbelievable growth from a company privately owned, eventually sold to venture capitalists. I had planed to retire at 66. For the last 4 - 5 years I typically worked 65 hours a week, was on-call 7x24. I would typically work 10-12 hours during the day and then go back to work at least four nights a week for clients that had 11PM -4AM service windows. While I loved the technical aspect, really liked many of my clients and most of my coworkers, I was burnt out. I was well paid but extremely stressed out and my quality of life was poor. It got to the point I had little social life. I had reached the point in my life where hours were more important than dollars.
Once Retired I had a lot of catching up to do. The first was to spend time with my best childhood friend. While working I would attempt to make plans only to cancel because some work related emergency came up. Once retired we got together every week. Unfortunately after five months his health took a turn for the worst and he passed away. I feel fortunate that I retired when I did because we had some great times during that short period.
I also had to deal with some illness but have been cancer free for a year and a half giving me a real appreciation for life. I have since lost more friends, relatives and a coworker.
Life should be a balance between making an adequate living and still enjoying life with family and friends.
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02-12-2022, 07:29 PM
Hybrid Mode
