Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early?

[Anonymous]

Draconian PTO policies...I work in healthcare and almost all hospitals have a policy that no one can take more than one week off at a time regardless of how much PTO you have banked. This puts overseas travel pretty much out of the question. I actually had to resign from one job in order to visit my sister overseas. I have hundreds of hours of "vacation" that I can't use because we are "short-staffed" and have been since 2020. Life's too short for this.

[Anonymous]

I was used and abused at work from age 19 to 35. Not having to work ever again became the goal. I retired this year at the age of 46.
While I should be happy or consider myself lucky, I may need therapy just to get over what happened to me.
While I loved my work and my boss from age 36-46, I was still in the same industry that had taken advantage of me.
The kicker - one of the small business owners who took advantage of me and owes me a lot of money, and whom I had made very rich, called me and asked if I wanted to come and work some more.
I have no idea how he even dared to contact me. Must be a psychopath or have a selective memory.
Imagine working 12-hour shifts without a break; working while throwing up every 30 minutes; working below minimum wage; going to ER straight from work because of work several times; being yelled at by a drunk every night after busy shift; sleeping at work 3-5 am because I had no keys to lock the door and boss had gone drinking. I can go on and on, but wage theft was the main thing.
I was really good at my job and they took full advantage of it.
Amazingly, karma got all three of them. One got jumped and is dead or handicapped now. I didn't do it. One filed bankruptcy after opening a new restaurant right before recession in 2007, and lost most of his money.
The third one I can't mention as it is a famous case in DC. I need to google what became of it. I happened because of the need for yet another dollar.
I wish I had had a job which I loved or at least liked.

[Anonymous]

Not having to work is the new American Dream.

[Anonymous]

I advanced to an executive role and the stress and intensity is just too much to do it for more than ten years. I would happily switch to a lower key job for less money but now I’m overqualified for those jobs.

[Anonymous]

Because we have unrealistic expectations of workers, no support for caregiving , little vacation time (none mandated by law), and little regulation of working hours, and consequently people burn out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Draconian PTO policies...I work in healthcare and almost all hospitals have a policy that no one can take more than one week off at a time regardless of how much PTO you have banked. This puts overseas travel pretty much out of the question. I actually had to resign from one job in order to visit my sister overseas. I have hundreds of hours of "vacation" that I can't use because we are "short-staffed" and have been since 2020. Life's too short for this.

This sounds awful, so sorry you have to deal with this.

[Anonymous]

At least for me right now and probably many posters here i have little kids and I have almost no time for myself. Obviously I can't ditch my family so the thing that takes up most of my time (job) is first on the list of things to get rid of. I might feel differently when I'm older and kids are gone and I have some time to myself.

[Anonymous]

I'm in my mid 50s and I'm not sure I actually want to RETIRE early, but I absolutely want to be in a position where I CAN retire. I basically want to know I can walk away from a bad situation. My current job is actually pretty great, but I spent several years in a horrible work environment and that left me a mess.

I plan to work at least until my kid gets through college. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I do want to retire while I'm young and healthy enough to enjoy travel.

[Anonymous]

We have three kids so my dh jokes we will never retire. One was a surprise so we will be in our sixties when he’s in college!! But our jobs have decent work life balance and frankly hanging out with our kids is more exhausting than work which usually feels like a nice break.

You have to be careful about early retirement. It’s like an oasis illusion. When you feel less useful you end up declining very quickly. You need to have some ‘jobs’ lined up like volunteer work or grandparent duty that keep you connected to the society around you, especially younger people.

[Anonymous]

Before kids I loved working. I loved my job. I loved being ambitious and meeting goals and getting promotions.

With kids I have to come home from work and shop and feed people and help with homework and drive to activities and make time to also chat and have fun together and then there’s no time left for me and my hobbies and interests and self care. And for my husband and I to enjoy each other like we used to.

I want to retire have have time for me and for us again.

[Anonymous]

Because most people don’t love their work and balancing it with family obligations and interest in hobbies, travel, relaxation is not possible. Most people work for the money. We have plenty of interesting things we can find to do with free time.

[Anonymous]

Because life is more than sitting at a desk for 8 hours. It's really obscene what most jobs have become. I can't wait to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to retire because my job as a college professor has changed massively from what it was when I entered the profession. It is almost entirely a different animal today. Admissions standards are lower, students are less prepared, everyone is only interested in the explicitly vocational aspects of my field and we spend much too much time combatting plagiarism. Our class sizes keep getting bigger and our service requirements are out of control because there are so few full time faculty. most of our administrative leaders are not academics and they don’t understand what we do. Every few years they bring in a new team of lame consultants who don’t understand academia and they come up with even more bizarre tasks for the faculty accompanied by new and wacky jargon. I am just not sure I can take another round. I am sixty. t

I could have written this. The details are the same, except I’m a high school teacher.

I’m actively looking for a less stressful job, anything out of a classroom.

[Anonymous]

There are people I love I want to see. And they live all over. Elder parents, sibling, good friends. They mean more to me, as I age, than putting in another decade at work.

[Anonymous]

I want to travel before I'm 65 while I'm much more healthier to do a lot of walking and more strenuous excursions. I've worked since 19, lived frugally most of my life, come from a low income background. I'm ready to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Like PPs, I know too many people who have passed away before 65. I see my elderly parents going through so much difficulty. I already have some aches and pains I deal with at 54. Plus, I find sitting all day really bad for me. No, I can't just get up and walk around every hour. The work doesn't lend itself to being able to do that.

I plan on retiring at like 56 or 57.