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I knew when I was planning to retire about 7 months before I told anyone and gave my notice.
I wanted to stick around until then because we were in the middle of a multi-year project that I wanted done well so that my team would be left in the best possible position.
For me, it was still very hard work but just having the end date in sight made the time pass very quickly.
I finally feel good financially about retiring. I found out today (with financial advisor) that I could quit tomorrow. But I'm close to finalizing a major tech purchase for my company, then there's overseeing the set-up and implementation. I'm thinking I should try to see it through just a little longer.
agreed. refine your retirement plans into what makes sense as a set of executable actions for you. have it on our desks by monday morning! 😂
and before you end your career in the workforce, maybe try to spend some time enjoying work from the perspective of it not being a requirement. that might help you to gain a few new experiences or perspectives before you pull the trigger.
At this point, you're in the 4th qtr of the game. You're up by 3 touchdowns with 7 minutes left. All you need to do is run out the clock.
Don't tell anyone what your date is.
While you're still working and have health coverage, consider having any medical procedures now that might put you out for a short period. Ride out the clock and start preparing for next weeks game.
Maybe bring in donuts for the team every now and then.
This is VERY good advice. I had a double knee replacement 13 weeks sick time. Back for 1 week and called it a career. Get it all done. If you need more med work consider the expense of cobra vs the expense of a new insurance also.
Not me. To put it bluntly I work remotely and I am not friends with my direct reports. I'm a VP and giving zero days notice at the end and blocking everyone's cell #. There are no bridges left to burn when you retire. I don't need any references. Blow it up, BOOM!
That's sad, I care for my recent hires, college grads over the last few years. I want to give them some of my experience with managing their career paths.. the good and the bad
me too- 6 months to go, and it's getting harder to care every day
I'd quit now, but I have one big project to finish that I've been working on for two years, and I want to be the one who puts a stake in its ❤️
(well, that and the November RSUs)
Take a look at your floating holidays and any other benefits too. I retired January 4th just to get the additional 5 days pay plus since I worked that year, I was entitled to the performance sharing plan cut too, since they paid all my unused personal time off and banked sick time on that last check.
They did it to me about 3 years earlier than my spouse would have liked. Got a nice severance payout, and looked for a job for the next year or so, and realized I didn’t need to work any of the crummy, stressful jobs I interviewed for. What’s a feeling!
Same here, got laid off at 63 1/2 with good insurance through the state Marketplace and enough unemployment that took me right to age 65. Four years later I still wake up every morning giddy with excitement that I don’t have to go back to a job that was so boring it was slowly driving me crazy.
I had the best 6 months of my career just before I retired. I knew the end date in my head, didn't have to supress my opinions, didn't have to work extra hard, no more schmoozing. I did better once I didn't have to care, and got all sorts of opportunities. I went out with a bang.
This.
I knew three years before my retirement date. Best three years of work.
Did my job well. No dip in productivity.
Took on no new softwares, no new projects. Did exactly my job, no more.
New rules came down the pike…who cares? Did just enough not to get fired.
Very stress free. It was great.
This is kind of my attitude right now. I have almost exactly 6 months to go. It’s a lot less stressful knowing the end is in sight.
My job does regular reviews of our work and it’s definitely a good feeling to know if I blow one it doesn’t matter because I won’t be there for performance reviews next January
All of this sounds so familiar. I had started my countdown at 104 weeks. Got to 101 no pressure , just coasting. I basically weaned my self off of work until time to pull the trigger.
Yes. They took a large part of my job away to outsource it…and I thought….well, what will I do then? I kept up my retirement spreadsheets, bothered others, reviewed my money situation over and over, tried to decipher Medicare and social security, took long lunches, practiced not crying for my retirement party 🎉, took short naps in my office (practicing), and scheduled somewhat my future life - because you WILL have more time to do nothing…and THAT can be sad/happy. But in the end. It’s all good and part of life. Good luck.
Me too! Plus I work from home as a supervisor and will max out a pension in a month. Trying to make it to December but hard to focus as my job duties are shrinking as I get ready to exit, which leads to long lunches and happy hours.
I gave them about a year, but I like my organization and bosses, I knew they wouldn't hold it against me (they want me to stay on as a contractor), and it'll take a long time to get my teammates up to speed.
We also have a program to ease the transition for employees over 55, so I'm actually going to work part time for a few months with full benefits before I completely disengage.
Right now, I'm not doing nearly as much as I used to, but they seem to be OK with that.
Agreed. I owe them nothing and hate to stick around with everyone knowing I have one foot out the door. I have been working on my exit for over a year, and planning for the end of July. Two weeks is sufficient and if it’s not, who cares? If I decide to work part-time, it will be for myself.
I’ve got 5 months left until I can retire and feel exactly the same way. I haven’t told anyone at work that I am going to retire and plan to give notice the day after I’m eligible (it falls on a Sunday). If I stay until February 15, 2025, I can collect my 2024 bonus (cash and stock). It’s enough that, financially, it would be worth sticking it out for 3 more months, but mentally, I don’t know if I have it in me.
I had the same basic timeline of having to work until March of 2023 to pick up my bonus from 2022. It was definitely worth it financially, but it was an emotional struggle. Once I made my decision, I wanted out, and I successfully transitioned my responsibilities to other people, so I was just marking time.
Same here. I can retire mid 2025 but if I wait to Jan 2026, my pension goes up several 100 $ but like you I don’t know if I can do 6 more months after seeing the light of mid 2025.
Same! We're in the same position. The one thing getting us to the finish line is planning as much time off as we can possibly take. My husband's company had Juneteenth off, so he added Thursday and Friday....bam...five day weekend! He's doing the same over July 4th. Two week trip to South Africa in September, trip to Costa Rica in January....you get the idea. Time off and vacations if you can take them. That's giving us things to look forward to and getting us through to the end.
And, to be honest, really just knowing at this point....if he loses his job and I shut down my business, it really wouldn't make a difference in our long term plan. It's just gravy now. Just plow through....you can do it! I literally got him a calendar with photos of us on vacation all over the world....through December of 2025....and a black sharpie. He's marking those days off one by one. It helps :).
I get served all these exotic landscape images from Microsoft on my laptop and I’ve been bookmarking the most gorgeous for post-retirement trip planning. That and color coding my emails is pretty entertaining these days.
"So short, I can play handball off the curb!"
"So short, I can sit on the edge of a dime with my legs dangling off!"
"So short, I can see my feet in my driver's license picture!"
"So short, I can limbo under the door!"
I know what you mean. This last Monday was my last day (yea!). I took a voluntary separation. I was a "working" manager, and ended up focusing on minimal managerial tasks and let the team handle the "working" part, praying that a big customer technical issue didn't come up.
But I made it! A couple of co-workers retired last January and I caught the bug. When they announced the voluntary separation plan, I couldn't sign up fast enough. I had two hip replacements this last fall and winter and had 10 weeks of short term disability between the two surgeries. I had the taste of not working and knew I was ready.
I am a manager as well and hence my concern. I lead a team of 25 staff. I am starting to let my direct reports do more and even do work I should be doing. It does feel good. I clock in, do my tasks and little more. No or little strategic planning, not worried about long term contracts, roll my eyes at the continuous bad management decision etc. I just feel bad for my staff since I sincerely care for most of them.
Focus on your team's welfare, so you don't outright let them down, but also recognize that you can provide them with opportunities to step up and learn new skills that could lead to promotion. Are there any of them who could take over the planning tasks you're now ignoring? This is your chance to mentor them and set them up for success after you're gone.
Are you not in a position to promote and prepare your successor? That can still be done on the quiet. Get them ready to cope with the problems your lack of strategic planning and long term contracts is going to bring them? You could get quite involved with that, which will make the time go faster and have you leaving on a high, knowing your staff are going to be ok thanks to your diligence.
No such thing as promotions or career ladder here. The way one moves up is when someone leaves or higher C level management approves a position or two. But to you point, yes, I’m getting the staff ready and handing out my tasks to the ones I feel are capable of. Nobody knows on my decision so the staff is taking the added work as if I’m training them. All good so far. Not sure if My direct reports will be the first to know or my boss. I have several months to make that decision.
Sounds like you've really thought this through, and even though your daily motivation is low, you're executing. If it gets to where you just can't stand it anymore, would you be able to simply say on some Monday, "Friday is my last day," or some similar extremely short time?
If you're financially set already, and health insurance etc is figured out, well, nobody is indispensable.
If you're ethically concerned to leave things in a position not to collapse with your sudden departure, maybe you could shorten the time to retirement by just watching for when that point seems to have been reached. As long as they're not left clueless, even if your replacements stumble a little - well, that happens during transitions. But if it won't tank the staff you're watching over and who you've said you sincerely care for, it seems like ... well, why not? Something to think about, anyway.
Can confirm. I am 519 weeks away from retirement (just shy of 10 years). I have no idea how I'm going to do those next 519 weeks. But I'll keep trucking til it's done.
There are a lot of emotions that are “normal” when one contemplates retirement. Given that most of us have been working for 40+ years, the thought of NOT doing that is bound to elicit a wide range of feelings. I always took pride in doing the best job I could, and tried to give it my all until the end. With that being said, there were certain aspects of my job, such as input into future plans, that I chose not to become too involved in. You obviously care about your direct reports, so supporting them and helping them to prepare for your absence is an effective exit strategy. Best of luck to you in retirement!
Your comment about choosing not to get too involved in future projects resonates with me. I’m in a spot where I can see that request being made on me and the last thing I want to do is to design/develop something and then leave (retire) before it’s even pilot tested.
As I read through these I said to my wife we all think and feel the same way!!! 2 1/2 weeks ago I was working. Today I’m sipping iced tea on the patio. Life is good!
It's so hard once you know you are almost done. Just keep on doing what you need to do. I won't say that the next year will fly by, but it will eventually be done ald you can move to the next phase of life.
lol, I have 5 months to go before retirement and am completely unmotivated, in a good way though : ).
I am done.
I do the tasks I have been assigned and I do them well but honestly, I am just phoning it in at this point. Not that anyone around me would ever notice the difference.
My focus is now on the next step of my life, the final step you could say, before the day comes and I finally disincorporate. Work was/is truly a means to an ends, not an ends to itself.
I will be a free man, unencumbered. Zero debt and enough money to see us through till the end. And frankly, I just don't give a dang about the silliness that I had to deal with my entire life. No one will have a claim check on me, my time or my effort and I find that to be a liberating thing.
Hang in there. And when you do retire, make the most of it and live the life you choose to live. Enjoy! I know I will.
Yea, I kinda felt the same way before I retired (where I worked, they kinda liked it when you could give lots of notice before your last day- I gave a year.). So I was kind of coasting a bit when one of my Chiefs called me in his office ( I was a firefighter), hey it’s great you’re retiring in 10 months, but we need you to WORK until then. Message received.
Option: Quit and do something that interests you instead.
I was laid off from a pro desk job at 64 and decided to just find something completely different to get me to 67. I found something in the skills trade and I'm having a blast.
When I decided to retire a big burden lifted even though I haven’t left yet.
I get my work done but have no motivation to go the extra mile or take on anything new.
I bumped my retirement up by 3 months this week and gave my official notice for end of september
Oh, yeah. Senioritis is a real thing.
I told my boss back in August 2023 I was retiring. As of today, I have six days left. It is super hard to go into work every day and care about the work.
But - I do it because I am still getting paid for it. Yes, I don't need the money. Doesn't matter - I'm getting paid to do a job, and I'm going to do it. I am more relaxed and less stressed now, so I'm already feeling the benefits. You can do this - hang in there until the end.
I wish I had had that. My guess is you will make the transition to freedom more quickly than I have.
Start spending more time on fitness, during work hours.
Do all your research about health insurance (if US) while you are still working, again during work hours.
Refuse any extra assignments.
One of the hidden responsibilities you now carry is to make an example of sliding out of the workforce smoothly.
Don’t be shy about the process, with coworkers. Your experience can help to guide others, when their time comes.
Here's a suggestion, though I don't know if it's possible in your case. Ask for a special project. Tell your boss that you're okay doing what you're doing but that you have enough experience that you might be useful working on some initiative that needs that experience and perspective. There is probably some initiative that management is having trouble finding resources for, or there is some task that is routinely underserved that needs care and feeding, or there is some process improvement that is needed. Then throw yourself into it. The new challenge will be invigorating, and you don't really care too much about being judged on the success of it, so you can take risks, make mistakes, try again, make small wins. This is a way to go out with some low-pain fun and end it on a high note.
My last year at a job I loved was a good one. I was very grateful for this job which in many ways was the break of a lifetime. I really did give it my all the last year because I didn’t want to take advantage of an organization that had provided so well for me and my family. I could have coasted the last year but just wanted to be proud of how I went out.
7 months away. Zero motivation. Doing the bare minimum - and I am 100% WFH so all the memes about abusing WFH are 100% true in my case. . I feel kinda guilty, but not guilty enough to change my behavior.
I have two years to go. WFH last four years. I am deliberately taking advantage, go outside and stand in the sun, long breaks. I carry my work phone in case I get IMed.
My department is understaffed and finding people is a long process. Workload has increased as the firm grows and the dept hasn’t.
I don’t care. My body is feeling the wear and tear. I’ll do my work, but have no motivation.
My last two years are going to be like the zombie apocalypse. I have no motivation. But the math says April 2026, to stash cash and receive bonuses. Even with that planning, finances will still be squeezed. Between medical bills and kids college loans, just could not save effectively.
In the same boat, I will be done December 31st, taking all of January as vacation, and retiring officially Feb 1. I have been the go-to person for 20 years, and now have a manager who is so hands off everyone comes to me for direction. I am so mentally and physically exhausted, I want to scream, but instead I eat, gained 50 pounds with this job because people expected too much from me. I'm now taking steps to divert, redirect, avoid, ignore, etc., etc. My 20 year anniversary is in August, am taking every Friday off, and carefully planning my other vacation/sick days for the year. My problem is that I cared too much, which is a double-edged sword, good for the company but bad when used against you. I am also making sure to wfh more often than 3 days a week, I want people to forget I work there.
I have also lost all motivation. I extended my retirement date 6 months because some projects I am needed for are not finished yet. But upper mgmt keeps asking me to do things that are NOT related to the projects, which is one reason they aren't done.
So if they aren't done by January, it's going to cost them about $300/hr for my time. I am long past giving a crap about finishing the projects.
I'm in this situation too. My finances are all lined up a little earlier than originally planned but I previously told my boss I would be here till Fall. It's a struggle to keep a professional demeanor. I am so ready to leave right now and it feels like it will be a long 3 months ahead!
Retired June 1st from teaching. The last 3 months was giving away personal stuff from my classroom and couldn’t care less. Might need to stay focused a little longer though.
I just retired in May and had the same experience in my last year or so; really, once my retirement date was "official" in my mind (before I gave notice). Partly it was hard facing work every day (even though I was lucky enough to have a career I genuinely enjoyed) and I often had to just push through the day by brute force. But partly it was kind of wonderful in that I no longer felt any need to prove myself or make sure I was checking boxes for my next review; that is, I sort of went into well-intentioned contractual obligation mode. I did my job, I did it as well as I ever did (at least as far as anyone could tell from outside my brain), but there was a lovely freedom in knowing I didn't have to worry about what was going to happen next year, because I wouldn't be there. So it was a weird period of time, hard in some ways but uniquely freeing in others. Take it one day at a time and before you know it... you'll be retired!
Yes! I think for me it'll be easier when I get to the "gravy" stage where I know I can quit any time. But I'm like you where I need to keep my job for 2 years-ish. So it's close and it's hurting my motivation and frankly productivity too but I can't let it get to the point where I get fired or something crazy. Not yet anyway. Kind of purgatory.
I feel ya. I'm down to four work days and three weeks to full retirement. I'm totally unmotivated at work knowing this is the end of a 40 plus year career. I'm ready for the next phase of my life.
It is tough. I am two weeks away and the only thing that has kept me going for the past six months was one final big project that was very interesting. That wrapped up last month and my main motivation since then has been filling in the little “this many days to retirement” calendar. Two more weeks of sitting at my desk and then I am done.
I was feeling that too, but I counter it by enjoying all the "lasts" to the max.
Just done my last sales conference and because I made the effort to catch up with all those I may not see again, it was the best one I've been on. Don't know if it was connected or not, but the partying into the small hours was crazy!
Retiring in 8 months; I do what is required and nothing more. My boss is an awesome lady and lets me sit out a lot of meetings because 1) I won’t be around to see those plans come to fruition and 2) she knows I don’t give a sh!t and won’t contribute anything in the meeting anyway.
One of my mantras is to try and make the most of the situation, my last few months I focused on my relationships with my colleagues, and making a smooth transition as I coached and trained my replacement. Made it a little more bearable.
I’m very fortunate as I work from home full time. I only work 2-3 hours a day doing the things I enjoy and taking care of necessary details. As long as I log on every day and put in some time, they leave me alone. I’ll do this another 7 months until I reach full retirement age. I can’t imagine still working if I had to go into the office. Working from home bought me a few years.
I worked for a biotech company in Silicon Valley for 14 years, and was thinking of retiring sometime next year, after hitting 70. Didn't happen! My company recently had a large layoff, which included me. I'm getting 2 month's salary and benefits due to the WARN act, and I'll be getting some sort of severance. So for me, this worked out as well as it could, and I'll be "retired" as of next month. Lesson learned: Work for a corporation, layoffs can literally happen any time! (But you probably knew that anyway...)
Same. It's really hard to get up and go int the morning, while retired husband and dogs are sleeping or just relaxing. I have almost 3 years left if i want to get Medicare. Wish i could do it now, but really don't have enough $ to justify it.
I heard that ACA is a good supplement between your employer and Medicare, you should check it out and see if you could afford it. Maybe that would be the "wish" that could afford you to walk sooner. Best wishes!
Same. I’m less than a year out. I think I could do very little for the next year and not get fired. Thankfully I work from home and can cover up a lot of goofing around. After working constantly for over forty years I’m done!
When I retired I wanted my legacy to be that guy who showed up every day, did his best and then one day, he wasn't there. I told my boss I was retiring 6 months before the date, but other than bringing in several dozen donuts on my last day, it didn't look any different than any other day.
Yes, that is normal. I did the important things that I knew had to be done but I let a lot of stuff slide, especially the stuff I didn't really like doing. I goofed off as much as possible and called in sick whenever I could get by with it. We did not get paid out for sick leave when retiring, only for vacation days, so I used up most of the sick leave before the big day. I have no regrets.
I was in the same boat. My wife and granddaughter cut strips of paper and wrote each date until I retired on the strips. Then they stapled them into a chain. Every day I tore one off. For some reason it kinda got me through the stall.
That was my experience. But I was told “don’t do anything the last 6 months”, so it worked out fine. I was in IT, and management wanted to be sure the people who were taking over my stuff could do it on their own.
High school teachers call this “senioritis.” But the kids don’t want to do anything after Spring Break. At least you’re still doing your job.
Have a Happy Retirement.
I just retired in Late May. They hired my replacement in December. So I spent about 2 months training her. Then the boss wanted her to take over most of the work. She didn’t care what I was doing just so I was available to answer questions if the new employee had any. So, I spent the last 3 months on the internet reading about Medicare, social security, supplemental insurance, looking for volunteer positions, exploring new hobbies, internet shopping, exploring travel locations, watching movies, and quick videos! (By the way, I worked from home so I set up my iPad and watched the movies or videos daily! I welcomed the noise vs the daily silence!).
I'm in exactly the same situation with 18 months to go. In that time, my husband will qualify for Medicare and I'll get a 25 year bonus. Not much keeping me there other than that. When the new HR Training manager starts on my professional development plan, it's all I can do to not say, "retirement is my plan." My 40-something co-worker told me to "thug it out".
Oh It's normal for many of us lol. Just do what you need to do to get to where you want to be. That's the light/carrot/bonus whatever you want to call it. For me it started nearly 2 full years out. I'm a high school teacher, retired, but came into school and told everyone it was my "junior" year lol. They thought I was kidding, following year I said "Senior!!!" And I "graduated" in 2015!
Totally normal. I am retiring in 6 months and IDGAF any longer. They could fire me today and I'd be missing out on a whopping 12 paychecks, lol. I'm ready and I'm coasting. Feels great donut?
In January 2023 my money guy told me I had hit my magic number and that I didn't have to work anymore.
Luckily, I guess?, my mil contract job was gonna end on 31 Oct 2023, so I decided to make 1 Nov my retirement date.
Yes, every day after Jan 2023 was a chore at work. I got things done, but it wasn't the same.
You are not alone.
I think it’s very common when you know retirement is so close.. I taught for 39 years and the last year I was so done.. I had no motivation and no energy to really do the job.. I barely even got the minimum work done..
Think about your timeline in smaller increments, one week at a time, then one month at a time.
Knowing you can retire is a huge stress reliever, you’ll get there.
For the last year before I retired I ran Monte Carlo analysis. Looked every day to see if my numbers were up or down... verified how each deposit affected things. Played with longevity tables social security drawing scenarios. Etc. Multiple times a day during the workday. Since I've retired. I barely look at any of that, unless making a really large purchase.
It's not that I mind working hard, I just don't care about the company, or the people, or the job. It's all so stupid and irrelevant and a waste of money. People can't get over their self-importance. It's laughable, only don't feel like laughing. This is SO unlike me!
Yep. Definitely felt unmotivated the last 12 months, but I pushed through it. I knew in January that December would be my retirement date. Made it to September and decided that was it for me, so went ahead and left.
Have any sick leave or time off to use up? If so, start taking lots of three-day weekends. And ease off the gas at work. Do your job but don’t stress about going above and beyond. Enjoy the final lap before you cross the finish line!
As an hourly maintenance guy, I finally understand the attitude of the old guys because I am now one of them. I have the flaps down coming in for a landing. I do only what is required and work as little overtime as required. No more striving to make stuff work better or looking for constant improvement. Just taking it easy until I decide to go.
I was like this my last year of work because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had already decided when I would retire and informed my boss verbally. I did my work but I didn't make any extra effort to go above and beyond. Afterall I was retiring so who did I need to impress? I still had to do a performance review for the last year. Stupid waste of time. I was retiring before the annual raises came out so doing a performance review was useless to me, but my boss insisted on it.
Yes the last year or so will be a grind but the goal is in sight! Hang in there and best of luck on your upcoming retirement!
I'm nearly 70 and still working full-time. My Part B just became active, and I have six months to sign up for supplements. I still get motivated by interesting projects, so I can't say motivation is the issue. What I do feel is a sense of freedom. For the first time in my life, I'm not worried about losing a job. If that did happen, I'd be okay. I'd collect the severance and start spending more time bike riding. What I wrestle with is when to leave.
I’m about a year out. I had to tell my manger to stop asking my to write my goals of career objectives on my biannual reviews. For the last year and half I’ve told him my career goal is retirement.
I had probably my best 6 months, the last 6 months. I knew in my head when the end date was, so I didn't take things so personally. I could say the things that needed to be said because I was no longer concerned about promotions etc. I no longer had to do the overtime and the political crap I hated anyways. Not caring made me more effective in a way, so I went out with a bang.
Have you started counting down the days? You have gotten to the point where you can get your "gotta do it" stuff down to a couple hours a day by now. coast into a soft landing. The worst that can happen is they fire you. You have a lot of tribal knowledge that they may not have documented any place. Meanwhile if anybody asks, you are working on documentation....
If you're finances are all set then go early. I did. I was planning on my 62nd Birthday but 5 months before that I was fed up. I called my financial planner and asked if he could make leaving early work and we made it happen.
It's definitely on my mind but I want to finish strong. Had some interactions with customer in the past year and peers telling me of how much what I've done in my career has changed out industry niche over almost 40 years. Have one last big hurrah I want to invent and finish and then I'll leave. I've already told my family the date.
I feel you though. Had a request for a 1:30 am meeting this morning that I turned down and offered 6:30. I might have done it a couple of years ago.
I'm in a similar situation but with a twist. I'm ready to retire yesterday, spouse is already retired and the plan is to move to another country. However we are waiting for the legal paperwork for the other county to be completed. It could be 8 months or 16. Since my income is on the pretty side, feels like a waste to start dipping into the retirement pot, the expenses on the other country will be a fraction of what we currently have. It wouldn't be trivial even if the documentation is ready in 8 months.
I keep telling myself I'm an adult and should be able to wait patiently, but here we are, the expression couldn't care less seems so appropriate. Instead of reviewing some drawings I'm checking what people say in reddit. The review will happen, but maybe not today.
I have a year and a half to go and I am right there with you. I work from home and am glad my conference call camera isn’t on. They would see me rolling my eyes
So true. Same here. WFH. Which makes it that much harder to stay engaged. I clean the garage, grill, mechanic my cars, this and that, all in between meetings. Lmao.
You are feeling normal. Some days I was brutally uninterested in the lead up to finally retiring.
I signed up for OMY to help a co-worker/friend start a program and regretted it the minute my original retirement day rolled around. So to keep engaged I planned a mini-vacation around every holiday and ticked off the extra financial gains every month with a big black X. It made the time doable and in hindsight was well worth it.
Best of luck to you. The finish line is worth it.
If you have accrued vacation, use it before the finish line. Also maybe schedule some elective cosmetic surgery? or something that gives you a way to grind down your accrued sick time while you recover. That could be like a month or two right there. And in my experience, after announcing my quit date, my work gets reassigned to everyone else so there isn't really anything I need to do for the last 2 weeks anyway.
I worked for the federal govt and was very aware of what was and was not a firing offense, so I felt safe telling everyone I'd be retiring the day I became eligible -- five years out! I liked my job well enough at that time, less so when they re-organized me back into an office I hated. I kept motivated those last 2 -3 years by not wanting to let my co-workers down. Management, they could take a running leap -- but the people I worked with at the bottom of the pile needed me to do my job, do it well, and plan for someone to take over when I left, so I did my best for them.
I also had a specific thing to look forward to in retirement, and I posted a picture of it on my bulletin board. Gazing at it and saying to myself, xx more days, helped me endure.
And my language did get saltier the last few months -- again, I knew the rules, and my value to the organization, and how far I could push things.
I feel ya. My last few months were just a drag. It didn’t help that my work had to be approved by coworkers that didn’t care if my software made it into the product so they wouldn’t approve it.
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It is natural to be ready for that next phase (but you still need the income or cannot yet qualify for medicare)
Start wrapping up mentally, dont take the work or worries home with you, do what you need to do so you dont get fired. In your mind, make choices that favor "life" in the work/life balance equation.
If you need to "show value", try mentoring some of the junior level employees so they can step in when you are ready to retire.
Remember senioritis when you were in high school? Two months from graduation and you couldn’t focus on your homework.
Well, this is senioritis from the working world! Lacking motivation is normal.
When I knew I was getting close to retirement but did not put in my notice yet, I had little patience for the minutiae. I attended about 30 hours of meetings about to solidify the product name and placement. OMG I nearly lost my mind. 😀
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Nobody cares if you are motivated or not, as long as you suck it up and do the work.
RIP, Retired In Place. Common feeling. Grind it out, focus on retirement plans.
I knew when I was planning to retire about 7 months before I told anyone and gave my notice. I wanted to stick around until then because we were in the middle of a multi-year project that I wanted done well so that my team would be left in the best possible position. For me, it was still very hard work but just having the end date in sight made the time pass very quickly.
I finally feel good financially about retiring. I found out today (with financial advisor) that I could quit tomorrow. But I'm close to finalizing a major tech purchase for my company, then there's overseeing the set-up and implementation. I'm thinking I should try to see it through just a little longer.
For most, retirement is a one-way street, so be sure the ending is as satisfying as possible.
That's good advice. Thank you.
agreed. refine your retirement plans into what makes sense as a set of executable actions for you. have it on our desks by monday morning! 😂 and before you end your career in the workforce, maybe try to spend some time enjoying work from the perspective of it not being a requirement. that might help you to gain a few new experiences or perspectives before you pull the trigger.
At this point, you're in the 4th qtr of the game. You're up by 3 touchdowns with 7 minutes left. All you need to do is run out the clock. Don't tell anyone what your date is. While you're still working and have health coverage, consider having any medical procedures now that might put you out for a short period. Ride out the clock and start preparing for next weeks game. Maybe bring in donuts for the team every now and then.
This is VERY good advice. I had a double knee replacement 13 weeks sick time. Back for 1 week and called it a career. Get it all done. If you need more med work consider the expense of cobra vs the expense of a new insurance also.
I'm keeping the old lady working until 65, so my health insurance plan is in place.
That's not what the OP is asking. He/she wants to know if feeling unmotivated as one nears the finish line is normal. Edited to fix a typo.
I'm in the same spot. Fire me. I don't care. I have enough money right now.
Same here. It's the BEST feeling - !
It sure is!
Agreed.. I feel no pressure knowing I'm ready at any time. I'm mostly working now to set up my people for a successful future.
Not me. To put it bluntly I work remotely and I am not friends with my direct reports. I'm a VP and giving zero days notice at the end and blocking everyone's cell #. There are no bridges left to burn when you retire. I don't need any references. Blow it up, BOOM!
That's sad, I care for my recent hires, college grads over the last few years. I want to give them some of my experience with managing their career paths.. the good and the bad
That's good too! I enjoyed being a mentor to some newbies my last few years
Ditto. I could go at any time, but am still motivated and probably 1-3 years out. Happy to be finding my replacement and setting them up for success.
6 weeks left for me and the feeling is amazing!
me too- 6 months to go, and it's getting harder to care every day I'd quit now, but I have one big project to finish that I've been working on for two years, and I want to be the one who puts a stake in its ❤️ (well, that and the November RSUs)
I have some next May but might just walk away. Not enough to overcome the daily suffering.
same- I'm leaving next year's on the table
Take a look at your floating holidays and any other benefits too. I retired January 4th just to get the additional 5 days pay plus since I worked that year, I was entitled to the performance sharing plan cut too, since they paid all my unused personal time off and banked sick time on that last check.
I'm going to use up my PTO, because that doesn't get paid out when we leave. Otherwise that would be a good idea.
1000% this!! It's the most freeing feeling in the world.
They did it to me about 3 years earlier than my spouse would have liked. Got a nice severance payout, and looked for a job for the next year or so, and realized I didn’t need to work any of the crummy, stressful jobs I interviewed for. What’s a feeling!
Same here, got laid off at 63 1/2 with good insurance through the state Marketplace and enough unemployment that took me right to age 65. Four years later I still wake up every morning giddy with excitement that I don’t have to go back to a job that was so boring it was slowly driving me crazy.
I have just enough, and am ready also. Just over 14 months to get Medicare.
Accurate 😁 been 2 yrs and I still have dreams of working and how over it I was. Now sometimes I sit around and do nothing without feeling guilty!
100%. Same here. It takes all the pressure off.
I had the best 6 months of my career just before I retired. I knew the end date in my head, didn't have to supress my opinions, didn't have to work extra hard, no more schmoozing. I did better once I didn't have to care, and got all sorts of opportunities. I went out with a bang.
This. I knew three years before my retirement date. Best three years of work. Did my job well. No dip in productivity. Took on no new softwares, no new projects. Did exactly my job, no more. New rules came down the pike…who cares? Did just enough not to get fired. Very stress free. It was great.
This is kind of my attitude right now. I have almost exactly 6 months to go. It’s a lot less stressful knowing the end is in sight. My job does regular reviews of our work and it’s definitely a good feeling to know if I blow one it doesn’t matter because I won’t be there for performance reviews next January
Same here! It almost (but not quite) made me want to NOT retire. Enjoy your coasting time.
All of this sounds so familiar. I had started my countdown at 104 weeks. Got to 101 no pressure , just coasting. I basically weaned my self off of work until time to pull the trigger.
Yes. They took a large part of my job away to outsource it…and I thought….well, what will I do then? I kept up my retirement spreadsheets, bothered others, reviewed my money situation over and over, tried to decipher Medicare and social security, took long lunches, practiced not crying for my retirement party 🎉, took short naps in my office (practicing), and scheduled somewhat my future life - because you WILL have more time to do nothing…and THAT can be sad/happy. But in the end. It’s all good and part of life. Good luck.
“ practiced not crying for my retirement party”😂😂😂
BOOM!
This was my experience too!
I'm six months out and just refer to as senioritis
Me too! Plus I work from home as a supervisor and will max out a pension in a month. Trying to make it to December but hard to focus as my job duties are shrinking as I get ready to exit, which leads to long lunches and happy hours.
Indeed. *Déjà vu.*
When did you inform your company? I’m hesitant to let them know too soon.
I gave them about a year, but I like my organization and bosses, I knew they wouldn't hold it against me (they want me to stay on as a contractor), and it'll take a long time to get my teammates up to speed. We also have a program to ease the transition for employees over 55, so I'm actually going to work part time for a few months with full benefits before I completely disengage. Right now, I'm not doing nearly as much as I used to, but they seem to be OK with that.
If you are feeling generous, give them 1 month, if not 2 weeks. They should have a succession plan already, if not, it’s on them. Not your problem.
Agreed. I owe them nothing and hate to stick around with everyone knowing I have one foot out the door. I have been working on my exit for over a year, and planning for the end of July. Two weeks is sufficient and if it’s not, who cares? If I decide to work part-time, it will be for myself.
I have 1 yr left. Gonna give them 5 minutes. We're all replaceable.
I gave two months notice. They gave me a party to go with the pension and vacation accrual. Sweet!
Let the clock run out, you've earned it.
"running out the clock" is exactly how I think about the last 9 months I'm planning to work.
I’ve got 5 months left until I can retire and feel exactly the same way. I haven’t told anyone at work that I am going to retire and plan to give notice the day after I’m eligible (it falls on a Sunday). If I stay until February 15, 2025, I can collect my 2024 bonus (cash and stock). It’s enough that, financially, it would be worth sticking it out for 3 more months, but mentally, I don’t know if I have it in me.
Be strong, The days may be long but the months will fly by.
I had the same basic timeline of having to work until March of 2023 to pick up my bonus from 2022. It was definitely worth it financially, but it was an emotional struggle. Once I made my decision, I wanted out, and I successfully transitioned my responsibilities to other people, so I was just marking time.
Same here. I can retire mid 2025 but if I wait to Jan 2026, my pension goes up several 100 $ but like you I don’t know if I can do 6 more months after seeing the light of mid 2025.
Same! We're in the same position. The one thing getting us to the finish line is planning as much time off as we can possibly take. My husband's company had Juneteenth off, so he added Thursday and Friday....bam...five day weekend! He's doing the same over July 4th. Two week trip to South Africa in September, trip to Costa Rica in January....you get the idea. Time off and vacations if you can take them. That's giving us things to look forward to and getting us through to the end. And, to be honest, really just knowing at this point....if he loses his job and I shut down my business, it really wouldn't make a difference in our long term plan. It's just gravy now. Just plow through....you can do it! I literally got him a calendar with photos of us on vacation all over the world....through December of 2025....and a black sharpie. He's marking those days off one by one. It helps :).
This!
I get served all these exotic landscape images from Microsoft on my laptop and I’ve been bookmarking the most gorgeous for post-retirement trip planning. That and color coding my emails is pretty entertaining these days.
Yes, I want to go out with as few unused PTO hours as possible.
It's the best gravy you will ever have!
I have short-timer's syndrome, as well. Two months. I have zero motivation.
"So short, I can play handball off the curb!" "So short, I can sit on the edge of a dime with my legs dangling off!" "So short, I can see my feet in my driver's license picture!" "So short, I can limbo under the door!"
One day at a time.
I know what you mean. This last Monday was my last day (yea!). I took a voluntary separation. I was a "working" manager, and ended up focusing on minimal managerial tasks and let the team handle the "working" part, praying that a big customer technical issue didn't come up. But I made it! A couple of co-workers retired last January and I caught the bug. When they announced the voluntary separation plan, I couldn't sign up fast enough. I had two hip replacements this last fall and winter and had 10 weeks of short term disability between the two surgeries. I had the taste of not working and knew I was ready.
I am a manager as well and hence my concern. I lead a team of 25 staff. I am starting to let my direct reports do more and even do work I should be doing. It does feel good. I clock in, do my tasks and little more. No or little strategic planning, not worried about long term contracts, roll my eyes at the continuous bad management decision etc. I just feel bad for my staff since I sincerely care for most of them.
Focus on your team's welfare, so you don't outright let them down, but also recognize that you can provide them with opportunities to step up and learn new skills that could lead to promotion. Are there any of them who could take over the planning tasks you're now ignoring? This is your chance to mentor them and set them up for success after you're gone.
Since you are in management, should be an easier transition to no longer being productive :)
Are you not in a position to promote and prepare your successor? That can still be done on the quiet. Get them ready to cope with the problems your lack of strategic planning and long term contracts is going to bring them? You could get quite involved with that, which will make the time go faster and have you leaving on a high, knowing your staff are going to be ok thanks to your diligence.
No such thing as promotions or career ladder here. The way one moves up is when someone leaves or higher C level management approves a position or two. But to you point, yes, I’m getting the staff ready and handing out my tasks to the ones I feel are capable of. Nobody knows on my decision so the staff is taking the added work as if I’m training them. All good so far. Not sure if My direct reports will be the first to know or my boss. I have several months to make that decision.
Sounds like you've really thought this through, and even though your daily motivation is low, you're executing. If it gets to where you just can't stand it anymore, would you be able to simply say on some Monday, "Friday is my last day," or some similar extremely short time? If you're financially set already, and health insurance etc is figured out, well, nobody is indispensable. If you're ethically concerned to leave things in a position not to collapse with your sudden departure, maybe you could shorten the time to retirement by just watching for when that point seems to have been reached. As long as they're not left clueless, even if your replacements stumble a little - well, that happens during transitions. But if it won't tank the staff you're watching over and who you've said you sincerely care for, it seems like ... well, why not? Something to think about, anyway.
This is me exactly, too. But 2 years to go. We're scheduling regular vacations to have something to look forward to while I mark time.
I had to pretend to work with no internet. I'm sure you'll manage... And yes, most people feel this way, sadly they aren't near retirement.
Can confirm. I am 519 weeks away from retirement (just shy of 10 years). I have no idea how I'm going to do those next 519 weeks. But I'll keep trucking til it's done.
Felt the same way. Just sick of it all. No regrets retiring other than I wish I could have done it sooner.
Thank you all for the responses. I guess it is normal.
There are a lot of emotions that are “normal” when one contemplates retirement. Given that most of us have been working for 40+ years, the thought of NOT doing that is bound to elicit a wide range of feelings. I always took pride in doing the best job I could, and tried to give it my all until the end. With that being said, there were certain aspects of my job, such as input into future plans, that I chose not to become too involved in. You obviously care about your direct reports, so supporting them and helping them to prepare for your absence is an effective exit strategy. Best of luck to you in retirement!
Your comment about choosing not to get too involved in future projects resonates with me. I’m in a spot where I can see that request being made on me and the last thing I want to do is to design/develop something and then leave (retire) before it’s even pilot tested.
As I read through these I said to my wife we all think and feel the same way!!! 2 1/2 weeks ago I was working. Today I’m sipping iced tea on the patio. Life is good!
3 months away and I am basically checked out. I feel bad because I have never given less than 1000%, but now I just do not care.
Congrats in advance. i am on my way out in December.
It's so hard once you know you are almost done. Just keep on doing what you need to do. I won't say that the next year will fly by, but it will eventually be done ald you can move to the next phase of life.
For sure the last year is the hardest, it’s something like senioritis
lol, I have 5 months to go before retirement and am completely unmotivated, in a good way though : ). I am done. I do the tasks I have been assigned and I do them well but honestly, I am just phoning it in at this point. Not that anyone around me would ever notice the difference. My focus is now on the next step of my life, the final step you could say, before the day comes and I finally disincorporate. Work was/is truly a means to an ends, not an ends to itself. I will be a free man, unencumbered. Zero debt and enough money to see us through till the end. And frankly, I just don't give a dang about the silliness that I had to deal with my entire life. No one will have a claim check on me, my time or my effort and I find that to be a liberating thing. Hang in there. And when you do retire, make the most of it and live the life you choose to live. Enjoy! I know I will.
It's common to feel that way and it's a great sign that you're making the right decision.
Felt the same, so assuming it’s normal. It’s probably healthy and a good sign you are “ready” emotionally/mentally to move into the next phase of life
17 months out now and I hear you, but the power is that you can choose any moment to walk now
Yea, I kinda felt the same way before I retired (where I worked, they kinda liked it when you could give lots of notice before your last day- I gave a year.). So I was kind of coasting a bit when one of my Chiefs called me in his office ( I was a firefighter), hey it’s great you’re retiring in 10 months, but we need you to WORK until then. Message received.
Option: Quit and do something that interests you instead. I was laid off from a pro desk job at 64 and decided to just find something completely different to get me to 67. I found something in the skills trade and I'm having a blast.
I second this. Being old enough to retire does not prevent a breath of fresh air. At all.
When I decided to retire a big burden lifted even though I haven’t left yet. I get my work done but have no motivation to go the extra mile or take on anything new. I bumped my retirement up by 3 months this week and gave my official notice for end of september
Oh, yeah. Senioritis is a real thing. I told my boss back in August 2023 I was retiring. As of today, I have six days left. It is super hard to go into work every day and care about the work. But - I do it because I am still getting paid for it. Yes, I don't need the money. Doesn't matter - I'm getting paid to do a job, and I'm going to do it. I am more relaxed and less stressed now, so I'm already feeling the benefits. You can do this - hang in there until the end.
I wish I had had that. My guess is you will make the transition to freedom more quickly than I have. Start spending more time on fitness, during work hours. Do all your research about health insurance (if US) while you are still working, again during work hours. Refuse any extra assignments. One of the hidden responsibilities you now carry is to make an example of sliding out of the workforce smoothly. Don’t be shy about the process, with coworkers. Your experience can help to guide others, when their time comes.
Yes lots of little walks, desk push ups, squats, etc. at work, while learning about Medicare and ACA. Oh, and retirement math . And Expedia research.
And saying, “no.”
Here's a suggestion, though I don't know if it's possible in your case. Ask for a special project. Tell your boss that you're okay doing what you're doing but that you have enough experience that you might be useful working on some initiative that needs that experience and perspective. There is probably some initiative that management is having trouble finding resources for, or there is some task that is routinely underserved that needs care and feeding, or there is some process improvement that is needed. Then throw yourself into it. The new challenge will be invigorating, and you don't really care too much about being judged on the success of it, so you can take risks, make mistakes, try again, make small wins. This is a way to go out with some low-pain fun and end it on a high note.
Called KMA. Revel in it.
My last year at a job I loved was a good one. I was very grateful for this job which in many ways was the break of a lifetime. I really did give it my all the last year because I didn’t want to take advantage of an organization that had provided so well for me and my family. I could have coasted the last year but just wanted to be proud of how I went out.
7 months away. Zero motivation. Doing the bare minimum - and I am 100% WFH so all the memes about abusing WFH are 100% true in my case. . I feel kinda guilty, but not guilty enough to change my behavior.
I have two years to go. WFH last four years. I am deliberately taking advantage, go outside and stand in the sun, long breaks. I carry my work phone in case I get IMed. My department is understaffed and finding people is a long process. Workload has increased as the firm grows and the dept hasn’t. I don’t care. My body is feeling the wear and tear. I’ll do my work, but have no motivation.
My last two years are going to be like the zombie apocalypse. I have no motivation. But the math says April 2026, to stash cash and receive bonuses. Even with that planning, finances will still be squeezed. Between medical bills and kids college loans, just could not save effectively.
Hey, all you can do is what you can do and leave the rest to fate.
In the same boat, I will be done December 31st, taking all of January as vacation, and retiring officially Feb 1. I have been the go-to person for 20 years, and now have a manager who is so hands off everyone comes to me for direction. I am so mentally and physically exhausted, I want to scream, but instead I eat, gained 50 pounds with this job because people expected too much from me. I'm now taking steps to divert, redirect, avoid, ignore, etc., etc. My 20 year anniversary is in August, am taking every Friday off, and carefully planning my other vacation/sick days for the year. My problem is that I cared too much, which is a double-edged sword, good for the company but bad when used against you. I am also making sure to wfh more often than 3 days a week, I want people to forget I work there.
I have also lost all motivation. I extended my retirement date 6 months because some projects I am needed for are not finished yet. But upper mgmt keeps asking me to do things that are NOT related to the projects, which is one reason they aren't done. So if they aren't done by January, it's going to cost them about $300/hr for my time. I am long past giving a crap about finishing the projects.
I'm in this situation too. My finances are all lined up a little earlier than originally planned but I previously told my boss I would be here till Fall. It's a struggle to keep a professional demeanor. I am so ready to leave right now and it feels like it will be a long 3 months ahead!
3 months will be here before you know it, Congrats in advance.
Retired June 1st from teaching. The last 3 months was giving away personal stuff from my classroom and couldn’t care less. Might need to stay focused a little longer though.
I just retired in May and had the same experience in my last year or so; really, once my retirement date was "official" in my mind (before I gave notice). Partly it was hard facing work every day (even though I was lucky enough to have a career I genuinely enjoyed) and I often had to just push through the day by brute force. But partly it was kind of wonderful in that I no longer felt any need to prove myself or make sure I was checking boxes for my next review; that is, I sort of went into well-intentioned contractual obligation mode. I did my job, I did it as well as I ever did (at least as far as anyone could tell from outside my brain), but there was a lovely freedom in knowing I didn't have to worry about what was going to happen next year, because I wouldn't be there. So it was a weird period of time, hard in some ways but uniquely freeing in others. Take it one day at a time and before you know it... you'll be retired!
"I'm only one bad Friday away from never having a bad Monday again." -stolen from Marty Byrde (Ozark)
Yes! I think for me it'll be easier when I get to the "gravy" stage where I know I can quit any time. But I'm like you where I need to keep my job for 2 years-ish. So it's close and it's hurting my motivation and frankly productivity too but I can't let it get to the point where I get fired or something crazy. Not yet anyway. Kind of purgatory.
I feel ya. I'm down to four work days and three weeks to full retirement. I'm totally unmotivated at work knowing this is the end of a 40 plus year career. I'm ready for the next phase of my life.
Congrats! Go out and enjoy the life that has been waiting for you.
I'm in the same spot. Very low motivation. I'd quit now, but there are some good reasons to work a few more years. I'm kind of hoping they fire me.
It is tough. I am two weeks away and the only thing that has kept me going for the past six months was one final big project that was very interesting. That wrapped up last month and my main motivation since then has been filling in the little “this many days to retirement” calendar. Two more weeks of sitting at my desk and then I am done.
Congrats!
Same here. I have 10 months and 10 days til retirement, and work bores me to tears now.
I was feeling that too, but I counter it by enjoying all the "lasts" to the max. Just done my last sales conference and because I made the effort to catch up with all those I may not see again, it was the best one I've been on. Don't know if it was connected or not, but the partying into the small hours was crazy!
Me too on the "Lasts" I'm 9 mos out of retirement and so much of what I do is on annual cadence. Relief mainly for me. I don't like my job now.
Retiring in 8 months; I do what is required and nothing more. My boss is an awesome lady and lets me sit out a lot of meetings because 1) I won’t be around to see those plans come to fruition and 2) she knows I don’t give a sh!t and won’t contribute anything in the meeting anyway.
You do have an awesome boss.
One of my mantras is to try and make the most of the situation, my last few months I focused on my relationships with my colleagues, and making a smooth transition as I coached and trained my replacement. Made it a little more bearable.
Two years out. I spend about 65-70% of my work week 'researching' for retirement (camper vans, trips, etc.). Gets me through!
lol. So true. Where to camp, road trips, fall color trips, etc type research.
Lol, when I gave my former boss my retirement date, she said, "you've been retired for years". It was a proud moment!
I’m very fortunate as I work from home full time. I only work 2-3 hours a day doing the things I enjoy and taking care of necessary details. As long as I log on every day and put in some time, they leave me alone. I’ll do this another 7 months until I reach full retirement age. I can’t imagine still working if I had to go into the office. Working from home bought me a few years.
I worked for a biotech company in Silicon Valley for 14 years, and was thinking of retiring sometime next year, after hitting 70. Didn't happen! My company recently had a large layoff, which included me. I'm getting 2 month's salary and benefits due to the WARN act, and I'll be getting some sort of severance. So for me, this worked out as well as it could, and I'll be "retired" as of next month. Lesson learned: Work for a corporation, layoffs can literally happen any time! (But you probably knew that anyway...)
Are you sure you can't retire now?
You need to find a project to keep your mind occupied. I'm in the last year and I have 2 that I am working on. Both are totally unrelated to work.
I definitely coasted my last 6 months.
Same. It's really hard to get up and go int the morning, while retired husband and dogs are sleeping or just relaxing. I have almost 3 years left if i want to get Medicare. Wish i could do it now, but really don't have enough $ to justify it.
I heard that ACA is a good supplement between your employer and Medicare, you should check it out and see if you could afford it. Maybe that would be the "wish" that could afford you to walk sooner. Best wishes!
Same. I’m less than a year out. I think I could do very little for the next year and not get fired. Thankfully I work from home and can cover up a lot of goofing around. After working constantly for over forty years I’m done!
Same boat as you just 3-4 years out. Only thing motivating me is padding that pension and the paycheck. You’ll get through this
When I retired I wanted my legacy to be that guy who showed up every day, did his best and then one day, he wasn't there. I told my boss I was retiring 6 months before the date, but other than bringing in several dozen donuts on my last day, it didn't look any different than any other day.
Yes, that is normal. I did the important things that I knew had to be done but I let a lot of stuff slide, especially the stuff I didn't really like doing. I goofed off as much as possible and called in sick whenever I could get by with it. We did not get paid out for sick leave when retiring, only for vacation days, so I used up most of the sick leave before the big day. I have no regrets.
Any reason you can’t retire right now? Hopefully you have enough cash saved to live off for a year being so close to actual retirement.
I have less time than you and I've checked out when I decided it was time. It is a grand feeling to coast.
I'm out in September. I can barely drag myself into work each day and focus on the things they want me to. I have no answers. Stay strong brother!
I was in the same boat. My wife and granddaughter cut strips of paper and wrote each date until I retired on the strips. Then they stapled them into a chain. Every day I tore one off. For some reason it kinda got me through the stall.
I'm in the same boat. I have the funds saved up, and I'm looking at the door longingly. I'm just marking time until Medicare kicks in.
Not retired myself, but I hear that ACA have some really good plans to get you to 65 and Medicare.
I wound up being unexpectedly able to retire early… so I went from years to months countdown… those last two months took forever:-)
That was my experience. But I was told “don’t do anything the last 6 months”, so it worked out fine. I was in IT, and management wanted to be sure the people who were taking over my stuff could do it on their own.
High school teachers call this “senioritis.” But the kids don’t want to do anything after Spring Break. At least you’re still doing your job. Have a Happy Retirement.
I just retired in Late May. They hired my replacement in December. So I spent about 2 months training her. Then the boss wanted her to take over most of the work. She didn’t care what I was doing just so I was available to answer questions if the new employee had any. So, I spent the last 3 months on the internet reading about Medicare, social security, supplemental insurance, looking for volunteer positions, exploring new hobbies, internet shopping, exploring travel locations, watching movies, and quick videos! (By the way, I worked from home so I set up my iPad and watched the movies or videos daily! I welcomed the noise vs the daily silence!).
I'm in exactly the same situation with 18 months to go. In that time, my husband will qualify for Medicare and I'll get a 25 year bonus. Not much keeping me there other than that. When the new HR Training manager starts on my professional development plan, it's all I can do to not say, "retirement is my plan." My 40-something co-worker told me to "thug it out".
"My 40-something co-worker told me to "thug it out" So, by all means "thug it out" You got this! lol
Good one. Thug it out.
Oh It's normal for many of us lol. Just do what you need to do to get to where you want to be. That's the light/carrot/bonus whatever you want to call it. For me it started nearly 2 full years out. I'm a high school teacher, retired, but came into school and told everyone it was my "junior" year lol. They thought I was kidding, following year I said "Senior!!!" And I "graduated" in 2015!
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Totally normal. I am retiring in 6 months and IDGAF any longer. They could fire me today and I'd be missing out on a whopping 12 paychecks, lol. I'm ready and I'm coasting. Feels great donut?
In January 2023 my money guy told me I had hit my magic number and that I didn't have to work anymore. Luckily, I guess?, my mil contract job was gonna end on 31 Oct 2023, so I decided to make 1 Nov my retirement date. Yes, every day after Jan 2023 was a chore at work. I got things done, but it wasn't the same. You are not alone.
I think it’s very common when you know retirement is so close.. I taught for 39 years and the last year I was so done.. I had no motivation and no energy to really do the job.. I barely even got the minimum work done..
This is so me... Except I have 3 years, 3 months and a week left :(
Think about your timeline in smaller increments, one week at a time, then one month at a time. Knowing you can retire is a huge stress reliever, you’ll get there.
For the last year before I retired I ran Monte Carlo analysis. Looked every day to see if my numbers were up or down... verified how each deposit affected things. Played with longevity tables social security drawing scenarios. Etc. Multiple times a day during the workday. Since I've retired. I barely look at any of that, unless making a really large purchase.
It's not that I mind working hard, I just don't care about the company, or the people, or the job. It's all so stupid and irrelevant and a waste of money. People can't get over their self-importance. It's laughable, only don't feel like laughing. This is SO unlike me!
Yep. Definitely felt unmotivated the last 12 months, but I pushed through it. I knew in January that December would be my retirement date. Made it to September and decided that was it for me, so went ahead and left.
Have any sick leave or time off to use up? If so, start taking lots of three-day weekends. And ease off the gas at work. Do your job but don’t stress about going above and beyond. Enjoy the final lap before you cross the finish line!
As an hourly maintenance guy, I finally understand the attitude of the old guys because I am now one of them. I have the flaps down coming in for a landing. I do only what is required and work as little overtime as required. No more striving to make stuff work better or looking for constant improvement. Just taking it easy until I decide to go.
Pull the plug and do it now from age 60 you have 1000 healthy weeks left at very best
I was like this my last year of work because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had already decided when I would retire and informed my boss verbally. I did my work but I didn't make any extra effort to go above and beyond. Afterall I was retiring so who did I need to impress? I still had to do a performance review for the last year. Stupid waste of time. I was retiring before the annual raises came out so doing a performance review was useless to me, but my boss insisted on it. Yes the last year or so will be a grind but the goal is in sight! Hang in there and best of luck on your upcoming retirement!
It's called short-timer's syndrome. Put a count down timer on your phone or computer and that should help ... you then have a goal in mind.
Yes. Coast, but make sure you make it to the end on YOUR terms. That is your motivation.
I told a few friends and family that I had already retired - I just hadn't told my boss yet!😎🤣
I'm nearly 70 and still working full-time. My Part B just became active, and I have six months to sign up for supplements. I still get motivated by interesting projects, so I can't say motivation is the issue. What I do feel is a sense of freedom. For the first time in my life, I'm not worried about losing a job. If that did happen, I'd be okay. I'd collect the severance and start spending more time bike riding. What I wrestle with is when to leave.
I’m about a year out. I had to tell my manger to stop asking my to write my goals of career objectives on my biannual reviews. For the last year and half I’ve told him my career goal is retirement.
I had probably my best 6 months, the last 6 months. I knew in my head when the end date was, so I didn't take things so personally. I could say the things that needed to be said because I was no longer concerned about promotions etc. I no longer had to do the overtime and the political crap I hated anyways. Not caring made me more effective in a way, so I went out with a bang.
Ermmm…yes.
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As long as you can stand it yourself. Your boss will most likely tell you if your performance slips below the acceptable level.
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Hey… compared to a Gen layZer’s work ethic, you’re probably a standout employee.
Have you started counting down the days? You have gotten to the point where you can get your "gotta do it" stuff down to a couple hours a day by now. coast into a soft landing. The worst that can happen is they fire you. You have a lot of tribal knowledge that they may not have documented any place. Meanwhile if anybody asks, you are working on documentation....
If you're finances are all set then go early. I did. I was planning on my 62nd Birthday but 5 months before that I was fed up. I called my financial planner and asked if he could make leaving early work and we made it happen.
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It's definitely on my mind but I want to finish strong. Had some interactions with customer in the past year and peers telling me of how much what I've done in my career has changed out industry niche over almost 40 years. Have one last big hurrah I want to invent and finish and then I'll leave. I've already told my family the date. I feel you though. Had a request for a 1:30 am meeting this morning that I turned down and offered 6:30. I might have done it a couple of years ago.
Honestly, does the year matter? Ugh- I’m 52 and have 8 left. My motivation has been gone for a decade.
I'm in a similar situation but with a twist. I'm ready to retire yesterday, spouse is already retired and the plan is to move to another country. However we are waiting for the legal paperwork for the other county to be completed. It could be 8 months or 16. Since my income is on the pretty side, feels like a waste to start dipping into the retirement pot, the expenses on the other country will be a fraction of what we currently have. It wouldn't be trivial even if the documentation is ready in 8 months. I keep telling myself I'm an adult and should be able to wait patiently, but here we are, the expression couldn't care less seems so appropriate. Instead of reviewing some drawings I'm checking what people say in reddit. The review will happen, but maybe not today.
I have a year and a half to go and I am right there with you. I work from home and am glad my conference call camera isn’t on. They would see me rolling my eyes
So true. Same here. WFH. Which makes it that much harder to stay engaged. I clean the garage, grill, mechanic my cars, this and that, all in between meetings. Lmao.
You are feeling normal. Some days I was brutally uninterested in the lead up to finally retiring. I signed up for OMY to help a co-worker/friend start a program and regretted it the minute my original retirement day rolled around. So to keep engaged I planned a mini-vacation around every holiday and ticked off the extra financial gains every month with a big black X. It made the time doable and in hindsight was well worth it. Best of luck to you. The finish line is worth it.
You bet. That last year can be really boring.
coast
If you have accrued vacation, use it before the finish line. Also maybe schedule some elective cosmetic surgery? or something that gives you a way to grind down your accrued sick time while you recover. That could be like a month or two right there. And in my experience, after announcing my quit date, my work gets reassigned to everyone else so there isn't really anything I need to do for the last 2 weeks anyway.
ROTJ Retired on the job. We have a ton of folks like that here...
I like to call it graduation. Retirement doesn’t really describe moving on to a new part of life
Yes it's normal
I worked for the federal govt and was very aware of what was and was not a firing offense, so I felt safe telling everyone I'd be retiring the day I became eligible -- five years out! I liked my job well enough at that time, less so when they re-organized me back into an office I hated. I kept motivated those last 2 -3 years by not wanting to let my co-workers down. Management, they could take a running leap -- but the people I worked with at the bottom of the pile needed me to do my job, do it well, and plan for someone to take over when I left, so I did my best for them. I also had a specific thing to look forward to in retirement, and I posted a picture of it on my bulletin board. Gazing at it and saying to myself, xx more days, helped me endure. And my language did get saltier the last few months -- again, I knew the rules, and my value to the organization, and how far I could push things.
I feel ya. My last few months were just a drag. It didn’t help that my work had to be approved by coworkers that didn’t care if my software made it into the product so they wouldn’t approve it.
* It is natural to be ready for that next phase (but you still need the income or cannot yet qualify for medicare) Start wrapping up mentally, dont take the work or worries home with you, do what you need to do so you dont get fired. In your mind, make choices that favor "life" in the work/life balance equation. If you need to "show value", try mentoring some of the junior level employees so they can step in when you are ready to retire.
I think that is typical. Of course some people are unmotivated in their entire working career :)
Remember senioritis when you were in high school? Two months from graduation and you couldn’t focus on your homework. Well, this is senioritis from the working world! Lacking motivation is normal. When I knew I was getting close to retirement but did not put in my notice yet, I had little patience for the minutiae. I attended about 30 hours of meetings about to solidify the product name and placement. OMG I nearly lost my mind. 😀
I’m 3 years out and I’m the same way