I am 57 1/2
years old. Two years ahead of Plan A and
a year ahead of Plan B+, but the truth of the matter is I'm exhausted. I am mentally and emotionally drained and
completely burned out. I have been
coming home from work and literally collapsing into my recliner each evening with
no energy left in me to do another thing.
It would take half the weekend to recuperate and rally once again on
Sunday. Then I'd start over. The pace of work and overtime hours combined
with all the stress and pressure a pandemic adds has been taking its toll for a
while. My entire team is completely
wrung out. And as much as I hate to
abandon them and make their situation worse, I just couldn't do it
anymore. I was traveling a similar path from a year ago and we
all know how that turned out. I was
headed for disaster.
In February it
hit me full in the face, I don't think I
can do this anymore. I loved my
job. I was a VA patient care coordinator
and I worked with veterans. It was an
honor for me to serve those who have served so many and sacrificed so much,
primarily their health and wellbeing. I
am very proud of how I did my job and took care of those men and women. But now, I have to take care of me.
I was able to
determine that if I live very frugally for the next two years retiring early
will not impact my finances nearly as much as I feared it might. The difference will be nominal compared to
what might happen if I were to persevere and ended up with another health
setback. Not to mention, I really don't
want any health setbacks. Which brings
me to another thing. Like my veterans I
was sacrificing my health and wellbeing.
And the truth of the matter is that the corporation I work for could
really care less about that. The only person
this was affecting is me and I don't owe them my life. In fact, I don't owe them anything.
Add in the
office politics (things have become messy) and a boatload of daily drama
(insert eye roll here) and it begs the question. "Why am I still here?" It is a question my colleagues and I found
ourselves discussing almost daily.
Nothing changes unless something changes. So I mustered up the courage and submitted my
resignation. And I made the leap. It isn't what I originally had planned but….. I can do this.
You can do this!!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a very happy and healthy retirement!
Thank you so much Kathy
DeleteKudos to you! What strength and wisdom to make the decision and do it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brooke
DeleteI had much the same scenario as you with my job that I retired from about 10 years ago. I've NEVER been sorry. I'd rather tighten the belt than put up with all the junk. I lost my health to the job, terribly stressful, and like your job, my boss could care less. I saw him treat so many badly and then it was my turn. Congrats on having the guts to say enough is enough. You will do fine. You will be fine. You already know what needs to be done and you've been doing it already. Again, congratulations! Enjoy your retirement. Enjoy your life! Hugs!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Pam. I appreciate your support. :)
DeleteGood for your girl!!! You will never regret it. I had planned to go at 62 (I could have stayed until 65) but I had pretty much had it much, much earlier. Not so much the work (I had a good employer and was well paid) but the 3+ hours daily commute. I went to Sicily for my 60th birthday and resigned on 1 October when I came back. Three years later and I STILL do not regret it!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll regret it either.
DeleteGood for you!! You are correct about corporations and smart to look after yourself.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lori
DeleteHappy Retirement!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anne
DeleteCongratulations. But can I ask, what do you do for health insurance until Medicare? That is what is holding me back.
ReplyDeleteCheck out https://www.healthcare.gov/
DeleteGood for you. My father in law had a good experience with the VA before he passed away. He was one of THE original Green Berets!!
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive. Bless him.
DeleteGood for you ! I wish you a very happy and frugal retirement ! My husband did the same last year and we have not regretted it, health is too precious !
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Congrats to your husband.
DeleteI hope to be changing careers soon because of exactly what you described. I am almost 59, but I have a disabled husband, I financially support my 2 grandchildren, so retirement for me is out of reach. It makes me sad. Your blog gives me encouragement. I am so happy you could retire.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen
DeleteHappy Dancing for you all the way.....to the sidewalk, to the garden, to your bicycle....right on through 2022! I can't wait to hear about some camping adventures this summer in Laverne :-) And you can go during the week when the rest 'of them' are working ;-)
ReplyDeleteI know! I'm so excited!!!
DeleteCongratulations! I am sure that you will do just fine in your retirement. I had plans to retire (with my then husband) when my mom passed away. We owned a home in Mexico and were going to move there and be involved in missions work. When my marriage ended in 2019 all plans changed. Thankfully we had paid off the house and had saved towards retirement. I am now hoping to retire at 65. The past 2 years (divorce, followed immediately by COVID, followed by a major computer hack at work, and then people leaving, new people to train, more work than can be done by one person....) has left me so burnt out. I am taking definite steps to try and keep myself well and mentally sane for 22 more months. I really appreciate your blog and all of your frugal tips!
ReplyDelete22 more months, at least you see the light at the end of your tunnel. You can do it!!
DeleteHappy Retirement! Take care of you! Maybe look into starting a YouTube channel on frugal living in retirement. I think you'd be a Hit!
ReplyDeleteLOL, I don't think I could do that Youtube thing. That's A LOT of work!
Delete