Just had a meeting with my boss. They’re offering severance and insurance through August with my last day being April 30th. Yes!
StG
Congratulations, StG! Retirement is awesome.
You’re in counting down the hours territory. Congratulations
I crossed another countdown milestone yesterday. And a weird occupationally-specific one it was.
When I lived in snow country I of course had a wardrobe for all seasons. When I moved to SoFL a decde ago I vowed that I would never encounter outdoor cold again except for work. And so except for a few days’-worth of cold weather underwear, thick socks, and uniform-compatible outerwear like hats, gloves, jackets, sweaters, etc. my entire late fall through early spring <60F wardrobe got jettisoned 10 years ago.
Yesterday I returned from a work trip to the US northeast. Wherein it was plenty warm & the calendar says it’s only getting warmer. So once home all the cold weather gear came out of my suitcase for the season. Which has happened every Spring for decades now.
But since I’m retiring before it’ll get cold again, this time I threw all that stuff away. All my stock of heavy underwear, hats, gloves, etc. 100% gone, and good riddance to it. I’ve done my last cold and ice, whether for work or for “pleasure”.
The countdown continues.
Hearty congrats, @StGermain! Your retirement will commence exactly one month after mine did.
Regarding work clothing, I wore scrub pants every day to work for the past 36 years. I have, I think, 8 pair.
One pair is now splattered with paint. The others in storage for future (household) dirty work. 
mmm
Congratulations, StGermain.
I’ve told HR and my five bosses. I told all of them I want it kept quiet so that I don’t get hassled by well-wishers. We’ll see.
May 12 is my last day. I’m trying to coordinate financial stuff for both me and my husband, as well as pay off our mortgage. Not trying to think beyond that.
That must have been an incredible feeling. Great story
Good on you!
You go girl!
Today I’m fighting with my health insurance company. I want to get all medical stuff squared away before I switch insurances. Our Plan Description and our Summary of Benefits and Coverage specifically state they pay $3000 per ear for hearing aids. United Healthcare is telling me in writing and by phone that they show they’re only covering $3K total. I’ve escalated it and told them if they didn’t want to pay, they shouldn’t have put it in writing.
StG
You rock! I hate bate and switch insurance.
I sent what I called my “Kia vs Ferrari” email. I told them they couldn’t promise a Ferrari and pay for a Kia.
StG
Just use the terms “state insurance regulator” and “bad faith”. Might bring them around.
Oh, and congratulations!
Congratulations on the speedy retirement, @StGermain !
I retired after the school year ended, so it just felt like summer vacation until August rolled around. And once cold weather started, I realized that I don’t ever want to wear my office clothes again. So I donated everything except a couple of comfortable pieces I could theoretically wear to parties (if I ever go to another party) or weddings or funerals. Whatever else happens, I’m done with anything that doesn’t have an elastic waist.
I sent my paperwork into my boss and HR today, last day in a week. Even though I know I’m ready, I still got a sort of sinking feeling, releasing myself from my job.
In talking to my boss yesterday, going through what I’ve been doing, he said, “None of that belongs in our team at all!” Back in September I was transferred by HR to this team with no notice to me, my at-the-time boss, or the boss of the new team. I’d said all along that what I do doesn’t fit in with this team, which primarily builds dashboards for managers to judge employee performance, while I do primarily customer/vendor transactional reporting and analysis. If I’d been left where I was I’d probably still be a happy little camper. Now they’re planning to transfer my work to a new team, who doesn’t know me, doesn’t know my data, doesn’t know the users I support.
StG
I have the same sinking feeling, StGermain. It’s not that I don’t want to retire, it’s just that a change this big is majorly unsettling. I’m having issues with a constant low-level sensation of anxiety, while folks here and at work are congratulating me and saying that they envy me.
Oh, good news! I just got an email from the insurance company. They’ll pay the full $3000 per ear that their contract requires they pay. All spelled out in writing, just as I asked. Hooray!
teelabrown - That;s it - it’s just such a change. I’ve worked my whole life. If I lost a job, I was pounding the pavement until I got a new one. I’ve never just let go of the rope and let the boat drift, so to speak. But I hear things are great downstream.
StG
I never, ever pictured that I would be anything but ecstatic when my retirement loomed. I was the guy who said he’d be dancing a jig out the door on that last day. I’d been thinking about retirement for the past ten years or so, and with some intensity that started really building the past two years. I had a countdown timer on my phone and it was a rare day that I did not look at it.
But somewhere around the six-month mark I started to feel uneasy. Then anxious. Anyone who knows me at all will tell you that I am the opposite of the anxious type, but there it was. When there were just a few weeks to go the uneasiness actually interfered with what should have been the happiest days of my work life.
Here is the good news. During my last week of work that all went away. I was totally at peace with the change. I was not teary-eyed, not afraid, not even very sentimental. I enjoyed my send-off party, gave a little speech that was very well received, and remained calm and cool throughout.
And retirement? WTF was I anxious about? I am loving every day (it’s been 3 weeks). I had toyed with the thought of working one day a week - all I have to do is say the word and I would be welcomed back - but I know I neither want nor need that at this point.
It’s going to be wonderful, @teelabrown, you will see.
mmm
Over on an early retirement board, someone put it like this and it really helped me with the uneasy feeling:
“Shake the employer off of you like a dog that just got out of the water.”
Some years ago, Management tasked my shop with building a mobile computing solution focusing on work at home. Once built, they chose 30 people for the Proof of Concept stage. Two weeks long for the participants, followed by some Lessons Learned sessions.
The thing I most remember most about that project was that one person so missed the social aspect of being in the office that they were miserable for the whole two weeks and wanted out of the project.
I don’t blame her for dropping out because her social life outside of the company was apparently coming up short of her needs.
I retired at 60 (FIRE) in 2020 and haven’t felt this free since I was on summer vacation in my early teens.
Financial independence and no obligation to someone else’s agenda takes a big load off of my mind.
No regrets.