I've done it now!

I used to think that as you got older you would be able to handle stress and stressful situations better because you were more mature. I said that to a woman I knew who was a counselor for my ex and she said that most people think that but it’s exactly the reverse. Your ability to deal with stress diminishes as you get older. The company I retired from had a great retirement plan and I had planned to retire at 60, then 62, then 63. Every year something happened that made me stay. I had always promised myself that I wouldn’t work past 65. On the last hour of my last day when I was 63 my boss walked in holding a piece of paper that had just come in on the fax. It was a major promotion - if I would stay 2 more years. It was worth a solid 25% add-on to my retirement. Mentally I was already out the door. I thought about it and told my boss I’d stay until I was 65, which was in about 21 months. He took it. I was lucky in that I had a great job and a great boss, and, 8 years later the extra money is nice. But, I have to say, if I hadn’t taken the deal, I still would have been okay and would have a little more time in my retirement. In reality, I did it mostly because my boss had been so good to me and was also a good friend. He was quite a bit younger and had plans to retire at 55. His job was incredibly stressful and involved a lot of politics in a large public utility. He committed suicide a couple of years after I retired when he was 53. He could have retired at 50. Money can’t buy time or happiness.