Monday, May 18, 2015

#1 REASON FOR EARLY RETIREMENT: I'M BURNED OUT ON MY JOB AS A PHARMACIST

35 Years As a Pharmacist--It's Not What It Used to Be!

I Need a Break From Being a Serious Pharmacist!
From “Proud of My Profession” to “Take This Job and Shove It” in 35 years or Less

     I was a pharmacist for 35 years, and I was good at it. When I graduated from Oregon State University in 1979, I was proud to be a pharmacist, ranked “The Number One Most Trusted Profession” according to an annual poll conducted by Gallup. Beginning in the year 2000 when nurses were added to the poll, pharmacists slipped to second place among the professions listed. The poll expresses the publics’ high opinion of pharmacists’ honesty and ethical standards and for many years I was honored by this public recognition. In 2014, pharmacists dropped to third place for the first time, just a little behind medical doctors. Respect for the profession seemed to be dropping and I could feel that this was the case by the manner that I had been treated by some patients I interacted with in recent years. After 35 Years as a Pharmacist, I could say, “It's Not What It Used to Be!”
     Yes, I had been singing the song, "Take this job and shove it, I ain't workin' here no more!" (in my mind) at the end of most workdays for quite a long time. I was thinking more and more about early retirement. But, what is really so hard about continuing to practice pharmacy for eight more years? When you stand outside of a pharmacy and look in, it doesn’t appear that the pharmacist is working very hard, so what is the problem with this job? I needed to evaluate what has caused my burn out. And what would be my solution to the burn out?


Giving Up that Healthy Paycheck?

I Loved My Prius Plug-In Hybrid!
     Choosing a career as a pharmacist was a financially wise decision. I made good money and was living the American Dream. I was married, owned a home in a nice neighborhood, and had two cars, 2 children, a dog and a cat. I had all the nice things I wanted, including nice furniture, cars, and toys. I belonged to a fitness club, I took nice vacations often, and I had paid vacation time. I enjoyed monthly massage therapy and pedicures if I wanted. I paid a professional to clean my house every two weeks. I had some form of retirement plan throughout my career, from an IRA to a 401(k), and I was paying into Social Security knowing that I would be able to collect a substantial monthly check when I retired at the age of 66, like all pharmacists did, right? Why would I want to give all of that up before the age of 59?
    But, at some point in the past year, I realized I had to answer the questions: “Is the money worth it? Are all those nice things worth the stress of my job or am I ready to give up some of the luxuries I enjoyed and live on much less money. Was I ready to give up my paycheck, my car, my massages, and my other benefits? I had to admit to myself that I was miserable practicing pharmacy. I was to the point that I couldn’t face walking into a pharmacy one more day. So, what is there to dread about this career? 
Downgrade My Primary Mode of Transportation?

Easy Access to Pharmacists Means Many Questions From Patients

     Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professional and their advice is free, so patients frequently go to their “druggist” first when they have medical questions and concerns. In the “good old days” when I began practicing in retail pharmacy, I enjoyed answering patients’ questions and giving advice. While I was filling prescriptions, people frequently interrupted me with requests for help with their health care needs and I was happy to help. Common questions were “What cough syrup should I use?” and “What fever reducer should I give my child?” and “Can you recommend a vitamin supplement?” I actually had time to walk out into the over-the-counter (OTC) department and put the medication the medication I recommended into the customer’s hands and explain how to use it. It was very fulfilling work in those days.
     In the past ten years the number of patients’ questions has increased, the prescription volume has grown, and the profit margin on each prescription has dropped. Pharmacists became too busy to be interrupted so often. Corporations operating pharmacies decided the pharmacists should not be “bothered” while they are filling prescriptions, so they installed glass partitions or moved the pharmacists to a back counter where they would still be visible but could not be interrupted while they worked. Questions then came in the form of numerous phone calls and summons to the counselling windows. Access to physicians became more difficult and expensive, so questions were more challenging. Common inquiries bordered on the need for a diagnosis and pharmacists were faced with more decisions about whether to make a recommendation or a referral to a doctor. A typical day now involved answering questions such as: “My pressure cooker (or car radiator) blew up in face--what can I put on my burn? (likely at least a second-degree burn)” and “Will you look at this bug bite (an angry, infected spider bite) and tell me what to put on it? (I recommend seeing a physician soon)” and “Will you look at this rash (poison oak, scabies, eczema, fungus infection, etc.) on my arm (or breast or foot or …) and tell me what to put on it?” At times the patient’s condition was so serious that the answer was “You need to go to an urgent care clinic or emergency room immediately”.
     Was it any wonder I went home at the end of a ten or twelve hour day mentally and emotionally drained? Other health care professionals experience similar exhaustion from long hours of caring for patients. Years of this can lead to burnout.

Maybe I’m Not Tough Enough to be a Pharmacist Any Longer
I Was a Tough, But Friendly Pharmacist in 1994!

Take a Restroom Break? Pharmacists Tough It Out! 
     Years ago we, as pharmacists, joked that if the company could force us to wear a catheter attached to a urine bag attached to our leg, they would, just to keep us working without a bathroom break. It was considered a tough work standard for pharmacists to see how long you could go without urinating. Many of the old-timers still work that way and brag about not needing a break, purposely keeping themselves dehydrated to avoid having to run to the restroom.. I finally realized how wrong that was and started taking two 15 minute breaks each day, even when the pharmacist I was working with would say he or she didn’t take breaks. Some co-workers would scowl at me when I would tell them I was going on a break, as if to say, “How dare you leave me to fill all of these prescriptions while you go sit down?”
     One of my worst fears was being the only pharmacist on duty for the day and needing to leave the pharmacy to use the restroom when there was a customer standing at the counter waiting for their prescription. I still recall the glares I have received from people as I walked past them and across the store to use the only public restroom. I imagined them thinking, “You have a lot of nerve leaving the pharmacy when you haven’t finished filling my prescription! I don’t think I’m tough enough to endure that any longer.

A Lunch Break? Pharmacists Don’t Need Them! 
     For many years, pharmacists have been expected to work long days without lunch breaks. That was just normal practice and still is in many retail drug stores that I have worked in. When I got tired of working ten and twelve hour days without breaks or lunch periods, I took a Staff Pharmacist position at Wal-Mart simply because they actually gave the pharmacists a 30 minute lunch break. That was the first time in my career as a retail pharmacist that I had a lunch period when I was allowed time to sit down and eat without interruption, go to the rest room, and come back to work mentally and physically refreshed. I could drink water and coffee during the day at work knowing that I would get a chance to go to the restroom, a real treat during the day as a pharmacist. But many pharmacies I have worked in during the past few years still have no planned lunch break for the pharmacists and it is not uncommon for some to skip eating or to grab bites of a stale sandwich or a granola bar between prescriptions. I could no longer work that way. When my hypoglycemia threatened to interfere with my ability to safely fill prescriptions, I found a place to hide in the back of the pharmacy for a short lunch break while I considered early retirement.

Sit Down On a Stool While Working at the Computer? Are You Lazy?
   Pharmacists traditionally have stood while working, which means for 10 or 12 hour shifts, often without a break to sit and rest. In the days when the pharmacist did everything from typing labels with the typewriter, to counting pills, to talking to patients, we were in constant motion in and out of the pharmacy so that was logical. That takes endurance! Since the introduction of computers and pharmacy technicians, pharmacists stand in one place in front of a computer monitor most of the day. But it is still traditional to stand for the entire shift and highly frowned upon to pull up a stool and sit in front of the computer, even for a few minutes. How many more years can my legs hold me for these 10 or 12 hour shifts?

Who Can Crank Out the Most Prescriptions on the Assembly Line?
         Pharmacists are a competitive bunch, enjoying the “game” of who can fill the most prescriptions. Some call other stores in their own company during the day to ask, “How many have you done so far today?” and then brag about their own accomplishments. Other pharmacists enjoy calling competitors and taunting them in a playful way with their own high prescription “numbers”. This seems to be a way they cope with the stresses of the job.
             The average number of prescriptions filled by one pharmacist has risen steadily over the years as the aids of computers and pharmacy technicians have been introduced. Boards of Pharmacy try to keep the average around 150 per pharmacist per day. Drugstore chain executives push the expectations higher, with up to 300 prescriptions per pharmacist in one day becoming not uncommon. The “queues” in the pharmacy computer systems constantly track and remind the pharmacist how many prescriptions he or she has filled thus far for the day and how many are backed up to be verified and completed before day's end. Green, yellow, and red color-coding contribute to keeping the pressure on. A constant flow of prescription orders keeps coming in the form of telephone orders, eScripts (electronic transmissions), faxes, and hand-carried paper prescriptions. Pharmacists and technicians just keep their heads down at the assembly line counter and keep cranking out the product as fast as possible. Meeting the requirements of the insurance companies that are billed for the prescriptions, the patients who are waiting, the administrators who want more profit, and the State Board of Pharmacy who expects each step to be completed legally and safely, and do it in a fast, friendly, accurate manner--that’s a lot of pressure. I thrived on the challenge when I was young, but not after 35 years of this steadily increasing intensity.

Call in Sick? Don’t Even Think About it!
     Pharmacists work when they are scheduled, regardless of whether they are healthy or sick. It is an unwritten expectation wherever I have worked, whether hospital or retail pharmacy. In most cases when they are ill or injured, they take a medication to treat or mask their symptoms, go to work, and power through the day. I found that the best defense against illness, and therefore disapproval from the boss, was to take plenty of vitamins, eat right, exercise regularly and stay healthy.
What 35 Years as a Pharmacist has Done to Me!

Now You Want Me to Give Vaccinations, Too?
    A few years ago chain drugstore companies discovered that if pharmacists were trained to administer influenza and other vaccinations in addition to filling prescriptions, the profit potential was great. When I went to college, nurses gave vaccinations, not pharmacists. I chose a pharmacy degree partly because I am queasy about needles and blood. It must be time for me to retire!

Risk of Errors and Possible Lawsuits under these Working Conditions?
      Errors when filling prescriptions are unacceptable to me. It is the pharmacist’s job to provide the final check on each bottle of medication dispensed to ensure everything about it is correct, but there are many steps in the process that can contribute to a misfilled order. I have always been extremely cautious in my work, diligently checking each prescription. But with the increased responsibilities placed on pharmacists plus the many interruptions in the workflow process, I find that each year I am more concerned about being involved in a serious prescription error that reaches the patient, the possibility that the patient could be harmed by the wrong medication or dose, and then the potential lawsuit that could follow. 

 Fear of Being Robbed at Gunpoint for Narcotics
      The incidence of pharmacy robberies at gunpoint is about as common as bank robberies, some reports say. The robbers are looking for narcotic pain pills such as Oxycontin®, Vicodin®, and Percocet®, either due to an addiction or to sell on the street. I fear that the incidence of pharmacy robberies at gunpoint may increase now that Vicodin® has been reclassified as a CII narcotic, a highly restricted drug and the price has gone up. Pharmacists are trained in how to handle a robbery in the event that we are faced with one. I have worked with a few pharmacists who have been traumatized by this experience. It is something I dread, and each time I rehearse the proper procedure in my mind, my fear increases.
Prescription Pain Medication is Often Abused


Ashamed to be Called a “Drug Dealer”

     When my children were young, twenty-plus years ago, they would joke about their mom being a “drug dealer” and everyone laughed at their joke, including me. People knew me as an honest, "by-the-book" Pharmacist Terry and that I was the farthest thing from a “drug dealer”. At that time the narcotic abuse had not yet reached alarming levels. It is no longer a joking matter.
     In recent years the dilemma for me was that the number of narcotic pain medication prescriptions we dispense has become huge and I had come to feel that pharmacists are now legal drug dealers. Prescription narcotic drug abuse has become so outrageous that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has recently declared it an epidemic in the United States. In Canada, the per capita use of narcotic pain pills is even higher than in the U.S. Every time I filled a prescription for Vicodin®, Percocet® Oxycontin®, or another narcotic pain medication for a patient that I was sure was either addicted to it or selling it, I felt helpless to combat the abuse.
    A recent article in Pharmacist Letter about prescription drug abuse stated, “Just about every pharmacist has a story to tell about being duped into dispensing an opioid to an abuser. It is human nature to resent being conned, and most pharmacists try hard to avoid dispensing opioids to con artists and abusers. In fact, the problem of diversion and abuse is so prevalent that pharmacists often look askance at any patient with an opioid prescription.” I know that I had become one of those suspicious pharmacists, annoyed at filling the same prescriptions for the same narcotic pain medication for the same patients, month after month, year after year, with no indication that these patients were ever going to discontinue use or abuse of narcotics.
     I had become weary of being the “narcotic police” (I thought I was a pharmacist), trying to prevent phony narcotic prescriptions from being filled on my watch. Monitoring for forged prescriptions was a daily challenge. Pharmacists watch for prescriptions altered by patients to increase quantities, fake prescriptions (for real or fictitious patients) written on stolen or fabricated prescription pads, and telephoned prescriptions without authorization from the prescriber. When a forgery is discovered, the next step is calling the police to report the forgery, helping trap the druggie so the police could arrest him, and then testifying in court if called. When, in the majority of cases, the druggies get "a slap on the wrist" and are sent home to continue their games, pharmacists give up on wasting their time pursuing the legal steps to punish these drug abusers. We just use every precaution to avoid filling forged prescriptions.
    I had reached the point when I knew I could not in good conscience continue filling prescriptions for people who are dependent on narcotic pain medications and making no effort to withdraw from use, and others who are obtaining the drugs to sell to friends and acquaintances. Pharmacists provide an important service helping many patients with their legitimate health care needs, but unfortunately are sucked into aiding the drug addicts and drug dealers as part of the job. I was done contributing to the drug abuse cycle in the health care field. That's when it became clear that it was time to change careers or retire altogether. 
Full-time RV Living in Mazatlan, Mexico

     We decided to become full-time RVers, living and traveling year-around in our motorhome. We live six months in Mexico and six months traveling in the United States. I now enjoy having the time to write my books and blogs. I may have given up that paycheck, but I feel happier and healthier. Follow our adventures www.HealthyLivingandTravelinginMexico.com .
     


Saturday, May 9, 2015

MAZATLÁN RETIREMENT LIVING: PUNTA CERRITOS RV PARK

A Community of Palapa-RV Homes

Retirement with Comfortable Outdoor Living
     Punta Cerritos RV Park, located on a point in northern Mazatlán overlooking the ocean, is a unique retirement village. This community began as an RV Park and has been transformed into individual homes by the retirees and snowbirds that live there.  Of the 79 sites, only six were still available for yearly leases when we stayed for a week in May. The other 73 sites are occupied by outdoor living homes, each one with a fifth-wheel, motorhome, or other type of recreational vehicle nestled inside of unique structures with palapa roofs over them for shade and protection from the weather. The "owner" of each RV site has customized his or her home with addition of outdoor kitchens, sitting areas for socializing or relaxing, tile flooring, light fixtures, brick walls, flowerbeds and cactus gardens, Mexican garden art, bodegas, and more. It is obvious that the owners take pride in their RV homes by the improvements and decor they have added.
Outdoor Kitchen, Dining & Living Areas with TV in this Palapa Room
     We were fortunate to be able to stay in a front row site nearest the ocean so we had the sea breeze to cool us as the May temperatures crept into the upper 80's. Ours was one of the unimproved sites without a palapa roof, but the concrete patio was large and the utilities were very good, the water pressure the best we have had in Mexican RV Parks. The gravel ground-cover had the advantage of minimizing the dust, though it seemed to hold the sun's heat, making the back row areas feel very hot where the breeze wasn't blowing through. The park's internet was poor so it appeared that most "site owners" obtained their own individual internet service.
Our RV Site was Narrow & Unimproved but Next to the Ocean
     The community common area next to the ocean had a beautiful little swimming pool that we appreciated in the hot afternoons of mid-May. There was also a putting green, horseshoe game area, cactus gardens, and a sandy imitation beach overlooking the ocean with chairs and palapas for shade. We enjoyed our week at Punta Cerritos RV Park and put it on our list of possible places to settle once we are finished with our "nomad phase". Since we don't have a tow-car, we were especially glad that the Mazatlán buses stopped right outside the gate and ran every ten to fifteen minutes so it was easy to hop on and ride to the Liverpool Mall for shopping, the Golden Zone for dinner, or the Historic District and Plaza Machado downtown.
Sweet Swimming Pool Overlooking the Ocean
Pretty Cactus Garden & Mexican Art on Walls
     Punta Cerritos RV Park is a peaceful retirement community with some residents living there year-round, others spending their winters in this warm semi-arid climate. Rates to live at Cerritos are very reasonable, varying by degree of site improvement. We paid 2100 pesos ($140 US) for one week and it included all utilities. Monthly and yearly leases are available. I could envision living here in retirement and being very content. For more information, see Punta Cerritos RV Park .

A Fifth-Wheel that Appears to be Permanently Parked

See more about our time in Mexico in my books available on Amazon worldwide. Free with KindleUnlimited.  

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Thanks for reading.

Terry

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

7 REASONS TO RETIRE BEFORE THE AGE OF 59

Analyzing the Early Retirement Decision

We Need Retirement Now, Before the Straightjacket Phase!

How Do I Decide It's Time for Early Retirement?    

     Some days, my job as a pharmacist made we feel that I was headed for the loony bin, soon to be carried away in a straightjacket. The practice of pharmacy and our health care system are not what they were 35 years ago when I graduated from Oregon State University's School of Pharmacy. The chain drug store workplace has become a bit insane, with pharmacists, technicians and cashiers working at a frenzied pace. At times, I felt like I was pulling my hair out trying to keep up with the workload and provide good care to the patients. This work pace couldn't be healthy, either mentally or physically. Wouldn't it be best to retire while I still had my sanity?
     I had to analyze this decision to retire before the age of 59 very carefully, though I frequently wanted to surrender to my urge to throw down my pill-counting spatula and walk out of the pharmacy. I'm actually a very serious, usually calm person, the kind you would expect your pharmacist to be. I'm very organized, very methodical about most things in my life, even a bit obsessive-compulsive. I carefully analyze every decision I make in my work and my life (is that why some people have called me "anal"?). Isn't that the kind of person you would want to fill your prescriptions, to ensure that you get the correct medication, the prescribed dose, and the exact directions that the physician ordered? I told myself that I could not make a rash decision about early retirement; it required my usual methodical analysis.
     But, let me whine a bit more... After filling, on average, 150 prescriptions per day, 4 ten-hour days per week for about 30 years, I realized I had methodically analyzed, filled, and verified over 18,000 prescriptions and counselled patients on about one-third of those. After cranking out, on average, one prescription every three to four minutes, as fast as my mental capacity would allow, for over 30 years, I realized that I was tired of being a pharmacist and annoyed with the practice of pharmacy as a whole. I wondered if my sanity could survive another eight years of filling prescriptions. Eight more years seemed like an eternity. The thought of early retirement started to creep into my thoughts more frequently. 
     When I began to consider retiring at the age of 58, my reaction was rather emotional for a typically serious person. Envisioning the freedom of retirement gave me such a sense of relief that I actually felt euphoric at times. It felt like the right decision. But being the analytical person that I am, I attempted to take the emotion out of the formula. I had to evaluate the pros and cons of this decision. I used my usual decision-making formula to help with this dilemma, a "Pros and Cons Balance Sheet" in its most simplistic form: two sheets of notebook paper and a pen. 


Cons for Retirement Before the Age of 59

     On the top of one sheet of paper I wrote "Cons for Retirement Before the Age of 59" and began to list the disadvantages of early retirement. This list was easy and obvious because each item that described why retirement at the age of 58 was a poor idea revolved around the fact that I would have less money. Of course, my husband, Jon would retire when I did, but I'm an independent woman and felt I needed to hold up my end and pay my own way. Therefore, my analysis is for the "Pros and Cons of Early Retirement" as they related to me at the age of 58.  I could only think of five reasons not to retire before the age of 59, so surely the balance would tip in favor of early retirement.

1. I would have very little income while I was waiting for my books and blogs to begin making substantial money. There is a good reason that writers are told "Don't quit your day job" when they first begin publishing their work: the income barely dribbles in.

2. I would not be contributing anything to my retirement funds and I had not yet accumulated the recommended amount needed for a comfortable retirement. Most financial experts would advise against this.

3. I had very little in my savings account and would be cutting off my most significant source of income when I stopped practicing pharmacy.

4. I would not have access to my IRA retirement fund until the age of 59 1/2 (without paying penalty)

5. I would not be eligible for Social Security for more than three years.

So HOW would I afford to retire before the age of 59? There could be many rainy days ahead and how would we deal with them? We knew we would make the most of our rainy days. The HOW is a topic for another blog article. One step at a time...

Let's Make the Most of the Rainy Days

Pros for Retirement Before the Age of 59

     At the top of my second sheet of paper I wrote "Pros for Retirement Before the Age of 59" and started listing the advantages of retiring early. These were the reasons that I felt I needed to retire soon. When I finished writing the reasons, the list wasn't very long. But each reason that I wrote down seemed heavy with importance for me. I realized that other people who feel the need to retire early probably have a very similar list. Why do we continue to work if we feel that our job is such a heavy burden? We continue to drag ourselves to work every day because we feel we should, because we have to. I've decided to eliminate the word "should" from my vocabulary.
     Below is my list of seven reasons to retire before the age of 59. I encourage others who are considering retiring this early to make their own list, but I imagine that each list would be very similar to this one, with a few individual variations.

7 Reasons to Retire Before the Age of 59


1. I’m Burned Out on My Job 

The lyrics to the song, "Take This Job and Shove It", sung by Johnny Paycheck always made me chuckle when I heard it in my younger days, imagining myself saying it some day when I was fed up with my job but knowing I would never really having the guts or rude manners to say it. But in the past year, when I started ending most work days thinking "Take this job and shove it, I ain't workin' here no more!" and really wanting to say it, I knew I was getting close to my time to retire. That song may have been written by David Allen Coe about factory workers, but many days I could relate to the lyrics. Often, as a pharmacist, I felt like an assembly line worker, pushing out as many filled prescriptions as I could to keep the boss happy. I could really get rolling on this topic, but I'll save it for another day.

2. I’m Stressed Out and Need a Simpler Life 

The years of working long hours to pay the bills and build a nest egg for retirement, only to see the recession of 2008 demolish it, was enough to discourage anyone. The struggle to survive that recession financially was very stressful for me and Jon, as I'm sure it was for many others. The negative impact of daily stress on physical and mental health has been well documented. I have known for years that I needed to simplify my life to improve my health and extend my life. As much as Jon and I talked about simplifying, it took getting serious about early retirement to make us start taking the steps. The steps we took were painful at times and required hard work, but a simpler life and reduced stress after retirement made it all worthwhile. Early retirement was the right decision.

3. I Want to Live a Healthier Lifestyle


 Working full-time kept us too busy and tired to do much else at the end of the day but grab a bite to eat and relax with a good book. We worked out at the YMCA once a week but knew it wasn't enough. We cooked at home when we had the energy, but more times than not we talked each other into going out for dinner. We wanted a lifestyle with more time for daily exercise and preparing healthy meals. Early retirement would allow us the time and energy for both.
We're Not Ready for the Rocking Chair, We Just Want to Enjoy Life!
4.  I Suffer During the Long, Dreary Winters. Moving to a Sunnier, Warmer Climate will Improve My Health

Some people suffer from arthritis and other ailments that are worsened by cold, damp weather in the northern climates. I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also called winter depression or winter blues. Winters in Oregon and much of the Pacific Northwest are gray and dreary, with endless days of cloudy skies and rain or snow. Months of this cloudy, wet weather, a lack of sunshine, and being trapped indoors can bring on winter blues, now recognized as a common disorder. Jon and I both experience some of the symptoms of SAD during the winter and have found that spending time in sunny Mexico helps combat the depression. In addition, I found that as I aged I didn't tolerate the cold well. The warmth in Mexico helped that, as well. We decided that living in Mexico during the winter was the best treatment for SAD and cold intolerance. Early retirement would allow us to do that.

5. I May Become Seriously Ill, Disabled, or Possibly Die Before I Reach the Full Retirement Age of 66


This may sound morbid and pessimistic. But working as a pharmacist from the time I was 23 years old has shown me that many people face unexpected illness or accidents that leave them disabled at a young age. I've seen many others who expected to retire at the the age of 66, begin collecting Social Security and their retirement benefits, and enjoy the good life, only to be diagnosed with a terminal illness at a younger age. I became determined to live the good life along the way as much as possible. And then I was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening cancer. That was my wake-up call. Retirement before the age of 59 sounded better than ever!
We Want to Enjoy the World While We Are Young & Healthy

6. I Want to Spend More Quality Time with My Husband, Children, Grandchildren, and Mother


Freedom from our jobs would allow us to travel more to visit our family members. My mother and our children were spread across the country from Oregon to North Carolina. Our three granddaughters were growing up fast and we didn't want to miss out on their childhood. We wanted to travel to where they live and spend a week or more at a time with each one. Retirement would allow us to visit our family members for longer periods of time!


7. I Want to Spend More Time Doing What I Enjoy

I want to stop saying "I'll do that someday". I want to do the things I enjoy now, such as traveling, reading, rollerblading, bicycling, hiking, listening to live music, going to Zumba and yoga classes, and writing! One of our favorite things is to "Follow the Music".  Early retirement would allow us plenty of time to travel to concerts around the country.
Boondocking in the Redwood Forest at the Subdudes Concert
     The balance tipped in favor of early retirement! There were 7 reasons to retire before the age of 59 and only 5 reasons not to. 
     I read my list of reasons to retire early and I felt that each reason was important and real. These were the reasons WHY I would retire soon. I made the decision that I would retire before the age of 59 and enjoy my retirement years. Once I made my decision, I felt free! I told my husband, Jon, that I hoped he would retire at the same time that I did, when he was 64 years old. He agreed, though he was worried about the HOW of retirement when we definitely did not have the recommended amount of money set aside. I told him that we would figure it out, just like we have with every challenge we have faced, with perseverance. And we did! More about that in future blog posts....

Additional Justification for Early Retirement

     I was happy to read a recent article by John Maxfield of "The Motley Fool" that helped validate my own decision to begin retirement early. The article was called "Why Smart People Take Social Security Benefits Early" and actually refers to starting to take Social Security payments at the earliest age possible, 62, not about retiring before 59 like I am. But, at least I felt better knowing that I only have to survive on my investment income for three and a half years before the Social Security Administration makes my retirement more comfortable. My favorite quote from "The Motley Fool" was "taking benefits early has less to do with fancy breakeven analysis and more to do with your personal goals for retirement. If you can wait to take Social Security benefits, that's great. Go ahead and do so. But if you can't or don't want to, then there's no reason to second-guess your decision to take them early." To read the entire article, click HERE .
   Jon was relieved to read "The Motley Fool"'s opinion also since he had decided to begin taking his Social Security payments at the age of 62 after agonizing over the decison for a year. Once he had been receiving monthly payment checks for over two years, he felt comfortable retiring from his work as a building contractor. We both decided to retire early, and I'm glad we did. After all, we do everything together, and I'm glad we do.