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Finding the Cure for One More Year Syndrome

by 48 Comments

I made the decision to leave my full-time job last spring. As much as I enjoyed teaching at the college level, my husband and I finally accepted that we had enough. We are Financially Independent and it was my chance to stop reading about FIRE and actually Retire Early. And defining what your early retirement will look like is the beauty of being FIRE’d. So why am I writing a post about one more year syndrome?

My plan was to retire from full-time work, not all work. My husband is retired and works about 5-10 hours a week on our rental properties. And 5-10 hours per week of online teaching was still in my plan. I still have five years to go before I can collect my pension. Online teaching counts as service credit and I need to earn 3 more years of credit to reach my maximum pension level. It would be crazy to give up online teaching at this point in time! $15,000 a year for the rest of my life crazy!

Downshifting was an easy transition last spring. We had plenty of things planned for the extra hours available each day! But two months into early retirement, my plan was challenged. A former colleague called and offered me an interim two-month administrative position and I accepted.

And that decision brought on a case of OMY – one more year syndrome.

 Two-months has quickly turned into a year. Paychecks are rolling in and a boost in my service credit and final average salary for my pension are on target. And my son is finishing up high school.

It’s been a very normal year.

We’ve also paid off a rental property, visited our vacation condo and padded the kids’ college accounts. Even though the extra money I’m earning isn’t necessary, it has been really nice. And I’m afraid I might miss it. So why not work just one more year?

And that’s how it happens. Just OMY….

I started calculating my salary, service credit and the impact on my pension for working one more year. We could pay off another rental property. And if I lived to be 85 – that one year of work would be worth about $200,000.

That’s when I wrote – Should I work another 200 days to earn up to $200,000?

I read the comments to that post and went back to my post from last spring when I decided to leave full-time work. Here were the end goals I identified last May – ranked by importance:

  • Maximize My Health/Wellness – Extremely Important (EI)
  • Meet Financial Obligations/Increase Wealth – Extremely Important (EI)
  • Commit to Deepening Relationships – Very Important (VI)
  • Continue Personal Growth – Important (I)
  • Create a Flexible, Location Independent Lifestyle – Somewhat Important (SI)

A flexible, location independent lifestyle wasn’t that important last spring because my son was still going to be in high school. Since he will be heading off to college this fall, I needed to rethink my goals for next year.

Here are my new end goals (changes in bold)– ranked by importance:

  • Maximize My Health/Wellness – Extremely Important (EI)
  • Create a Flexible, Location Independent Lifestyle – Very Important (VI)
  • Commit to Grow/Strengthen Relationships – Important (I)
  • Continue Personal Growth – Important (I)
  • Increase Wealth – Somewhat Important (I) *meeting financial obligations is a given

Once I revisited my goals, the decision was clear. And I didn’t even need to create a new decision-matrix to prove it to myself. One more year of full-time work was not going to allow for the flexible, location independent lifestyle my husband and I really want. And that is very important to us now – even more important to us than increasing our wealth.

I’m cured of OMY syndrome.

But I also want to share four key things we learned and came to terms with this year too. Learning and helping others are both habits I am really focused on building this year! Hopefully this deeper thinking and sharing will help prevent my OMY syndrome from returning!

  • Kids – Well, they aren’t kids anymore. All of our children are technically, adults. Our jobs as parents will never end, but our roles are shifting too. It’s not easy, but we are working to embrace that shift and focus on our needs and wants – in addition to theirs.
  • Work – I have no plan to work full-time again, but I know I will work. And I get job offers every week. But I’ll be very selective now too. I can also try out some new ideas of my own that may generate some income. I’m embracing the upside of having a lot more time in my future!
  • Time – Between the two of us, we’ve been on more than 100 trips around the sun… And the older we get, the faster those trips seem to feel! Simply put, we’re not getting any younger.
  • Health – We are thankful for our health and we work hard to keep ourselves healthy too! But we know our health can change at any minute. We went on vacation last month and came home to learn our neighbor had died suddenly. He was 64 and planned to retire next month. We are not going to live in fear of dying, but at this point in our lives…we go to more funerals than weddings.

OMY syndrome is very real for some people – and I experienced it this year. And I can easily see how one more year could turn into five or ten more years too… Without a clear plan and revisiting your end goals often, “normal” gets real comfortable. And days of work can turn into years of work before you know it.

We think we’re making a smart decision that will “stick” this time! Hopefully the effort we’ve put in reflecting on and revisiting our end goals will maximize our satisfaction with this decision, while minimizing regrets.

Next week, I’ll explain the financial part of our retirement plan with some fun charts and graphs. I clearly need more time learning how to make them – but I am having fun learning how to do that too! We have a gap to fill for the next five years if we want to make good use of our time! Stop by and check out our plan! And as always, thanks for reading.

*Photo credit: chrisaram2 @ pixabay.com

Comments

  1. Kyle @ Steward and Slave says

    I think this is a VERY smart decision! It’s super enticing to look at the numbers and see just how much of a financial difference only one more year of working can create. But at some point, you’ve gotta cross the line from “look how much we could have” to “we’ve got enough.”

    Reply

  2. Ian Bond says

    My kids are younger than yours, but I’m older than you. We cracked the 4 figure monthly income barrier and it’s all location independent. My day job can be fun or a pain, but it’s always full on.

    I love your analytical framework. Can’t wait for the next installment!

    Reply

  3. Full Time Finance says

    I’m glad you figured out your personal direction. My mom is currently going through the OMY situation. She’s a part time college professor and a full time nurse. In her case the pension is locked in, so now its more a case of when to take social security (she has not saved beyond her pension which is another more concerning situation). Ultimately my answer to her was the same as to you during your last post. What option will the additional money buy you that you cannot have tomorrow? If you can afford everything you believe will bring you happiness, and work does not bring you happiness in of itself (it does for me but I’m weird) then its time. If there is something you specifically value and want, then and only then do you keep working. You mentioned in the response to my comment about paying off your rentals. While that’s all well and good, does paying off your rentals now versus over time buy you happiness? Enable you to take one more trip? I believe you’ve found your answer.
    Full Time Finance recently posted…Game Theory and Personal FinanceMy Profile

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      That’s interesting about your mom. She sounds like a really hard worker too. It’s hard to shut that off. You are right – paying off the rentals now vs. over time isn’t a big deal, because we don’t really need that money now. And maybe not ever… That is part of the bigger financial plan. We don’t need to buy happiness – that is a terrific point!

      Reply

  6. Primal Prosperity says

    I think the key is that you know that you are basically FI and can really leave at any time. That makes it easier to bear, and I think you are smart to wring out the last few benefits. I left the corporate world and have since gone back part time which is a very nice balance between full time work and full time retirement, for me, especially since I don’t have kids. For me, leaving completely though was important to break the mindset of one more year and the key to knowing that I had the financial capability to do so. Now, working is just something that I enjoy and the extra dollars help fund our world travel plans. 🙂
    Primal Prosperity recently posted…Living Outside the BoxMy Profile

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      Love it! I barely had a month off before I was full-swing back into things. If I would have had a little more taste of freedom, I might have changed my mind. Who knows – after a few years of travel and doing more work by choice – I may want to go back to something on a more regular (part-time) basis. Looking forward to hearing more about your travel plans!

      Reply

  7. Fritz @ TheRetirementManifesto says

    OMY is a dangerously tempting carrot. We decided we’d have me continue to work for OMY beyond FI, before we RE. Our decision was driven by the chaos that is health care (we’ll be in the private pay network for 10 years!), and the reality that inflation on health insurance could surprise to the upside.

    Once we decided on OMY (to June 2018), we put a stick in the ground. Unless something really drastic happens between now and then, we’ve no intention of adding OMY onto OMY onto OMY….

    Nice post, looking forward to the next one!
    Fritz @ TheRetirementManifesto recently posted…Purpose, Motivation And Life AspirationsMy Profile

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      I love your stick in the ground plan. The chaos in health care stresses me too – so we have tried to build in plenty of safety measures. I would hate to go back to full-time work for health-care, but I also have many teaching and administrative certifications. They can’t find enough teachers in many states – and finding work would never be a problem. I also think if I maintain my online position that I can buy into their health plan too. It’s my mission to check more into that this week!

      Reply

  8. Felicity (@FelicityFFF) says

    That’s so great! And a great example of your domain name. 😀

    I can see why you were debating — I was too on the Twitter poll initially — it’s so hard sometimes to turn down money, especially a lot of money. It’s like saying no to something that’s heavily discounted: even though you know you do not need it, some part of you is like “Well…it’s such a good price…” Stupid brains 😉

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      Love that analogy! I haven’t thought about it like that – and you are SO right! It’s kind of the same idea with finishing my doctorate and not using it in a regular career track. It will buy me freedom because I can teach online with any university though! Thanks for stopping by Felicity!

      Reply

  10. Chelsea @ Mama Fish Saves says

    Congratulations on sticking to FIRE and avoiding OMY syndrome. I have a feeling that is going to be a BIG problem for me. My goal was to be done by the time my oldest started kindergarten (~5 years) so we can move and settle somewhere closer to family. I’m already thinking things like “Well maybe 1st or 2nd grade wouldn’t be so bad…”

    FIRE is such a unique life choice that it is hard to fight that current sometimes. Hope you enjoy your flexible living location now that your son is in college!

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      Thanks for the comment, Chelsea! Many of you are far ahead of our plan. I couldn’t imagine having that option when my kids were little – but I didn’t really know anything about FIRE then. Looking forward to seeing what you end up doing too! Settling closer to family can certainly save you money and time in many other ways too.

      Reply

  11. Liz@ChiefMomOfficer says

    Congratulations on detailing out your real priorities and curing yourselves of OMY syndrome! As you know, the health part is particularly important to me. Hopefully you & your husband will have many healthy, location independent years ahead! Enjoy the warmth. ?

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      Thanks Liz! Without our good health, traveling won’t be much fun. We have so many places to go see and so many things to do. I hate to put it off even one more year. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a number of peers pass away in the last few years. It certainly changes your perspective.

      Reply

  14. ambertree says

    Good to read that your priorities in life are clear and that you manage to organise your life accordingly…

    In our life, i also plan to stay where we are till the kids go to college. It does not have to mean full time work… I will have some unpaid leave periods in there, and that might impact my pension. I still need to look into that. Somewhere i read you need 104 working days to build up your basic pension rights… Doable…
    ambertree recently posted…FI date update: ouch…!My Profile

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      Thanks Cody! The financials are very different than most PF bloggers post about. Having 2 pensions is pretty rare these days. We have done a pretty good job diversifying on relatively low salaries too!

      Reply

  16. The Green Swan says

    What a challenging scenario OMY can represent. For me, the factors I weigh is maintaining financial security over a long retirement (hopefully 50+ years of healthy retirement living), and considerations like leaving inheritance to kiddos, etc.

    I like how you look at the 200 days of work amounting to $200K. They way I’ve thought about it is that if I tack on OMY at the end of my career, the combination of added investment growth and additional contributions to investments should increase my net worth by $300K-$400K. At a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate, that would mean ~$10-$14K more in annual spend I could support indefinitely. OMY is definitely a heck of carrot hanging out there in front of me, I could think of a couple things to buy with that money!

    What a syndrome…and here I am talking myself into OMY yet I have ~7 or so more before that day ultimately comes anyway. I’ll have plenty of time to wrestle with this one…
    The Green Swan recently posted…Blogging Update: The 1 Year EditionMy Profile

    Reply

    • Make Smarter Decisions says

      I had to finally stop looking at the numbers. If I worked five more years (until I’m 55) – I could take my full pension (at a much higher value) and have many more retirement benefits tacked on too. I’m giving up a lot, but gaining five years of life. I’m looking forward to following your journeys as you get older. Changes in life as time goes on can give you a very different perspective.

      Reply

  17. Mrs.Groovy says

    Congratulations on making the decision! I think it will stick this time. You have so many things to do and you’ve already experienced how protracting the work experience just takes away from life sometimes. I’ll be watching to see how location-independence works out for you.
    Mrs.Groovy recently posted…The Back Door Junior IRAMy Profile

    Reply

  18. Mr. Groovy says

    Hey, Vicki. I’m torn. As someone who is the benefactor of a New York State pension, I don’t want to see your analytic mind leave the New York labor force. New York, like every other state, will collapse if too many highly productive workers decide to quit. But on the other hand, you and your hubby have worked long enough and it’s time to do the things that really excite you. Congratulations on conquering the OMY syndrome. Trust me, you won’t regret it. Cheers.

    Reply

  19. Dr Sock says

    I know what you mean about a sense of anxiety when that pay cheque stops rolling in. However, for me the money just isn’t worth OMY or even one more month. I’m FI and don’t need the money, but I’m sure there is someone at an earlier stage in their career who will be thrilled to fill the vacancy I have left.

    Also, another way to think about it is for every OMY, there is One Less Year of healthy retired life. And, depending on how stressful the job is, perhaps for every OMY, there is a certain increase in percentage of risk of dying earlier. So, good to hear that you have made your decision!

    Jude
    Dr Sock recently posted…Re-imagining a LifeMy Profile

    Reply

  22. ALTCP says

    This is so me! I’m guilty of postponing things thinking that I can still do it next year and nothing life changing will happen in a span of one year. This is a real eye-opener, which made me rethink about my financial plans for this year.

    I’ll go ahead in diversifying my investments and I’ll put a little pressure on my parents and convince them to look into getting a long term care policy.

    Thanks for this reminding and hopefully I can completely get rid of my OMY syndrome.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] It’s the “Is It Really Spring on Monday?” edition of the Saturday Share Day! Winter storm Stella dumped about 18 inches of snow this week and come Monday, it won’t look or feel much like spring here! I enjoyed two snow days this week though and that allowed me to catch up on a lot of great blogs! And I also decided this week that I’m done with full-time work when my contract is up in June! NO MORE OMY (one more year) syndrome for me!  […]

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