Readers Weigh In on When to Retire

A huge thank you goes out to all who have taken the time to write to me about your retirement experiences.

- Janet Bodnar

I have read every word of the dozens of detailed e-mails—some of them pages long—and found them eloquent, humorous, poignant and inspiring to anyone starting this phase of life. You covered so many themes that I can’t do all of them justice in a single column, but I plan to include as many of your comments as I can in the months ahead.

I’ll kick things off with some of your responses to the questions I posed in my February column: How did you make the decision to retire, and what advice would you give?

As you would expect, finances were a major factor—but far from the only factor. As reader Del Richter put it, “One piece of advice I’ve always remembered is that you will know when to retire when you have enough—and when you have had enough.” Many of you echoed that sentiment. “I knew it was time to retire when my clients started retiring,” wrote Victoria Warden, who added: “It’s better to leave too early and be missed than to stay too late and be pitied.” Carl Scarbrough summed it up: “It just wasn’t as much fun any longer.”