If you think you may want/need the extra safety blanket of another year or 2 then why not do it now? The job market is still in pretty good shape - it's unlikely to be so if we get another year of this, portfolios fall further the economy weakens further. If you ship has been torpedoed, sure it might survive and make it into shore, but why not jump onboard the safety raft before they're all gone?
And to address the argument that even plan B, C, D etc are better than having to go back to a sucky paid job - I personally, and I suspect many others, don't hate my job at all - on the contrary I have a very good relationship with my work right now - I work with a fantastic team for a great company - we work hard and all put in a good shift, and there is a certain satisfaction from that. If you have a sucky relationship with work then, fine - just look for a better job!
I actually agree with you. You may not have realized that all along, but I do actually agree with you and am ultra conservative myself and a big fan of backup plans. I just assume that almost everyone here who actually makes it to the point of pulling the trigger is financially literate enough to have built in adequate backup plans.
I also don't think OMY is a bad idea for people who don't hate their jobs. Had I been able to stay in my job, which I loved, I wouldn't have quit until I had a very solid amount of 'stache backup resiliency.
My advice has never, ever been to retire in a risky fashion. What I *have* been saying is exactly what you said at the end. If your job sucks, then leave and go find another one. Retrain if you have to.
Absolutely nobody should be dumb/foolish enough to retire with just enough to cover their expenses and never expect to run into trouble. That would be fucking insane.
I was forced to retire in 2020, I didn't have a choice. But like you, I'm not about to just shrug, think "well, my core expenses are covered, so I never have to work again because the internet said so." You read already, I'm doing a whole new graduate degree just to be able to harness the value of my human capital.
Whether someone harnesses their human capital through OMY or downshifting and coasting or retraining, people should be prepared to make far more money than 25X their core expenses, especially if they retire young and don't have enormous *comfortable* flexibility in their spend.
I have never disagreed with you on that.
I had my hand forced to figure out an alternative to OMY, which I would have done, several times over if I could have. I loved my job. But having been forced to figure out an alternative, I figured out that my new plan is actually MORE financially conservative, which is why I've made the points I have.
OMY is a great lever, but it's not the only one, and it's not even the most powerful one either. It depends on the circumstances, and those circumstances aren't well captured by a mathematical model.
If you want to say that everything I'm saying is irrelevant because we have different definitions of "retirement" and none should engage in any discussion about additional income after one declares themselves "retired" then...okay...but we're talking about risk, and I don't think ruling out one of the most conservative options is ideal when talking about hedges against risk.