I’ll never forget one respected colleague’s lament a few years after he retired from University of Illinois Springfield.
“I think I stayed two years too long,” he commented. He had contributed so much as a faculty member and administrator and enlightened many of us, particularly on issues of diversity. But as he watched new faculty and administrators rising in stature and his own perceived influence dwindling, a nagging bitterness grew within him, and he left with more exasperation than satisfied sense of accomplishment. That was sad to watch.
Besides that man, I watched a lot of coworkers retire during my 46 years working at UIS and other places. No matter the location, I witnessed a common pattern in the weeks leading up to their last day. When asked why they were retiring, they would pause, sigh, exhale and slowly drag out the simple sentence, “It’s time.”
For only a few was that merely a rational statement that they had enough years to collect a pension or otherwise live comfortably. For most, what had come before the decision was some combination of weariness, a diminishing zeal for the mission and a little frustration that things weren’t the same as they used to be. “It’s time” slowly began to make sense to them.
Famously, in the late 1990s, then-Gov. Jim Edgar was only 51 and was considering three options: whether to run for a third gubernatorial term, run for U.S. Senate or retire. He prepared three speeches with those three announcements at the end, and on the day he made the announcement, he had the entire state in suspense about which of the three choices he would reveal from the executive mansion.
He called it “a very, very difficult decision … [but] I have concluded it’s time for Brenda and me to begin a new chapter in our life. It is time to afford someone else the rare, precious opportunity to govern and lead the greatest state in the union.” Notice he said “it’s time” twice. The popular Edgar never ran for office again but used his stature to become a senior statesman and support favored causes for nearly three decades before he died last year.
For me, five years ago, after I had left UIS and was leading a statewide association with 1,400 members, I began to feel the world of work was moving faster than I wanted it to, and my days began and ended earlier and later than I wanted them to. I could sense some fatigue and diminishing ambition to fully tackle challenges big and small.
“It’s time,” I said to myself. I talked to my board about a succession plan, and we implemented it over a period of months. I retired. I had been visibly active and engaged throughout my career, so many did not believe me when I said I was looking forward to sitting in my living room recliner, drinking coffee and reading books. I had no bucket list.
I had asked people older than I how to really know when it’s time. They all had the same vague answer: “You will know; you will feel it.”
The feeling about readiness to retire is different from considering a change in jobs due to being stuck, wanting more money or ejecting yourself from a toxic situation. Over the decades, I accepted new opportunities for all those reasons.
The good news is the decision to switch jobs or retire is almost always a personal choice. If you don’t feel “it’s time” yet, you are probably right. Don’t leave too early. But if you find yourself privately sighing with some sense of relief that yes, it’s time, it’s wise to pay attention to that inner voice, so you don’t stay too long.
Ed Wojcicki worked in journalism, higher education and association management for 46 years and freelances from Springfield.
This article appears in October SBJ 2026.