Google's outgoing CFO shared some advice on social media this week for career-oriented people who might be mulling retirement, after he handed in his resignation to spend more time with family.

In a post on Google Plus, CFO Patrick Pichette called life "a series of trade offs" between professional pursuits and family time. Pichette says after 30 years of choosing work over family, he's ready to turn his attention to his wife of 25 years.

"Thankfully, I feel I am at the point in my life where I no longer have to make such tough choices anymore," he said.

Pichette says he was watching the sunrise with his wife at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro last fall when she pressed him to "keep going" and extend their time together.

"When is it time for us to just keep going?" Pichette asked himself. He says that question dogged him when he returned to work a few weeks later. And it was that question that eventually drove him to retire.

"After nearly 7 years as CFO, I will be retiring from Google to spend more time with my family," Pichette. "Yeah, I know you've heard that line before."

Pichette says he and his wife plan to "enjoy a perfectly fine mid-life crisis full of bliss and beauty," while leaving the door open to future opportunities after they've travelled the world.

Pichette is not the first high-ranking corporate employee to turn in the keys to his corner office.

Last January, the CEO of a large investment fund left his $100 million salary behind after his daughter sent him a list of all the family moments he missed while at work.

PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian called it a "wake-up call" that made him realize his "work-life balance had gotten way out of whack."

Former MongoDB CEO Max Schireson also stepped down from his post last year to spend more time with his kids.

"Life is about choices," Schireson wrote in a blog post last August. "Right now, I choose to spend more time with my family and am confident that I can continue to have a meaningful and rewarding work life while doing so."

Schireson and El-Erian didn't give up their business pursuits completely. Instead, they accepted lesser roles at their jobs to improve their work-life balance.

Pinchette says he will stick around at Google to help groom his replacement CFO.

Google co-founder Larry Page called Pinchette's resignation "a most unconventional leaving notice from a most unconventional CFO." He called Pinchette a "joy" to work with and wished him all the best.