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Anyone close to retirement? / when do you start counting the days?


Look2Sea
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Yes, the loved one was a government employee. He was requested to train 4 military and 3 contractors to do PARTS of his job. He did more and more jobs as positions were cut and never filled.

 

Recently he was called about some problems at the worksite. He told the caller he was no longer employed. They read to him the names of others on the call list. Many of them have been retired for many years or changed positions and employers so would have even older info and none would be able to help in any case.

 

The 89 year old is a practicing attorney in private practice. He did work for the state government for some years, but has been in private practice for the past 30+ years. I think working keeps his mind active. He uses his smart phone and also his ipad and the computer; he's better with tech than many folks much younger than he.

Edited by HImom
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Yes, the loved one was a government employee. He was requested to train 4 military and 3 contractors to do PARTS of his job. He did more and more jobs as positions were cut and never filled.

 

Recently he was called about some problems at the worksite. He told the caller he was no longer employed. They read to him the names of others on the call list. Many of them have been retired for many years or changed positions and employers so would have even older info and none would be able to help in any case.

 

The 89 year old is a practicing attorney in private practice. He did work for the state government for some years, but has been in private practice for the past 30+ years. I think working keeps his mind active. He uses his smart phone and also his ipad and the computer; he's better with tech than many folks much younger than he.

 

Hello Himom

Thanks for the information like the 89 year I am never to old to learn! :)

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February 2015 for me...I would put one of those countdown clocks in here but I don't know how!

 

28 years with current employer, and 43 years working as a nurse.

 

I love my job but want better (less) hours.

I will think about working prn (as needed) after taking a few months off - it may help supplement my retirement funds to afford more cruising!:D

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I'd retire tomorrow if I could!

 

I am entitled to claim my state retirement pension in September 2014, so am in the process of considering the options.

 

If I do take my pensions, I'll try to find a part-time job to top up my income, or take on short contracts.

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I was reading some of the original postings on this thread that was started several years ago.

 

One thing that struck me is the number of people who put off until retirement all the things they want to do and places they want to see.

My best friend and I have been traveling together for more than 10 years. We take 2 or 3 trips each year, some land based, some cruises. I have 5 weeks paid time off each year, and having basically good health have used it almost all as vacation, not sick or mental health days as I see so many of our coworkers do.

I've said I like traveling now while I still have an income.

 

So retirement isn't going to increase my travels but will increase my time to enjoy other things.

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I was reading some of the original postings on this thread that was started several years ago.

 

One thing that struck me is the number of people who put off until retirement all the things they want to do and places they want to see.

My best friend and I have been traveling together for more than 10 years. We take 2 or 3 trips each year, some land based, some cruises. I have 5 weeks paid time off each year, and having basically good health have used it almost all as vacation, not sick or mental health days as I see so many of our coworkers do.

I've said I like traveling now while I still have an income.

 

So retirement isn't going to increase my travels but will increase my time to enjoy other things.

 

One reason I travel so much now before I have retired is that my dad died shortly before he was supposed to retire of pancreatic cancer in his early 50's. So I had decided way back to fill up my bucket list real early!! So far so good!! Done many land trips, over 20 cruises, and I've been to Europe twice. I will be retiring at the end of 2014!! 29 weeks in teacher talk!!

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My H retired after over 45 years with his employer and so far is LOVING it! I'm gradually moving closer to retiring as well, as I enjoy being with him and am finding it increasingly frustrating to make the changes I've been working at with so little support from others.

 

It is wise to consider your family profile and risks in assessing your relative health and planning accordingly. We always wanted to travel with our kids, from the time they were young (6 months), and fortunately have been able to do so.

 

We do expect we may be able to take more and longer trips as we have more unscheduled time. We will likely be spending more time with my aging parents and loved ones as well.

 

Having choices and being able to remain in a loved job OR retire as one chooses is such a wonderful position to be in! :rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quite some time ago I replied on this forum of "thinking" of retiring next year in February. I have been in the hospital 6 times within the past two years, and February 23rd would be a "year" since I have been out of the hospital, thank God!!! I will be 71 in February and having been working for a large corporation over 15 years. I love my job, but my 3 sons have been wanting me to retire for a long time. I wanted to retire in some ways, but I felt like I would be LOST. I had a long talk with my 3 sons individually, and "eventually" I was able to make them understand that I really need to keep working, but.............if I wound up in the hospital like I had within these past two years, I would retire. Yes, there are things like traveling I like to do, and I do do this, but as for staying home, that would be hard on me.

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With all the changes in Education in our state, DH would love to retire from teaching now, but realistically won't be able to until the end of the 2016-2017 year. this seems a long way off, so we are counting by months. Right now we are at 35 months. Doesn't sounds so bad. Less than most car notes.

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twice . . . . . from the Air Force in 1981 and from a high stress job with a utility company in 2001 at the ripe old age of 58. Figured that retiring early would add many years to my life - so far it's worked out very well!

 

I've not missed working at all.

 

Don't wait until it's too late to enjoy retirement - that is if you can afford to do so.

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twice . . . . . from the Air Force in 1981 and from a high stress job with a utility company in 2001 at the ripe old age of 58. Figured that retiring early would add many years to my life - so far it's worked out very well!

 

I've not missed working at all.

 

Don't wait until it's too late to enjoy retirement - that is if you can afford to do so.

Sounds good :) I find deciding when we can afford it isn't straightforward though. I guess most of us will have a more modest monthly income when retired. Most will have to be more careful with 'the £/$', but when is the lower income enough, or too little?

 

I'd love to hear how others decided this.

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It depends on several factors. One of the most important is what source(s) of income will you have once you retire AND how much do you NEED to live at the lifestyle you prefer in retirement. If one or both of you have earned any pension, how much does it pay and when does it begin and end? How sure are each of you that it will be paid? Can / will either or both of you work at all during retirement and how hard or easy will it be to get an income?

 

What are projected future expenses--housing, medical, supporting kids and or parents or other loved ones?

 

For us, it was fairly straight forward. H worked for the federal government for 45 years and has a defined benefit pension from the date he retired, plus a small COLA. When he dies, I will get 55% of his pension for the rest of my life. We will both have medical insurance (which we pay a portion and former employer pays a portion) for the rest of our lives.

 

We paid off our house and paid off our kids educations. His folks have died and mine are financially very comfortable, as are our sibs. We live on less than his pension pays and we have some investments as well. If he kept working, his pension would DECREASE. We decided that 45 years was long enough and have been very happily enjoying H's retirement. I am working fewer and fewer hours at my part-time job as well. We are very satisfied that we have made a good choice economically at this point in our lives.

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I have 20 more hump days until I retire. Yay!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I love that!!! I've got 29 hump days left...lol. Haven't got my official paper work in and I'll have to see what I can do with vacation days, but that is close enough!!

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Are hump days, work days?

 

They are for me, but I usually meet friends on Wednesdays at a Mexican restaurant. Half of them are retired, so I'll be celebrating my countdown on humpdays with friends! (They will probably get sick of it quick...lol!)

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Sorry to sound dumb, do you mean you only work Wednesdays?

 

No I work every day. Are you from the US? Wednesday is called hump day because it gets you over the "hump" of the workweek. Google the GEICO camel commercial.

 

It's Wednesday. Ergo, hump day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by internetwhiz
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No I work every day. Are you from the US? Wednesday is called hump day because it gets you over the "hump" of the workweek. Google the GEICO camel commercial.

 

It's Wednesday. Ergo, hump day.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ahh, I see. No, I'm in the UK. We just love Fridays :)
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