How do you know when its time to retire?

[Autotech]

How do you know when its time to retire? Got (30) years in the state retirement system at 60 years old. Tired of fighting with administration that is academic minded; Majority of Students that really don?t want to be there or are there for the Pell Grant Money and then gone. Most update money goes to the medical areas which leaves us (trade areas) to scrounge for what we can get from dealers.
Over the years I?ve figured out that a good or exceptional class comes every 4 or 5 years. Finishing one of the best ever classes this year. 8-out of 10 are on OJT in dealerships which are un-heard of in this area. So I figure next year is going to be a real headache. And most importantly all the above takes the fun out of teaching. Always told my kids do something that you enjoy and life will be so much easier. I teach at a Community College and not old enough for SS. Figure I can pick up a little work on the side if I get hungry enough. Or go to Canada and pull wire for RBH. Yep still in pretty good shape and can climb a pole if I had too. Not that I want too!!! Any thoughts from Older than Me retirees.

 

[rbh]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Morning Bobby-
Yes I am not as old as you, but I thought I would through in my 2 bits anyways.
I "think" that if you have the majority of the big bills payed off IE the house, car, kids schooling ETC, and you have done the math to find that sweat spot were your income/savings and pension will cover you, you could step it down a notch and look for some work that keeps you out of trouble and gives you some beer money. (semi retirement)

How about a mobile mechanic businnes ran out of a van?? (you set the hours )




Rob

 

[FlaCowboy]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Well...I would say you pretty much answered your own question....You said > Always told my kids do something that you enjoy and life will be so much easier.
If you are not happy with the "job" anymore then I agree with rbh.

 

[lakelover]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

I'm not older than you, but have been retired from NY state service for aboout 1-1/2 years now. I found that starting about 5 years before my own self-set "target date" that I was thinking more and more like you are now....How can I stand it until I get out? Bureaucracy, little respect from the adminstration/public, over-promoted political appointees being handed high-paying jobs and then screwing everything up...you just get tired of it. I always said my job wasn't hard in the usual sense, but it sure was stressful.

You get to the point where you've had it and you know it's time. I was quite concerned about how it would be financially, but as my older retired brother said, "What is your freedom worth to you?". Financially it has been OK, not as good as I had hoped, since I took an early retirement incentive offer, and no SS coming for at least 6 years. I have to watch the budget pretty closely, but I've never been happier in my life. Lots of stuff to do, the things I want to do.

Sounds to me that you're about ready.

Good luck!

 

[CoffeeHound]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Think very carefully before Jumpin Ship ! At your age it seems like deep water on one side, rocky beach on the other ..
You come on like being a well oiled professer with good money, ( IMHO ) , who is going overboard with an inter-tube floaty !!

A telcom put me, more or less, out to pasture after a car wreck in 89 (no more overtime ), then medical retirement in 94 from too
many falls off tall Telcom poles, and not enough soft muddy landing spots . I came out somewhere just under half pay when i retired
after i counted it all up . Not much $$$ but -- I eat , I sleep , and get a new pair of jeans for Christmas !!

 

[robert graham]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Well, I'm 68 and still working same office for 32 years, thankful to have a job and a paycheck, nice folks to be around every day, just taking it a year at a time, maybe hang it up next year?...Can't seem to find a good time to call it quits! My old mom passed a few years ago at 92, she used to say to me, "I don't mind dyin', but never seems to be a good day for it"...sorta like that with retirement, just hate to say good-bye Good Luck and count your blessings!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

When is it time to retire?

When you can afford it. . . .

 

[rivermouse]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Your question hits home with me. The wife faced the same issues after 32 years in public schools and made the decision to retire last year. Your state retirement should offer decent insurance and the bottom line is wheather you can pay your bills until you are 62 and can then add ss to your income. Money may be tight until then but its not that long. Be sure to use ALL of your paid sick days up and vacation time if you will not be given credit for them. I retired from the state too several years ago . If you can meet your needs even with a part time job I say "take the retirement and run" Life can be too short sometimes and many never live long enough to enjoy their retirement..Good luck and good boating

 

[JB]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

When is it time to retire?

When you can afford it. . . .

That means you have continuing full medical coverage, don't like your career any more and your capital provides enough income to meet your needs plus emergency costs.

I retired at 62 but turned down medical insurance ($800/mo.). Before I got on medicare half of my capital was gone. Double bypass, perforated ulcer and a stent sucked it off.

Most people severely underestimate the cost of being retired without medical coverage or of paying for medical coverage.

 

[minuteman62-64]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

My opinion, three tests:

1. Do the financial numbers work out?

2. Do you like what you are doing enough to want to continue to do it (don't worry about having enough to do when you retire - you'll find there aren't enough hours in the day)?

3. How's your focus? This was the tipping point for me. I realized that over the last few years of work my focus during the day had been increasingly on non-work stuff - ranging from bureaucratic crap obliquely associated with the job to, yes, my boat. When the needle swung to 50/50 I realized I wasn't really earning my pay and it was time to move on.

Made the jump and absolutely no regrets!

 

[bigdee]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Since you are a professional and still fairly young I would give it some serious thought. I was forced into early retirement because my company went out of business. I had a stressful but very rewarding career with everyday challenges. At first retirement was like a dream vacation and I caught up on all the things that I thought I wanted to do. Truth is,after 2 years I am fighting back depression and I am bored out of my mind. The fun things were just that...fun things. The feelings of self-worth and self-esteem are gone. I just feel that I have been put out to pasture to early. I think a lot of members on this forum are retired and use this forum as an activity but even that has its downside when you get a private message saying you are a know-it-all.

 

[Pontoon24]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

To answer your question,

How do you know when its time to retire?

When you have thought about everything above and a new plan pops into your mind. You'll know.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

I will carry that with me till my time

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Good thread. Not that I am even close to that time. But like you asked when is a good time. I think it depends on the person and there responsibility,s.

 

[Autotech]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Thanks for all the comments.

Right now, money is not a issue,( I don't think) not wealthy by any means but comfortable with where I am. Wife an myself are not extragant people. 42 years with same woman and we still have a date night every Wednesday night to go eat somewhere. Kids are grown and have their on families don't ask Mom and Dad for money, although we offer to help with little things on special occasions.
Yea; your doing the math in your head now are'nt you. Yes we married very young. Too young.. but we made it throught the hard times. Going to college with 3 kids in school and working 2 jobs and still had time to coach T-ball and softball for the girls. Never had to time sit down and write something as long as this post. But it was a fun time in life.
For some unknown reason I'm just fearful about the next step.. Is this normal?

JB
Medical coverage will be the biggest chunk out of retirement check..$910.00 a month. No other major expenses other than traveling to see the Grand kids.

Minuteman
According to your statements I think its time. Former students that have come back over the years to says thanks; that is what has kept me going over the past few years. Just to know someone is appreciative of what you tried to teach them goes a long way in overcoming the burecratic rat race. Pretty sure the needle has swung.

Bubba
I've never been one to be able to sit in the house all day an watch TV wife calls it antsy; just have to be doing something to occupy the mind. Yep there are a lot of things that have come up but I still wonder if its right.

Rivermouse
Looked back yesterday and i have 284 days of medical leave that will add another 1 1/4 years to retirement Still going to lose about 20 days though.

Coffeehound
Don't know why but I just feel like I'm jumping on the rocky side. Is that normal at this stage in life?

 

[Philip_G]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Sounds like you've made your decision...

I can understand the apprehension, I'm a long way from retiring but have a lot of coworkers on the way out and it amazes me that they're not scared to death about it, I certainly would be. I guess they're confident in their planning and savings, especially with the economy on the mend.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

When is it time to retire?

When you can afford it. . . .

That's like waiting to have kids.....

If you wait till you can afford it.

you will never do it

 

[JimS123]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

You'll know when its time...trust me.

I worked 30 years at a job I loved. Went up the ranks from Jr. Engineer to Engineering Dept. Manager, made a lot of money and became the go-to person in the company. All through the years I put up with all the BS just to keep the Pension building. I quit when they tried to relocate me. My plan was to retire at 59, but this sudden loss of retirement plan equity build made me rethink it. I consulted for 9 years, then was going to retire at 62 when an opportunity came along to start at the bottom again as a regular Engineer.

Now things are different for me. I CAN retire tomorrow if I so chose, so I'm not worried about losing my job any more. Here the BS is 1000 times worse than before, but it really doesn't bother me any more. I come and go as I please, say what I want to and do what I want to. And, you know what? I'm making real progress here BECAUSE of my attitude. Everybody else stays quiet or quits. I view this as a challenge. As long as my health continues, I'll continue. My new plan is 66, when all of my accounts and SS max out. Beyond that, there is no financial incentive, so why not? I'll trade in a couple of the boats and buy a brand new cruiser that we can live on part of the summer.

 

[lakelover]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

Don't know why but I just feel like I'm jumping on the rocky side. Is that normal at this stage in life?

Very normal.

I was lucky in that my extensive unused sick leave (I rarely called in) could be converted to a dollar value and used as a permanent offset to reduce the monthly cost of my health insurance. Do you have anything like that?

It was a full year before I was reallly comfortable in the "retirement" role, and I got reassured that the financial side would work out, and things settled into a groove. I knew I had done the "right" thing three months after I retired and my whole unit was eliminated and everyone still there was laid off.

Now I know how to be retired. This winter passed so much more quickly than the first one. I made sure to have a definite plan or at least framework of what I was going to do the next day. It took me the whole year just to "decompress". So yes, it is an adjustment, and don't forget, if you decide you want to work part time for whatever reason, the option is always there.

 

[JRJ]

Re: How do you know when its time to retire?

One test is to limit yourself to living off what your retirement income will be. If money isn't a problem, then one hurdle is out of the way.
I knew it was time when guys my age and younger would go to bed feeling good and wake up dead........