Did Anyone Retire at 62 and Regret It? (beach, crying, retirees)
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Dayum, I hate all of this free time and
being able to do what I want when I
want. I miss the A-hole, micromanaging
boss, his superior attitude, and meetings
about meetings. I miss getting up before
dawn and driving an hour to work.
NOT!!!!!!
Retirement means different strokes for
different folks. Like fingerprints.
They're all different.
If you plan to sit around the house all
day on your arse and watch the paint
peel, yeah, you'll be bored and maybe
need to get a part time job, volunteer,
whatever.
My company did me a huge favor by
job eliminating me 2 months before
I had planned to retire anyway.
Went out at age 63. IT worker.
My father was a mailman and he retired
at 63. I couldn't let him beat me. lol
LOL Elliott! Your first paragraph is exactly what I was thinking.
Retired at 51 (six years ago today) and have not regretted it for even one second.
I am viewing my retirement years as a series of chapters in the book of my life. The first chapter in retirement was before leaving CA, the second chapter is life in east Tennessee. The third?? Who knows? Our traveling years are finally at hand, and we talk of some distant day downsizing to two condos/cottages in two different environments and bouncing back and forth for awhile. Right now, I'm enjoying a time when I actually don't have a plan. This is a first for me, as I'm a sort of compulsive planner. I like not knowing exactly where the day will take me when I get up, or where I may someday find myself. I love being able to change my schedule on a whim. I know whatever happens, it will be alright.
I am 65 and will retire in a couple of months at 65.5. Thought about bailing at 62, but the main reason for continuing is employer provided medical coverage. Based on that, I elected to continue working until I was Medicare eligible. (Good thing I stuck it out because my retirement financial accounts are looking pretty good lately.)
A common reason given for retiring at 62 is because one becomes eligible to receive Social Security benefits, albeit greatly reduced, (and assuming enough 'credits' accrued). Keeping inexpensive and good medical coverage was more important for me personally.
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Not that it matters at this point but if continuing medical insurance was the only thing keeping you from retiring at 62, why didn't you COBRA it for the three years until 65 (assuming it was in California and you qualified)?
Health is another very good reason to retire early even if you are not sick. After 5-6 years of sedentary life due to stress of commuting, I thought my health would have been bad when I see my personal physician but it turned out much better than I thought. I was worried about pre-diabetes. I also have time to see more doctors for check up. Finally had time for my colonoscopy(hence a lot of toilet jokes in my posts on C-D) which I should have done 3 years ago. And the best part is, I now have more time to take care of myself, it takes time to exercise and eat right. Before retirement, my husband and I ate out quite often whether or not we liked it.
I turned age 55 this year and JUST made the switch from thinking about more promotions, etc to RETIREMENT.
It was hard for me to acknowledge that I should be on the way down and >>> out>>> instead of striving to get ahead.
But I did make that decision, as I love my current job and team, and feel like it's time to start planning on a different kind of future; being happy and content; a little less stressed; and looking forward to planning my retirement.
It's heartening to hear that most people are quite content after leaving work. It's both fun and scary to think about it.
I retired at 61.5 and have never regretted it. (Now 72). What is the reason given by people who have told you they would have "worked a little longer" if they had it to do over again? Primarily financial, I suppose? Or just missing the gratification and socialization of the workplace?
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As a retiree I can agree with both of those reasons. Certainly poor planning on my part. Not expecting to live into my mid70's I had some great vacations and enjoyed the I have enough on my credit card for that thinking. My advice work as long as you can and plan ahead.
John retired at 56 I retired at 58. Regrets? Um no, but I'll let you know when I die if I had enough money or not to get us through those end of life issues. I'm reasonably sure we'll be fine but you never know. Hopefully my last thought won't be that I should have worked those extra 7 years. For now? I'm having too much fun to care.
Not that it matters at this point but if continuing medical insurance was the only thing keeping you from retiring at 62, why didn't you COBRA it for the three years until 65 (assuming it was in California and you qualified)?
Two reasons, 1) I really enjoy my work. It's exciting, challenging, and gives a sense of accomplishment for making the world a better place, (environmental satellite instrument operations); and 2) COBRA would cost me a whole lot more than I pay now. On my employer's health plan, I pay about $100 a month. COBRA would have been $600 or more.
I thought COBRA is only for 18 months, I didn't know it has changed to 3 years.
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