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There's a enough people dying in the 60-75 age bracket, that it makes me question the age 95 philosophy that many of the financial gurus base their advice on. I say roll the dice.
But that's the problem. What if you are one of the 5% that lives to 95, and have no family and are broke? Worse grand prize ever! By working to 62, in my case, I (or my wife) could never realistically ever be truly broke, compared to the vast majority. Or at least I will have done everything possible within reason to ensure that. I can understand why some people hope they die suddenly in their early 80s.
My inlaws both passed at 89, despite poor diets and no exercise. It IS all a roll of the dice. No way to plan perfectly for that. Like I said, statistically, I fully comprehend it. I am just rather shocked at considering the at least 20+ individuals under 69 I knew that have passed, that each time, I get that same urge to call it quits and retire Asap. It's already passed, but it is stronger each time.
Well, there's certainly no one size fits all. I retired at 62, the earliest I could without losing pension benefits. For me, first and foremost, I wasn't happy in the job and hadn't been in awhile due to personnel changes. Also, the workload had dwindled more each year. There were many days I only had 1/2 hour's worth of work. I was bored out of my mind and I started to think "I'd rather be bored at home than here!" Then, in 2013, a coworker died suddenly at 64, 10 months before she had planned to retire. A few months later a friend died of colon cancer at 59 right before Christmas. I spent most of 2014 contemplating retirement. I knew I wouldn't make it to 66 but should I split the difference and hang in until 64 when the house would be paid off? We talked it over.....financially it was doable..... and I finally decided life was too short to spend it going to a job I didn't like where I was bored all day as well. And I certainly did not want to die while still working there! I retired in November 2014 and never looked back and don't miss going to work at all. Not even the social aspect. My husband is still working and plans to retire next May at the latest when he'll be 66. Last fall we looked at retirement areas in another state and since then he's inching closer to calling it quits. That, and since January he's been working full time from home which he likes but is also frustrating ....he's here, but we can't really go do anything. I'm leaving the decision up to him, but I think now it will be by the end of the year. I can't wait!
Happened again. A co worker I knew for oh...25-30 years that retired in 2010. After a few years doing this and that, he got bored and was hired back as a contractor to manage a project (construction side, maybe 6 weeks) a few years back. Spoke to him at the time at length maybe 2 years ago, about retirement, why he came back etc. He loved being retired. Great pension. In charge of his life. No money issues. Just liked being around his work friends, and the extra money. Spoke to him about 3 weeks ago, had decided to take on another project I would be associated with...great money, easy work....
Died yesterday.
No details as yet, but not yet 70 for sure. Intellectually I know it's statistically insignificant, but my gut reaction is "Retire ASAP". I can. What am I waiting for? (Rhetorical....., I KNOW what I'm waiting for).
I assume everyone not yet retired but close, gets that feeling??
My gut feeling is that people tend to die early *because* they retire.
At 65 I feel the circle tightening around me like everyone else. Last winter my first girlfriend's brother died at 66yo, he was a long distance runner at least a decade before jogging was even a thing & had long held records for that in the local high school. He was trim & active his whole life, parents robust to a old age too, no obvious reason why he should fall that early. If I dig or ask around, I've lived all over the country in my adulthood, I find someone else who is gone that I was close to for a while. Most of my hometown best friends are gone now, the guys I used to always stay in touch with through the years, gone in their late 50s, they were smokers.
A few years ago I wanted to get together with a former coworker who 20+ years previous I had been pretty close to & coincidently our lives ended up in 2 of the same cities at the same time. We had talked on the phone about getting together for a drink the previous year & when I decided to google him to get his phone number for that drink I came up with his obit from 3 months before, about 60 iirc. He had gone to college on a tennis scholarship & when I knew him he decided, on a last minute whim, to enter (& finish) the Ironman Triathalon in HI before that was the big thing it is now.
So many more too. There's a lot of Wheel of Fortune involved at this point.
Seeing people close to you drop dead can be a wake up call. Are you enjoying what you're doing? If it's strictly for money, is it worth the trade off in leisure time? Can you live without supplementing your income with work?
Everyone's different, but I'd rather die not wearing adult diapers. If you make it to 70 and die of a massive heart attack on a random Monday morning, is that really a bad ending?
Seeing people close to you drop dead can be a wake up call. Are you enjoying what you're doing? If it's strictly for money, is it worth the trade off in leisure time? Can you live without supplementing your income with work?
Everyone's different, but I'd rather die not wearing adult diapers. If you make it to 70 and die of a massive heart attack on a random Monday morning, is that really a bad ending?
Horrible when others that age will be thriving for twenty plus more years
My gut feeling is that people tend to die early *because* they retire.
Why do you say that?
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