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Well to be truthful I think it is...because this economy is really making me wonder where we are headed. There really are no good answers at this time for what lies ahead....just uncertainty and hopes that are unsupported by any really believable evidence that things will get better. As pessimistic as that may sound it just seems to be the situation to me from what I read and observe. For me it probably means working until 63(God willing and the creek don't rise lol)....which was the exact age my Dad retired so it seems sort of normal to me...although I remember growing up with this crazy idea that people retire at 65 lol
Being one of the very lucky who will have a good defined-benefit plan, it looks like I will still be able to retire as planned in 19 months. While my savings have taken a hit, my plans do not depend on how well they are doing, so I should be ok. What the high prices might do is curtail some of the traveling I had hoped to do once I am free.
I have, at most, ten more years of full-time work before a comfortable retirement.
Economics do make me wonder if I should keep nose to grindstone for the whole ten years (and not go part-time at some point). I do have the option of part-time with pro-rated benefits- not a viable financial option for several years. I could take my pension early to make up for the lost hours and work part-time indefinately.
For me, it seems dicey to not make maximum money as long as I can. Longevity runs in my family, I have no backup in life except my ability to earn. On the other hand, I do think my job is ruining my life and affecting my health- not sure if part-time would be a huge improvement, or if I should just gut it out to say good-bye for good.
Turning 55 was inspiring to me. It feels like, at worst (and the creek don't rise, as one poster said!), I have ten years to go before freedom and security. Ten years ago seems quite recent. As one person said, "The days are long; the years are short."
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I honestly believe that even if they offered me twice my salary (which they certainly will not do ), I would still leave this June. Once you have made that decision & have that mindset, I would think it would be very difficult to go backwards.
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it's kind of like planning for a baby,it you wait until you can afford one you never will have one somthing always comes up. We are on track unless the next weeks medical appointments come up with something scary we are on our way.
we still have 15 yrs before retirement but still think we can do it with no problem. we live below our means and have started putting back a little more than what we originally thought we needed. My DH will be retiring at
55. The worst that would happen is both of us having a part time job at that time. Just for the "extras" though. If the economy doesnt get better we may have to travel half the year instead of all year.
I always figured on retiring at 70, so I'm hoping I don't drop dead before that. The economy has never been especially good for single women, so I suppose since real wages have been stagnant for years while everything else goes up, it's worse than ever.
I think it's hard for a single person who has to pay all the bills herself/himself to save much. I'm trying, but I can't put away too much (what with my oil bill going up 40%, and my house taxes going up 20%, and my salary going up 3%). Luckily, I do have social security and a pension, but it's better if I wait until 70.
Eventually, in order to get any social security, everyone will probably have to wait until 70, since they keep upping the age. It's funny, because they used to force people to retire at 65, until Claude Pepper came along and fought against it. Do you remember him? He was a congressman (I think) in Florida, and was still working in his 90's.
There's no changes for me so far. The housing crash hasn't really happened here in the northwest. Even if prices go down it would not affect us.
Now if prices for everyday things keep going up then I'd need to make some adjustments.
Maybe we'd go down to just using one car instead of two.
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