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Working my current job until mid 70's
Easy to do, job will be around for sure.
About mid 70's, they start firing employees
We won't ever really be financially ready
healthcare will be more than covered budgeting $850 mo and there is a few hundred
leftover each month.
RMD's start at age 70.5 @ $375 a month and increases until age 100.
My SS be taken at age 70, and I still won't have 35 good years.
For a few years beyond age 70, SS will still be increasing.
How many of you guys retired and left the office for good, not because you were really old, or that you were financially independent but because you were just sick of the whole thing?
My uncle told me he was sick and tired of the:
Commute
Fake Smiles from coworkers who really hate you
Infighting
Backbiting
Paycuts
Fear of layoffs
Clock Watching
FaceTime expectations
Once you got to a certain point, you just could not take another day of it, even if you had not reached pension or Social Security age or had enough money.
Did you hold out a couple more years in misery or retired? Tell us more!
I am age 61.5 and have worked in the nursing profession for 40 years. Most of all the negative issues you listed I have encountered and then some at various times all throughout my years of working. And some of those issues still exist today, but being an old timer in the workforce what would bother me or cause me worry 20 years ago now I don't give a 2nd thought to because I learned over the years to accept the things I could not change and invested my efforts towards the things I could and did change.
Unless I should encounter a health issue where I could no longer do my job I will be working another 5 years because not having as best as I can financially secure retirement would be far more distressing to me than any distress I ever encountered while working.
“Relatives retired before they were financially ready- did you?”
Nope.
Still workin at 69.7.
Fido says I can retire at any time, but every day I work is a day that I do not take $120 out of our retirement funds.
Is that your goal, then - to keep the highest balance possible?
I'd planned to retire at 65, but politics got toxic when I was 61 and I quit. I still deplore my weasel boss and the others who backstabbed me but retirement has been glorious. I'd been saving and investing my entire adult life and knew the numbers were good. Health insurance premiums doubled from when I retired to when Medicare kicked in on 1/1/18, with huge deductibles and a progressively sketchier network, but that's been the only downside and I'm past that now. Fortunately, my medical issues during those 4 years were limited to the occasional case of severe poison ivy.
I'm still heavily invested in the market but have had good results so far (assets up by 3.8%/year on average since I retired, AFTER withdrawals). A huge portion of my spending is discretionary, about evenly divided between travel and charitable donations, so there's wiggle room if I want to withdraw less from my investments. In a pinch I could also apply for SS on my own record- right now I'm collecting Survivor Benefits on DH's record and letting my own grow till I'm 70.
I retired at 52, when my job was eliminated, which was a year or two before we had planned. I wasn't sure we were financially ready, but after 18 years and no complaints, it turns out we were ready and have zero complaints.
Same age, similar story. DH had already retired (at 62.5) and I had always been the bigger breadwinner. At 52, I asked to be laid off instead of firing people on my staff. I desperately hated the job and the environment after the small CPA firm was sold to a national firm, and they knew it. It was a win-win for everyone.
No golden parachute or big payoff from them (and I didn't expect one), but my departure technique got me unemployment for 1.5 years (which they unsuccessfully fought.).
That was ten years ago. The ONLY reason I've ever had a need to go back to work was to get health insurance. Instead, we moved across country from AZ to NC almost entirely so I could get insured. Now, I'm paying $878 per month for a $5,000 deductible! I'm the only person I know who WANTS to grow older - just until Medicare age!
Retired early due to job stress, but we have pensions. I could have gotten a much bigger pension if I stayed a few more years, but we did the math and realized we could "get by" pretty nicely, and we had other assets. Knowing that his SS would be providing additional income in a few years, and then mine a few years after that, helps with inflation and "lifestyle creep". We've always been good with figuring out the budget and making it work, so no worries.
Is that your goal, then - to keep the highest balance possible?
Yep. My goal is to spend every dime. My worst case is I run out of money and live off my social security check in my paid for house. I have 35 high earning years so that’s not exactly awful. My house is my long term care policy.
We worked hard and sacrificed for early retirement. I worked because I loved where I worked. When new management came in and changed the rules, I left. I had three other jobs lined up but I wanted to take a month off. I was only 58 and had planned on achieving a couple of financial goals before I quit for good. That month has been three years now. I don't miss the money and I'm liquidating the rental properties. We don't need that money either. Total freedom is intoxicating, but only if you can afford it.
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