Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
1 and 3 NOT retired, 2 retired. If you're working for pay, you're not retired. Casually working or part-time, or whatever, if you're getting paid you're not retired.
My question was about officially being retired for the study that said the average age of retirement is 63. Considering so many people in their 60s who retired from full-time work do some type of paid part-time gig, then the average age of retirement from full-time work is much younger. (I have to think when they say they are retired for this study they are not working at all, part time or full time.)
Retirement is whatever you want it to be. I'll be collecting Social Security next year but I'll still be working. Is that "official retirement"?
That's one illustration of how the phrase is essentially meaningless.
In my opinion, official retirement is when you are no longer working. If you decide to work as a hobby, etc. after collecting social security, any social security or medicare payments you pay out from your salary will not count towards your retirement amount from SS. It all goes into a "general" fund. Whatever the amount of SS you get when you begin collecting is what you get for a lifetime.
My question was about officially being retired for the study that said the average age of retirement is 63. Considering so many people in their 60s who retired from full-time work do some type of paid part-time gig, then the average age of retirement from full-time work is much younger. (I have to think when they say they are retired for this study they are not working at all, part time or full time.)
I think except #2, I consider that work without pay, #1 and #3 is considered semi-retired. I know people who are on call for work at Costco or Walmart and another lady only work 4 days. But they are over age 72. My sister plans to retire at 66 but she’s still wouldn’t mind taking an occasional contract job for a few months for travel money. My husband did agree to do some consulting work after he retired, it’s was like 100-160 hours for a few months. No commute and they are flexible with his travel.
There are different requirements for different retirement benefits, but I don't think there is an official definition of retired. I think most of us would agree that someone working full time is not retired whether they need the money or not and no matter how old they are. Beyond that you will get disagreement about whether or not any amount of work (and then disagreement on how much) disqualifies you and whether or not age disqualifies you (and then disagreement about what age).
There is also the context of the term retirement. When a pro athlete "retires", it just means no longer competing in the sport but the "retiree" may go on to coach, do sports commentary, sell cars, etc.
Personally, I think leaving a full time job in your chosen career at an advanced age to retire (as you define it) definitely makes you retired in my mind. I don't think of younger people who are able to support themselves without working as retired. I don't argue with people when they talk about retiring in their 30s or 40s, but that's not what I would call it. When someone retires from their career, runs into money troubles and goes back to work I think of them as a working retiree. Just how I think of it.
In my opinion, official retirement is when you are no longer working. If you decide to work as a hobby, etc. after collecting social security, any social security or medicare payments you pay out from your salary will not count towards your retirement amount from SS. It all goes into a "general" fund. Whatever the amount of SS you get when you begin collecting is what you get for a lifetime.
Irrelevant. The point of my working is to have some money to operate with, not beef up Social Security payments.
I have several ideas for new businesses. That's how I have fun.
In my opinion, official retirement is when you are no longer working. If you decide to work as a hobby, etc. after collecting social security, any social security or medicare payments you pay out from your salary will not count towards your retirement amount from SS. It all goes into a "general" fund. Whatever the amount of SS you get when you begin collecting is what you get for a lifetime.
That has not been true for me. Starting about January of this year, I got a raise in my monthly benefit in addition to the COL raise because I was working and still contributing, and this was explicitly stated in the letter I received. (It certainly wasn't very much -- just a few more dollars -- but every little bit . . . ) Btw, I started collecting SS in August 2015 at age 62.
Last edited by katharsis; 11-28-2018 at 10:14 AM..
I would say you're "retired" if you're receiving whatever retirement payout/income to which you're entitled after your formal working life. At that point, working part-time is "supplementing the pension" or whatever you're living on (or, of course, just working because you want and choose to). I dislike young people calling themselves "retired" when they've been fired, quit, or are living on disability, welfare or a trust fund, etc. But that's another thread for another day!
I do not necessarily consider myself "retired" or "working"...but rather just having fun because I enjoy all that I do for pay. I work part-time but just do not consider it to be work since it does not feel like it due to the fulfillment at all levels that I get from doing what I do.
The federal tax form has a line (near your signature at the bottom) that asks for your occupation. I generally write my occupation followed by, in parentheses, (partly retired). This hopefully answers any possible question from the IRS why I earn substantially less than expected in my profession (because I do not have a full-time job, just work for several months on contracts). Per this definition, one is not fully retired as long as one has any earned income in a year. As long as one is paid for any work performed, whether one needs it or not, whether one enjoys it or not, I think one is not fully retired, but partly retired, semi-retired, 90% retired - but not fully retired.
But "retired" might have been defined differently in that study. I think it is realistically possible that the mean age of starting to draw SS is 63, since the overwhelming majority of SS recipients start drawing SS at 62. People who draw military or police pensions would also pull the mean massively towards lower ages, if they were included in the study, as those people commonly start drawing pensions in their late 40s.
Last edited by elnrgby; 11-28-2018 at 01:30 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
