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So many people I know who are in their sixties are dreaming of retirement but they don't have the courage to call it quits. They likely have enough money to retire but are holding out just one or two years so they can make a few more bucks in salary, get more Social Security wage credits, or can afford to hold out until they are 67-70 to collect SS Benefits.
The workplace has passed them by and they sense that many people at their employer would like to see them retire and open a spot to someone younger. But they don't have the heart to let them go.
I ask them each year when they are going to retire and they keep saying NEXT YEAR. NEXT YEAR comes and goes and they are still there even more miserable than the before. This goes on until the management team at work finally terminates them- and takes them out of their misery- or health issues forced them out of the workforce.
So many people I know who are in their sixties are dreaming of retirement but they don't have the courage to call it quits. They likely have enough money to retire but are holding out just one or two years so they can make a few more bucks in salary, get more Social Security wage credits, or can afford to hold out until they are 67-70 to collect SS Benefits.
The workplace has passed them by and they sense that many people at their employer would like to see them retire and open a spot to someone younger. But they don't have the heart to let them go.
I ask them each year when they are going to retire and they keep saying NEXT YEAR. NEXT YEAR comes and goes and they are still there even more miserable than the before. This goes on until the management team at work finally terminates them- and takes them out of their misery- or health issues forced them out of the workforce.
Does this sound like you or anyone you know?
I don't think the folks that work longer, are doing it to save more money, IF these are people that have worked 20 plus years in a job that offered retirement plans. The folks that I personally know, that have kept working, are doing it because they simply love what they do. If someone has retirement funds, and a decent plan, AND they are "miserable", then I would bet that those people are all to willing to sign those retirement papers.
I enjoy my job, but as someone that has way too many demands on her time in the last several years, I am very much looking forward to retirement. I've had my date set for over a year now and I won't be changing it. It has nothing to do with "courage" LOL.
Up until close to retirement age we were still paying Johns Hopkins tuition for the youngest. I also waited until I was within striking distance of 65 and Medicare.
The ones I know it was not for the extra paycheck, but the superior benefits needed for themselves or a family member. I must be lucky because I know next to no one at my old employer that didn’t like their job. In my case, I stuck it out an extra year longer because I was quite confident a package was coming, and I wasn’t let down. Serious 6 figures extra for doing nothing but my job, which I enjoyed with people I enjoyed was well worth the extra 12 months. I still got out at 61.
I waited thirteen months before retiring. I was still having a good time, doing productive projects with a pretty good crew, and in pretty good physical shape. In August of 2010 I got a new supervisor. Things were pretty miserable after that. After 31.5 years I said "That's it!" I don't regret retiring bat all. During my first year of retirement I did seasonal jobs with my state agency. After about 6 months of that i called it quits entirely.
I retired at 59, 6 months earlier than planned. Had I waited my pension would have been $30 a month higher. Saw no reason to stay, and I did enjoy my job. Just felt like it was time to go. It was scary but I did it anyway. Worked out very well. At 60 I went back to work for two years. Had a pension and a salary that in total was 25% higher than the salary I had when I retired. We paid off the mortgage, sold the house and downsized to a suburban location 50 miles away. It wasn't planned that way but worked out that way.
I think it is natural that people will want to retire as soon as they can (given that most jobs aren't all that fulfilling), and therefore they will talk about retiring, but the reality may be that, financially speaking, they don't have all their ducks lined up in a row.
So maybe their continuing working isn't due to a lack of courage, but rather a lack of money compounded by poor planning.
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