Would you retire from your job if you're already living the way you want?
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I am several years away from potentially considering retirement.
However, I've started wondering what exactly retirement is about.
I am quite happy with my current home and have no intention of moving anytime soon. I travel a few times a year and have seen most of the bucket list places I wanted to see. I already engage in a number of hobbies including playing and performing music.
I am also very used to the salary and overtime pay I earn from my job.
So, I've been wondering - What am I going to do after I retire? What if I don't want anything to change significantly?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I'm planning to retire finally this summer at age 71. I love my job, and they keep giving me raises, and I only have to go into the office 2 days a week. With Social Security now we're putting a lot of money in the bank and still spending freely. Still, I have many hobbies and work gets in the way, and it's taking longer to maintain the 3,000 sf house with rooms that we don't need any more. With the property tax now up to $11,000/year, we will be selling and paying cash with our equity to buy in a less expensive area. Our income on retirement with just pensions and SS will be about 50% of current, with IRA and savings if needed.
The big thing that keeps people working is health insurance. If you can retire and you know how you will have yourself covered, then it really is all a matter of how enjoyable you find your work now and whether there is anything that would keep you occupied if you were to retire.
I can't see leaving a job that you genuinely enjoy to sit at home all day in a house in the middle of a suburb somewhere while everyone around you is working and raising their families. You would get bored very fast. But a lot depends on your location and whether or not there is a nice variety of things to do for retirees. Some areas are more retiree friendly than others are.
Generally, if you are on the fence about it, it's probably wise to hold onto your job for at least the time being. Several years is going to fly by.
If the scales lean towards you like your job and aren't restrained from your dreams, then keep working.
In my case I loathed what my job had become and had the opportunity to leave and do something I'd always hoped to do, so I retired 8 years early and started living the life I wanted.
I do have a part time job in addition that is something Id never thought possible to have, so for me, the scales tipped heavily to retirement, and I'm now living my best life.
It all boils down to what you want out of life and what makes you happy.
My husband was going to retire next year at 70. I don't think he will. He loves his job (Produce Sales), working with the chefs and other customers.
His office is 3 hours away in Milwaukee so he goes there once a month for a meeting. Otherwise, they leave him alone. His schedule is his. If he wants to go out to see customers he does. If he doesn't he stays home. We can travel as long as he has his phone with. Reasonable trips for 2-3 days not weeks on end. So we do a lot of F-M getaways. Longer trips he uses vacation.
He told me to book a cruise for next June because he was ready. Now he has backpedaled on leaving his job. I will probably cancel the cruise.
One thing has not changed: my daughter is buying our house in the next 6-9 months. We are moving into an apartment. So we may stay closer to his sales area so when he goes out he doesn't have to drive too far.
BTW- I retired 3 years ago from my full-time job. But I tutor online 2 days a week and watch our godchild's baby as she is a teacher. I will probably keep both for the next few years.
If the scales lean towards you like your job and aren't restrained from your dreams, then keep working.
In my case I loathed what my job had become and had the opportunity to leave and do something I'd always hoped to do, so I retired 8 years early and started living the life I wanted.
I do have a part time job in addition that is something Id never thought possible to have, so for me, the scales tipped heavily to retirement, and I'm now living my best life.
It all boils down to what you want out of life and what makes you happy.
I work in the kind of job that can be stressful with long hours sometimes. Fortunately, not most of the time. At this point, it feels like I've gotten so used to it that I wouldn't know what to do if I retired.
I also hear about people who lose their mental acuity and motivation after they retire. That scares me. I don't want that.
I have a colleague who is 95 and he still works full time. I find that inspiring in a way, even though it's unusual.
For me, the job was no longer fun. The hours and the stress took too much time away from things I wanted to do. The last 10 years, I didn't get to do the travel or vacation time with family I wanted. Once upon a time I had loved my job and what I did, but things changed too much after about 2012. Too much bad management. So soon as I was able I retired and haven't looked back.
Are there things I miss? Sure, but all of them were prior to 2012. I miss the work I did and the people I worked with for the previous years. But I don't miss one thing about what I was doing the last 10. I'm involved with several organizations and activities in the community. The only thing I really regret about retiring is that I didn't have the means to do it 10 years sooner.
Assuming that I could keep the same income stream, of course I'd quit.
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