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Old 07-27-2015, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530

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Quote:
Originally Posted by animalcrazy View Post
John retired at 56 with 30 years on the job. He wanted to leave after 25 years and now he's glad he waited for the 75%. So am I because I will be quitting my job next Friday without another one lined up. I don't have a pension or a 401k opting for passive income instead. If I would have had a pension I would have sucked it up and maxed it out. Less is not more in this case and you never know what twists and turns lie ahead. Some of them are quite pricy and the extra money will come in handy.
My thinking is the same as yours on this. I retired at 61 with 34 years on the job, thus optimizing (not actually maximizing in an absolute sense) my pension. I like the knowledge that if I should happen to live longer than expected, I will have no financial worries. I am so glad I stuck it out. Age 61 is still young health-wise for most people, although I know there are exceptions to that.
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Old 07-27-2015, 11:30 AM
 
Location: Chicago
112 posts, read 114,825 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
It makes sense if your job has changed so much over the years that your health and sanity come into play.

OP says he's in education. Education today is not what it was 20-30 years ago.
OP also says he's not going to claim his pension until he turns 60 which would be a 20% reduction.
OP wants to leave now and work somewhere else for the 8 years it takes before he claims his pension.

Teachers with lots of years are being pressured to leave, either verbally or given outrageous assignments in hopes that they will leave so they can hire new grads at much lower salaries.

I don't think the OP is alone in this. The various school districts around me still have lots of open positions and teachers go back in about 2.5 weeks to get read for the school year. Normally there's only a few openings left this close to starting the next school year.
Agree 100%
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Old 07-27-2015, 11:36 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyJet View Post
60 is early retirement. 55 is called quitting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearsdad View Post
Several guys I worked with left at 55, which is the age we become eligible to "early retire" at a significant loss of retirement income. EVERY ONE of them went full time either as soon as they could or eventually to make ends meet or because they were bored.

One went to deliver auto parts, one is working hvac, one is working at a junk yard. ALL of them are working for less than $10hr and working harder than they did where they all worked with me. To top it off, these guys were all making $100k+ a year!

WHY would anyone in their right mind that knew they couldn't make it on retirement income/savings quit a 100k job for a menial job? I don't get it.

I would only retire if I knew I could afford to live on my income/savings without ever working another day. Makes no sense to me at all to retire and go back to work.
That's the way I think of it too, Sandy Jet. Bearsdad's story about his former colleagues illustrates the folly of getting stars in our eyes about the possibility of "retiring" and then pulling the plug too early, which represents the triumph of wishful thinking over rational analysis.

I have no quarrel with those who retire at 55 and are financially ready to do so, or even with those who think they are going to crack under the strain and stress and do so knowingly - knowing that they will have a financial struggle but prefer that to life in a psych ward.
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Old 07-27-2015, 11:46 AM
 
4,538 posts, read 6,428,479 times
Reputation: 3481
I have absolutely no desire to retire. I enjoy work,

Being a meaningless retiree at the early bird special is not my idea of fun. You become completely invisible as a 60 year old man roaming around on work days and slowly you lose touch. My mother in law is same age as board members in my company and she does not use a smart phone, no clue what netflix is or twitter etc. She is caught in a style or music and fashion of 30 years ago.

Meanwhile the board members, stay hip and connected and deal with younger folk all the time and feel meaningful.

They dont do it for the money. They do it as it feels great.
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Old 07-27-2015, 12:14 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyJet View Post
I have absolutely no desire to retire. I enjoy work,

Being a meaningless retiree at the early bird special is not my idea of fun. You become completely invisible as a 60 year old man roaming around on work days and slowly you lose touch. My mother in law is same age as board members in my company and she does not use a smart phone, no clue what netflix is or twitter etc. She is caught in a style or music and fashion of 30 years ago.

Meanwhile the board members, stay hip and connected and deal with younger folk all the time and feel meaningful.

They dont do it for the money. They do it as it feels great.
I agree. But there are alternative ways to avoid being "meaningless", "losing touch" and "becoming invisible roaming around" - ways other than being employed for compensation. I am one who was fortunate enough to find gratifying volunteer work which is very meaning for me: I read aloud to fifth grade classes and conduct lunch time chess clubs at two elementary schools, and do the chess (but not the reading) at two middle schools. I find that being around the young people and their enthusiasm keeps me young and enthusiastic. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

By the way, it is always nice to read of people who, like you, enjoy their work. It is discouraging and depressing to read the stories of those who say their jobs are like being in hell, they can't stand them, and they would do almost anything to "retire" to the good life of doing nothing. They speak of finally being able to "live life" after retiring. How inexpressibly sad! Work is part of life, not separate from it.
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Old 07-27-2015, 01:15 PM
 
Location: North Texas
3,476 posts, read 2,628,814 times
Reputation: 10943
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyJet View Post
I have absolutely no desire to retire. I enjoy work,

Being a meaningless retiree at the early bird special is not my idea of fun. You become completely invisible as a 60 year old man roaming around on work days and slowly you lose touch. My mother in law is same age as board members in my company and she does not use a smart phone, no clue what netflix is or twitter etc. She is caught in a style or music and fashion of 30 years ago.

Meanwhile the board members, stay hip and connected and deal with younger folk all the time and feel meaningful.

They dont do it for the money. They do it as it feels great.
I call this BS, if you are working in order to give your life meaning you have no life. You are also telling me that you cannot afford to retire early.
I am 74 and propobly more technologically savvy than many young people are. That is because I can afford to buy it and have the time to use it. My internet speed at the house is 75/75 Mbps in order to run all the wifi crap all over the house.

While you were living your meaningful life working during the past 12 months, this is what I did. Took an eight-week long driving trip thru the west and Canada. Spend a week on the east coast of Florida and another week at the gulf coast in Texas. I flew to San Francisco for a week, rented a car, and returned to Oregon for a week. Last month I vacationed in Boston for a week, took Amtrak to NY City for another week. I am writing this from my hotel room in Las Vegas right now. This fall will most likely be in Europe for three weeks.

I was lucky and retired at the age of 50 and love every minute of it. However, if money or health insurance is a consideration keep working.
My retirement did take detour early on not because of finance but what I consider an adventure. This is getting too long and will write about it later.
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Old 07-27-2015, 01:19 PM
 
21,716 posts, read 12,777,266 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyJet View Post
I have absolutely no desire to retire. I enjoy work,

Being a meaningless retiree at the early bird special is not my idea of fun. You become completely invisible as a 60 year old man roaming around on work days and slowly you lose touch. My mother in law is same age as board members in my company and she does not use a smart phone, no clue what netflix is or twitter etc. She is caught in a style or music and fashion of 30 years ago.

Meanwhile the board members, stay hip and connected and deal with younger folk all the time and feel meaningful.

They dont do it for the money. They do it as it feels great.
Some are lucky enough to find their passion in life and actually make money at it; that's a blessing, but it's fairly rare. For the rest of us, it's essentially a jail sentence to be served until we have the time and energy to devote to our true interests in life. At that point, working should be optional, and you should take care to identify your real purpose in life - that thing you would do for free if you weren't paid to do it - and not just knock around aimlessly for decades... I'm sure no one would really find that fulfilling...
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Old 07-27-2015, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by txfriend View Post
I call this BS, if you are working in order to give your life meaning you have no life.........................
No need to get offended just because the description given by the poster you were responding to didn't fit you personally. It did fit large numbers of people.

Do you realize how arrogant it is for you to define so narrowly what gives meaning to other people's lives? How can you rule out work giving meaning to someone's life? I certainly do not rule out that the extensive travelling which you described can give meaning to your life. Good for you and equally, good for the poster to whom you responded so sneeringly.

Here are just a few quick examples of work which it is easy for me to imagine giving meaning to people's lives:

1. Playing professionally in a symphony orchestra (creation of transcendent beauty)
2. Healing of others and the relief of pain (doctors and dentists)
3. Inspiring and giving a helping hand to young people (teachers)
4. Advancing the frontiers of human knowledge (research scientists)
5. Creating things with your own hands, durable things such as buildings that you can look upon with satisfaction for years to come (carpenters, ironworkers, electricians, etc.)

I didn't spend any time to speak of on the above list, which certainly can be expanded.

Speaking of BS, pot meet kettle.
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Old 07-27-2015, 01:40 PM
 
21,716 posts, read 12,777,266 times
Reputation: 36617
Work is the ONLY thing that gives life meaning; it's just that we "work" at different things.
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Old 07-27-2015, 01:43 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,869,471 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere View Post
Work is the ONLY thing that gives life meaning; it's just that we "work" at different things.
Reminds me of Khalil Gibran writing in "The Prophet": "Work is love made visible".
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