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Thank you, Escort Rider! How do I contact Marla! Sorry for off topic...
It's Marka, not Marla. Go to your control panel, then click on "send a new message". Type in "Marka" where it says "recipient", then type your message and click on "send" at the bottom. Or maybe it's "submit".
28 years and 9 months on the job, just 1 year and 3 months from full retirement pension when I came down with a debilitating disease..no more work from there on out..
Up to a year before I retired (Jan 2016), I was just happily cruising along in my job. I was mildly bored for about three years, but it was OK. I was well though of, got top evaluations and my boss basically let me run my own duties. I was planning to retire this May (2017).
Then in Feb. 2015 things changed for the worse, big time. Our team, boss included, was transferred to a different section of Social Services and we were under the Manager from hell. I was given a Public Guardian caseload that increased my workload by 50%. Every time there was a placement change or a new guardianship this manager would ride my behind until the task was done. I applied for Medicare in March. When I got the card I showed it to my boss and said if things got much worse, this is my ticket out of here. My boss said "I envy you".
Things got a little worse, but my previous manager told me how to handle The Manager from hell. Made things tolerable. With a cooler head and encouragement from Mrs5150, I did the math and figured I could make it to my FRA. So I retired in Jan 2016.
Mr5150 I am much like you. DW is a huge encouragement to me when times at work went south on things. Also just as I was coming up on my retirement things were cruising along nicely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silibran
A few years before I retired a general email went out to everyone about retiring with pension at age 60. I knew then what I wanted to do. Luckily DH was on board, and he planned our retirement. The last year went by pretty fast. I notified HR well in advance, and I was gone shortly after my 60th birthday.
I knew for two or three years what I wanted to do. And, yes I was done.
Like you as well I was given information relative to pensions and retirement. It made the transition once the date was set smooth and seamless.
For me the actual defining moment was the day I walked out the door on that last day of work. I left with mixed emotions. A heaviness in my heart for leaving behind many very good friends and co-workers and extreme happiness because I knew that no longer would I be leaving home one weekend a month for military work (army national guard). I was 52 when I began looking at retirement issues that would affect us.
We have a great system and HR that puts on a annual retirement briefing for the three types of workers in the system. Those that are new get an intro and encouragement briefing to participate in the system to the fullest. A mid term briefing to give you updated changes and a check-up to see where you stand. The last group are for those within the 5 year window for immediate retirement. This is where I found myself in 2009 looking at the possibility that I am getting closer to retirement. I was actually eligible for retirement 4 years ago because I had time and age for eligibility. Of course looking at my savings I was not ready and that gave me worry. I worried because every 2 years we (uniformed members) go through a qualitative retention board (QRB). It happens to soldiers with 20yrs of service.
By 2009 I had survived 6 of those and got a scare when I got a 1 year letter of retention. That meant that I had to correct something in my records (that is all that is seen no personal interview) that I needed to fix. I did and subsequently was rewarded with another 6 year run before I got the boot at 58. With an extension for the betterment of the agency (my office was going through a major database program change) it was March last year and all of the last 38 years of work just went to the box of fond memories.
I did. I knew I was going to retire in March, but I planned to keep working part-time. But then it happened. This over-powering thought came over me that I was DONE. I did not want to work for anyone any more. Even contract work. I just wanted total freedom from anyone's schedule other than my own. Just a quiet, inner voice said, ''No''.
If I bring in a dime other than SS it will be from my own resources. Maybe this is a phase or at some point I may have to return to work. But for now it feels right and so good!
Did you have a ''defining moment'' where you just knew you were done?
Mmmmaybeee not for me, but for DH, it came when his company said, 'You can retire now with this lovely tin parachute, or hang on until we kick you to the curb in the next round of beheadings.'
And then they brought him back to 'consult,' and he couldn't wait to get out again.
My "defining" moment was when I woke up one morning literally nauseous at the thought of going to work that day. I put in my resignation a few days later. Although it was to take place six months hence the thought of it with a specific date set was comforting.
My father was contemplating his retirement when he was sixty two, he felt he needed to go to sixty five to make it work. After he retired at sixty five he spent six months travelling and just enjoying his freedom, a heart attack changed everything, he died at age sixty six and a half. Soon after his death I knew I was going to stop working at sixty two. I was determined to take the earliest retirement I could, thinking that I too might suffer the same fate as my dad.
My entire family of three sisters and a brother retired at sixty two, brother, like father, died at sixty six, the rest of us are all now in our seventies and are enjoying good health. Had I waited, the stress may have contributed to some negative health issues, in my dad's case I know it was true.
Two car accidents within 3 months. One was totaled and we escaped unharmed. It's a sign from God. Never looked back. Actually, I have not even driven back to my work area since I retired. Made the right decision.
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