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No, not bad at all, for sure. It caused me to pause and think; I have been retired for almost 12 years now, which is a bit more than one-third of my 34-year career. Amazing - I had never thought of it that way until this moment. It just doesn't seem possible.
My grandmother retired at age 55. SHe lived to age 93.
She was a homemaker first, then second a "working gal" who worked in the factories during the war and after being widowed.
SHe CERTAINLY did not work continuously from 18-55, which WOULD have been 37 years.
But she WAS retired for 38 years.
Sure, SHe made out.
My father is now 84, he also retired at age 55, after 30 years of service to his company. So far he has collected on 29 years of retirement. he also worked as a kid during the war years, and did a stint in the service, so he may HAVE to live to 93 to be equally retired as he was working.
Nope, not bad.
But it doesn't ALWAYS work like that, especially nowadays.
However, I may not get to retire at 55, seeing as how it is 2 years away, and I doubt I will live to age my father is now {health reasons}. I do draw SSDI, so technically am already "retired", but I can and do earn money, I'm allowed to up to a point, {Thanks Bush jr.}. I am never NOT busy. I figure I will retire officially at age 70, like many of us now. MOH will retire at age 70, a few 12 years away. IF either of us lives to age 93, we will only have effectively 23 years of retirement, and 52 years of working {me a little short on that granted}. I still don't expect I'll live to my 80s, so either way it will be shortened. In fact MOH doesn't reach FRA until 56 and 10 months, and me 67, IF we only follow SS guidelines.
SO NOT ALL people get to live more on retirement than in their working years.
But those who have, God bless them.
Many of them lived through multiples of wars {and lost family to them}, depressions, and in general had rough lives {like I have had so far},so they DESERVE a little for their struggles.
I'm the tale end of the baby boomers and I will not get as many years retired as I have worked.
IF I have to go to full retirement age of 66 (which I'm hoping not to), it will mean I will have worked continuously (no break in work history whatsoever) for 49 years. I would have to live to be 116 to have equal work/retirement.
And to add insult to injury, my birthday is in late December, which means I have to work the whole year before I'm 66. Thanks Mom!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Originally Posted by Red On The Noodle
I'm the tale end of the baby boomers and I will not get as many years retired as I have worked.
IF I have to go to full retirement age of 66 (which I'm hoping not to), it will mean I will have worked continuously (no break in work history whatsoever) for 49 years. I would have to live to be 116 to have equal work/retirement.
And to add insult to injury, my birthday is in late December, which means I have to work the whole year before I'm 66. Thanks Mom!
I'm 64, and started my first real job at age 14, and worked even through college and graduate school, so already 50 years working. With probably 4-6 left before retiring, just to break even I would have to make it to age 122-124. Not at all likely. The FBI must have had a good retirement plan, as we know most law enforcement retirement plans are pretty generous and can draw pensions after just 20 years.
No, not bad at all, for sure. It caused me to pause and think; I have been retired for almost 12 years now, which is a bit more than one-third of my 34-year career. Amazing - I had never thought of it that way until this moment. It just doesn't seem possible.
My 34 years does not count part-time jobs in college and graduate school, nor does it count some temporary projects (between one week and five weeks in duration) after retirement. Back in my day, working part-time in college was the rule, not the exception.
I certainly admit 34 years was a relatively short career, and the shorter the career, the more likely it is that someone will be retired an equal or greater number of years before death. I would have to live to age 95 to accomplish that, so it's not likely at all - and not even desirable from my point of view.
I did corporate work for 23 years, 5 years LOA, and have now been retired for more years than working. I’m not counting the almost 9 years of military.
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