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Mid 50s would have been bad because of kids' ages and needs. Cost of insurance and health care would have crushed me. Now turning 60 in 2 months, balance of accounts is higher and needs of kids lower; 3/4 are working, though only one has graduated college and in a career path position. One full time college student and another two who could be and plan to be at some point with one going part time now. Our deal with kids is covering any two years of college or trade school if they go. It's any two years so if they want to work and/or get loans to go to community college for two years and then transfer to a state school, we would cover the last two years and they could graduate without a mountain of debt. Anyway, that's a potential liability from an analytical POV.
I was RIF'd at age 59 in 2011. At the time, we were in terrible shape with regard to savings and retirement. Fortunately we had just sold our house to pay off remaining debts from our company that went down in the recession. We were basically out of debt except for a $100K property loan that we could not unload because (at the time) the housing market was underwater. We had $3k left in the bank and a $500 monthly loan, so we had to make that savings- along with UI checks of $400 month, count. Took me less than a year to find a new job, but when we moved here to Michigan, we were on $ fumes. By the time we had to put first/last on an apartment, we were left with $200 in savings for living expenses until our first check arrived. That wake-up call had a serious, but positive impact on long-term planning. Once were were back on our feet financially, savings and planning for the future became #1. It took us until end of 2017 before I could pull the plug, which I did, and now were are finally financially independent and planning for the best.
As expected, haha, unexpected events throw you curves. My wife went to ICU two nights ago, and is in the hospital now with what -except for luck, could well have been a life-ending event. We are fortunate to have amazing health care around us, and she will be released soon. I am so thankful that I retired when I did. Had I not had the time off to be there, and act proactively and aggressively for her during this serious event, I might be single now.
My biggest takeaway from this week is that though money is important, for me, being able to share our remaining lives together is more important. If she had died while I was at work, life as I know it, would have ended as well.
This is a timely discussion for me, the manufacturing plant I work for is closing and my last day is the end of February. I'm 58, and THINK I can retire... but it is scary for me in many ways. I'm in better shape financially than most of the other 600 employees.
My husband worked for a Fortune 500 company that laid him off at age 60. We still had one kid in college with two years of tuition payments coming up.
My husband found a new job at small company started by a past co-worker. Doesn't pay as well, but its okay.
Since my husband left, his old Fortune 500 company has fired many white, fifty plus year old guys. My husband has been able to hired six of them. They all say, if the new employer didn't hire them, they would have been out of luck.
I know about more stories from family and friends in their fifties who are trying to keep their jobs. Not even hoping to stay until social security starts but just to get to age sixty.
Those days of retiring with a gold watch and a company party are so long gone.
My husband worked for a Fortune 500 company that laid him off at age 60. We still had one kid in college with two years of tuition payments coming up.
My husband found a new job at small company started by a past co-worker. Doesn't pay as well, but its okay.
Since my husband left, his old Fortune 500 company has fired many white, fifty plus year old guys. My husband has been able to hired six of them. They all say, if the new employer didn't hire them, they would have been out of luck.
I know about more stories from family and friends in their fifties who are trying to keep their jobs. Not even hoping to stay until social security starts but just to get to age sixty.
Those days of retiring with a gold watch and a company party are so long gone.
You don't think any women or people of color have been fired? I've seen all types of people fired for many reasons.
Leaving one's job in one's early/mid-50's may not be optional, but, being "forced to retire" or "forced to find another job" are individual choices.
Finding another job in one's 50's may be difficult, but, so is retiring while financially unprepared. The job market makes the term "forced to retire" more applicable when one is in their early/mid-60's.
As a point of reference, I chose to retire at 61, knowing there would be increasingly limited job opportunities if I changed my mind and wanted to return.
Leaving one's job in one's early/mid-50's may not be optional, but, being "forced to retire" or "forced to find another job" are individual choices.
Finding another job in one's 50's may be difficult, but, so is retiring while financially unprepared. The job market makes the term "forced to retire" more applicable when one is in their early/mid-60's.
Among those who retire from the military, there is an assumption that we all have an assortment of disabilities.
Some portion of the process to decide if it is time to retire will hinge upon exactly how disabled are you.
If I were to pursue any further career field, I would need to avoid triggering any of my pre-existing disabilities.
I have seen this among people I knew. Many went back to work in lesser positions and ended up what I call under-employed. People making $80 at age 50, making $50K at age 55. People making $50K at age 50, making $30K at age 55, and so on. I know several holding down two part time jobs. I have seen some upper and middle management people go to work for $12.00 per hour in the retail business. It happens but the smart ones keep going. They do not give up and wait for that "well paying" job to come back
You don't think any women or people of color have been fired? I've seen all types of people fired for many reasons.
No, it was definitely bias against old white males. We had a NYC employment lawyer who knew this company well. He confirmed the bias. He said judges look at the average age of mass layoff. He said this company will fire just enough young people to bring the overall average age down. A company fires ten men in their fifties and three twenty year olds, the average age of layoff is forty-five. A number that does not stand out for age discrimination.
Another company, IBM is being sued for firing old white guys and hiding it.
Quote:
“For years, IBM has systematically removed older employees from its workforce and concealed from them the information with which they could detect the discriminatory nature of these actions,” Joseph M. Sellers, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs and a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, said in a statement. “IBM — and the technology industry more broadly — cannot push ‘baby boomer’ employees out the door based on unlawful stereotypes.”
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