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I retired from my full-time job in 2011. I tweaked my pension by pushing my highest year to an extra monthly paycheck due to a quirk in the pay system of my school district.... that helped quite a bit..! I've worked part-time since for a community college which the last 5 years I have basically paid all my salary into a 403b plan, at the max of 24,000 a year. I'm going to start taking all my leave in about six weeks as my wife is acutely disabled and qualifies me for FMLA so I will have enough paid time (sick and vacation and sick leave bank) accumulated to get a paycheck for six more months after I actually stop working.
Being prudent in the last few years of work is important, but not enough to make me work longer than I want too :-).
Before you retire, be sure that you'll never have to go back to work after you retire. If you go back to work after you retire, you might have to work for a fraction of what you used to make. On the other hand, if you saved more than enough money to retire, than after some point in time, working more years is a pointless waste of your life! If you wait too long to retire, you won't have as many years as you'd want before your heath declines. If you wait too long, and you lost your health, then the extra money doesn't mean anything.
My wife retired at age 59 two years before I retired. I was planning on retiring at age 65, but ended up retiring 18 months early at age 63 1/2. I took a 10% deduction on my pension and so did my wife. But because we lived well below our means for decades, and saved enough to retire early, we could afford to retire early.
The freedom to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, is breathtaking. I still stay up too late at night, but I wake up at about 9 AM instead of at 4:30 AM, feeling well rested every day, instead of walking around like a Zombie, trying to stay awake. If I ever get tired in the afternoon, I simply take a nap. The quality of life without having to work is drastically improved! Our lifestyle hasn't changed a bit. We live on just our pensions and health care savings money. We haven't started withdrawing money from the retirement accounts or started collecting Social Security. As a result of living well below our means for decades, investing and saving a lot of money, we'll need to increase our spending in our retirement years in the future. After living well below our means for decades, it's hard to spend more money. That's a good problem to have.
I know people who waited too long to retire, and didn't make it to retirement, or retired when their health was shot, and only lived a couple more years. You have to make the decision when to retire. Make sure you never have to return to the workforce. The sooner the better! Don't wait too long to retire! You can't get those years back that you wasted attending pointless meetings and following brain dead policies at your job.
Yeah...you tend to hear the dramatic stories about the guy having a heart attack a month before or after retiring. What you don't hear about are those who outlive their money at 80, 85, or 90 - you have to plan for THAT too.
I'm approaching 71 and I am extremely fortunate that I love the kind of work that I do because I am still working full time.
Financially I reached the point where I could retire a few years ago I want but I don't see myself quitting anytime soon.
I have great freedom at work working two weeks at the office and then two weeks at home 800 miles away. Yes, I fly back and forth for my commute and the company pays for it as they pay for my small apartment when I work at the office.
When I work at home it is sort of my hours when I want to work. Money is good and what is really good about it is I don't need it. When it is no longer fun, or I feel harassed at work, I will quit.
Meanwhile politicians work into their late 70s.
I think they love the work they do.
The power. To give tax breaks for your contributors. Bring projects home. I heard a politician say it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on. I'm sure many would even drop the last four words.
If I ran for a political office that required a full-time campaign, I would have to take a leave of absence or quit my job. But politicians routinely run for a higher office while still working at their current political position. Who is doing the work while they are campaigning?
The power. To give tax breaks for your contributors. Bring projects home. I heard a politician say it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on. I'm sure many would even drop the last four words.
It's addictive. Many politicians at local, state, and federal levels continue to run for office long after it's obvious that the voters have tired of them, and that they will never be elected again.
A few bucks alright, my husband was supposed to retire in Dec and I’ve read it’s not good to retire in Dec, so he retired the end of Jan. But he worked at home the whole month, came in a few days at most. The income allowed us to contribute to Roth IRA, without that we couldn’t.
I retired once in my mid 40's when I sold my engineering company. That was way too early, so I built another company that I still run today. Closing in on 70 and I still enjoy the work and the people I meet from all over the world and different walks of life. Although I could, I have no plans to retire anytime soon.
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