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My dad told me one time that something happened at his job and it made him so mad he just disconnected for the last 5 years or so. When he could retire he did at 59. I feel that way as well. I don't hate my job but I don't love it either. There is no raise or promotion coming, just added responsibilities as others retire before me. The numbers work for me in a couple of years, but I am apprehensive since I know at 62 I won't be working anymore anywhere. And I don't really want to. The BS, the politics, the commute - I won't miss it. The few friends I did have at work have dwindled as people have retired or been laid off. In your last years before retirement did you feel like you were just marking time? And what was it like taking the plunge and not looking back?
Good post. My husband is 63 and will be retiring next year, and I am 66 and working part-time, but what you wrote describes both out mindsets perfectly. (Especially the BS and the politics, and the commute for my husband -- I walk to work -- and having to get up earlier than we want and having to plan our lives around our jobs. Nope, we won't miss working at all, and we are counting the days, literally, until our planned retirement date.)
I truly do wonder how many (percentage) of people who are close to retiring feel the same way.
I am 14 months from retiring. I have a very challenging job and I am "the boss." Luckily for me I have a couple of major things I want to accomplish before I leave so I still very engaged. BUT I have to admit that as headaches arise (mostly managing personnel and personality issues) it is great to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am 59.
I am 56 and my husband is 57. My job has given me anxiety with underlying depression. The politics, the never-ending and blatantly open gossiping, as well as the push to automate everything has really done a number on me mentally the last year or two. I've been with the company since I was 24, and being that I don't do well with change, I put up with the BS when I know I shouldn't.
I HAVE checked out the last couple of years. Partly because I don't care about the company anymore, I'm burnt out, and partly because I am nearing retirement and just do what I need to do to get through each workday. Sorry state of affairs, for sure.
Luckily, my husband and I have lived below our means for our entire married life and our financial advisor has given us positive news for an early retirement. I'm scared of leaving the workforce early but also scared of losing my soul to a company that doesn't give a rip about me anymore.
Planning for retirement and focusing on retirement too early (5+ years) are two different things. Those who dwell on the latter too much often "retire in-place" and are either no good on the job or (and) make themselves miserable.
It's like running a distance race. If one starts thinking too much about the finish line too early, they will likely run out of steam before there.
...I truly do wonder how many (percentage) of people who are close to retiring feel the same way.
Count me in
Just under two years to go for myself...I did a "trial run" earlier this year (took a month off to travel around Europe) - and it felt GOOD.
I'm very much looking forward to having the free time to do what I want, when I want (while I still can, before the inevitable physical decline sets in).
Until then, I'm still going to do my job to the best of my ability - but the days of heroic efforts and staying late to handle one more crisis are over.
I retired last month at 65. All was good until about a year before retirement when I began to wake up still tired and with a sense of dread. I was irritable and impatient with everyone and everything. I also found myself more pessimistic, complaining, and demoralized with the workplace and my job.
I'm not sure what was happening with me during that last year. Was it some kind of anticipatory reaction, readying me for the sweet deliciousness of retirement? Or was I just totally depleted and burnt out?
Whatever, it was a very tough year for me and I know it leaked out sideways so my apologies to my coworkers and loved ones.
Now my biggest problem is trying to decide if I should roll over and go back to sleep, or watch the sun come up and count my blessings.
My dad told me one time that something happened at his job and it made him so mad he just disconnected for the last 5 years or so. When he could retire he did at 59. I feel that way as well. I don't hate my job but I don't love it either. There is no raise or promotion coming, just added responsibilities as others retire before me. The numbers work for me in a couple of years, but I am apprehensive since I know at 62 I won't be working anymore anywhere. And I don't really want to. The BS, the politics, the commute - I won't miss it. The few friends I did have at work have dwindled as people have retired or been laid off. In your last years before retirement did you feel like you were just marking time? And what was it like taking the plunge and not looking back?
You sound a lot like me. I was all for retiring early until the recent changes to SS. Im not sure I have them clear in my mind, but I really resent them changing the rules on me right when Im reaching the door to retirement. I would have really felt screwed if I had retired at 57 as I originally planned. As luck, or lack of it would have it, my pension would not be adequate for at least another year and a half.
I have read that those born after 1954 who had previously been able to collect full benefit SS at age 65, now have to wait until age 67. And, your benefit is now based on your LAST 35 years before you reach full benefits. If that is true, if I had retired at 57 I would now have 10 years worth of $0.00 income being used to configure my SS benefit at full retirement. If its your BEST 35 then I may be okay, but if its really your LAST 35 then I may be stuck working even when I want to leave.
I cant find any real solid info. to confirm or deny this on the SS Administration site, and maybe I am just not searching it correctly.
It means a lot if I keep my house and stay where I am for retirement. Not so much, if I sell my home and try a more transient lifestyle for retirement, or even relocate to a more economically friendly area. I have about another year and a half at my job for feasible pension payments. I am already vested for my insurance coverage when I leave, but they only cover me in the state I am in, and I would have to try to make my way back here for any major medical issues if I chose to leave this state.
Selling my home is attractive for a number of reasons. I am in a major urban environment, which has its own positives, but there is something to be said for waking up to bird's chirping and leaves rustling, and going to sleep to sounds of rain on the roof or crickets chirping. I miss vast expanses of green space, lol.
Also, my home haunts me to a degree. It is a place of wonderful memories and lots of love, but it is also a reminder of things that have moved on from this life, and makes me think that maybe its time for me to move on too - to find my place in life without those things.
I hope to leave by 59 1/2, 62 the latest. I hope SS wont punish me too much for that, or force me to stay at my job much longer than I ever wanted to be there. I'm sure there is some young person that would love to replace me, and I hope to be able to let them do that as soon as possible, lol.
At the very least, I would really be pissed to realize I had dropped dead in the chair at my work desk.
You sound a lot like me. I was all for retiring early until the recent changes to SS. Im not sure I have them clear in my mind, but I really resent them changing the rules on me right when Im reaching the door to retirement. I would have really felt screwed if I had retired at 57 as I originally planned. As luck, or lack of it would have it, my pension would not be adequate for at least another year and a half.
I have read that those born after 1954 who had previously been able to collect full benefit SS at age 65, now have to wait until age 67. And, your benefit is now based on your LAST 35 years before you reach full benefits. If that is true, if I had retired at 57 I would now have 10 years worth of $0.00 income being used to configure my SS benefit at full retirement. If its your BEST 35 then I may be okay, but if its really your LAST 35 then I may be stuck working even when I want to leave.
Social Security began upping the full retirement age after amendments, gradually, beginning in 1983. They completed and it's been in place in it's present form since 2005. This....isn't recent.
Benefits are calculated on your 35 highest earning years and always has been. Last 35 years makes no sense.
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