Retirement age

[campermom]

Have you given a lot of planning about your “when”?

I have a whole timeline laid out with what age I am eligible knowing I can’t live on the pension (which I am lucky to get, I know)
vs what age I can work till I get “better” insurance coverage
vs when kids are done college
vs when my kids need insurance till
vs when I can pull from accounts without penalty
vs when Id get 100% insurance covered
vs when I’m done paying my mortgage
vs when Medicare kicks in
vs when Id get the best social security…..

It’s all too much. I just pull that paper out and look at it and wonder what my life will be like at those ages. I still think I’ll probably never get remarried, and I don’t see myself ever being comfortable enough to ever share expenses or assets or finances again.

Do any of you know when you can actually retire?
I want to be able to enjoy my later years. I see too many people wait so long that they fail quickly after they finish working, and they never get the chance to do all the travel they saved up for, all the trips they aren’t in good enough health to take, etc.

[sdlaura]

While DH and I both work in the investment industry, he handles a lot of our long-term financial planning, and originally had everything mapped out so he could retire at 65 and I could retire at 60 (he's five years older). Then we went and had four kids, so the kids won't even be done with college when we're those ages. We don't have any pensions (even though I advise pension systems as my job), so it's all our retirement savings.

I also enjoy working and think that it keeps people young, so I plan to do some kind of work for a long time. I'm in an industry where I should be able to just work with fewer clients/consult if I want to, or I'd really love to get paid for sitting on boards if I could.

One thing I would definitely advise is that even if you stop working earlier, wait to draw benefits (either pension or social security) until the full/maximum retirement age. My parents retired in their mid-60s and lived on savings/money from IRAs and waited to draw on social security until 70, and they're so glad they did. My Dad also worked at one job till he got a full pension, then got another job that provided another smaller pension until he fully retired. I grew up without a lot of money, but the stuff they did helped my parents be very comfortable in their retirement.

I have no aspirations to pay off my mortgage at its sub-3% interest rate when we could invest money and earn more. I'm happy to die with a mortgage

[sandandsea]

Our plan is 55 or sooner. It’s still 12 years away but DH would retire tomorrow if I said okay. We have high stress, long hour jobs but they both have nice incomes too and we don’t have enough saved to do what we want to in retirement if we quit now. If we moved to the middle of nowhere and didn’t spend anything we could make it work but that’s not our goal.

[rere]

I can retire with full pension and insurance for life at 51. However if I stay a until 54, that increases my monthly income. My quandary is, I'm not going to stop working completely in my early 50s. Should I just go a 51, and do something new or wait it out here. Part of the problem is I have a lot of vacation, I pretty much come and go as I please, can work from home some days, and make pretty good money. I don't know if I can start over somewhere else. It would have to be pretty flexible and and still allow for several vacation weeks.

Dh gets a small pension at 60 along with his retirementaccounts. His thought is that if he is burned out or ready to leave his current job, he could use that to pay for insurance if needed to give him more flexibility. But he may stay until 65 if he can work from home the majority of the week.

So we really don't know at this point. My mind changes daily based on who is pissing me off around here.

[erbear]

My current plan is to “retire” in 5-10 years (5 is when my youngest graduates from high school and her tuition is based on my employment; I’ll stay on for a few more years through college if I’m feeling it…). I love teaching but 30 years feels like a career.

That said, I’ll only be 51 so I’ll probably have to get another job, especially since DH hates his work (law) and also wants to retire. He’s the moneymaker. We will both need other jobs that have insurance and pay but I think we’re both looking for something that is just a job — possibly overseas.

My FIL retired at 69 and died of a massive heart attack at 70. I don’t want to be him.

[mommyatty]

rere- my MIL retired 3 times. First from the federal government when they offered an early out. Then from a university when she qualified for their pension, which just requires working one full quarter in each of 5 fiscal years plus being a certain age. Then she got a part time job that didn’t have a retirement but was just “fun money and a place to wear cute shoes.” Her retirement advisor told her “never turn down an opportunity for someone to pay you to do nothing. Take their money and go get another job if you feel like it.” She also gets half of FIL’s pension from the federal government. She’s done well and has more than enough to live on.

I feel like I’m never going to get to retire and thinking about it just depresses the hell out of me.

[mae0111]

We're in a bit of a strange spot. I have been aggressively saving for retirement since I started working FT at 21, and DH started getting better about it when we met at age 29. We are closing in on 50 and have 8X annual "salary" that we'll need when we retire (right now we're cash flowing tuition and just took on a stupid car payment because DH likes toys, and I will put my foot down in retirement on that front). I chose an annual income amount that I think is way more than we'll need, but I don't know what COL and health insurance will look like then.

DD2 should be on track to finish college when we're right around 60, so that has been the goal. DH would like to retire earlier than that, and there's a real possibility that he could. If he sells his business, he'd likely need to stay on for a certain period of time, and then he could walk away. That could happen way before 60. On the other end of things... if he doesn't sell his business, I think it's going to be extremely difficult for him to walk away. He built it from nothing - from the ground up - and it's been really successful and has grown steadily. It's his baby. So I see a scenario where he never truly walks away completely, but cuts waaaay back to like 15 hours a week or something.

I haven't given much thought to retirement yet. I feel like I could walk away at any time (except for the pesky money aspect of things), and take on little projects here and there to keep busy. But I could be perfectly happy NOT working every again, I think. Right now I'm working for DH, but I'm not passionate about what I'm doing AT ALL. I'm checking boxes and helping with things that need to be done. He doesn't need my skillset. So I try to find ways to use it elsewhere.

My only concern is that the vast majority of our money is tied up in retirement vehicles that can't be easily accessed before we hit a certain age. We have some in a brokerage account, but we may have to pull from that for part of college. I don't know what will be left after that.

FIL retired at 65 because he was going to be laid off, and MIL continued working until they were both 67 (per diem nurse with a pretty great schedule - only days, no nights or weekends). FIL passed away at 68 after some kind of cardiac event. They didn't get to enjoy their retirement. I don't want to be in that position either (like erbear said).

[supertrooper1]

I can retire at 54 (in 11 years) with my pension. I do not know if I will financially be able to retire with only my pension. My divorce set me back and I would like to buy a house and have it mostly paid off before I retire. The housing market in my area is not cooperating with that plan. I have a TSP (govt 401K) that is on track for withdrawal at 59 1/2 and right now should be more than enough. I'm lucky that my insurance rates will remain the same. DS should be graduating from college when I'm 54 too. When I was a LEO, I could have retired at 50 with my pension and gap money until 59 1/2, but I gave that up to have a life and it's a decision I do not regret at all.

I've always said I would decide when I wanted to retire when I was eligible and right now I like my job. Beau can retire in a couple years, but I'm not sure he is financially ready to do so. He also doesn't know what he would do retiring in a couple years and I'm still working. I have plenty of PTO but can't just take off last minute all the time like he would want. Beau has it in his head that he won't live long so he wants to retire as early as possible. It's such a tough decision due to all of the stories here and IRL of the people who worked forever and then passed away shortly after retirement so they didn't get to enjoy it.

[waverly]

I think I can retire at 59 with my pension but it would be less money then if I waited until 65 and what would I do about medical insurance?

I'm not super worried about passing away younger because of a family history of my grandparents living longer. I definitely won't work past 65 and might retire earlier than that.

[dragon's breath]

My minimum retirement age is "57" (fed), and I will leave no later than the day before my 57th birthday (exactly MRA).

Next year, at 46, I will be eligible for an "early out". I don't have my hopes up too high, but I will apply for every early out that is offered, every year, once eligible. I'd hate to miss the opportunity and have to work another decade.

While I have one more big financial goal, I can achieve it even if I retire early, so nothing is going to stop me. I could live off the pension alone, even though it will only be 25%, once this last goal is done. Currently, I save a minimum 50% of my net pay to go into this goal anyway.

[librarychica]

We don’t have a set age in mind. We’re 40/mid40s now and will be in our mid/late50s when the kids theoretically finish college but neither of us has a set income coming our way and though our savings are in a good position I don’t see either of us being motivated to fully exit the workforce early for insurance reasons if nothing else.

I do like working, mostly. I could see one or both of us trying something more flexible or less than full time but I’d even be happy to ramp up my career if H wanted to go back to being self-employed (he owned a small business for 10 years) because I think he liked that more. He can earn more in corporate life though and it’s not like he hates it — there’s a lot about his work he loves. Overall we have sweet gigs and aren’t in a rush.

I will say, while more freedom would be nice I think our travel is more hampered by the kids school schedule than our PTO.

[186momx]

DH says he is going to retire at 50 like his parents did (they were teachers). His investment guy told him he can retire at 65 when he can draw medicare benefits as he will have enough in IRAs, investments to live comfortable on his current salary. He did tell him he could retire from garage door installation at 50 but he we would need to get another full-time job with similar benefits and salary. DH also has the hardest time sitting at home and not doing anything so retirement for him would be spending lots of $$$ on play.

My goal is at 65 to cut back on how much I work. Self-employed tax lady so I will still work crazy during the winter, but my goal would to be only work a day or two during the off season. This is what my dad is trying this summer at 66 and it hasn't worked very well but that isn't due to work.

I will say I work with a lot of older clients and those that I see who retire before 60 or between 60-62 seem to age quicker than those that work until 65-70 at something. I also always ask clients if they have looked into how much insurance is going to cost them until medicare starts because most are use to $100 a month with nice benefits and are shocked to get the same low deductible health plan is going to cost $1000+.

[bee20]

Per studies of pension funds (to be fair, these skew male and are of a different generation), your best bet for a long life is to retire young:

faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/COE/gutub/English_Misc/Retire1.htm

These companies had decent pay and healthy pensions so I think this isn't so much "rich people die older" as people who have a lot of family, friends, and community ties pulling them away from work are living longer than those who can't think of anything better than continuing to go to the office.

I originally targeted 55 with my retirement savings, but I had planned on having kids.  Since that doesn't seem medically possible, my retirement number has dropped and my savings rate has been higher so I'll be retiring early, certainly before 50. I am deeply jealous of those of you saying your job is chill or has plenty of PTO. 

[aprilsails]

I wanted to make a post yesterday about people who have spouses with very different retirement plans.

I think I will likely work until 65. I enjoy my work (for now) and would like to continue to play an active role at my firm. I also want to have more money for travel and fun, which I can do with a more flexible schedule as a senior partner, while still working.

DH needs to retire sooner. Like needs to. He loathes his work, although it is objectively easy. He just wants to putter around the house and play video games and relax. He hates travel and spending money. He could FIRE with a pretty low number in his account. He also stands to inherit a tremendous amount of money from his parents.

I know he will continue to work until something changes, but I don't see him making it much past 50. His Mom was retired at 52.

I do not want to putter around the house with him until I physically have to. I think this will be a major stumbling block in our relationship because he is currently all in on anti work concepts and not working for the man, whereas I just became a partner. I am literally the man now. Ugh. He is terrified of developing dementia like his dad so wants us to both stop working and enjoy our lives as soon as we can. But his ideal is way different than mine. I also come from a family with no history of dementia and a lot of 95+ year old women. My Mom and Dad are both in absolutely fantastic shape at 66. His Mom was on a travel stop at the same age since she couldn't qualify for travel insurance anymore, his Dad was showing signs of early dementia. This is going to be such a stressful series of decisions to manage.

[mommyatty]

aprilsails, my DH frankly hated working. We joke that he “retired” in his 40s to be a SAHD. So I’m the sole breadwinner and have been for most of our marriage. It sucks in a lot of ways financially, but it’s really nice that he is at home when the bug guy needs to spray or the air conditioning guy needs to be up in the attic. Plus we have a special needs kid who would not do well in an extended daycare program, so he’s home for that too.

[aprilsails]

mommyatty I'm not against that once the financials are looking good (enough money for university, etc). My issue is that he doesn't want me to work either, which I think will be a mistake.

Things have changed a lot in our relationship since Covid and we really haven't gotten back onto a solid footing. I don't know that I will ever feel comfortable walking away from having my own guaranteed money to be certain that I am ok (like I will not bank on his parents inheritance because he could divorce me and keep all of it for himself). I also don't enjoy spending a lot of time with him right now, so that paints retirement in a rough light.

[sdlaura]

bee20 , thanks for posting that study. I think one caveat that they don't address is how generous the pension payments were. Corporate pension plans from decades ago were likely fully replacing one's salary.

Sure, I'd retire as soon as possible if I had a great pension that was going to fully fund my retirement, and provide medical insurance. But unfortunately that's not the case for most people, or there will be significant uncertainty/stress about whether or not it will keep up with the cost of living/inflation.

[mommyatty]

sdlaura- My first job out of college was as a contract employee at a brewery. The guys working union jobs at the brewery had such generous pensions that when they maxed out at 65, they would bring home DOUBLE what they made while they were working. It was insane. I was very “now I get why people loved their unions.” Of course, that had been bargained away for people my age. People my age got a 401k.

[librarychica]

Aug 29, 2024 13:56:39 GMT -5 mommyatty said:

sdlaura- My first job out of college was as a contract employee at a brewery. The guys working union jobs at the brewery had such generous pensions that when they maxed out at 65, they would bring home DOUBLE what they made while they were working. It was insane. I was very “now I get why people loved their unions.” Of course, that had been bargained away for people my age. People my age got a 401k.

I worked at one of the companies listed in that study for well over a decade and while I had excellent benefits (thank you union for that high 401K match at least), the people who still had pensions were doing a whole different type of financial calculus. When my dad retired from a blue collar union job at a different company (and was replaced by a contractor who didn’t even get company health insurance) he actually made slightly more money a month too. For most of us, that isn’t a possible option anymore.

I wonder, though, about the affects of health insurance. I definitely knew “late” retirees at that company who were hanging in there because they had some kind of preexisting condition — heart disease, diabetes, etc — that made private insurance before Medicare age difficult or prohibitively expensive and coincidently also would have risked younger death. Whereas the people who retired early may have had a working spouse to provide health insurance, a financial cushion, or even a more private sector type job waiting in the wings. (Or they came back as a consultant and double dipped ….”

Not to mention the pensions cover a wide variety of job types so while they’re all relatively well compensated there’s a big difference between a floor factory worker and an accountant in terms of level of physical demand and various other factors that could affect longevity.

In conclusion: I would want to see the data. I am not sure it’s this straightforward.

I am done being pedantic now, lol.

[sandandsea]

We had a speaker at one of our company events who mentioned a statistic that most men have a major health event within 2-5 years of retirement or something like that regardless of the age of retirement whereas the same isn’t true for women. The study revealed that women find other meaningful things in their lives to keep them energized, thinking, moving, with a high sense of contribution whereas men got a lot of that from their work and struggled to find a replacement after leaving their jobs.

DH and I talked about it and can totally see that happening with many people but we’re both like we could do a million other things if we didn’t work. Then I made the point that if I didn’t work I’d likely get pulled into unpaid volunteer labor positions easily like PTA, team mom, room parent and even more groups than I fit in now so I’d still have the responsibility but no paycheck.

[mae0111]

sandandsea - that was very much the case for my dad (minus the health event, thankfully). He retired from a very stressful job at 67, and my mom wasn’t ready. He really struggled for a few years, and then COVID hit and it got much worse because my mom kept working in her office.

He was out running errands one day and found a group of men his age playing softball. He always played when I was a kid and stopped after a bad injury (not from softball). He stopped to watch them and they invited him to play. So now he plays 5 days a week from March until November, one game on NY Day, and spends the offseason training. I’m so happy he found it.

ETA: My dad will be 78 next month. He has 2 fake knees, arthritis in his hands, and neuropathy in his feet. But he can hit the ball a mile and has an arm like a cannon. In his words, he frequently “stretches a homer into a single” because he can’t really run the bases. He LOVES it.

[sdlaura]

Yes librarychica, with an economics background, I always want to see more data

mommyatty I advise pension funds where they list the pensioner deaths at the board meetings. Many of the people retired 30+ years ago and then their spouse still gets benefits after they die. Pension funds were not designed to fund people’s lives for decades after retirement. Everyone younger in the pension plans I advise (both public employees and labor unions) get far fewer benefits vs older union members.

mae0111 yes, my dad has done great in retirement because he essentially has a second career for his hobby - wood turning. He edits the club newsletter, volunteers in the gallery that sells his work, etc. That’s awesome that your dad got into softball!

[sillygoosegirl]

I used to try to calculate it out all the time, but now I realize it pretty much all comes down to health care, fulfillment, and spousal dynamics. I hear terrible things about the Medicare coverage for the chronic condition I have too, and neither of us will qualify for anything else for coverage when we are old. We could retire now if it wasn't for the health care part. DH isn't sure he ever wants to retire (he doesn't seem to know how to be self directed). Hypothetically there's zero financial reason for both of to work anymore since financially we are basically just working for insurance and one job covers that. But I do really worry about how it might change the dynamics of our relationship. DH remains a freaking penny pincher even though we have plenty of money (was raised that way and apparently doesn't know another way to be), and I just don't know how that might play out if I wasn't working anymore. Also, while I feel pretty darn "over" my job a lot of the time, I apparently still need the childcare break and the work excuse to feel confident when I say, "Nope, your turn," on kid stuff. Realistically, I don't know if I can do it for that reason alone until the younger kid is in school.

[waverly]

In that vein I had a coworker tell me she was going to retire in a year. This was 2019. After spending time home with her husband during lockdown she stayed until May of 2024.