What is the "right" age to retire?

[belfastboy]

Just read an MSN thread, in it Suzie Ormond states that 70 is THE correct age to retire. As I close in on 69 I am contemplating retirement from a job I love. It is part time but my wife took early retirement about 6 months ago and it would be nice to have more flex time to travel. We are okay money wise, not flush but comfortable. The income underwrites my addictions such as hat collecting!
At what age did you retire? At what age will you retire? What are your considerations?

 

[Fading Fast]

Only since you asked, is it possible that you could negotiate more time off (since you seem willing to take less pay based on your color on your financial situation, maybe they'd be open to giving you more time off for less compensation) as few people are fortunate to love their job and if you found 100% retirement too much retirement, I'd hate to see you not be able to get back to a job you love.

 

[Harp]

At what age did you retire?...

I retired from the US Army at almost twenty-one, and chased Frisbees, wahinies, and waves at Kaneohe Beach, Oahu. I left Hawaii and returned to normal life, but not quite.

 

[belfastboy]

Only since you asked, is it possible that you could negotiate more time off (since you seem willing to take less pay based on your color on your financial situation, maybe they'd be open to giving you more time off for less compensation) as few people are fortunate to love their job and if you found 100% retirement too much retirement, I'd hate to see you not be able to get back to a job you love.

I handle the contracts division so each year there is a set amount of work to be done with an approx schedule. This year I pushed work forward and back so that I could take all of June and half July and then all of September as vacation. Then I will have 6 weeks off Dec and Jan. But that is the max I can do. It is a great gig but with my wife retired it would be nice to have freedom to take off whenever. I subscribe to an email service..... cheap flights out of Vancouver. Last week flights came up, under $500 Van to Quito or Lima return all taxes, fees included. Having the freedom to jump on that would be great but I hesitate as the allure of that may wear off quickly.

 

[Fading Fast]

I handle the contracts division so each year there is a set amount of work to be done with an approx schedule. This year I pushed work forward and back so that I could take all of June and half July and then all of September as vacation. Then I will have 6 weeks off Dec and Jan. But that is the max I can do. It is a great gig but with my wife retired it would be nice to have freedom to take off whenever. I subscribe to an email service..... cheap flights out of Vancouver. Last week flights came up, under $500 Van to Quito or Lima return all taxes, fees included. Having the freedom to jump on that would be great but I hesitate as the allure of that may wear off quickly.

You're smart to being thinking carefully about it and about how you'll feel over a longer time period. It's rare to really enjoy a job - hate to see you lose that. I'm sure you'll thoughtfully get to the right answer - best of luck.

 

[robrinay]

I retired from teaching at 53 and swapped to a ‘retirement’ job working a few hours each week on a friends recycling site. I took my teachers pension at 57 - after taking advice from an independent financial adviser who suggested there was no point in waiting for age 64 for an extra 1.5 k per year (ref actuarial reduction of pension if you take it when young). She pointed out that I’d have to live an awfully long time to make up in 1.5 k’s what I could collect in pension payments between 57 and 64. The new job made me fit and stronger and had almost zero stress - I used to say it was like being paid to visit the gymn.

 

[kaiser]

When you hit 60 you should definately start looking at your options. If you are in good health the time between 60 and 70 can be very valuable. Even if it means less income getting out earlier would be the option I would take.

 

[belfastboy]

I retired from teaching at 53 and swapped to a ‘retirement’ job working a few hours each week on a friends recycling site. I took my teachers pension at 57 - after taking advice from an independent financial adviser who suggested there was no point in waiting for age 64 for an extra 1.5 k per year (ref actuarial reduction of pension if you take it when young). She pointed out that I’d have to live an awfully long time to make up in 1.5 k’s what I could collect in pension payments between 57 and 64. The new job made me fit and stronger and had almost zero stress - I used to say it was like being paid to visit the gymn.

Yes, one of the big upsides of my job is that it is active. I am not stuck behind a desk and get in my 10,000 steps a day. The downside is that some days/weeks are too active and it takes me a day or two to recover so I can begin my leisure time. But I doubt I will have the discipline to replicate the 10,000 steps a day left to my own initiative.

 

[scottyrocks]

There is no one correct answer to the question. There are so many factors.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I retired early Oct. 1999 at age 52 from GM. 18 years ago. It freed me up to get back into doing my artwork on my own time and enjoying life. A new lease on life. No regrets. Retired life is good for me...but some of my retired friends had no hobbies or anything constructive to do and are miserable. Not me...

 

[Tiki Tom]

I see a lot of colleagues who have retired, who still find excuses to visit the building. Invariably, they look about ten years younger than they did while they were working. All of them say “if you can possibly afford to retire, do it.” Life style and health trump working for that extra bit more. I guess that sums it up. Although I could extend to 65, I will probably take the 62 option.

 

[Macbeth]

After 60, there are no guarantees you will continue in good health. So if the things you WANT to do require mobility and mental health, you should retire BEFORE you think you should.
I miss absolutely NOTHING of my careers in teaching (at all levels) and law enforcement.
There is very little STRESS in my life now and I am never bored.
You will regret it the rest of your days if you wait until too late and you suffer illnesses.
A worst nightmare is to save and save for the golden years and DIE before you get to even taste them.

 

[MikeKardec]

I've never really understood retirement. Does it mean a person is never going to work again or does it just mean leaving one job for another while accepting the long term benefits of the first job? These days I think anyone would be taking a risk not earning some sort of income at any age, if they can still earn an income. Changing jobs? Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with a long vacation or taking it easier. But people tend to need a mission. They die from that sort of 'sit on the front porch' retirement idea. Be careful!

All that said, I agree with Macbeth. I've seen too many people put off the things that make them happy until too close to death. I've seen too many people seek perfection which they get 5 years to enjoy when they could have taken something half as good but had it for 20 years. Pursue your dreams but hedge your bets by always working to make some sort of non investment income.

 

[GHT]

My Grandfather was an inspiration to me, a serving, middle ranking police officer, he was compulsory retired aged 55 in 1937. He joined a The League of Commissionaires, it was the UK's forerunner to security companies. He worked there, full time until he was 77, only being retired for his own good. A keen gardener, Granddad put his energy into his garden, neighbours, impressed by his green fingered work, asked him to maintain their gardens. He did four other gardens, each one for about four hours each a week. At the age of 87, a former police colleague told him that he was much too old to be doing all that labouring. Granddad believed him, sat in his armchair and waited for God. Before he was 88, he had lost the plot. He died in his late 90's, but it might have been when he gave up the gardening. He knew very little of his final years.

I'm with Scotty, putting an age on retirement is a one size fits all scenario. HoosierDaddy retired at 52 and is loving it, a friend of mine retired at 40, after selling his very profitable business, he improved his golf swing so much he became a scratch player. I retired at 64, that lasted eight months, then again at 68, that lasted for fifteen months, now I'm very happy working twenty hours a week at the age of 71. Those who work past an accepted retirement age will often tell you, working because you want to, not because you have to, is a much stronger stimulus. There's so much I can do in my social life, yet the pull of work remains as strong as ever. What others have said makes much sense, do what you want to do, what your ageing mind and body is capable of doing, at whatever age that happens to be.

There was a program on British TV recently about people who work well past the accepted ages of retirement. One was a surgeon, still performing operations at the age of 92. There was an 82 year old truck driver, a university professor and others, but the one that stuck in my memory was that of Carmen Dell'Orefice, who, at 86, is said to be the world's oldest super model.

 

[Edward]

I think it very much depends on the individual, and their job. Obviously most of us would struggle with very physical, manual labour past eighty, whereas I havea colleague here at the university still teaching copyright law well into his mid eighties. Me, well, my dread would be to retire at fifty and pursue the acting I was good at but never could afford to make a go of. Maybe I'd do that tomorrow if the massive lottery win came in: I'd certainly work on reducing my hours and trying other things. Much as there are parts of my job I love, there are other bits I'd be only too happy to be shot of if I didn't need the full-time money. My current contract of employment runs until I hit 65 in 2039; at that point, my workplace pension kicks in at about 50% of what I'm earning now. I'm pretty certain I'll never be able to afford to do much more than afford abasic existrence in London on my pension, so I don't imagine that full retirement will be a ralistic option. I'll probably keep on some teaching work, while pursuing paid extras jobs, that sort of thing.

I retired early Oct. 1999 at age 52 from GM. 18 years ago. It freed me up to get back into doing my artwork on my own time and enjoying life. A new lease on life. No regrets. Retired life is good for me...but some of my retired friends had no hobbies or anything constructive to do and are miserable. Not me...

Whatever age you retire at, I think that's the secret: keeping active. The people I've known who struggled with retirement were always those with no hobbies who struggled to pass the time. Perhaps it's a good thing that so many kids now will never be able to afford to retire: back inmy day, everyone had a hobby of some sort. Hobbies seem to be considred geeky and unfashionable now. I guess they spend all their time on social media?

 

[Fading Fast]

I think it very much depends on the individual, and their job. Obviously most of us would struggle with very physical, manual labour past eighty, whereas I havea colleague here at the university still teaching copyright law well into his mid eighties. Me, well, my dread would be to retire at fifty and pursue the acting I was good at but never could afford to make a go of. Maybe I'd do that tomorrow if the massive lottery win came in: I'd certainly work on reducing my hours and trying other things. Much as there are parts of my job I love, there are other bits I'd be only too happy to be shot of if I didn't need the full-time money. My current contract of employment runs until I hit 65 in 2039; at that point, my workplace pension kicks in at about 50% of what I'm earning now. I'm pretty certain I'll never be able to afford to do much more than afford abasic existrence in London on my pension, so I don't imagine that full retirement will be a ralistic option. I'll probably keep on some teaching work, while pursuing paid extras jobs, that sort of thing.





Whatever age you retire at, I think that's the secret: keeping active. The people I've known who struggled with retirement were always those with no hobbies who struggled to pass the time. Perhaps it's a good thing that so many kids now will never be able to afford to retire: back inmy day, everyone had a hobby of some sort. Hobbies seem to be considred geeky and unfashionable now. I guess they spend all their time on social media?

I'm stunned that you have a "work contract" that runs 'till '39 - but I guess that's the university world as I'm use to the business world where you are an employee "at will" and can quit or be fired (laid off) at anytime.

I am not exaggerating - as I've been working in a field that has been contracting, overall, for the past three decades - to say that I've never felt secure that whatever job I had, I'd still have in six or more months as the companies were always, "under pressure," "looking at costs," "cutting back," "reorganizing," etc.

Until you said it, I hadn't thought about it, but hobbies did seem much more of a thing years ago. Part of it, I guess, is parents are so tied up with their kids' schedules these days, they have less time to pursue their own interests.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I'm curious how many of you are factoring on social security being around? Many people my age (40s) and younger are looking at little if any social security being available to us.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have no intention of retiring as long as I'm physically capable of working, no matter how old I am. I'd go nuts otherwise. I don't even take vacations because if I go more than a day or two without working I get twitchy.

 

[Edward]

I'm stunned that you have a "work contract" that runs 'till '39 - but I guess that's the university world as I'm use to the business world where you are an employee "at will" and can quit or be fired (laid off) at anytime.

I am not exaggerating - as I've been working in a field that has been contracting, overall, for the past three decades - to say that I've never felt secure that whatever job I had, I'd still have in six or more months as the companies were always, "under pressure," "looking at costs," "cutting back," "reorganizing," etc.

Yes, I'm very lucky in that regard. It is very rare these days to have such a reliable position - as a rule, certainly, the private sector in the UK can often pay better (had I gone into practice in a city law firm, I wouldbe esrning at least twice and possibly as much as five times as what I do now), but there is a lot less job security. Many people I know consider themselves lucky if they have a contract beyond five years. Without getting into the polotics of employment law, the UK has less of a 'hire and fire' culture than the US in terms of worker's legal rights and such, though that might change in future.

Until you said it, I hadn't thought about it, but hobbies did seem much more of a thing years ago. Part of it, I guess, is parents are so tied up with their kids' schedules these days, they have less time to pursue their own interests.

I hadn't rally thought of that angle, but it's certainly true. For the middle class kids, at least. I remember when I was at school being pudhed to lesrn piano and sdo my Duke of Edinburgh's Award and such not for any love of music or activities, but because "it'll look good on your university application." That was a common, middle-class parental attitude at the time, and it seems to have gotten much, much worse since then. The sad thing is, having now seen how the application processes work, nobody in universities gives a damn as long as you make the grades. I suspect that at some point there will have to be a backlash as a generation who lost their childhood to this sort of parental freetime diktat go another way with their own kids.

I'm curious how many of you are factoring on social security being around? Many people my age (40s) and younger are looking at little if any social security being available to us.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/

Without getting into the politics of it, the government have, in recent years, pushed the age at which I am entitled to my state pension up to 67, so there will already be two years betwen the end of my contract and that. The way it's going, though, I don't expect the state p[ension to be worth collecting by the time I become elligble, so I'm hoping that I'm either a] fit to keep working or b] drop dead just as I hit retirement age if my workplace pension can't support me.

 

[GHT]

Without getting into the politics of it, the government have, in recent years, pushed the age at which I am entitled to my state pension up to 67, so there will already be two years between the end of my contract and that. The way it's going, though, I don't expect the state pension to be worth collecting by the time I become eligible, so I'm hoping that I'm either a] fit to keep working or b] drop dead just as I hit retirement age if my workplace pension can't support me.

There is a third option, just remember to keep that appointment with Specsavers.