I started at the place I’m working at now right out of college, and there was a pension that was intended to provide 85% of your final salary from retirement to the end of your life; I would have had all my retirement points at 55. Then like 15+ years ago, the company was sold and the pension was frozen. Still a great thing, but nothing close to what it was supposed to be.
When I turned 55, I was pretty pissed off about it - I should have been able to retire. Then I realized that I could easily live another 30 years. That’s an awfully long time. Sure, the money would have been nice, but I don’t think I would have wanted to retire then. I’m getting close to it now, and still it seems like a long time potentially.
Do you have a game plan for what you’d do? Not rhetorical, I’m curious.
I worked with a guy who I thought would really love retirement. He and his wife traveled a lot, and he had a couple hobbies he was passionate about. I met him for lunch a couple years later, and he was morose and said he regretted retirement. He said he still loved traveling, but it was something they only wanted to do two, maybe three trips a year. He was excited about doing his hobbies more, but doing them all day felt like it was his job and sucked some of the fun out of them. So he ended up sitting on the couch watching TV all day.
Meanwhile, the place we work has way more than a normal cross section of brilliant people, and we do super interesting stuff. He said he loved talking with friends and family, but he desperately missed solving problems with literal rocket scientists.
I’m still going to retire next year, but stories like that give me pause.
I must be too easy to please or something but I work so I can enjoy life outside of work and even being stuck at home while pretty much everything was closed was enjoyable to me…
I don’t need a plan because I know what I love to do and I find that people who focused on work all their life have a hard time with retirement because they never took the time to truly start enjoying their time outside work (I’ve got tons of examples of that from seeing colleagues retiring and I could tell which ones were going to be bored and would go and find another job because that’s all they’ve ever had as a “hobby”).
If I could retire tomorrow I would build a four season house to replace our three season cottage, I would go hiking every day (to the joy of my dog), play video games, watch movies, read books, cook, go camping… All the things I already know that I enjoy and that work gets in the way of.
Yeah, I thought about it. I’m a manager at my company, and my actual software development skills are pretty antiquated. Could probably do requirements and architecture, but they don’t need me for that (certainly not at my pay level). I can’t be a part time manager. I’m guessing there are a couple things they’ll ask me back for, weird niche experience I have, but those things don’t happen every year.
I’ll probably be fine. I’m don’t get bored very easily. We’re planning to relocate when I retire, so settling in and exploring will soak up a lot of time for a while. Should be fine.
I’m (unfortunately) not even close to retirement, but everything you said, I agree with. For me, a job is like a train track, and I’m on the train and life is just going, and I get off at stops here and there, but that clickity-clack is a constant white noise. Perhaps it’s me remembering the immaturity of when I was younger, but I’ve always found that when I don’t have work, I seem less focused on general.
I am fortunate to have a good job, and I don’t love it, but it’s more than tolerable, which to me is the benchmark. I assume how you feel about your job is a big factor in this whole discussion. I imagine I’ll work less when I hit the magic social security number, but the thought of retiring just stopping working entirely one day just doesn’t make sense to me.
I’ve been working at my company for 39 years (I’ve done a lot of different things in that time, so it isn’t stale). I like the work and the people, and it feels important, but it’s getting tough when the alarm clock goes off, and I’m beat when the day is over. I’m getting ready to pull the plug, but I’d be a liar if I said I had no reservations.
Work definitely does suck the life out of you, regardless of whether or not you like it. Just hard to focus on something all day and not be tired.
I won’t say good luck in retirement, because I don’t know what that means. So I’ll just say see you around the fediverse, because there’s no retiring from this life.
Keep busy with something. The day a man retires is the day he begins to die. Always keep busy, just try to be happy about it & maybe take a slower pace.
A couple years back, I saw a really old woman slinging fries at McD’s. She seemed happy enough, not destitute, this job was just something not too difficult to do to pass the time.
I’m more of a coffeeshop guy, myself. I could see myself doing that.
That is a bit of a worry. A big issue is that I really like to read. I already read kind of a stupid number of books. I have to not let that escalate too much when I’m not working 40+ hours a week.
Why? You’re retiring so you can spend time doing the things you like doing, you’ll feel much more fulfilled if you do things you like with your time instead of forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy…
That is the cool thing you can retire at 55 and then do more of what you want maybe take a part time role or just find a new job or hobby. Then with the excess income you are so secure you can just fly to Paris if you want or go spend time with your kids for a month without worrying about bills or having the pressure of work.
I started at the place I’m working at now right out of college, and there was a pension that was intended to provide 85% of your final salary from retirement to the end of your life; I would have had all my retirement points at 55. Then like 15+ years ago, the company was sold and the pension was frozen. Still a great thing, but nothing close to what it was supposed to be.
When I turned 55, I was pretty pissed off about it - I should have been able to retire. Then I realized that I could easily live another 30 years. That’s an awfully long time. Sure, the money would have been nice, but I don’t think I would have wanted to retire then. I’m getting close to it now, and still it seems like a long time potentially.
I’m not 40 and I’m ready to retire, the pandemic had me test it for 14 months and yeah, sign me up!
Do you have a game plan for what you’d do? Not rhetorical, I’m curious.
I worked with a guy who I thought would really love retirement. He and his wife traveled a lot, and he had a couple hobbies he was passionate about. I met him for lunch a couple years later, and he was morose and said he regretted retirement. He said he still loved traveling, but it was something they only wanted to do two, maybe three trips a year. He was excited about doing his hobbies more, but doing them all day felt like it was his job and sucked some of the fun out of them. So he ended up sitting on the couch watching TV all day.
Meanwhile, the place we work has way more than a normal cross section of brilliant people, and we do super interesting stuff. He said he loved talking with friends and family, but he desperately missed solving problems with literal rocket scientists.
I’m still going to retire next year, but stories like that give me pause.
I must be too easy to please or something but I work so I can enjoy life outside of work and even being stuck at home while pretty much everything was closed was enjoyable to me…
I don’t need a plan because I know what I love to do and I find that people who focused on work all their life have a hard time with retirement because they never took the time to truly start enjoying their time outside work (I’ve got tons of examples of that from seeing colleagues retiring and I could tell which ones were going to be bored and would go and find another job because that’s all they’ve ever had as a “hobby”).
If I could retire tomorrow I would build a four season house to replace our three season cottage, I would go hiking every day (to the joy of my dog), play video games, watch movies, read books, cook, go camping… All the things I already know that I enjoy and that work gets in the way of.
Just work part time instead of full time or do contract work for several months a year
Yeah, I thought about it. I’m a manager at my company, and my actual software development skills are pretty antiquated. Could probably do requirements and architecture, but they don’t need me for that (certainly not at my pay level). I can’t be a part time manager. I’m guessing there are a couple things they’ll ask me back for, weird niche experience I have, but those things don’t happen every year.
I’ll probably be fine. I’m don’t get bored very easily. We’re planning to relocate when I retire, so settling in and exploring will soak up a lot of time for a while. Should be fine.
I’m (unfortunately) not even close to retirement, but everything you said, I agree with. For me, a job is like a train track, and I’m on the train and life is just going, and I get off at stops here and there, but that clickity-clack is a constant white noise. Perhaps it’s me remembering the immaturity of when I was younger, but I’ve always found that when I don’t have work, I seem less focused on general.
I am fortunate to have a good job, and I don’t love it, but it’s more than tolerable, which to me is the benchmark. I assume how you feel about your job is a big factor in this whole discussion. I imagine I’ll work less when I hit the magic social security number, but the thought of retiring just stopping working entirely one day just doesn’t make sense to me.
I’ve been working at my company for 39 years (I’ve done a lot of different things in that time, so it isn’t stale). I like the work and the people, and it feels important, but it’s getting tough when the alarm clock goes off, and I’m beat when the day is over. I’m getting ready to pull the plug, but I’d be a liar if I said I had no reservations.
Work definitely does suck the life out of you, regardless of whether or not you like it. Just hard to focus on something all day and not be tired.
I won’t say good luck in retirement, because I don’t know what that means. So I’ll just say see you around the fediverse, because there’s no retiring from this life.
Thanks! And same to you!
Keep busy with something. The day a man retires is the day he begins to die. Always keep busy, just try to be happy about it & maybe take a slower pace.
A couple years back, I saw a really old woman slinging fries at McD’s. She seemed happy enough, not destitute, this job was just something not too difficult to do to pass the time.
I’m more of a coffeeshop guy, myself. I could see myself doing that.
That is a bit of a worry. A big issue is that I really like to read. I already read kind of a stupid number of books. I have to not let that escalate too much when I’m not working 40+ hours a week.
“have to not let that escalate too much”
Why? You’re retiring so you can spend time doing the things you like doing, you’ll feel much more fulfilled if you do things you like with your time instead of forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy…
Because reading a book is about the must sedentary thing there is, and I need to get out of the chair sometimes.
That is the cool thing you can retire at 55 and then do more of what you want maybe take a part time role or just find a new job or hobby. Then with the excess income you are so secure you can just fly to Paris if you want or go spend time with your kids for a month without worrying about bills or having the pressure of work.