Mixed feelings about retirement

[Hootbro]

I will bet a cold beer your replacement does not get hire until a couple weeks out from your retirement date if at all. I work in a highly specialized industry with a lot of very knowledgeable engineers and planners who are on the surface are indispensable. Every one of those who has retired over the years that everyone predicted was indispensable or critical, at most were missed and/or impacted the continuing working for maybe a week. Like sticking your finger in a cup of water and pulling it out quick, your impact is missed about the same amount of time for the waves in the cup of water to smooth out.

Your body and your choice but do not delay your happiness in retiring because you think you are standing on a ethical high ground with a need to accommodate your employer. I doubt they would give you a years heads up to a layoff.

 

[Patman]

Life is short, too many people work far too late in life and then they can't enjoy the time they have off when they do retire. My dad is a perfect case, he worked until he was 68 and only had a couple of years of retirement before my mom died of cancer. He could have easily retired 10 years earlier if he had been a little bit better with his money (he was vice president of a printing company and made extremely good money but he also spent it foolishly)

carviewsonic, is there any way you can downsize and move to a much smaller and cheaper house? That's one big reason how my wife and I are going to be able to retire in two years (we will both be 52) We will sell our Oakville home and move much further from Toronto where we'll get a smaller bungalow for about $1,000,000 less than we sell our house for. That money, plus her teacher's pension and our RRSPs will allow us to continue to live the same lifestyle we live now. If we could move even further away (to a different province) we could get a home for even less, but we'd like to be within a two hour drive of our family.

 

[Mr Nice]

Much more important things in life than money....

 

[ediamiam]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Much more important things in life than money....

Unless you don't have that money

 

[dlundblad]

57 and retiring. Congrats.

Does working part time interest you? Can you without effecting your pension? I'd prefer to work in the winter and work less if at all in the summer just to keep busy. I'm half your age though so ask me again in another 30 years how I feel.

Losing friends from work is never fun. There's also the ones who you thought were your friends that don't seem to want anything to do with you after you leave.