Well I retired from GM today

[Oliveoil2]

Today was my last day at General Motors. Took a buyout and started my pension. Spent 1 year working assembly at Lansing Car Assembly making Grand Ams, Buicks and Oldsmobiles. A few years working Plant 3 Metal Fab then a few more years in the materials dept at Lansing Grand River Plant building Caddies and Camaros. Then, I graduated to Global Customer Audit, finally ending up working Metrology in LGR's CMM Room.

Now I need to find something else to do with my time. Maybe running coordinate measuring machines for a supplier or fabrication facility ( I got pretty good working with PC-DMIS, Zeiss Inspect and Polyworks). Maybe working as a liaison for a supplier in a local GM plant. Maybe something completely different, who knows.

All I know is that I can't sit at home eating chips and drinking beer since my wife doesn't give me enough of an allowance for that. ;-)

Kind of exciting trying to figure out what my future will be.

Congrats! How many years did you work for GM and how old are you?

 

[andrew_j]

Congrats on your next life adventure!

 

[ZZman]

Congrats. I live in your area.

How old are you?

 

[Dave Hess]

I remember when I moved here in 1999 and started a new job (Phila), an exec had that. It looked sweet.

Yeah, they looked very sharp.

 

[BobsArmory]

Congrats! How many years did you work for GM and how old are you?

30 years I'm 60

 

[Donald]

There are some books out there with titles like "Retire with a Purpose". Good reading.

Then there is planning for retirement finances, medical and taxes.

Some states are more retirement friendly than others.

More time for grandchildren.

 

[Cujet]

Today was my last day at General Motors.

Now I need to find something else to do with my time.

Congratulations!!!!

I retired less than a year ago at age 60. It's been wonderful. I have never found myself bored. There is truly an endless list of things to do. I initially did home repairs. Need to get back into that for a bit. One thing I should do is to sell belongings on Ebay. I have way too much stuff.

I did do some contract work for a week and remembered why I retired.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

After 30 years in the beer business, I had enough both mentally and physically. then retired for about five years, then made a decision to drive a school bus for Special Needs Students. They paid for my training and bus licensing - paid me a seniority wage while I trained. Once trained, you can become benefited and get great governmental Blue Cross medical insurance for about $150 month.

You are entitled to having summer off - or take the option to work the eight weeks program. Plus you get a week off around Easter - about 10 days off during Christmas break and several more days off during the school year for various teacher events / breaks. Most of these days off are with pay and the hourly isn't that bad..... about $24.50 hr. currently.

Regular schools average 20 hours per week and Special Needs bussing puts us higher..... 30-35-40 hours per week. You get free training on things on CPR / CPI / State Mandate changes......etc. You can qualify for a very small pension at 10 years. I will do that pension in two more years and 10 years allows me to keep the same Blue Cross Insurance at the same $$-rate non-retirees are paying. So at 75.7 years-old, I will finally retire once again..... next time for good.

One last thing..... the towel over my head scares the kids. So I leave it at home.

 

[Fitter30]

Congrats on your retirement. Retired 13 years. Never miss work just some of the people i worked with. 40 years 3 generations with one company. Seen it grow from 2 service people to 47 from a pipefitting company to adding sheet metal, plumbing, controls and electrical. All three generations believe in tools and education along with the different trade unions. Went to different manufacturers schools and union schools at night and week + for the manufacturers. This education made me more valuable to the contractor and union.

 

[Donald]

Also there is loss of identity when retired. As in wife was Asst Attorney General. No just another retired lawyer.

 

[Patman]

Also there is loss of identity when retired. As in wife was Asst Attorney General. No just another retired lawyer.

That’s a great point! My father was the vice president of a large printing company for more than 25 years and when he retired at age 68 he felt a little bit of that loss of identity

 

[joekingcorvette]

Congratulations!!!!

I retired less than a year ago at age 60. It's been wonderful. I have never found myself bored. There is truly an endless list of things to do. I initially did home repairs. Need to get back into that for a bit. One thing I should do is to sell belongings on Ebay. I have way too much stuff.

I did do some contract work for a week and remembered why I retired.

Very true on the Ebay. I had a lot of hunting and fishing supplies such as rods, reels, and extra lures. I didn't sell any guns but still made $4000 on Ebay sales in a matter of about 3 months. I took the money and bought the Honda Monkey and it seemed like it was free. My wife and I are not hoarders and it was nice getting rid of stuff on Ebay and Marketplace.