Recently retired after almost 26 years on the job.

[Patman]

My wife and I are both 47 and we are going to retire in 5 years. The thing we are most looking forward to is spending every winter in Florida, we both hate the cold and snow a lot! I seriously doubt we will do any kind of part time work, but if we had to my wife has said she could always do some substitute teaching here and there. I could easily get part time work in my current job too (photo retoucher) But I think we'll be too busy doing what we always do during our summers off, we like to go on road trips checking out small towns.

 

[CharBaby]

When I retired(after 42 yrs) at the end of March 2014, I told myself that I would return to work after I have cleansed my brain and my soul of all the built up $#!+ that I put up with in my last 16 yrs of working.

I haven't returned to work yet!
I don't have a thing to do but I am always busy!
I can't believe how young I look now!

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
That's the reason why I never wanted to own a business. It simply consumes too much time and energy. Definitely not as easy as some people (non business owners) think it is.



Yes when you get up every morning and look in the mirror at your boss you wonder why he's such an A hole!

 

[wtd]

Originally Posted By: jhs914
Wayne, did you go through basic training at GLYNCO?


Yes I did.

 

[Tdbo]

I retired after 31 years effective May 1, 2015.
Have not missed the stress, the getting up at 4AM every morning, the 130 mile round trip commute every day and the 12 hour days (that was on a good day.)
I have managed to keep busy on desired pursuits, as well as unplanned trials/tribulations.
Financially, I have no issues at all but there are times that I would like to do something interesting at least on a PT basis. My only motivation for doing this is that I would like to add on/remodel the house, and because of my own financial views, do not want to dip into my investments to do so.
However, it is liberating to know that I don't have to work unless I want to.

 

[Cadenza]

I retired in May after 31 years as manager at a busy airport.

Thought I was done with work forever, but I took a job as a part-time on-call driver at my daughter’s company delivering documents. It gives me time out of the house and I can be around lots of people. I needed that.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I can't believe how young I look now!


Interesting that you mention this.
I've been stunned by how much better those who've retired from our place look after a couple of months out.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: emmett442
With respect, I never understood this logic.

If you are planning to retire yet find another job anyway, then why bother retiring? Why give up your current salary for $10/hr at Lowes?



I'm young, but I imagine waiting to retire until I'm sure I don't have to work anymore. When I retire, I'm DONE.


Because it keeps you busy.

Typically, the older folks you see doing this sort of thing do not have to work.. they just want something to keep them going. That said, they could use that money earned for their hobbies without dipping into their retirement fund(s).

I worked with an older guy at my first job. 84. All his friends retired, sat a home and watched TV then had severe health issues and died a few years later. These were his words. He just wanted something to keep him going whatever that was. He said there was no stress in what he did because he didn't "have" to be there.. just wanted to.

He worked ~20 hr weeks during the colder months and took the late spring, summer and early fall off.


Don't need to work, but don't want to sit at home all day

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

I went back to work after retiring the first time in 94 because I had to for financial reasons. My plan was to retire for good then but my ex wife's plan was to work me like a rented mule until I dropped dead in the traces.
She pretty much got her way by divorcing me, the cost of which forced me to work for the next 10 years. I kept working after that because I liked my job so much. I retired for good last year because my much nicer current wife advised me to retire so we could take care of my parents.

In my view, you have 2 financial nuts to take care of in retirement. The have to have nut that takes care of basic mandatory expenses, and the nice to have nut that covers luxuries like travel, entertainment, dining out, hobbies, etc. A whole lot of people only manage to cover the first nut, but with your job, I'm assuming that unlike me the first time, you have both covered and you aren't considering financial reasons.

In my case, my parents have passed since I retired. I could go back to work, but even though I enjoyed it immensely, I am having too much fun with my time being my own to really consider it. So, yeah, I did go back to work after retiring once, but I think I finally got it right the second time and wouldn't do it again.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
That's the reason why I never wanted to own a business. It simply consumes too much time and energy. Definitely not as easy as some people (non business owners) think it is.
Oh man...the stories I could tell...

I'm looking forward to working for someone else soon.

 

[wtd]

I did get divorced in 2004 and that hurt me retirement wise because I lost 65% of my TSP(401K) to my ex. The Market crash in 07/08 didn't help things either.

Luckily I got to keep the house in the divorce and was able to pay it off before I retired. I was also able to continue to contribute 17% + 5% employer matching to my TSP to bring my balance up. While I don't have what I would like to have in my TSP, it's a decent amount. I can live off of my pension without touching my TSP since I do not have many bills and very low debt. So I don't have to go back to work for financial reasons.

 

[Mr Nice]

wtd,

Sounds like you played your cards correctly and you're on easy street compared to other Americans your age.

 

[wtd]

I have learned that most people do not plan for retirement at all and is why they end up having to continue to work during their retirement years.

Wayne

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I can't believe how young I look now!


Interesting that you mention this.
I've been stunned by how much better those who've retired from our place look after a couple of months out.


Same here...we had voluntary redundancies through our workplace in 2014...

Those who got a small lottery win for leaving within 6 months (regardless of how little they did at work) lost weight, lost stress lines, and invariably look like they lost 10 years.

 

[Panzerman]

I ll probably retire due to my age than number of years at the same job. Turn over in Florida, Right to work states are high.
I could see myself getting a job for $9.00 a hour at AutoZone or Advance just to lower the stress because with big money comes Big stress.
I am pretty well financially secure even cutting back to just 40 hours a week would be easy which I am trying to do but that isn't easy to do in my line of work.

 

[fdcg27]

We had a two year buyout on offer back in '08.
We were going through a reduction in headcount of around 15% and some found themselves out in the cold and were never able to get back in.
I was not then eligible for the buyout, but were such a thing to come along today, I'd be cleaning out my office even as I read the email. I am blessed with the only corner office at our site so it would be left for others to fight over.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
We had a two year buyout on offer back in '08.
We were going through a reduction in headcount of around 15% and some found themselves out in the cold and were never able to get back in.
I was not then eligible for the buyout, but were such a thing to come along today, I'd be cleaning out my office even as I read the email. I am blessed with the only corner office at our site so it would be left for others to fight over.


And why is that, because you are unhappy at work or just at the very end of your career ?

Where I work the company offers an early retirement package, I really don't know what it consists of because I didn't want to be nosy and ask. A few took the offer and within a month retired.

 

[fdcg27]

If you're going to retire at some point, you may as well do so when you're offered two free years.
Kind of like a percent off mPerks coupon except the dollar value is a little higher.