It's Official, but different

[AzScorpion]

You suck.

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[GhostStrykre]

geez, all these stories in addition to OP's are a good reminder to myself of why i keep my ranger.

bought it for what is now dirt cheap in 2020 and i can afford to pay extra into my retirement. i'm only about 9 years in to my 30 year tour with my job. i got a waaaays to go before i can collect on my pension and 401k stuff.

congrats on retirement, OP! sorry to hear that the details aren't as fun, but i wish you happiness!

 

[Tom_C]

Yeah, during the whole transition to the new company it was pretty obvious that morale was in the crapper. One dude, pretty high up and in an important position sat on hands until the switch happened. The Monday we all started as contractors, he called in and said "I QUIT. No notice, because you don't deserve it. You get what you give. Bye"

When the plan was announced I immediately knew I was leaving, I just needed to stay on to take care of medical stuff. It was very liberating, actually. I didn't really keep it a secret what my plan was, but I didn't put it in any text, emails, etc, so they didn't have any paper trail.

 

[Tom_C]

Congratulations Tom! I am jealous! I am 67+ and need the extra SS to make ends meet when I do retire at 70 . I have been under paid and over worked the last 30 years with the same company but do like what I do. Not very many people work for the same company that long anymore. I sure can't wait until September 16, 2026 when I can finally say every day is Saturday!!! I have younger friends who are retired and am sure jealous. Enjoy your retirement!

Good luck to you. I don't want to be the sand in your Vaseline so don't take this negatively. The government is betting that we don't live long, and we are betting that we do. Last year I lost both my brother and my sister, ages 66 and 64. Sitting here now at age 62 makes a man think "why wait" to take SS. I would get a large bump in my monthly payment by waiting until I'm 67, but who knows, I may be dead. Plus, there's the whole 'break even' point at around 80... if you take SS early and die before the breakeven point, then you will have collected more money than if you waited longer to take it. If you live past the breakeven, then you end up collecting less money in total.

So, do you want to roll the dice? Everyone's situation is different, and I wouldn't fault anyone either way.

 

[AzScorpion]

Good luck to you. I don't want to be the sand in your Vaseline so don't take this negatively. The government is betting that we don't live long, and we are betting that we do. Last year I lost both my brother and my sister, ages 66 and 64. Sitting here now at age 62 makes a man think "why wait" to take SS. I would get a large bump in my monthly payment by waiting until I'm 67, but who knows, I may be dead. Plus, there's the whole 'break even' point at around 80... if you take SS early and die before the breakeven point, then you will have collected more money than if you waited longer to take it. If you live past the breakeven, then you end up collecting less money in total.

So, do you want to roll the dice? Everyone's situation is different, and I wouldn't fault anyone either way.

This has been beaten to death on every retirement forum but you're right that everyones situation is different. If you (which you seem to not have) longevity in your family you're better taking it as late as possible. Besides the obvious boost in income for life your spouse will get a much higher survival benefit which could really help her/him out when they get older.

Some say take it early and if you don't need it either invest it or spend it because you're young and can still travel. Some say wait as long as possible (I'm in this camp) because of the boost in income for life. Right now my goal is to wait until at least 65 (my FRA is 67) and evaluate it then. We have everything paid for and only have utilities and taxes today for so we "should" be good. Annies going to work until she's 67 (4 more years) because she still enjoys (somewhat) what she does and working from home has made that less stressful. But we reevaluate it every year and this could change. If they decide to change the SS rules earlier I'll take it then and hopefully be grandfathered in.

I've never worried about dying early and breaking even, when you're dead you're dead who cares? I've worried about living a long life and not having enough. As we've seen these past 4 years inflation can eat away at your savings/investments very quickly! I have longevity in my family where both grandparents lived well into their 90's and my parents are 80/84 now and still going strong.

Someone asked me once "how do you know you've done the right thing with your investments"? My answer was "you don't until you're on your death bed and you still have money left". Crazy thought but true and as Limp Bizkit says "Life is a lesson you learn it when you're through". My words of wisdom for the day. lol

 

[OBX Guy]

I am "in the short rows." I am having my house renovated before leaving the workforce. I want that to be done (and paid for) before I quit. I too am in IT and the company I work for was taken over by a hedge fund. My "new hire" RSUs are completely vested in September. Retirement is on track.
DEI and other silliness has made it a real PITA to keep the job when all it is for is "a metal roof, expanded floor space and better windows and floors."

I will be 64 and joining John Galt in March of 2025. My coworkers think that I am much younger than I actually am. I look forward to many years of hanging out, parked on the beach, fishing for pompano .

 

[NotBudule2]

I knew you wouldn't/couldn't go quietly!

Who???

me ???

 

[Friday yet?]

The Monday we all started as contractors, he called in and said "I QUIT. No notice, because you don't deserve it. You get what you give. Bye"

OMFG I want to buy that man a beer!!!!

Spot on. Absolutely spot on.

 

[Grandaccess]

Semi retired at 57, I dont think any one can fully retire now days, my step mom is 75 and still works a full time job! they wont let her go LOL she had a minor stroke last month and her boss called her in the hospital and asked her when she could come in again
In Jan. I had one of my contracts end after 19 years, Im just gonna float till 62 and pull it early, over the last ten years I seen things go backwards and paid everything TF off knowing you cant be heading into retirement with a mortgage, credit card debt or auto loan...

 

[TJC]

I'm waiting until 70 to start SS. If I start drawing now taxes will eat it up. I'm retired but wife still has a few years to go. Can't wait for her to call it a day!

 

[Tom_C]

I'm waiting until 70 to start SS. If I start drawing now taxes will eat it up. I'm retired but wife still has a few years to go. Can't wait for her to call it a day!

True dat. I was waiting to start until next year because of that. I'll see how it all shakes out, and push it as long as I can survive. We still have a mortgage, but we also have been building our retirement home for years 'out of pocket', and we will finish it this fall. Once that happens then we can clear out the current house and sell it. We have a good amount of equity, so that will keep me from starting to draw down my other investments. I'll just need to get some health insurance to hold me for 3 years. My wife is already on Medicare, the old hag. Just kidding honey, don't beat me.

 

[Retirednavy2010]

Congratulations. I was blessed to be able to retire at 64. Been 3 1/2 years now and was the best decision I ever made. It’s a mindset change for sure but you’ll forget about all the BS as time passes ( until someone posts about it ?). Enjoy!

I retired at 66 and 5 months. Full Social Secuity. Been 1 year and the thought of working again is repulsive. Glad we paid attention to our investments and crimped not getting all the "stuff" we wanted but didn't need so we can live easily now. Good Luck and welcome to the retired club. What day is today? Who cares it's Saturday to me!

 

[fjwlobo]

CONGRATS too everyone thats been able to retire and are enjoying yourself

As with others here, I'm ready for that day to get here

ONLY 2 YEARS, 5 MONTHS, 14 DAYS, 1 HOUR, 31 MINUTES, and 32 SECONDS TO GO (December 31, 2026) and it will be time to and do what I want when I want (HOPEFULLY) ?

Well, maybe once it warms up a little ???

 

[Roscoe_t]

It is also why there is no loyalty to employers anymore.

I have friends I graduated with that have tripled their salary in ~ 5 years just by hopping company to company.

They would get hired at a startup, get some connections and move to a larger company. eventually they were working for the big names (tesla, spacex, apple, google etc).

I do not think we will ever go back to a time when employers valued employees as anything other than task doers.

The horror stories you read on LinkedIn about employees working their asses off for companies, sacrificing for the company only to be let go due to "cost savings" are heart breaking many times. One of the stories (Y'all may have heard it before this is a brief summary) the guy was working at tesla, was a floor manager or something worked so many hours he would just sleep in his car in the parking lot because it didn't make sense for him to drive home because he needed that extra little bit of sleep. left shift one night, when he arrived a few hours later his badge no longer worked and the security guard is the one who told him he was laid off.

My next job will be for the benefits, not the pay. . . I need a company that gets good discounts on outdoor gear and allows me access to their machine shop and welding equipment. . . LOL

Sounds like the gig my BiL had at 3M. He stayed with the job until mandatory retirement age because of the perks. I think he also got a charge out of being a PITA. I'm surprised his supervisor didn't go postal on him at some point.

 

[tm1506]

Since all of us retirees are laying on the couch spilling our guts, here's my story. Worked at a major university so we had our own pension plan (its good since I live in a very generous state that likes to spend other peoples money)so I paid very little into SS. Anyway about 14 years ago the University in it's infinite wisdom decided they were in a financial crisis and offered a half year buyout if you fit the criteria. Fortunately for me I did and retired at 58, the door didn't hit me on the way out! I took SS at 62 which gives me beer money and pays for medicare.

As far as staying active I run, hike, kayak etc but I'm also good with vegging out and watching YouTube with some adult beverages all day, it's all about balance. At 72 it works for me.

Bottom line, when someone says you're lucky (which I am) I remind them that it didn't happen overnight.

Ok my session is up!

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