retire sooner or just work less? Update post 187

[bobosensei]

Sept 28, 2020 16:43:24 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sept 28, 2020 16:03:35 GMT -5 debthaven said:

resolution I'm sorry, the costs of health insurance are just insane. Same for The Walk of the Penguin Mich .

sesfw kudos to you, still working 25h/week at 79!!! I'm sure you're in fantastic shape!

The problem isn’t just the cost, but the access.

The ACA (and who knows how long that will be) allows health insurance to be sold by county.  What is available where I live is not the same as what is available 100 miles south in Seattle.  Locally, there are only 2 plans available, with no out of network/area options.  That’s not going to work for us.

I have a marketplace plan  now, but I saw the governor of georgia is removing access to the healthcare.gov website and next year everyone will have to go through brokers because he claims it will save people money.  I don't see how unless they are getting junk insurance.

Debthaven I think you should start by working less. If you absolutely hate it you can retire. But cutting hours will probably be nice enough for you to get through 2-3 more years.  You also might be able to start some sort of side business there too.  Are you still handling the books for your DH's business?  Maybe you can take a larger role helping him as one of the steps toward full retirement.

[lynnerself]

DH and I retired at 62. We both thought we would pick up some part time work or consulting. But we're 5 years in and have no desire to do either of these. Even before the pandemic.

[debthaven]

bobosensei yes I still do DH's books, but he'd rather do the rest himself. 
You're right, even 2-3 more years would be a boost in retirement income. 

[debthaven]

I think I found a plan ... 

I'm someone who needs a plan/structure. I'm not good at "winging it". 

I'm VERY busy this semester, but I'm not miserable/depressed/unhappy (except for Covid-related anxiety and hybrid/dual teaching.)

I have kept very careful track of my hours over the years. I realized that I am doing 5% fewer hours this year compared to last year. That happened organically, I didn't choose to do fewer hours. I DID give up my 2 MSc classes, but only because they were changed from Thursday afternoons to Friday afternoons. (I would have preferred to keep those forever.) I picked up another class instead. 

So I've decided that I will reduce my hours by 5% every school year ... maybe even 10% next school year since it's the year I COULD retire (but won't). That would mean reducing my hours by 10-15% over two years instead of retiring, and working 3 days/week instead of 4 days/week. 

Again, thank you all for your comments/questions/suggestions. 

I feel like I have a plan now. :-)

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Sept 28, 2020 16:43:24 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sept 28, 2020 16:03:35 GMT -5 debthaven said:

resolution I'm sorry, the costs of health insurance are just insane. Same for The Walk of the Penguin Mich .

sesfw kudos to you, still working 25h/week at 79!!! I'm sure you're in fantastic shape!

The problem isn’t just the cost, but the access.

The ACA (and who knows how long that will be) allows health insurance to be sold by county.  What is available where I live is not the same as what is available 100 miles south in Seattle.  Locally, there are only 2 plans available, with no out of network/area options.  That’s not going to work for us.

Same.  My county is one of the largest in Iowa.   There were only three plans here and NONE of them had doctors in network here.  I would have had to drive several hours out to find an in-network doctor to the tune of a $13k deductible.

Nope.  I just keep praying I stay employed forever.   Some of that weight has been lifted though if DH can keep this job.  He FINALLY works for a company that has a comparable health care plan to mine, better actually this time.   Mine just happens to be more affordable for a family of four.   Since we're relatively healthy we go with mine for the time being.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Sept 27, 2020 17:27:24 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I think I will retire at the 25 yr mark. Life is short.

So if I understand correctly Happy prose , you'll stop working completely at that point? 

That's what I'm hesitating about ... I agree that life is short, but I'm suddenly wondering if retiring at 62 as I planned rather than working less for longer is the best solution. 

What is the motivation to rethink retiring at 62 right now?

Is it due to the uncertainties regarding the pandemic? Fear of not having enough money? Love of your occupation? 

On the opposite side, I'm crunching my numbers and downgrading my expectations right now to see what the absolute earliest I can retire is. The answer is today , but that would come with some compromises I may not be up for.

[debthaven]

Rukh O'Rorke it's Fear of not having enough money? Love of your occupation? AND not having much to retire TO. 

My hobby is theater, which is off the table these days. But I've always worked AND done theater (I sometimes reduce my hours that semester if I have a big role.) I like to travel (off the table), see my family (off the table for 2 of my 4 kids), and stay home. 

It's a combination of all of the above. As you know neither DH nor I have ever been high earners.

You work a lot more hours and are under a lot more work stress than I am. Kudos for being able to retire today (even if you decide not to)!  

ETA: I can retire in Dec 2021. But I can't retire during a semester, so it would be Jan 2022. But Sem 2 is always easier. So why not do another Sem 2?! Once Sem 2 is over, just one more Sem 1 (4 months) and I'd have another year in (ie more retirement income). 

Obviously I can't keep that up forever. But if I reduce my hours, I can do it for another year or two or three.

As others have said, I'll try it and see. If it gets to be too much, I can always retire. 

[debthaven]

The other wild card is teaching face-to-face or remotely.  

I teach 4 days/week. Long story short, as of this week, I'm now teaching remotely one day/week. It makes a HUGE difference!!!

[Empire the P.A.]

Oct 1, 2020 15:18:28 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Sept 27, 2020 17:27:24 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I think I will retire at the 25 yr mark. Life is short.

So if I understand correctly Happy prose , you'll stop working completely at that point? 

That's what I'm hesitating about ... I agree that life is short, but I'm suddenly wondering if retiring at 62 as I planned rather than working less for longer is the best solution. 

What is the motivation to rethink retiring at 62 right now?

Is it due to the uncertainties regarding the pandemic? Fear of not having enough money? Love of your occupation? 

On the opposite side, I'm crunching my numbers and downgrading my expectations right now to see what the absolute earliest I can retire is. The answer is today , but that would come with some compromises I may not be up for.

Today is day one in my retirement life. I put in 25 years. The one worry was my medical coverage but as long as I stay in the tristate area, I will be okay. My prescription plan is covered with only a slight increase in co payment. I also stayed in long enough that my monthly pension is actually a bit more than what I was bringing home when working. I would like to get something part time to keep me active. Something that comes with perks like an employee discount. The best part for me is that whatever job I choose I don’t have to stay to pay my bills. I want to work for fun now. 

[dippyegg]

Honestly, I would like to retire so that I could take more naps.  I have been running the rat race for decades and have no desire to travel or write a novel.  I just want my time to be MY time without obligations.

[jerseygirl]

Oct 1, 2020 17:12:56 GMT -5 Empire the P.A. said:

Oct 1, 2020 15:18:28 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

What is the motivation to rethink retiring at 62 right now?

Is it due to the uncertainties regarding the pandemic? Fear of not having enough money? Love of your occupation? 

On the opposite side, I'm crunching my numbers and downgrading my expectations right now to see what the absolute earliest I can retire is. The answer is today , but that would come with some compromises I may not be up for.

Today is day one in my retirement life. I put in 25 years. The one worry was my medical coverage but as long as I stay in the tristate area, I will be okay. My prescription plan is covered with only a slight increase in co payment. I also stayed in long enough that my monthly pension is actually a bit more than what I was bringing home when working. I would like to get something part time to keep me active. Something that comes with perks like an employee discount. The best part for me is that whatever job I choose I don’t have to stay to pay my bills. I want to work for fun now. 

Enjoy yourself!!

[debthaven]

Have fun Empire! Congratulations!

[finnime]

Sept 30, 2020 14:29:49 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I think I found a plan ... 

I'm someone who needs a plan/structure. I'm not good at "winging it". 

I'm VERY busy this semester, but I'm not miserable/depressed/unhappy (except for Covid-related anxiety and hybrid/dual teaching.)

I have kept very careful track of my hours over the years. I realized that I am doing 5% fewer hours this year compared to last year. That happened organically, I didn't choose to do fewer hours. I DID give up my 2 MSc classes, but only because they were changed from Thursday afternoons to Friday afternoons. (I would have preferred to keep those forever.) I picked up another class instead. 

So I've decided that I will reduce my hours by 5% every school year ... maybe even 10% next school year since it's the year I COULD retire (but won't). That would mean reducing my hours by 10-15% over two years instead of retiring, and working 3 days/week instead of 4 days/week. 

Again, thank you all for your comments/questions/suggestions. 

I feel like I have a plan now. :-)

For you, this is a strong and viable plan. Congratulations. 

[debthaven]

Thanks Finnime. 

[Miss Tequila]

I’m late to this but thought I would give you my experience so far. I’ve busted my butt for the last 5 years to get my rental income to a point where I could retire at 50. A month after turning 49, I decided enough was enough and retired (definitely precipitated by facing my own mortality).

It’s been about 5 weeks and I’m going nuts. We can’t go anywhere or do anything because of the quarantine. And I’ve always been a Type A always doing something, so this is really not what I imagined

I think if there was no pandemic and life was normal I would love it. Now, not so much!

[Empire the P.A.]

Oct 7, 2020 19:43:22 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

I’m late to this but thought I would give you my experience so far. I’ve busted my butt for the last 5 years to get my rental income to a point where I could retire at 50. A month after turning 49, I decided enough was enough and retired (definitely precipitated by facing my own mortality).

It’s been about 5 weeks and I’m going nuts. We can’t go anywhere or do anything because of the quarantine. And I’ve always been a Type A always doing something, so this is really not what I imagined

I think if there was no pandemic and life was normal I would love it. Now, not so much!

I had originally planned to retire in 2021 at 50 years old but this year’s crappiness had me throwing in the towel a bit early. The last straw was when I got thrown out to a post with only six others and having what looked liked over 500 screaming protestors march past us towards the Brooklyn Bridge. All I kept thinking while I was standing about 10ft away, with only some metal barricades between us and the marchers, was if things jump off I was going to be in some major trouble. That was when I knew it was time to retire while I was relatively still healthy. 

ETA: I would post the one picture I have from that night but my shield with my name shows. I’m wearing a mask and my helmet. I put it on the sly while the first part of the crowd started coming by. 

[Miss Tequila]

Oct 7, 2020 20:26:40 GMT -5 Empire the P.A. said:

Oct 7, 2020 19:43:22 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

I’m late to this but thought I would give you my experience so far. I’ve busted my butt for the last 5 years to get my rental income to a point where I could retire at 50. A month after turning 49, I decided enough was enough and retired (definitely precipitated by facing my own mortality).

It’s been about 5 weeks and I’m going nuts. We can’t go anywhere or do anything because of the quarantine. And I’ve always been a Type A always doing something, so this is really not what I imagined

I think if there was no pandemic and life was normal I would love it. Now, not so much!

I had originally planned to retire in 2021 at 50 years old but this year’s crappiness had me throwing in the towel a bit early. The last straw was when I got thrown out to a post with only six others and having what looked liked over 500 screaming protestors march past us towards the Brooklyn Bridge. All I kept thinking while I was standing about 10ft away, with only some metal barricades between us and the marchers, was if things jump off I was going to be in some major trouble. That was when I knew it was time to retire while I was relatively still healthy. 

ETA: I would post the one picture I have from that night but my shield with my name shows. I’m wearing a mask and my helmet. I put it on the sly while the first part of the crowd started coming by. 

Oh wow...thank you for your service and I totally don’t blame you for retiring! I can’t imagine being a LEO in today’s climate :-(.

[Empire the P.A.]

Miss T, 

I am just going to try and enjoy doing all the little things I never had time for before. I don’t have to rush around anymore. 

[debthaven]

I just wanted to give a small update.

My Job 2 employer offered me a phone appt with a specialized retirement advisor who advises people who work in education. You bet I accepted!!!

I had my appointment yesterday. I had written out a list of questions.

Major points:

- They have "part time" retirement here, ie you work PT and get part of your pension/SS. I was always tempted by that but didn't know if I was eligible. She said I was, but that it was a bad idea, because it's strictly monitored. She said the perks of being a retired adjunct are that you can teach a class or two, or do the orals for prospective students ... but you can't do that if you do PT retirement. 

- The gov't wants people to retire later (which I understand). I'm RIGHT at the limit. She told me that by retiring at 62, part of my pension would be "penalized" by 10%, for 3 years. But if I retire at 63 (a year later), there is NO penalty.

- She said if I reduce my hours by 10%/year, the impact on my retirement income would be minimal, ie about $10-15/month. She said I may lose a bit per month, but that I'd be MUCH better off reducing my hours (slightly) and working additional quarters/semesters/years.

I was thrilled to be able to ask all my questions, especially those that are unique to my job (ie continuing to do oral exams for prospective students).

[stillmovingforward]

Way to go! Glad it was helpful and you have a path forward that, it sounds like, you'll enjoy.

[debthaven]

Thank you stillmovingforward !

For now I'm aiming to reduce by 5% each year going forward.

[buystoys]

Awesome news!

[debthaven]

Update. 

In the end, because of the pandemic, I took on extra classes, because I was SURE we'd be working from home all semester. I was SO wrong! One school went back to in-person teaching in late Jan, the other in Feb. 

My GP didn't want me to go back. She gave me a medical certificate that allowed me to be remote. I was vaccinated 3.5 weeks ago (first shot), so I went back this week. 

I am doing more hours this semester than ever! With no commute (till this week) it's been fine. 

I am fed up. I know that part of that is because I have become so sedentary. I know it's good for me to be back and moving around more!

The retirement advisor I "saw" in Oct pointed out that although teachers think in school years, SS calculates in calendar years. Since I am doing so many extra hours this spring semester, I can afford to cut back a LOT in fall semester, and still have as many hours this year (2021).

So that's what I've decided to do!

My goal for now is to do just one "extra" year to escape that 3-year, 10% "penalty" on (part of) my retirement for retiring at exactly 62. If I end up doing more, great! We'll see.  

What about you others? Any changes? The Walk of the Penguin Mich ? Empire the P.A. ? resolution ?

[Deleted]

I don’t particularly like my job, so my plan is to retire as soon as I can make the numbers work. Easing out is not an option for me, because we either work full time or not at all. Making the numbers work means I won’t HAVE to work to have basic needs. If I get bored, which I can’t imagine, I can find a part time job like I did many moons ago when I got bored being a SAH spouse. Actually, it wasn’t even so much boredom then, I was a lot younger and stuck at home with 2 toddlers, so it was really a need for a break from speaking baby talk all day. I no longer have toddlers, and am totally comfortable with peace and quiet, even silence, at this point in my life.

Whatever plan you come up with, I wish the best for you!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Mar 24, 2021 19:00:40 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Update. 

In the end, because of the pandemic, I took on extra classes, because I was SURE we'd be working from home all semester. I was SO wrong! One school went back to in-person teaching in late Jan, the other in Feb. 

My GP didn't want me to go back. She gave me a medical certificate that allowed me to be remote. I was vaccinated 3.5 weeks ago (first shot), so I went back this week. 

I am doing more hours this semester than ever! With no commute (till this week) it's been fine. 

I am fed up. I know that part of that is because I have become so sedentary. I know it's good for me to be back and moving around more!

The retirement advisor I "saw" in Oct pointed out that although teachers think in school years, SS calculates in calendar years. Since I am doing so many extra hours this spring semester, I can afford to cut back a LOT in fall semester, and still have as many hours this year (2021).

So that's what I've decided to do!

My goal for now is to do just one more year to escape that 3-year, 10% "penalty" on (part of) my retirement for retiring at 62. If I end up doing more, great! We'll see.  

What about you others? Any changes? The Walk of the Penguin Mich ? Empire the P.A. ? resolution ?

TD is retiring.  His last day was last Monday, and while he needs to go back for about a week next month some time, his job is done.  

This is screwing up his idea of a COBRA slide into Medicare.  He needed to keep his job until Nov. for this, but it looks like that’s not happening.  He is going to COBRA (COBRA is the ability to purchase medical insurance through your employer for what it costs your employer).  For us, it is more expensive, but the local choices for insurance here are very crappy.  If we lived 100 miles south, it would be another story.  

The other place this has screwed us up is with travel.  The insurance he receives through his employer covers us worldwide.  When COBRA is over, we need to find not only a policy for him, but one for me as well as Medicare doesn’t cover overseas health.  Because of this, if someone offers him something, he will likely bite.  The one nice thing about the engineering firms he works for is that they have international business, so their international health policy is pretty good.

[tallguy]

Mar 24, 2021 20:27:04 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Mar 24, 2021 19:00:40 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Update. 

In the end, because of the pandemic, I took on extra classes, because I was SURE we'd be working from home all semester. I was SO wrong! One school went back to in-person teaching in late Jan, the other in Feb. 

My GP didn't want me to go back. She gave me a medical certificate that allowed me to be remote. I was vaccinated 3.5 weeks ago (first shot), so I went back this week. 

I am doing more hours this semester than ever! With no commute (till this week) it's been fine. 

I am fed up. I know that part of that is because I have become so sedentary. I know it's good for me to be back and moving around more!

The retirement advisor I "saw" in Oct pointed out that although teachers think in school years, SS calculates in calendar years. Since I am doing so many extra hours this spring semester, I can afford to cut back a LOT in fall semester, and still have as many hours this year (2021).

So that's what I've decided to do!

My goal for now is to do just one more year to escape that 3-year, 10% "penalty" on (part of) my retirement for retiring at 62. If I end up doing more, great! We'll see.  

What about you others? Any changes? The Walk of the Penguin Mich ? Empire the P.A. ? resolution ?

TD is retiring.  His last day was last Monday, and while he needs to go back for about a week next month some time, his job is done.  

This is screwing up his idea of a COBRA slide into Medicare.  He needed to keep his job until Nov. for this, but it looks like that’s not happening.  He is going to COBRA (COBRA is the ability to purchase medical insurance through your employer for what it costs your employer).  For us, it is more expensive, but the local choices for insurance here are very crappy.  If we lived 100 miles south, it would be another story.  

The other place this has screwed us up is with travel.  The insurance he receives through his employer covers us worldwide.  When COBRA is over, we need to find not only a policy for him, but one for me as well as Medicare doesn’t cover overseas health.  Because of this, if someone offers him something, he will likely bite.  The one nice thing about the engineering firms he works for is that they have international business, so their international health policy is pretty good.

Congrats to him, and say hi for me.  Thanks.

[countrygirl2]

Yep our international policy was fantastic but nothing for DD.

Hubs wishes he had went back to work when he came home. He took a withdrawal from his union card but he still could, would cost us a couple thousand to do so. He keeps talking about it, I doubt he does. We will see what happens in the next few months. I just say do what you want. We could drop our supplement and take that ins and drug coverage which I think is better.

[debthaven]

The Walk of the Penguin Mich I'm sorry TD's job is ending earlier than he would have liked. I hope he soon finds a short-term gig that will take him to November. 

[countrygirl2]

Yes, COBRA is expensive, we had to do that one year, cost a ton of money.

[resolution]

Mar 24, 2021 19:00:40 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Update. 

In the end, because of the pandemic, I took on extra classes, because I was SURE we'd be working from home all semester. I was SO wrong! One school went back to in-person teaching in late Jan, the other in Feb. 

My GP didn't want me to go back. She gave me a medical certificate that allowed me to be remote. I was vaccinated 3.5 weeks ago (first shot), so I went back this week. 

I am doing more hours this semester than ever! With no commute (till this week) it's been fine. 

I am fed up. I know that part of that is because I have become so sedentary. I know it's good for me to be back and moving around more!

The retirement advisor I "saw" in Oct pointed out that although teachers think in school years, SS calculates in calendar years. Since I am doing so many extra hours this spring semester, I can afford to cut back a LOT in fall semester, and still have as many hours this year (2021).

So that's what I've decided to do!

My goal for now is to do just one more year to escape that 3-year, 10% "penalty" on (part of) my retirement for retiring at 62. If I end up doing more, great! We'll see.  

What about you others? Any changes? The Walk of the Penguin Mich ? Empire the P.A. ? resolution ?

It sounds like you are in a great place to cut your hours next semester and test out how it would feel to ease your way into retirement.

I am a bit of a hot mess as far as making up my mind about retirement. I am still at the same employer and am eligible for early retirement, but on August 1st I will qualify for my full pension. It would work out to 62% of my salary. In June of 2023 I would hit my 30 year anniversary and be eligible for 69% of my salary, and it continues to go up the longer that I work. I will also be eligible for Social Security in the future, although that would be 11-19 years from now depending on what age I take it.

My current plan is to continue to work at least through June of 2023 and get the 30 year bump to my pension. We bought a new house in November and I would like to get some of the more expensive projects done before I retire.

Also I took some time off when we moved and found myself getting restless and a bit stir crazy. I have always thought it would be so relaxing to go on walks, read books, and play video games most of the day, but when I talked to a few of my gamer friends that are retired about how they spend their time it seemed kind of dull.  I need to have a better plan on what to do with my time before I retire.