Are you seeing more Retirement/early retirement at work?

[thyme4change]

Oct 21, 2020 16:32:22 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Oct 21, 2020 8:05:14 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I would like to stop working, but won't until I get my kids through college.

I have no plan on how to fill my days. I was thinking when I got closer I would find a counselor (therapist) who could help me think through who I am if I'm not "Thyme - corporate finance extraordinaire". Do any of you have experience with someone who didn't have passion for hobbies or goals outside their career?

It took me a long time to find my place after "retiring" in 2003 from a very busy and demanding job. New area so no friends, no kids or job so no social structure. I wound up joining a local land trust, eventually becoming the president for a couple of years. Connections with that group led me first to joining then leading group hikes at the local County park. I was amazed that when I came back this February (our house was on a home tour) that I still had a network of friends. It's been nearly twelve years since I moved from AZ!

Oh and I forgot the rentals. Being an out of area LL is one heck of a part time job! 


All kidding aside, there's got to be some things you feel passionate about (besides this Board).   If I were to move back to AZ I think I'd like to get involved with the local museum. AZ is a wonderful and weird state full of characters. 

We were just talking about how after 20 years of wanting to, I finally joined my neighborhood committee, and as it turns out, I hate it. Granted, the circumstances are very different than I expected. They made me treasurer, which means paperwork and money management. Meanwhile I got a promotion at work (and they postponed my new hire due to Covid) and I have been spending 60 hours a week getting paid to do paperwork and money management. The last thing I want to do for fun is more paperwork and money management. I wanted to be the social chair, but Covid trashed the ability to throw social events - so just an overall bad experience so far.

Other than that, I like hanging with friends and watching TV. So, I am going to have to try some stuff, I guess.

[alabamagal]

Oct 20, 2020 12:16:55 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Oct 20, 2020 12:02:31 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I'm not in corporate America, I'm an adjunct in France lol. I teach English.

I actually expected to see a lot of the older language teachers retire this year, but in fact, nobody has. At 60 I am the third-oldest language teacher on my campus. The other two are only working remotely now (because they don't teach English ... the other languages are all remote this semester).

But we are all adjuncts, so nobody would offer us a payout.

Between your rentals and the payout, could you swing it? 

No, I'm 56yo.  My employers Pension is best used by someone who's 62 to 65 years old and has 25 years of service AND who has some tax advantaged savings.  I've extrapolated that all of the people taking the early retirement plan are 60 years or older and have 20 or more (up to 30!) years of service.   I'm guessing the early retirement plan will "bridge" the 60yo's to 62 when they can take advantage of the pension (which has a built in bridge to 65 yo). 

I'm in the end game at work.  My position will go away in 12 months (maybe 18 months).  I'm not sure I will be able to "leverage" my experience OR get enough training/learning in before it ends to transition to the new software...  I'm not sure I want to put in the time/effort/stress to accomplish that.  

My original plan was: 
Best case scenario -work at current employer until 59.5 and then FIRE.  Take pension at 65. Take SS at full retirement age. 

I could "coast" - if I quit my current employer between 57/58.  I can use savings and get some part time or low wage job to fill in the cracks to get me to 59.5 when I can tap my 401K.   not contributing big bucks to the 401K at this late date doesn't change it very much.    I think this is what I will do.  

My rentals don't generate much actual spendable "income".  The value is in equity.  If I'm not collecting a paycheck I could easily sell one - the proceeds would cover all of my living expenses and then some for 2 to 3 years.     I don't want to sell one while I'm still collecting a large paycheck (due to taxes), though. 

On 401k if you leave your job for any reason at age 55 (or in the year you turn 55) you can access your funds without penalty. This only applies to the 401k plan of the employer that you left after age 55. Doesn’t apply to older 401ks unless you have previously rolled over into last employers plan. Also not to IRSs rolled over from 401k.

Just an extra option for funds after 55 before 59 1/2.

[thyme4change]

Oct 22, 2020 6:18:15 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

Oct 20, 2020 12:16:55 GMT -5 Tiny said:

No, I'm 56yo.  My employers Pension is best used by someone who's 62 to 65 years old and has 25 years of service AND who has some tax advantaged savings.  I've extrapolated that all of the people taking the early retirement plan are 60 years or older and have 20 or more (up to 30!) years of service.   I'm guessing the early retirement plan will "bridge" the 60yo's to 62 when they can take advantage of the pension (which has a built in bridge to 65 yo). 

I'm in the end game at work.  My position will go away in 12 months (maybe 18 months).  I'm not sure I will be able to "leverage" my experience OR get enough training/learning in before it ends to transition to the new software...  I'm not sure I want to put in the time/effort/stress to accomplish that.  

My original plan was: 
Best case scenario -work at current employer until 59.5 and then FIRE.  Take pension at 65. Take SS at full retirement age. 

I could "coast" - if I quit my current employer between 57/58.  I can use savings and get some part time or low wage job to fill in the cracks to get me to 59.5 when I can tap my 401K.   not contributing big bucks to the 401K at this late date doesn't change it very much.    I think this is what I will do.  

My rentals don't generate much actual spendable "income".  The value is in equity.  If I'm not collecting a paycheck I could easily sell one - the proceeds would cover all of my living expenses and then some for 2 to 3 years.     I don't want to sell one while I'm still collecting a large paycheck (due to taxes), though. 

On 401k if you leave your job for any reason at age 55 (or in the year you turn 55) you can access your funds without penalty. This only applies to the 401k plan of the employer that you left after age 55. Doesn’t apply to older 401ks unless you have previously rolled over into last employers plan. Also not to IRSs rolled over from 401k.

Just an extra option for funds after 55 before 59 1/2.

That is excellent to know. Our retirement is split about 40% in my current 401k, 30% in my husband's current 401k, and the rest in IRAs - most rolled over from previous 401ks. Nice to know we can get to that money a few years earlier.

[teen persuasion]

Oct 22, 2020 8:09:20 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Oct 22, 2020 6:18:15 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

On 401k if you leave your job for any reason at age 55 (or in the year you turn 55) you can access your funds without penalty. This only applies to the 401k plan of the employer that you left after age 55. Doesn’t apply to older 401ks unless you have previously rolled over into last employers plan. Also not to IRSs rolled over from 401k.

Just an extra option for funds after 55 before 59 1/2.

That is excellent to know. Our retirement is split about 40% in my current 401k, 30% in my husband's current 401k, and the rest in IRAs - most rolled over from previous 401ks. Nice to know we can get to that money a few years earlier.

The IRS has blessed the so-called Rule of 55.  Your employer's plan may or may not agree.  Biggest issue is if the employer's plan lets you take partial withdrawals each year.  If they only let you withdraw once, you get hit with a big tax bill.

Check the fine print on your plan rules.

[teen persuasion]

DH just last night mentioned someone at his agency was leaving unexpectedly (didn't use the word retirement). It wasn't a teacher, maybe in administration.

DH has been ready mentally to retire for a while, and the itch got stronger this spring/summer teaching remotely. I've been crunching the numbers, and tentatively thinking next year (finish out the school year). Not sure if I want to quit, too, or keep going a bit longer; generally I like my part-time job, but having no vacation time is a deterrent to traveling to see our grandson, but Covid is a deterrent, too, right now.

This spring/summer, when things were shut down and we were both working half-assed from home, was a great trial run for retirement. It's not the job we dislike, it's the forced schedule we hate. Get up in the dark, go somewhere when we don't want to, working late messes up dinner, etc.

My coworker's DH is a teacher, too, and he's hanging on to eek out a bit more pension before retiring (started teaching later), so she's kind-of in the same position, crunching numbers and ready to bolt soon, too. Which means the director/board will need to hire new staff eventually to replace us. It's tricky - add staff now to train them before we take our knowledge away with us, but that strains a tight budget and someone/everyone loses hours/pay. We'd both love to ditch our evening hours, but a new hire couldn't realistically work alone at night until they get more experience.

Complicating all this is college plans - next year should be the first year included on DS5's FAFSAs. We'd want to target AGI < $27k. It's easy if we are both not working (Roth conversion ladder). It's trickier but probably ok if DH works a half year and most of my income goes to my SIMPLE IRA. If only I am working, I reduce/stop retirement savings, and we mostly spend my income, bit of Roth conversions. If DH doesn't quit and we continue working (ACA goes away, need health insurance), it's a much finer needle to thread - we have to max everything tax deferred from 1/1/21 to stay under the cliff.

So we can't just wing it - need to decide on max retirement, or maintain status quo. And open enrollment is fast approaching.

[CCL]

Oct 21, 2020 23:03:52 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Oct 21, 2020 16:44:25 GMT -5 CCL said:

We retired early without "passion" for much of anything. I have more hobbies than hubby, but he does like to stay busy, too. At the time, we didn't really have a plan for how we would fill our days, aside from random thoughts about "travel."

How did you get your footing? What was the first year like?

I was home with my kids for several years, so was fine being home. After hubby retired I continued to do consulting work a few days per month for a while. Hubby retired early, so I was a little afraid we might run out of money before he could collect SS, but we got lucky.

I started planning trips and activities right away. We made a tentative bucket list and started checking things off. We go to Florida/Disney every year (I don't like the cold winters!), camping trips a few times per year. We've started planning/taking bigger trips: Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Europe, etc.

We've always got some sort of house project we are working on. We get together with our kids frequently. I'm trying to learn some new cooking skills and they enjoy trying new foods, so that works out well.

We have big families so stay pretty busy with all of them, too: birthday parties, holidays, weddings, babies, etc.

[lynnerself]

My daughters MIL retired this year. She was a grade school teacher and was starting to think about retiring before this all happened. She is in her late 50's I think. She said she could not imagine trying to social distance 2nd graders. Nor trying to remote teach in a small rural school district.

The good thing is that now she has offered to babysit DD's son one day a week, so he doesn't need to go to daycare. (DD or SIL is home the rest of the time.)

[debthaven]

The good thing is that now she has offered to babysit DD's son one day a week, so he doesn't need to go to daycare.

I can't retire yet, but if my grandson lived nearby, I would have reduced my hours to watch him one day/week. They spent two years in MA but returned to the UK when Covid started. We were so happy about them being closer, but these days we can't see them anyway. 

[daisylu]

I work in a manufacturing facility. Other than some office workers working from home, nothing really changed here. We have had 25% of workers 60+ years old retire this year. Many of them had no intention of retiring this year pre-Covid.

[plugginaway22]

I work in healthcare and I am definitely hearing more retirement talk.  My company has quite a few employees over 55 and let me just say it has been a horrible year. Everyone is re-evaluating their plan.

We also had a long-term employee whose spouse dropped over of a heart attack only a year after he retired, age 66 I believe. That has prompted lots of conversation.

[Sam_2.0]

Timely post After a few rounds of mergers, my company has offered a few voluntary exits. This last round I decided to take it. I'll get 8 months of severance, 25% of my bonus for the next year, a year's salary in pension lump sum payout (rolling into retirement accounts). H is making good money now and has a stable salary job, and has insurance available too. I have at least 20, if not 30, years of working life left and its too long to stay in a place that was killing me. My last day is April 1, 2021 so I have time to look for something else, or I can even take up to a year off if I want to. Maybe more, who knows. I just know I am more excited for my future than I have been in a VERY long time.

[HoneyBBQ]

Congrats, Sam!

[buystoys]

Many congratulations Sam_2.0!

I asked my BIL this question as he works at a fairly large company.  He said they're not seeing any change, but they're also busier than ever.  There are a lot of open positions at the company so there's little likelihood of layoffs in the near future.  That's probably the case for this whole area.  Most of the companies are essential businesses and they are all busy.

[tcu2003]

Congrats, sam!!

[TheOtherMe]

Congrats Sam!

[trimatty471]

Quite the contrary.  We have a few 65+ employees who are more afraid than ever of retirement.

[trimatty471]

Oct 20, 2020 10:12:23 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I'm hearing about lots of people deciding to "retire" this year or early next year. 
My employer offered early retirement and lots of the older, long term employees are taking it. 

Of the people who's ages I know - most of them are in the 58 up thru 66 years old.  I think in most of their cases the uncertainty of their jobs, the stress of working from home,  the changing work landscape (technology) and/or an offer of "early retirement" ALONG with their current financial situations (as in good financials) is pushing them to the "I am so done with this job. I'm "retiring"."   

Some will truly be retired (not working) some are planning to take a stab at doing some other kind of work (think lower paying, less benefits, but more enjoyable).    

How about all of you?  What are you seeing (or doing)?   Are Boomers leaving Corporate America in droves?  Are Boomers selling or closing their small businesses?   Are they doing it because they have a secure financial foundation OR are they doing it out of desperation becasue money is tight? 

(I have severe FOMO... some of my co-workers are taking the early retirement offer... I'm just a little too young to do it.     It's like I'm always too young or too old for what everyone else is doing.    It makes me crazy.  I need 3 to 5 more years of income before I can FIRE comfortably.) 

It's actually quite the opposite at my job.  The Boomers who are of age 65+ is extending their work.  They said because of COVID-19, they not going to have anything to do anyway.  So they may as well work.  And there are some that are not quite prepared financially.

[countrygirl2]

We are retired our insurance is high.
2 X 148.50 for part B next year  207
Drugs went down to                     40
My new supplement rate             240 Plan F pays everything else
Hubs last year                            145 Plan G he pays deductible
I think plus $40 for him                 40?

Total $1002 New monthly premiums

I told hubs if it keep up this increase we will pay our whole SS check for ins in the next 15 year. We will be 90 then.

[buystoys]

I'm looking into a Plan G for DH when he turns 65 this summer.  I have estimated premiums for him and right now, it looks like he'd have to have 6-7 incidents per year for the Plan G to be cheaper than his current Plan C.  All his doctors are on his Plan C, so that's not a consideration.  (He can only get Plan C as a Medigap policy right now.)  I'm leaning towards leaving him on his current plan.

[giramomma]

Dec 26, 2020 10:03:17 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

We are retired our insurance is high.
2 X 148.50 for part B next year  207
Drugs went down to                     40
My new supplement rate             240 Plan F pays everything else
Hubs last year                            145 Plan G he pays deductible
I think plus $40 for him                 40?

Total $1002 New monthly premiums

I told hubs if it keep up this increase we will pay our whole SS check for ins in the next 15 year. We will be 90 then.

Retiree health insurance through my job is 1100 a month when you are on medicare. I gess your costs don't seem that outlandish.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 26, 2020 10:03:17 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

We are retired our insurance is high.
2 X 148.50 for part B next year  207
Drugs went down to                     40
My new supplement rate             240 Plan F pays everything else
Hubs last year                            145 Plan G he pays deductible
I think plus $40 for him                 40?

Total $1002 New monthly premiums

I told hubs if it keep up this increase we will pay our whole SS check for ins in the next 15 year. We will be 90 then.

If you consider that to get health insurance as an employee, it is going to cost over $1000 per person, per month.  With Medicare, you are an aged population where healthcare costs more, you are paying roughly 50% of what a healthy 40 year old would pay if they picked up COBRA from their employer.

It is all perspective.  We will be paying over $1000 per person, per month once TD retires next year.  Fortunately, only for 18 months.  

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

Dec 26, 2020 10:03:17 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

We are retired our insurance is high.
2 X 148.50 for part B next year  207
Drugs went down to                     40
My new supplement rate             240 Plan F pays everything else
Hubs last year                            145 Plan G he pays deductible
I think plus $40 for him                 40?

Total $1002 New monthly premiums

I told hubs if it keep up this increase we will pay our whole SS check for ins in the next 15 year. We will be 90 then.

That’s only ~$500 each per month. That’s actually pretty reasonable for people who are retirement age. When u changed jobs in2016, cobra would have run $450 a month for a single person plan with a $3k deductible. Even trying to get individual insurance in 2010 was running $400 a month for a 30 year old whose only medical condition was the occasional migraine (which were resolved with a dose of Imitrex, which ran retail price of $30 per dose back then).

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

TD has set his retirement date the end of 2021.  Now need to see if he sticks to it.  He'd have no problem working on an as needed basis until he turns 65, as long as he could keep the health insurance.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 26, 2020 14:49:05 GMT -5 Mardi Gras Audrey said:

Dec 26, 2020 10:03:17 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

We are retired our insurance is high.
2 X 148.50 for part B next year  207
Drugs went down to                     40
My new supplement rate             240 Plan F pays everything else
Hubs last year                            145 Plan G he pays deductible
I think plus $40 for him                 40?

Total $1002 New monthly premiums

I told hubs if it keep up this increase we will pay our whole SS check for ins in the next 15 year. We will be 90 then.

That’s only ~$500 each per month. That’s actually pretty reasonable for people who are retirement age. When u changed jobs in2016, cobra would have run $450 a month for a single person plan with a $3k deductible. Even trying to get individual insurance in 2010 was running $400 a month for a 30 year old whose only medical condition was the occasional migraine (which were resolved with a dose of Imitrex, which ran retail price of $30 per dose back then).

This is actually quite low.  When TD changed jobs between his last job and this one, he was paying out $900 per person for COBRA.  This would have been the last half of 2019.  Thank God he only had to write an $1800 check for 4 months.

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 26, 2020 16:28:38 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Dec 26, 2020 14:49:05 GMT -5 Mardi Gras Audrey said:

That’s only ~$500 each per month. That’s actually pretty reasonable for people who are retirement age. When u changed jobs in2016, cobra would have run $450 a month for a single person plan with a $3k deductible. Even trying to get individual insurance in 2010 was running $400 a month for a 30 year old whose only medical condition was the occasional migraine (which were resolved with a dose of Imitrex, which ran retail price of $30 per dose back then).

This is actually quite low.  When TD changed jobs between his last job and this one, he was paying out $900 per person for COBRA.  This would have been the last half of 2019.  Thank God he only had to write an $1800 check for 4 months.

My COBRA for health insurance is $485. I pay the first $1000 deductible and my former employer pays the next $3k. I pay extra for
Dental and vision.

My husband pays about the same but his deductible is $8400

[jerseygirl]

I’m taking a part time consulting job next year, that will probably raise our Medicare bill to about $500 each/month plus additional for our drug insurance. We also pay for medi gap, insurance costs are crazy expensive in the US
What’s really needed is lowering costs of healthcare then lower insurance would follow

One new bill that I think is now in effect (pushed forward by Trump) is if you go to the ER and it’s covered by your insurance, all the doctors etc costs will be covered snd no bills for out of coverage costs, So this should lower costs. Another new requirement is hospitals and doctors practices must make public costs for common procedures. Also people will be able to choose for eg expected surgery such as hip replacement although if there are complications the cost will increase. Say what you will about Trump but he has done some good things ( but he is out of control )

[countrygirl2]

Yes, but many people get minimal SS so they cannot afford a supplement. They can get caught where they can't afford it but still can't qualify for medicaid. When hubs worked we paid $450 a month for both of us for excellent insurance. It was a shock to us.  And like hubs says if you really think about it we are paying about $500 a month and all its picking up is 20% of the bill and like hubs there are deductibles on his Plan G, Plan F pays those. I know you have to be grandfathered into it, new retirees can no longer get it.

Be aware that if you change supplements later you have to go through underwriting. Our insurance advisor said very few people know that as its not publicized. So better choose a good plan up front as you may not be able to change if you have a lot of illnesses.  Drug plans can be changed at any time, doesn't apply to those.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 26, 2020 16:51:12 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

I’m taking a part time consulting job next year, that will probably raise our Medicare bill to about $500 each/month plus additional for our drug insurance. We also pay for medi gap, insurance costs are crazy expensive in the US
What’s really needed is lowering costs of healthcare then lower insurance would follow

One new bill that I think is now in effect (pushed forward by Trump) is if you go to the ER and it’s covered by your insurance, all the doctors etc costs will be covered snd no bills for out of coverage costs, So this should lower costs. Another new requirement is hospitals and doctors practices must make public costs for common procedures. Also people will be able to choose for eg expected surgery such as hip replacement although if there are complications the cost will increase. Say what you will about Trump but he has done some good things ( but he is out of control )

Isn't this the bill Trump said he was not going to sign?


www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/22/949047358/congress-acts-to-spare-consumers-from-costly-surprise-medical-bills

[jerseygirl]

The bill he doesn’t want to sign gives $600 per person for Covid, he wants $2000 per person snd to eliminate much of the handouts to other countries, 2 new museums etc
Unfortunately he should have insisted on these when Mnuchin was negotiating with Pelosi

[minnesotapaintlady]

Dec 26, 2020 18:46:40 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

The bill he doesn’t want to sign gives $600 per person for Covid, he wants $2000 per person snd to eliminate much of the handouts to other countries, 2 new museums etc
Unfortunately he should have insisted on these when Mnuchin was negotiating with Pelosi

It's all in the same CARES Act package.  The $600 credit is a couple pages of a 5600 page bill.