# Retired Dopers: how did you decide when to retire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207 "2021-04-02T05:32:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/21 "2021-04-02T18:28:32Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > My plans of spending my days going to concerts and music festivals is a bit on hold… I know! I retired before Summerfest (Milwaukee festival with many stages), planning to go every day and see ALL the bands. Oops, rescheduled for fall, oops, cancelled til next summer, oops, now it’s September. And I’d told people that I was retiring to spend quality time at my local tavern (with no cable, it’s where I watch sports). It closed down, and just reopened but ohhhh, it’s a petri dish of maskless (and clueless) old guys yelling at the TVs. Also had two trips planned (a tiny island in the Caribbean, and one off the Calais coast)… ---
**Author:** ![velcro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velcro/32/7102_2.png) [@velcro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velcro)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/22 "2021-04-02T18:29:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “Nope, won’t make a bit of difference in the long run if you retire in two years, or on Monday.” I find that difficult to believe. If you are in your late sixties with a history of high salaries but currently a low-paying job and lousy insurance, maybe Social Security will be equal to your current take home salary, and Medicaid covers the insurance. Short of that, every $1000 you save by working another year is $2500 you will have in 20 years (assume 5% growth). That $1000 comes not only from investing it, but also from not withdrawing it because you are retired. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/23 "2021-04-02T18:30:37Z")
I read that as “you already have more than sufficient income if you choose to retire now, you’re just banking more money if you keep working.” ---
**Author:** ![velcro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velcro/32/7102_2.png) [@velcro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velcro)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/24 "2021-04-02T18:39:00Z")
That is different from “won’t make a bit of difference in the long run” And more specifically, she could have said “Sure, if you work for one more year, your wife only needs to work one more year instead of 3 to 5 more”. But she didn’t say that either. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/25 "2021-04-02T18:40:39Z")
Well, I grant that those are different…I was just offering up how I understood it when I read it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/26 "2021-04-02T18:46:36Z")
I decided to work part time instead of retiring. Then the pandemic hit. Oh my God, I’m glad i didn’t retire. My social life collapsed in ashes. All my travel plans were cancelled. I continued to enjoy my job (easily done from home) and the social interaction it brought me. Then my employer offered a really generous early retirement offer… But i’d already sweated over what i wanted to do, and decided to continue working. I find that if i don’t have deadlines and constraints, i don’t get much done. So I’m getting more of my hobbies, etc. done now than i would have had i tried fully. I do find that my energy level is decreasing, and I’ll probably want to retire in a few more years. But right now i remain delighted to have a (part time) job. ---
**Author:** ![velcro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velcro/32/7102_2.png) [@velcro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velcro)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/27 "2021-04-02T18:48:45Z")
I read it the same way. Then thought about it and realized that it likely was somewhat misleading. In almost every situation, you get significant additional income in the long run if you keep working. The advisor should quantify it, and let you make the call of additional vs. time. This advisor implied =0, which is not accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/28 "2021-04-02T20:12:47Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Can anyone explain Medicare? Should I sign up for Part A now, even though I don’t need it? What exactly is Medicare Advantage? I’ll do my best, but I really recommend looking up one of the free volunteer services that explains it all for you. You must sign up for Park A when you are 65 (any time during the year, I believe) or you’ll be subject to added costs or something. You can sign up for Part B any time, might as well do it at the same time, it doesn’t cost you anything. A and B cover hospital stays and doctor’s office visits, subject to limitations, and a 20% co-pay by you. The rest can be pretty complicated. Part D is for prescriptions, and will (probably?) be part of your supplemental insurance. I have Part F, which I think covers Part D and some other stuff, but I don’t remember exactly. What exactly you get for any of these other Parts (not A or B) depends on your supplemental insurance company. You don’t need to worry about any of the stuff in this paragraph until you are no longer covered by your company’s health plan. Medicare Advantage is like a very strict HMO, everything that they are going to cover must come from their providers: doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, physical therapy, everything. You might be able to get more this way, depending on the company providing it, such as dental and vision coverage, but I have no idea how good this coverage is or might be, or how good their providers are, or how long you might have to wait to see a specialist (for just some examples). The bottom line is that, for everything not provided by Medicare that is provided by a 3rd party supplemental insurance, you really need to do your research to find out what works best for you. And then every year, decide whether you are going to tune out the clamoring advertisements from other companies trying to get your business. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/29 "2021-04-02T20:38:06Z")
This is a great thread on Medicare. > [@America's Elder Crisis, Medicare Edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-elder-crisis-medicare-edition/937146/26): > > Chefguy - My sister worked for years, mostly for the insurance (the 6-figure salary didn’t hurt, but they didn’t need it). It was only after her retired-military husband’s death did she find out that she’d been eligible for Tricare the whole time. Because of his accepting some sort of early-out retirement, they thought she wasn’t covered. One of my other sisters is also married to retired military. She has cancer now, and through the surgeries, the chemo, the tests, she hasn’t had to pay out of… ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/30 "2021-04-02T21:18:26Z")
> [@velcro](#): > > In almost every situation, you get significant additional income in the long run if you keep working. I think that’s trivially true, but an important question is whether you NEED the additional income. In my case, I started considering retiring after I took an extended absence to take care of an elderly relative. I ran some numbers and found that, given some fairly conservative estimates about living expenses, medical care, etc, if I lived to be 105, I would die with a fairly large amount of money in the bank. So why should I keep working, just to end up with an even larger amount of money in the bank when I die? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/31 "2021-04-02T22:01:59Z")
I was working at SSA, and could have retired at 55 (in 2007) and taken an immediate pension with full lifetime health coverage; they had been offering me early retirement for several years, but there was no way I could have lived on the reduced pension amount in Chicago. After my wife died in 2004 I met someone in North Carolina online and started visiting her on a regular basis. I realized that if I sold my house in Chicago and moved to NC my living costs would be lower. So in 2006 I took the early retirement offer and relocated. Since then, I have bought a house here and completely paid it off. Health issues notwithstanding I’m enjoying my retirement, and don’t regret the decision. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/32 "2021-04-02T22:26:43Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > a number calculated by how many remaining years we plan to live > > How did you decide this? We’re planning conservatively, so we’re planning to fund retirement to age 100. I doubt I’ll ever see that, but it’s better than planning to 90, living to 97, and back to work flipping burgers at McDonald’s for 7 years. While trying not to drool on them. I’m not knocking McDonald’s. I worked there five years in high school and college, and learned many valuable skills I still use today. So yeah if 100 and I retire at 65 then I have to fund 35 years. I’m still reading the responses. Thanks for them… ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/33 "2021-04-02T22:30:13Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Like you, **Bullitt** , it came down to 1. Money & 2. Medical & 3. Spouse. > > Money: My goal with my money was to replace my working-life net income with a 5% draw-down from retirement savings. I figured I didn’t need to match my working-life gross in the draw-down because of SS/Med/401k deductions going away. So, I too had a “magic number”. I was on pace to hit my number earlier than 65, then COVID happened and I was basically out of work (I was a contractor/consultant). The markets had been going great-guns and I blew past my number, so I up and retired at 60! My plan with Social Security is to put it off until I’m 70, so it will be a nice raise when it comes. > > Medical: My spouse works and has worked and vested in various state and local government jobs and has medical insurance for life. So that’s nice. > > Spouse: My spouse is younger and still working and will have a collection of pensions, and retirement savings, and eventually Social Security. So we should be set there too. You hit your magic number! Yay for you! Enjoy your retirement! ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/34 "2021-04-02T22:34:06Z")
After 25 years as a direct report to the owner/founder of the company, when he stepped aside & gave control to his kids who I simply didn’t respect & who apparently had no regard for me, I left. Nightmares & damage to my health from stress was bad. They moved my office an hour from my home for no good reason, cutting 2 hours a day out of my life. Noy even a pay differential. I told them move me back close to home & I will train my replacement in a job I’d invented. It worked out. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/35 "2021-04-02T22:36:44Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I made the decision twice. First time, I was 57 with 37 years of Federal service. My organization was about to go thru yet another reorganization, and I just didn’t want to deal with it, so I took my crayons and left. My husband was still working and I was able to carry our insurance when I retired, so financially, it worked. > > But I got bored, and within a year, I was looking for work. Over the next 8 years, I had a series of temp jobs, part time jobs, and finally a really good full-time job with a great company. Then my daughter had a baby and I volunteered to be her day care, so at the end of 2019, with our savings padded further, another 401k to roll over, and some quality baby time facing me, I decided it was time to retire again. > > Frankly, even if there had been no grandbaby, I probably would have retired then anyway. I was eligible to draw social security and I was getting tired of work. I still liked what I did and the people I worked with, but I was tired, so I knew it was time. No regrets. Second time was the charm. Nice! I too am thinking of what to do during retirement. Travel, of course, but what else? I was thinking of starting voice lessons because I enjoy singing. A friend of mine advised to not have a list of new things to start and do, because I might be set in my ways and never do them. So I actually started my voice lessons yesterday. If I have grandkids, I’d love to be their nanny / Grampy! Save the kids some child care costs and enjoy the new young’uns. Spoil them and make my kids jealous because I could never spoil them when I was young and broke! But my three kids, they’re not cooperating yet. What’s wrong with dem bums?? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/36 "2021-04-02T22:38:13Z")
> [@ASGuy](#): > > My last career job ended when I was 50. I found part time employment rather quickly but could not latch on to another career position. When I turned 60 I realized I had basically aged out of career employment and “retired.” > > I continued part time until 62 when I realized my IRA’s and 401(k) plans would easily carry me to age 65 for Medicare and 67 for Social Security. > > I officially retired in both name and employment shortly after turning 62 1/2. Good for you. I turn 60 in June and I should be so fortunate as you. I hope you’re enjoying it! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/37 "2021-04-02T22:44:32Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I semi retired at 49 - but it really wasn’t much of a decision - I had a significant mental health event that make it difficult to hold a full time career job. I was already doing a little side work on a business, and that has grown to be an income of about half what I made annually when I worked full time (at about four hours a week of work - from home, on my own schedule - its the perfect job for someone whose mental health can’t take a lot of stress). And my husband works full time (from home) - so he has good insurance (when I first retired, he was contracting and the business wasn’t up to speed - and we had two in high school - insurance was EXPENSIVE). > > We were well prepared for it though - when my event happened, we had enough in 529s for the kids’ college and I’d been putting money into 401ks like crazy. We also have what I started as a “play money” stock fund that is larger than most IRAs. And my mortgage is $300 a month. > > One of us will have to continue to work “for insurance” until we get to Medicare age. Although we could go on the exchange and probably do OK now that the kids are adults as long as my business partner wants to keep working. I’m sorry to learn of your event and am glad to hear you were pretty well prepared, fiscally and logistically, for it. As much as possible anyway, so it appears. As for a mortgage my wife and I are beginning to think we may never pay off the house. Or maybe we’ll pay it off in our retirement. When we can refi at low rates, 2-3%, then why pay that off when we can put the money in an index fund tracking the market at higher rates, 5-6+%? Health coverage, though, that’s the big question for us. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/38 "2021-04-02T22:47:57Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I wanted to retire the moment the 737 program was shut down in 2018. I was correct in my assumption, the factory support job I fought to get was going away. I thought my chance came May of last year when Boeing offered a voluntary layoff to Machinist Union members but my job code was excluded. I then put plans in place to retire officially on January 1st of this year. Boeing announced a second VLO for October and I jumped all over it. Extended health benefits for 3 months and 26 weeks of pay. On October 2nd, the day before my 64th birthday, I left Boeing with exactly 40 years of service. I knew things were going bad at Boeing but the topper happened about a month before I left. Upper management released a memo, there was to be no retirement recognition for anyone taking the VLO. On our last day a group of us was walked to the gate and basically kicked in the ass on our way out. Got me a nice pension and plenty of savings till I can start drawing SS in a couple years. Wow that was close timing, by the skin of your teeth. Glad you made it through! 40 years at Boeing. Congrats! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/39 "2021-04-02T22:50:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I did what the OP is planning with an extra level of caution: I got a financial planner (in my 50s) who’d have to agree that, given future prognostications, it was okay to retire. > > Well, one day she called me and my wife in and said “According to my spreadsheets, you should retire today, and your wife in three to five years.” > > “Well, wait,” said I, “I can make it a couple more years. We have a wedding to fund and I can put up with my job say… two more years?” > > And I still remember her staring at her spreadsheet, running her finger along it and saying “Nope…” > > “Nope…what?” > > “Nope, won’t make a bit of difference in the long run if you retire in two years, or on Monday.” And how long ago was that Monday…? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207/40 "2021-04-03T00:06:11Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’m hanging around this year just in hopes that I’ll get laid off again – so I can retire and also collect a severance package. I was hoping for the same thing, and even volunteered, but the layoffs didn’t come until a year after I left. And they probably would have kept me on just to be spiteful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-how-did-you-decide-when-to-retire/939207.md?page=3)