So what is the definition of enjoying work? I like the people I work with, my job isn’t too stressful or too difficult (unlike my previous corporate job), and the place I work for has a mission that I can get behind so I readily admit that I’m lucky with the one caveat being that I’m kind of underpaid.
But all things being equal, like probably the majority of people out there, on any given day, would I rather be at work or not at work? Easy answer! But that’s not to say I wouldn’t miss aspects of it if it went away. That’s what makes this decision so hard.
I’m a customer of theirs and I use this tool (among others) to plan. It is conservative and you can do a comprehensive plan with it if you are a customer. It does not do enough of a detailed analysis to account for tax planning purposes. I would only rely on tools like this in tandem with a tax professional.
Insurance is a biggie. When I retired at age 63 1/2 I was able to get “retiree insurance” from my company because I had worked there over 10 years and was over 55. It was very inexpensive and excellent coverage (basically the same as my active employee insurance). It cost about $4K/year vs. $20K/year we would have had to pay until Medicare. So that was a factor.
Both insurance and routine and not minding work are keeping on the work train until 65. H is retired and has pension/benefits through the state - state policies changed in my situation though so there is not state insurance benefits until I’m 65. And spending $$ on insurance is not how I want to spend my money right now.
But as OP mentioned, I REALLY like routine and a schedule. I think I will probably keep a routine even without work. Think about that - with your current responsibilities and activities ASIDE from work, can you see/develop a new routine?
For instance I would not be one to not set my alarm, sleep in several days a week, not have a game plan for the day.
I like morning time so would still probably have an alarm set to get up and exercise, walk the dog, do a house task or two. Breakfast after a couple of hours of being awake. Projects, errands, volunteering/PT work, gardening in good weather, quiet evenings. Basically how I operate the weekends now!
Something (not specific to the OP) to factor in is the evolving nature of eldercare and the impact of aging baby boomers to an already stressed system.
From what I have witnessed over the last 10 years, all I can say is I make a much more conscious effort to take care of myself.
Not saying it is rational, just my feeling. I am too old to say I retired early.
I too worry about keeping a routine. I do much better with structure. I don’t set an alarm as I usually wake up way too early and I am delighted if I “sleep in”. If I have to be somewhere or have an early meeting of course I would set an alarm.
I still mostly like my job, especially with work from home days built in.
Sure the health insurance is an issue for many retirees under 65 - but also true that some people have more resources to write a check and just pay that chunk of insurance change each month till 65…or have other priorities for $$ spending than health insurance.
So many good points above. Others can’t make your decision because your personal situation (all of ours!) is unique to you and your household.
I also agree with @thumper1 and others that you should prepare for the change before it happens. Don’t wake up the first morning post retirement and say “now what?”
Agree with those who;'ve talked about making plans for retirment.
That’s what’s helped me when thinking ahead (I’m not ready to retire now) - working on various long-term plans that I can strategize for next few years (e.g., travel plans to check out various places for moving in future, steps to clearing out, getting house ready for sale, steps to getting fitness optimal, steps to figuring out what would provide meaning and value post-job, meeting with financial planner to run options).
The feeling of incremental goals as I prepare for a rewarding, secure retirement helps me feel much better about it all. Hope that helps you in some way.
So not being at work is an easy answer. Which makes me wonder if retiring would be an easy answer, too, if you could allay some of your worries?
If you quit this job, is retirement permanent? In most industries, it seems to me that you could retire, change your mind and either go back to your old job or something within your industry, potentially even working part time. I did not have that option, in a seniority based occupation. I retired at the top of my occupation, and to go back to another company (couldn’t go back to my old employer), I’d be the bottom person, with the least seniority, so retirement from my lifelong occupation was permanent. That was a huge decision, but I think for most people in non-union, non seniority based positions, it’s not a permanent choice, you can always go back and do something similar.
Here’s another calculation to make, as I didn’t read in the thread if you’d mentioned it. Have you figured out exactly how much you take home, after all the expenses of working are paid? For example, we figured out how much we would take home in pension after taxes, and compared it to what we were taking home then. Deducting the costs of commuting, all state/federal taxes, Medicare, FICA, union dues, not contributing to our 401K’s, etc. Consider the tax bracket you are in if you file a joint return, and the fact that your income might bump you into a higher tax bracket than you would be, not working. Think about what you actually get after all those expenses, especially if you are already on your husband’s medical insurance plan or can go on it.
We told our youngest son three years ago what the numbers were as far as working/vs retirement. He started laughing, and exclaimed, “So you guys are working full time for less income than I am making? Why?” Putting the numbers to it really put retirement into perspective.
I did this before I retired. My pension was actually more than my take home pay had been for more than several years. Subtract required contribution to pension, contributions to 403b accounts, payment of health insurance (and my husbands plan cost didn’t increase at all when he added me). Reduced money for commuting, work clothes, and as a teacher a lot of expenses related to my work.
Really…it worked out very well for me, and did not bump us into a higher tax bracket because we were there already due to DHs work.
My bucket list is so long I could retire at 40 and still not check it all off before dying even 50 years later. Those scared of retiring always amuse me. They just don’t have enough non-work interests, which I find sad, personally. Work to live, not live to work is my motto. If money isn’t an issue, retire and find purpose elsewhere including extensive travel. Learn new and interesting things for fun, find hobbies, have adventures.
After watching my parents take a long time to get themselves sufficiently busy after retirement - I’d have to say that it may be productive to think of those good things (interests, hobbies, adventures, purpose) before making that leap. It just seems to remove some of the risk of disorientation at the point of leaving work…
In retirement I have zero desire to set my alarm if no place to go. Our mantra with the retired work buddies is, “retirement is six Saturdays and a Sunday”. (For those who are not church attenders, it can be seven Saturdays).
But my view is partly because I was often sleep deprived in the last years of the job. Getting up for 7am (or sometimes eve 6am or 5am) worldwide conference calls was no fun. But the worst thing was middle of the night pager call-outs and Sat midnight system upgrade projects, which sometimes involved working through the nigh. It’s a joy to be able to stay up late with TV or reading and sleep as late as I like. (OK, sometimes in the summer I do set the alarm in order to get a run in before it’s too hot.)
In a less grueling job, I could have easily worked a few more years. But hubby is 7 years older, so we decided that I’d join him in retirement once he got on Medicare. Had I been able to arrange 30 hours/week (with health insurance) during his first year of retirement at age 64 I would have done so. Manager was open to it, but I knew I’d end up working more. Decided just to make a bigger effort in that last year to use all vacation days and take comp time for the offshift hours.
I retired at 59. I was worried about “what I would do” when I retired, but I was sent home for several weeks during COVID, and that time helped me realize filling my time would not be a problem. I left a fair amount of money “on the table” by retiring “early,” but I’m not at all sorry I retired when I did (I’ve been retired just over 2 years now).
My husband retired at 62. He was much more attached to his job than I ever was, but he is still really happy he retired 9 months in. He still does something related to his profession most days, by choice.
We both work a little, (I work up to 200 hours a year, and he can probably fill as much time as he wants with paid work, but it likely won’t be more than 25-30% of the time, if that).
We were both federal employees, so no health insurance worries.
My family has experienced some early dementia and seems to die young, and my husband has had peers of similar age get very sick during work or soon after retiring.
We are both of the opinion that at this point time is more valuable than more money.
We both have pensions, but they aren’t the old federal pensions you hear about. We consulted 3 financial advisors within the years leading up to retirement and each assured us we would be fine.
I can’t advise you of course, but I can’t think of one one person I know who was sorry they retired.
We public educators call it endless summer without the PD!
A couple of suggestions.
When DH retired, we immediately left for a week long vacation the next day.
When I retired, I made sure I had something really fun to do the first day back at school…when I didn’t need to be there at 7:45 in the morning. Since then, I’ve organized a “Not Back to School Breakfast” that starts at 9:30 or so…on a day the first week school resumes. It has grown from 7 or so retirees to 17 who came last year!
I really didn’t have a “plan” for my retirement but I was very open to things that might come up. And like I said…I could say NO if I wanted to. Things fell into place nicely.