Who could comfortably retire, but keep working

[Narragansett]

I spent 42 years in heavy building electrical construction. My field was so much fun early on. A constant education, no contracts, lawyers or schedulers fresh out of college with a computer.

The last 15 years were just so stressful I found myself burned out. I retired at 62, and never looked back.

The idea of turning a wirenut makes me cringe

 

[johngalt]

Treasure that older CRS retirement - since the later '80s the FERS system for newer employees is 1.1% per year of service, so your 30.5 years today would get you 33.55% of your high 5 salary years plus whatever you put in your TSP (Fed version of a 401k). Many states and local governments have better retirement systems these days.

IMHO, the retiree health insurance is far more valuable than the pension. 5 years to go to become eligible!

 

[Farmer17]

Did the OP ever say what his business is?[/QUOTE]

I'm a general contractor doing mostly commercial work, constructing small office buildings and remodels. I've built over 45 dental offices in the Oklahoma City metro area. Most of the day I'm driving around visiting my projects and typically have time to run all my errands during the week and have the weekends free. When things are running smoothly it feels like I'm retired but sometimes things can get more hectic than I want, but at least it keeps the juices flowing and my brain exercised.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I have what every man wants, according to a 80's comedy/romance movie, no wife, no kids, no mortgage.
I am too old to show up for work, but I have a special skill.
I hang doors. You can not.
I don't know why I know what I know; I am justifilably grateful that I do.
Some people call me, most do not. It helps when they do, for both of us.
Don't ask me to be cheap, and I won't ask you either.

HHmm.........When I built my house in 1980. I "HUNG" all my doors. Inside and out. And they all still work. So it's not a one man talent.

 

[Doug M.]

We do have certain advantages. My wife is retired faculty from a State University. As such, we can continue to be the same health coverage at what I suspect is pretty much market rate. Due to my ESRD, I went on medicare in November of '21 when I started dialysis; we pay cash for the gap coverages, one through the same state purchase, one private (medications). When she retired, it was in part due to a buyout (as usual, the deadwood stayed and the better folks bailed). We had two houses as our jobs were about 160 miles apart. We sold the one new the school, which mostly paid off this one. Yes, having two houses was a burden until it became a good investment. Her buyout came at the start of the subsequent year, which really reduced the tax impact, and we then used it to pay off our cars. I never perceived that it would work out as well as it did, but there we are. When my salary got a decent boost a while back to a more market level rate, we were able to quit the token draw on her pension that we used to pay medical insurance, and since my pension is based on the average of the highest 60 consecutive months, it will increase a lot by the time I am ready to retire.

 

[Kevin J.]

I was at my job for 40 years (age 62) when covid hit and they furlough most everyone through the summer. When they did the call backs I was really tempted to just call it quits, but prior to covid I liked my job and coworkers. They needed be so we worked out a deal where I would come back three days a week. I did that for two years and finally had to retire in 2022 at age 64 since I could not deal with the new work models where everyone, except those with a hands on needs like myself, was "working" remote. When I hit the occasional happy hour with some of the old dogs that are still working is all I hear is jealousy and "man you got out at the right time" comments. BTW the cash option on our pensions went down 40% the year after I retired (the monthly annuity remained the same but I prefer to manage my own money), so yes I did get out at the right time.

 

[LVSteve]

I did that for two years and finally had to retire in 2022 at age 64 since I could not deal with the new work models where everyone, except those with a hands on needs like myself, was "working" remote.

There's a sentence that could launch quite a thread, I think.

 

[BC38]

There's a sentence that could launch quite a thread, I think.

Yeah, I just read a very interesting article about a survey of corporate executives and HR personnel in companies that have issued RTO (Return To Office) notices to their remote workforce folks. The RTO notices basically stated that to remain employed the "remote workers" need to go back to the old work model of reporting to the office every day.

These upper level corporate types expected (and hoped) that sending out the RTO notices would result in 20%-25% of their "remote workforce" resigning, rather than returning to the traditional office environment. They figured this would be a way for them to drastically reduce the headcount in their organizations WITHOUT having to suffer the negative press that comes with laying off (a.k.a. TERMINATING) a bunch of people. FWIW, firing a lot of your employees usually has a pretty negative impact on a corporation's stock price. Something they wanted to avoid.

Apparently they were quite disappointed that a much lower percentage of people chose to resign rather than comply with the RTO notices.

So now, due to current economic circumstances, they are going to have to hand out a bunch of pink slips anyway - which is what they were trying to avoid.

 

[Bald1]

I comfortably retired 9.5 years ago at the rip old age of 50. In addition to having two International consulting businesses, I work for a multinational corporation. In my spare time I go to gun shows, which reminds me there’s one today in Vegas.

Sounds like you’re not retired. Your running a business

 

[MetalMan]

I’ve just announced to my boss and colleagues that I will plan to retire at the end on 2025 after spending 48 years in my industry. I’ve moved/relocated 14 times in my career…good career moves but the timing was not always in my favor.

I’ve always traveled fairly extensively in my job; some years as much as 150-160 days. But traveling in today’s environment is not without its own set of challenges.

I’ll turn 70 in January and will be able to collect my full social along with my full salary for all of 2025. House will be paid off mid-next year. So, with savings, our social security and a small pension, we should be able to maintain our current standard of living…or so says our financial consultant.

So, I am facing retirement square in the face but not without some trepidation. My golf game sucks, ammo is expensive and our kids have their own lives to live. So, what to do with my time?

Thinking about consulting as I seem to have earned some degree of recognition in the industry. This would afford me a way of easing into retirement rather than jumping in with both feet.

My wife and I have been married for 45 years (in July) but she jokes that we’ve been together only about half of this time; being together full-time will also be an adjustment.

I’m fortunate to have some time to think through all of this, but admit to fearing a bit about the unknowns.

 

[Golddollar]

I retired on December 31, 2015 at 3:30 PM (but who's keeping track, ha ha ) after working for 38 years. Best move I ever made. I have medical opinion that retiring when I did may have saved my life.

With that being said, I had told my former cardiologist that I was thinking of retiring. He advised me to make sure I had something going on to keep my mind active. He said he knew too many guys who retired, had no outside interests and ended up suffering from a significant cognitive decline. Luckily I was on the local planning commission so I kept doing that after I retired.

I am now the Secretary of the Planning Commission, and I just spent 6 hours drafting, proofreading and correcting the meeting minutes from the last meeting, and in a few hours I will be proofreading the draft of those meeting minutes again. I don't receive a dime for doing this, but I do engage in the mental exercise of putting my handwritten notes from the meeting into a readable report that our citizens can access and read. The town government appreciates what I do. I've been the Secretary since 2012 and I feel that I'm giving something back to the community in which I have chosen to reside.

 

[Golddollar]

So, I am facing retirement square in the face but not without some trepidation. My golf game sucks, ammo is expensive and our kids have their own lives to live. So, what to do with my time?

Thinking about consulting as I seem to have earned some degree of recognition in the industry. This would afford me a way of easing into retirement rather than jumping in with both feet.

My wife and I have been married for 45 years (in July) but she jokes that we’ve been together only about half of this time; being together full-time will also be an adjustment.

I’m fortunate to have some time to think through all of this, but admit to fearing a bit about the unknowns.

I might be able to help you here. Back in 1991, my dad made plans to retire near the end of June. My mother was suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and Pop figured on taking early retirement in order to be with my mom during what would probably be the last few months of her life.

Back then there were articles circulating listing the most stressful events people could encounter in their lives. Pop had two of them occur the same day. My mom died the day of Pop's retirement party.

My dad's employer ended up giving him a consulting contract for 2 1/2 days a month, or 30 days a year. I think that really allowed Pop to ease out of working full time. He later established his own consulting firm but folded it after he saw how much the government was taking. With that, he retired fully and enjoyed a long life being remarried, a father and grandfather.

So yes, being a consultant could be a good way to make the transition from working full time to being retired full time.

Now, me, when I tell people I retired at 3:30 PM on my last day of work, it's because I was literally looking at my watch when I turned the ignition key to leave the office for the last time. I wanted to savor the moment.

 

[BC38]

I retired on December 31, 2015 at 3:30 PM (but who's keeping tract, ha ha ) after working for 38 years. Best move I ever made. I have medical opinion that retiring when I did may have saved my life...

I know for a fact that retiring as early as I could from the job (that accidentally became my career) saved my life.

When I retired at 55, I knew I would be losing the $300k life insurance policy my employer was providing as part of my benefits package. At that time, we still had a mortgage to pay off, one kid in high school, another just starting college, and a lot of life left ahead, So I decided that I needed to buy myself a life insurance policy to replace the coverage I would be losing when I retired.

In the process of applying for and trying to get approved for that life insurance, I took a physical that showed my PSA was unusually high for my age and health. Long story short, that resulted in my being diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer. Because of that diagnosis I got immediate, early, treatment.

It's now been 6 years since I was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, and my PSA tests are still indicating that I am cancer free. I'm now counted as being a prostate cancer survivor.

BUT, if I hadn't decided to retire when I did, who knows how long it would have been before my cancer was diagnosed. It might gone on for years and advanced too far to be effectively treated before it was even discovered. That is what happened to one of my uncles - my dad's youngest brother. He died of metastasized prostate cancer at the age of 68.

So for me, the decision to retire early saved my life - because it resulted in my cancer being diagnosed while it was still in the early, easily treatable stages.

Anyways, that is my story. I'm glad I decided to retire early. Because if I hadn't, I might not even be here to talk about it...

 

[Golddollar]

I know for a fact that retiring as early as I could from the job (that accidentally became my career) saved my life.

Yours is a great story.

 

[BC38]

Yours is a great story.

I hope it is a cautionary tale.

The moral of my story... get your PSA tested. It is a simple blood test, and it can be the difference between life and death.

Catch it early and prostate cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer. Wait too long and it is a death sentence.

 

[JohnRippert]

I hope it is a cautionary tale.

The moral of my story... get your PSA tested. It is a simple blood test, and it can be the difference between life and death.

Catch it early and prostate cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer. Wait too long and it is a death sentence.

Similar happened to me. After retiring I found myself having issues going and my PSA was way up. They did a scan in preparation for a laser prostate resection and saw something that they wanted to check. A biopsy showed the very beginnings of cancer. It was so early that they do not want to do anything yet. It may even have been taken care of by the prostate surgery. I head in on Friday for my latest checkup and will see what things are looking like.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Yes, "work" is a four letter word. So is POOR.
One lawyer, told me he retired, at the end of the 4th month he was on his wife's nerves, at the end of the 5th month he was on his own, at the end of the 6th he was back to work. He told me he and his wife use their SS to helpt their grandkids pay for college, he said his grandparents helped him pay for college and law school.
Attended the funeral of a coach I remembered from high school, met his son, also an alumnus, 2 years younger than me-I am 74. He said "work is the best retirement program."
Still in the same apartment, watching the small fry play is my substitute for TV. I am the Bicycle Man, they bring their bikes to me for flats, etc. Mr. Helpful Friendly Neighbor-I like that role.

 

[BC38]

Similar happened to me. After retiring I found myself having issues going and my PSA was way up. They did a scan in preparation for a laser prostate resection and saw something that they wanted to check. A biopsy showed the very beginnings of cancer. It was so early that they do not want to do anything yet. It may even have been taken care of by the prostate surgery. I head in on Friday for my latest checkup and will see what things are looking like.

Thankfully you didn't ignore your symptoms.

The kinda scary/weird thing in my case is that there WERE no symptoms. No urination issues, no pain or discomfort. Nothing.

BUT it had been over 10 years since I'd had a PSA test. That's why I see getting a regular PSA every year as being so important. That high PSA score on the insurance physical was the first and only indication that there was anything wrong.

BTW, that first PSA was 9.5 - about two to three times higher than normal for a 55 year old with no other issues. Just about a month later my second PSA was over 12. That is some pretty rapid movement - what they call the "trajectory" of the condition. That trajectory was a strong indication that the cancer was growing, and probably growing FAST.

 

[JohnRippert]

Pretty much the same here. I went 5 years without seeing my GP doctor. When I finally did go back my PSA went from 2.8 to 8.9, and since the surgery it is back down to 1.42 and has been trending ever so slightly down. Liking that much better.

 

[BC38]

Pretty much the same here. I went 5 years without seeing my GP doctor. When I finally did go back my PSA went from 2.8 to 8.9, and since the surgery it is back down to 1.42 and has been trending ever so slightly down. Liking that much better.

My 5-year PSA last June was below the lowest detection level - less than 0.02.
It's been that way since just a couple of months after surgery.
I need to set the appointment for my 6-year soon, just to stay on top of it.