Take The Job Or Not?
 

My husband and I are looking to retire in 3.5 years or 42 months to be exact. I currently work 3 days a week and have been offerred a full time position. If I take the full time position, we could retire in 2.5 years or 30 months. I love working part time and my husband teaches so he has summers off. The flexibility in my position allows us the ability to travel and do the things we enjoy in the summers. This board is a wealth of information and would love some assistance in making this decision. If it were you, would you continue working part time or would you take the full time position (which would allow you to get to TOTV a year sooner)?

Take the full time job. Reitring earlier is always to best. We got lucky, worked hard and were able to retire in our late 50s. Never regrated the hard work to get to that point.

working 3 days a week for 3.5 years means you will work for 546 days until retirement (3 days a week x 52 weeks x 3.5 years). If you work 5 days a week and can retire in 2.5 years, you will work 650 days (5 days a week x 52 weeks x 2.5 years). It doesn't sound like an even trade-off to me. Since you are enjoying your current lifestyle and apparently do not need the extra income that working full time would give you, I would stay part time.

Take The Job or Not
 

You neglected to mention your ages. That filters into the decision IMO.

It is a tough decision, in my mind, no matter what the parameters.

From a personal standpoint, my company, (NYNEX before it became Verizon) offered an early retirement package with full medical benefits. This was important to me, since my wife has a chronic illness. I needed more time to take care of her needs, and wanted to "lock in" those benefits, at the same time. For me, the decision was a "no-brainer." The benefits have eroded somewhat, and the pension doesn't increase, but we are both happy with the decision.

Another thing to consider is the stress level of your jobs. I had a lot of travel between New York and New England in my job, which I wasn't happy with.

That's about all I have to offer.

Good luck with your decision.

Information to make an informed decision is missing. For example, do you have benefits working part-time? Would you have benefits working full-time? Would working full-time allow you to contribute to a 401k and get matching funds? Are you able to contribute to 401K while working part-time? Would working full time impact the healthcare benefits you get now and in retirement? Would working full-time help you vest in a retirement plan? How much vacation time would you get working full-time? Could you buy additional pto if you worked full-time, and would that allow you to make up for some of your flexibility you now enjoy? Lots of little factors go into such a big decision and only you know most of those factors. Good luck, there is probably no wrong answer.

I will be 52 tomorrow hubby is 59.5

Yes, I have benefits working part time. I am able to contribute to a 401k however, only get $40 matching funds per month. This is for full time and part time employees. Both positions are vested. Unable to buy pto.

Thanks for all the questions hopefully, with all of your knowledge we will be able to make a educated decision.

As long as you enjoy working I would rather ease into retirement. Keep working part time but start doing some of the things you would do in retirement.
The unknown for a lot of us is far will our money go and how will the economy effect our income. Thus the leaning toward easing into retirement, especially at your young age. If finances will not be a problem then I would retire earlier as long as you will enjoy your new life style.

How to find out what do you really want.
 

Have someone else flip a coin. Heads you remain part time. Tails you go full time. The choice is no longer yours.

While the coin is in the air what does your heart hope the result will be?

There's your answer...

Trust your gut (instinct). What is your gut telling you to do?

Your Decision Process
 

Questions have been raised that you need to ask yourself to factor into a decision. Some other questions are:
1. Is your health a factor in your decision?
2. Are you planning to sell your home at your retirement date?
3, Will you work until the day of the closing?
4. Do you need the extra money as oppossed to taking the full-time job that might be more stressful?

The decision should be made with all the facts in an intellectual manner but one aspect is to consider the emotional response of how you are feeling about retirement?

I like to idea of easing into retirement so I would tend to think a non-stressful job might be more benefical as opposed to working full time especially because of the flexibility. Hopefully, you have many years to enjoy your retirement. :)

I wish I was in TV so I know how you feel. :)

We retired at ages 58 and 59. Three years after we stopped working and moved to The Villages I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately it was caught early and I have remained cancer free for 10 years now. BUT, getting a cancer diagnosis fairly young made me sit up and take notice of the fact that the life we worked so hard for could end very quickly. We do not regret retiring sooner than later. What if my cancer had not been treatable and I had died in a year? I would at least have had 3-4 years in this wonderful place. None of us knows what the future holds. My feeling is that if you can afford to stop working and make the move to The Villages, do it just as soon as you can. In the end, only you know what is the right time for you to make a move like this.

I am so happy to hear you are cancer free. My mother was a school teacher and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when she was 58. 4 months later she passed away. She never was able to retire and that is something I think about daily. Her parents died in their early 80's, so I not sure what the future holds. Your advice and everyone's advice is so valuable as I try to make the right decision. Thanks again!!

Sounds to me you "love part time".........stay with the part-time......I went from that to fulltime since moving to TV; it's difficult mentally! You'll be in TV soon enough; enjoy your free time with the extra days off, it's a gift.

:agree: This is important after you've taken in all the advice and information you can.

SS
 

Go to the SS web site and get a estimate of benefits at 62.

More you make now more you recieve later.

Hi LisaJ,

Happy pre-birthday. :) In addition to Brostholder's time analysis, it sounds like perhaps you are not planning to increase your total net earnings between now and retirement, but rather planning to use the extra income from full-time work to retire sooner.

If financial benefit is not part of the equation, I'm not sure giving up your flexible lifestyle for the next 2.5 years would be worth retiring one year earlier. The extra year until retirement will be here before you know it; and it sounds like you would enjoy your next 2.5 year much more if you are working part-time.

However, that's just me, based on the assumption from your post that you are not planning to gain financially by changing to full-time employment.

It is important for you to know that when you ultimately decide to take your SS benefits, they consider 40 years of work, then drop the lowest 5 years. You should consider that in your planning.

Oh, I missed your post for some reason. If it would significantly change SS benefits for rest of life, that would be an important consideration, at least to me.

By all means, go to the SS website and get all the info. It's all there, though sometimes not easy to find.

Since you are still working, I believe that they send you an annual statement. You can, and should, request a statement at least annually, and before the date that you decide to stop working.

Take the full time dump all the money into your 401 and enjoy the extra money when you retire early

Enjoy life now!
 

If you enjoy your life style now because you have more time with your spouse--my vote is stay part time!, Life is short and you never know what is around the next bend in the road!, good luck--I gave up a full time job making good money so that we could spend more quality time in Paradise--- we call it it our Leap of Faith

Don't get caught in the trap of trading time for dollars..........:024:

Many the Time
 

Five years ago as 55 and eligible to retire I visited the villages came back and was ready to say take this job and shove it!

The best thing I did was listen to some friends who said go get your reality checks. So Ok I did!

Check one : The NYS Teacher Retirement System Web site that calculated benefits at 30 years, 31 32 etc

Check two : The NYS Retirement system that reminded me a divorce 13 years ago was going to remove 16k a year as soon as I retired.:Screen_of_Death:

Check three: The Federal SS retirement and their calculations at 62, 63 64 etc

Step four: Back to work! And every time I think I'm outta here revert back to Step two:-:rant-rave::rant-rave::rant-rave::rant-rave:

Money in the bank is security. Since you aren't going to retire right now, you might as well save a little more.

After you do all the investigating and crunch all the numbers... Then you and your hubby should EACH try Dirigo's exercise:

Excellent advice, in my opinion!

Best advice yet! And really, how much difference can working an extra 16 hours a week make in your total retirement savings in the next year. Also, the same for social security. I believe they average your eligible earnings for the last 30 years, so working an extra 16 hours a week for a year will not move your benefits very much at all. Just because you retire does not mean you have to start taking your ss.

Your SS benefit is derived from the last 40 years of work, then the lowest 5 years of earnings are dropped from that grouping. So, for example, if you decided to retire in 2011, and you are 62, they would consider all earnings between 1971 and 2011, then drop the lowest 5 years.

Retire at age 62, you get 75% of what you would get at full retirement age. Retire at age 63, and it's 80%. I would have to look it up to be certain, but I think the current full benefit retirement age is 66 and is gradually increasing.

Of course, they're always talking about monkeying around with future benefit amounts.

Thank you for all of the knowledgeable advice! Hubby and I are seriously considering the advice on TOTV, crunching the numbers and trying to make the best decision for us. I love working part time because it does give us the time to travel, see our friends and spend time together. However, I see so many "little old ladies" standing on their feet at target or walmart in pain. Having suffered many years with Plantar Fasciitis (I don't want to be them). They are working because they have too, not for enjoyment. Sooo, I might like working part time however, is that best in the long run?

Happy Birthday
 

Oh, by the way, Happy Birhday LisaJ.

Hope you have a GREAT day!

Thank you for the birthday wishes!!! Wish I was in TV.

After reading all the posts so far, are you leaning one way or the other yet ?

I'm leaning to staying part time. I know this will probably sound crazy to some/ and not to others but, working two more days takes alot of energy. It is not really 16 more hours it is more like 20 hours. It usually takes me 30-45minutes to get to work and same on the way home, plus the effort of getting ready to go to work (what to wear, etc), if I can leave at precisely the time I'm supposed to be finished with work,etc. After 5 days of that, then I/we have to clean the house, grocery shop, errands, personal things on Saturday, etc. I don't have the energy left to do the things I/we enjoy.

So then it comes back to the question of do I work full time for 2.5 years (which isn't as enjoyable) to get to TV one year earlier or do I continue doing what I do now?

I can see why that is a tough call. :undecided: The weeks when I only have to work 3 days are great for all the reasons you pointed out and the next week still comes too fast. Fortunately I have a lot of vacation time so occasionally I take Fridays off just to shorten the week and I have a nice job working with nice people. I think as we age we simply want more time for ourselves since we realize how limited time really is becoming. It seems to me that you are concluding that if you work full time you will suffer more daily (and be miserable) for 2.5 years than the one year advantage of earlier TV. Maybe more trips to TV will help you decide. :laugh:

When it comes to the bottom line, after you read all the opinions, YOU have to do what makes YOU happy ......... nobody else.......

:agree:

Your the one that has to wake-up and be happy with your decision. :)

Another item for you to investigate is when to start taking SS. Not knowing your facts I would say that the individual with the highest earnings (Your actual ages could change this) delays SS until age 70. The other spouse applies for SS at age ? and their spouse applies for the spousal benefit. If you need additional money to live on use your savings to make up what you lose in SS. The idea is that by delaying SS you are buying an inflation protected annuity for the increase in benefits. Probably the best deal around.

It's always about the money. If I work a little longer I will have more. But then again, If I don't wake up tomorrow, I won't have any. The gamble you take is your choice. So many people never live long enough to live their dreams. You just need to decide what is best for you. EVERYDAY is a gift that can be taken in an instant. Good luck and best wishes in your decision.:wave:

To that point, I worked with someone who had his "little black book," and kept track of every nickel he put into SS, and his investments for retirement. Every payday, he would make entries, and he planned to retire at age 65. Well, he never made it, and died sometime between age 64 and 65.

This was in the early 70's, prior to the 401-k becoming popular.

I agree 100%! I hate that "it's always about the money." If it wasn't about the money, the decision wouldn't be so hard. That is primarly why I posted this question on TOTV. Their are so many knowledgeable people that are giving their insights. Many people retire only to find out they didn't have enough money to retire in TV and many people wish they would have retired earlier. I guess it really comes down to how much money do really need to live a happy and fullfilling life in TV?