[Jazzper]

Originally Posted by mgm4444

Tried to PM you for the chart, sez you don't receive PMs.. am I doing something wrong?

My bad...must have checked that box at some point -- sorry.

Please try again.

[Russ_Boston]

For me the decision comes down to $.

If I had enough from my pension (I don't) or enough in the 401k (I don't) or some inheritance (I don't) then I wouldn't work.

But I decided to meet my goal of moving to TV early (I'm 53 she's 50) by becoming an RN at the age of 52 and work in TV for 10 years or so to supplement the $ listed above plus health benefits. I'll defer my pension until age 62 to get full value.

I get to enjoy the TV lifestyle in my 4 days off each week plus about 5 weeks of vac, PTO etc. And Linda gets to enjoy it 7 days per week!

We all don't know when we'll be checking out of this world so live it up while you can. We recently lost a TOTV member to cancer who retired just last year at 55. He only got to enjoy his dream for a short time but at least he did. RIP Steve!

[jannd228]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

For me the decision comes down to $.

If I had enough from my pension (I don't) or enough in the 401k (I don't) or some inheritance (I don't) then I wouldn't work.

But I decided to meet my goal of moving to TV early (I'm 53 she's 50) by becoming an RN at the age of 52 and work in TV for 10 years or so to supplement the $ listed above plus health benefits. I'll defer my pension until age 62 to get full value.

I get to enjoy the TV lifestyle in my 4 days off each week plus about 5 weeks of vac, PTO etc. And Linda gets to enjoy it 7 days per week!

We all don't know when we'll be checking out of this world so live it up while you can. We recently lost a TOTV member to cancer who retired just last year at 55. He only got to enjoy his dream for a short time but at least he did. RIP Steve!

I agree with you Russ, I don't have enough to retire either and the lung condition I developed has other plans so I put all I could together and decided "Someday is Today",

BTW I enjoy reading your posts

[JimJoe]

They gave me furlough days with no pay, told me my pension benefits would be reduced starting this July 1st if I continued to work, and I believe my gov pension benefits would go into the crapper every year from now on until the economy is fully recovered if ever. Then they offered me a cash buyout, and free health benefits, and I said thank you and goodbye. I loved my job, I rode the train up the hill and decided to get off before it went back down.
JJ

[quidam65]

Originally Posted by thistrucksforyou

I am 59 and still work full time,,,My wife and I have been to T V many times and we are buying there when I retire...My wife is retired...I am not....I don,t know if I am ready or want to, even though I have grown to hate my job....With mergers and buy outs it is not the same company any more...Maybe I am just used to the weekly pay check and am leary of loosing that...Don't have any answers, but I can learn from your experiances...When did you know it was time to give it up !

Thanks in advance for your time

Skip @ Sue

To Thistrucksforyou--Having read your post and all the answers, it all comes down to three things to consider.

1. Are you legally eligible to retire from your employer? In other words, could you go in to your employer tomorrow, complete the necessary paperwork, wait whatever period you need to wait, then walk away and begin drawing your pension (and/or withdraw from any 401k or similar plan).
2. Are you (or are you becoming) emotionally detached from your job? (This is not the same as being attached to the paycheck.) It seems from your comments that you've already reached this point due to all the corporate changes having taken place.
3. (Most important) Are you and your family financially able to retire? This is where a professional financial planner, not trying to sell you some product, is critically needed.

Only you and your spouse can decide whether it is time to move to the next chapter of your lives together. The financial planner can definitely help in the dollars and cents part. But I think you're already there, and just need to realize it.

[NJblue]

Originally Posted by Jazzper

When I saw the study done by Lockhead Martin and Boeing that measured the # of pension checks sent to their employees after retirement.

It was basically an actuarial chart of how many checks retirees received until their deaths vs. the age they retired.

It was a perfect, downward 45 degree angle showing that for every year employees worked past the age of 55, they traded 2 years of lifespan. Initially, I thought it might be a function of how stressful the work there might have been. But my wife looked at it and compared it to her father's age of retirement and death and it was pretty much dead on....no pun intended.

If you'd like a copy of the chart, just PM me with your email. I had it hanging on our fridge the last year or so before I decided to take an early retirement.

I was intrigued by this and found the chart online. However, after doing some more googling, it seems to have been refuted by Boeing itself (whose data presumably was used to create the chart).

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices...nars/Rumor.pdf

“The idea that working longer will
shorten a Boeing employee’s life
expectancy simply isn’t true,” said
Julie Curtis, an actuary at Boeing.
I’ve been looking at the data since
1983, and the length of a retiree’s
life is unrelated to the age at his or
her retirement. Our retirees tend to
live a long time no matter how old
they are when they retire. If the charts were accurate, we wouldn’t have the large number of retirees that we do
(nearly 500,000) and the large amount of pension payments (more than $2 billion a year).”
The first inaccurate life expectancy chart surfaced in the early 80s, and versions of it have been floating around
for years – almost as an “urban myth.” The Internet now spreads the misinformation farther, faster, and in a
more professional-appearing form. Boeing and many other companies have tried to dispel the misconception.

[Jazzper]

Interesting...not surprised if it is one of those urban myths at this point.

But for me personally, it certainly was the kick in the butt I needed to realize that there was no reason to work in a job for money that I'd probably never spend.

While growing up, I vowed that I would never let myself get into the same position my father did of hating to go to work every day after seeing what it did to him. But, the job that I was in had deteriorated from one I really enjoyed to the complete opposite. For the last 2 years there, I was just putting in time waiting for an outsourcing or re-org severance package at the end of this year -- which, BTW, has not happened yet for my co-workers -- so I ended up saying the hell with it and walked away from what will most likely be a healthy chunk of change. But I'm CERTAINLY not regretting it -- the time here in TV has already made me completley forget about that big-Pharma job.

[quidam65]

Jazzper--Thanks for the chart, I printed it out and have it in my office at home.

If Boeing says the chart is an urban legend I would have no reason to doubt them. But any garden-variety medical practioner will tell you that stress is a killer, and work is probably the biggest source of stress that one has. Our original poster appears to be suffering from it due to his increasing dissatisfaction with his work environment. It is one thing to have a fleeting thought about retirement -- I have those and still have 11 years to go before eligibility -- but he's having recurring thoughts about it. As I mentioned previously, I believe he's become emotionally detached from his job, one of the biggest signs that it's time to get the ball rolling toward making the golden years truly golden.

I recently took a promotion and went to a new office. My supervisor (whom I worked with previously) told me my first day at work that he was retiring at year's end. In later discussions, he mentioned to me that previously he wasn't sure how he would know when it was time to retire, but one day it became clear to him that it was time.

[Niels]

I think the three items posted by quidam65 are a great beginning. I was never emotionally attached to my job. I always thought of my job was OK but it was just a paycheck. I decided quite a while ago that I would retire as soon as I was eligible for a pension. My father died on the job at the age of 61. Medical problems that occurred a few years ago helped cement my decision.

I would add one additional item to the three that quidam65 mentioned. Have you thought about what you want to do/accomplish when you retire? I had several goals that I wanted to accomplish (including moving to Florida) that I needed to be retired to do. A friend at work had more trouble deciding when to retire. He stated he had no real plans on what he would do after retirement. Once he developed some plans, he felt much more comfortable with retirement.

[quidam65]

Originally Posted by Niels

I think the three items posted by quidam65 are a great beginning. I was never emotionally attached to my job. I always thought of my job was OK but it was just a paycheck. I decided quite a while ago that I would retire as soon as I was eligible for a pension. My father died on the job at the age of 61. Medical problems that occurred a few years ago helped cement my decision.

I would add one additional item to the three that quidam65 mentioned. Have you thought about what you want to do/accomplish when you retire? I had several goals that I wanted to accomplish (including moving to Florida) that I needed to be retired to do. A friend at work had more trouble deciding when to retire. He stated he had no real plans on what he would do after retirement. Once he developed some plans, he felt much more comfortable with retirement.

Neils--You make an excellent point, I've heard that those who retire with no goals thereafter don't live too long past retirement. I think our original poster has that point covered (stated that they will move to TV once retired), it's simply a case of does he have the legal and financial ability to do so (only he knows that) and is he emotionally ready to do so (I think he's more ready than he realizes).

[pooh]

I had retired years ago, but hubby was still working. We visited TV in Oct, 2005, were offered a house in Feb of 2006. Closed in April that year and started to think about retiring. One night in August, we started discussing when we'd retire. Hubby felt he would work until early 2007, but in doing calculations, the extra working time would only earn us minimal additional retirement income so why wait! House went on the market end of August and we became frogs in Oct. 2006. It was really a spur of the moment decision for us and financially feasible so, here we are!

[Tom Hannon]

He is ready. Finances might be what is holding him back. My friends and business contacts couldn't understand why I would want to retire. They say "I'm a young 62, I'm physicaly strong, very active and healthy. Why hang em up?"

These are the reason why I want to retire. Like too many people I know, they wait to long. I'd rather retire a year too early than a year too late.

[PinkNana]

My hubby was retired but I still enjoyed working...until breast cancer came along in May 2009. Retired at the end of the year, sold the house and came here in May 2010. Do not regret a single day since. Loving life!