How to Know When It's Time to Retire

[fagnaml]

This past February 1, 2022 at age 62 I celebrated my 40th service anniversary with my large energy company employer.   During the service anniversary I had several colleagues of all ages asking me when I would retire.   My response was "in a couple of years" but if being really honest at the moment my answer is "I don't know".  I greatly enjoy my senior manager role in the company, enjoy my team which spans three generations (Millenials, Gen X'ers, and a couple of Boomers), enjoy the business contributions my team makes, etc.   I (and especially my wife) like very nice compensation package.

The wife and I are financially ready for retirement with a very significant nest egg (nice size 401k account, good pile of company stock awards and rather big lump sum pension monies waiting).   I'm not physically, emotionally, mentally ready to "slow down" yet.   I don't want to be like several somewhat older colleagues who retired and after six months returned to full time jobs because they didn't know what to do with their time.

Several forum members have very successfully crossed the bridge from full time career to a very enjoyable retirement.  My questions for the "retirees" are:

• How did you know when it was time to retire?
• Did you develop a plan for how to spend your time in retirement or just "go for it"?
• How long before retirement did you start thinking /planning your retirement before making the decision to retire?

I have no fears about finances in retirement.  My fear is not yet knowing how to spend my time during retirement.  I don't want to become one of those grumpy old men who sits in a recliner watching cable news all day and complaining about everything.   

Thanks in advance for your insights. 

 

[hermanmullins]

My advice would be to find somewhere to volunteer. I got involved with FMCA and it fills my time and my wife's. I also volunteer at the local VA hospital. Both are very rewarding. 

Herman 

[wildebill308]

Yes that is a complicated question. I also think it is a very personal decision. I think you are lucky to be in the situation you are in. I will make the comment about how much you like your job. How long would go in for free. 

"How did you know when it was time to retire?" 

I had been waiting to get all the "points" I needed. I already had a RV and  I was traveling before that. The big indicator for me was when they cane around and said "we will give you money to quit" 

"Did you develop a plan for how to spend your time in retirement or just "go for it"?" I had the plan to travel more as we were already traveling. There are many things you can do. We are active in Scouting  and do meals wheels. Right now we have cut back because were out of town but do fill in on routs where the regular drivers are out. If you want to learn a town deliver meals. Seriously if you do anything but sit in your recliner you will after a few weeks you will say "I don't know how I had time to go to work. I have to much to do today."

"How long before retirement did you start thinking /planning your retirement before making the decision to retire?"  Many years ago.

The big thing you should think about and understand. You don't know how long you have!! One of my big fears was watching people who had worked their whole life not make that day. Or ended up in such bad shape they couldn't do any thing or really enjoy life. 

Bill

 

[ianbullock]

If you can afford to retire now. then do it! Don't kid yourself, although you enjoy your career, it is simply a job with a means to an end. At 62 you only have so many years to get out, travel, and enjoy yourself before health issues will put an end to it.  I spent 30 years in a very senior mgmt position within a global company. and although it was a great career, it didn't define me, it was simply a job which allowed me the freedom to retire at 59. Having now being retired for 5 years the only regret I have is that I didn't do it sooner.

I worked alongside many a colleague that worked until they were 70 plus due to the same fears about retirement that you have expressed. All without exception later said that they wished that they had retired sooner....

[rossboyer]

I retired at age 59. While paying our medical insurance until age 65 was costly, I will never regret early retirement. We have traveled almost 400,000 miles since I retired. Now 23 years later due to some health issues, we can no longer travel as we did. But the great experiences during those years and travels will never be forgotten. Retire ASAP. 

[wayne77590]

23 hours ago, fagnaml said:

  My questions for the "retirees" are:

• (1) How did you know when it was time to retire?
• (2) Did you develop a plan for how to spend your time in retirement or just "go for it"?
• (3) How long before retirement did you start thinking /planning your retirement before making the decision to retire?

 

 

(1) First, I retired twice. Once from the military (USMC), and second from NASA JSC.  I didn't know. In the Military there were some underlying medical condition and wife and I talked it over and said it was time. For NASA I was approaching the maximum needed, 65 + 8 months and decided not to wait for the 8 months. Talked to SSecurity and found out that I would loose $25 a month by retiring before maximum age. A no brainer and went for it.  DW on the otherhand wanted to work until she was 72 but then we were involved with things and she decided it just was ot worth staying the extra 7 years and retired 7 months after me.  Neither of us have ever regreted it.

(2) No plan. At the time I was riding a motorcycle. A 2004 I bought in 2004 and in 2007 had 64,000 miles on it. Yes, I rode. An accident I had and survived was a main reason for DW to retire. Life is short...and then some idiot can make it shorter. In 2007 we purchased a 5th wheel and 1 year later the motorhome. Never looked back. We travel out of Texas for the summer months and several times throughout the year for 1 or 2 week trips.

(3) Never gave it much thought, just went for it.  You are on the right track. One of the main considerations I had in retiring was, was I having fun anymore.  Things change in the military world and corporate world. When it doesn't become fun anymore it's time to bite the bullet and give it up.  If you really like what you are doing, having fun, enjoy what you do, then maybe the time is not right now.

It's a big step and only you can decide when, and for what reasons. Just remember, life can be short.

[djsamuel]

I retired in December after 41 years working as a Navy civilian employee.  It was a great job but I was looking forward to retiring when I hit 62.  I had been planning for it for about 6 years due to the structure of my retirement system. I was eligible to retire at 56, but the pension improved at 62.  I even had a countdown on my phone and people would always ask me how many days.  There was no surprise when I filed for retirement.  My 62nd birthday was my retirement date.

One way I prepared myself was to look at some people who went before me, such as my parents for lessons on how not to grow older.  When my Dad retired at 63, he really retired.  He parked himself in front of the TV and memorized the history channel.  My mother did not want to travel and my father did; so they both just sat.  After about 10 years, my father developed Alzheimer's and my mother developed mobility issues.  My dad passed away after about 10 years of Alzheimer's and my mother 3 years later.  As I watched them and others, I could see the danger of retirement without any real hobbies, plans, or relationships.  

I know others who held off on retiring and when they finally did, one of their biggest regrets was not retiring sooner.  They began to realize that time was passing quickly and they gave up some of the active years while in the office.  I also wanted to avoid that.

So I asked myself a few questions.  First, how frustrating was I finding my job?  While I enjoyed the people, I had to admit to myself I was getting tired of the politics and found my mind preoccupied during my off time thinking about work.  Second, did I have plans?  Fortunately, my wife and I love doing things together, we are both in very good health, and she is a very adventoursome person that pulls the best out of me.  We've taken our camper around the country and have hiked many places.  Now we have our list of National Parks we haven't been to as well as those places we want to return to.  We want to hike deeper into the Grand Canyon than we have in the past or further up some trails in the Smoky Mountains, etc.  The point is, we have things we want to do and now we have the time.  The third question was if we were financially able.  We are fortunate to have our home paid off and I worked to build a nice retirement package.  I did not want to retire into a life where we had to pich every penny.  We were very careful in our spending over our life and now we find ourselves in a great situation.

So now, three months into retirement, I can say this was the best work related decision I've ever made.  I still stay in contact with former co-workers and have had lunch with them, but I am free to do what I want when I want.  Don't underestimate the value of that.  We have friends and weekly activities with them scheduled; yet flexible enough to freely cancel if we decide to do something else.  We are staying very busy, but we are both very happy.  A big thing we've found is to make sure you and your wife are agreed that there are some things each of you will do alone.  Like she does the food shopping alone and I take care of the Lowe's and Home Depot runs by myself.  We also go out for lunch on our own with friends who are also retired.  That is a big help.  We are avoiding the frustration of feeling like we have to do everything together, and as a result we end up doing about 80% together and enjoying it.

Hope this helps!  It is great you are thinking about it enough to even ask the question.

Doug

Edited March 5, 2022 by djsamuel

[jleamont]

Curious, when you guys retired what overhead did you have?

coach payment, mortgage etc? That’s been my struggle for years. Do you wait until you own everything or just say the heck with it? Obviously financials will dictate a good portion of that but do you sell the house and down size? Did you struggle with less income and adapt?
Just curious, I’ll be 50 this year and have some time to go yet but it’s on my mind daily. While I’d love to do it at 62 it would require a huge lifestyle change that I just don’t think I’d like to take on.

[rossboyer]

From age 59 to age 65, greatest monthly expense was medical insurance. We got a raise when we went on medicare. We took Social Security at age 62. At that time, the break even point was age 78. Our home still had an equity loan. We use that as an emergency fund, so our investments stayed intact. I have 2 retirement checks a month and my wife has one. We are old enough that we have to withdraw from our IRAs. We buy a new car about every 6 or 7 years at zero interest. We have traded in and bought 2 used motor homes. Current one is a 2006 Fleetwood Expedition. Probably will be our last, since we will be 81 this year. Since 1999 we have traveled about 400,000 miles in the motor home. Hopefully, this helps you. 

[wayne77590]

Joe, good point. Yes, the mortgage was paid off.  Had a car payment with 0% and the Motorhome financed. Other than that we were debt free.  Medicare cost me more once I retired than my military Tri Care For Life.  Medicate has gone up every year but it is still cheap compared to some insurance plans. Taxes are a big hunk of change each year, local and federal.

With everything considered, we plan on about $2500 a month (Max for us) overall for traveling.  We are not full time, just get out of Texas for the Summer to beat the heat. We slowed down to longer stays at CG's which allows for the retirement pay to catch up each month.  Consider going from point A, to B, to C, to D, in 4 to 6 days at 100 gallons of fuel each day versus staying a week at each place and tallowing the deposits to catch up.

[rayin]

Consider making major purchases prior to retirement, banks like that better.

I retired from the Army in 1992  then 2 more times from major electrical mfgrs in 2000 at age 59. DW took medical retirement in 2001. We kept busy caring for our small ranch and our house, and of course our RV's.

Today I really would not know what to do, as IMO we are witnessing the beginning of WWIII.

[jleamont]

The big problem for my generation and younger, pensions are a thing of the past and 401k isn’t that great. Unless you are stacking it away and playing the market at a very young age, retirement is more of a dream than a reality.

[djsamuel]

11 hours ago, jleamont said:

Curious, when you guys retired what overhead did you have?

coach payment, mortgage etc? That’s been my struggle for years. Do you wait until you own everything or just say the heck with it? Obviously financials will dictate a good portion of that but do you sell the house and down size? Did you struggle with less income and adapt?
Just curious, I’ll be 50 this year and have some time to go yet but it’s on my mind daily. While I’d love to do it at 62 it would require a huge lifestyle change that I just don’t think I’d like to take on.

I retired at 62 in December with no debt.  We started working at getting to that point when I was around 50.  We built our current home in 2005 and took a 15 year mortgage.  Paying that as well as the camper and truck was tough, but well worth it.  I wouldn't say I would wait to be debt free, but we were fortunate enough to get there.  However, you need to make sure you can afford to retire.  

As you stated in another post, the current situation of 401K only makes it a bit tougher, especially if there is no matching contribution from your employer.  If there is a matching contribution you really need to max that out; otherwise you fall behind.  I think that is the most important.  Being debt free is a big help, but unless you build up a source of income it will be tough.  Like others here have done, my social security started this year at 62.  It just made sense to us to have that.  So I am receiving social security, a pension and a monthly distribution from my 401k.

Just plan out where you want to be at 62, 65, or whatever age you think you'll want to retire, make that a goal, and try to come as close to that as you can.  Those plans may involve what you mentioned; downsizing your house if that is something you want to do.  We did not want to sell the house so we planned for that by making paying the mortgage off a priority.  

Hope this helps!

Edited March 6, 2022 by djsamuel

[wildebill308]

3 hours ago, rayin said:

Consider making major purchases prior to retirement, banks like that better.

I did that with my last RV. I didn't want any problems. However I bought this RV after I was retired and didn't have a problem so I don't know. 

fagnaml, Go now! 

Bill

 

[aztec7fan]

Following this discussion with interest! I'm 56 and starting to have the retirement discussions with my wife and family.  We own our MH and have a bunch of equity in our house, but not sure if we will sell the home when we retire or rent it out.  We will go full time, but also want a fallback plan when health issues force us to stop traveling.

[Viking1500]

 I had been dreaming of retiring and traveling in an rv for several years. We had a small 20ft trailer that we took trips in to camp at National Parks.

 In 2015 I financed (the used at  the time) coach we have now.  

I wanted to retire at 62, (retired at 64)but my wife had a medical issue and it had to be postponed.

I worked for a logistics company that had a contract with a large tire company. The tire company cancelled the contract with my company and offered us the opportunity to switch to the new company. This included pay reduction, loss of some paid holidays and a loss one one of my 4 weeks vacation, among other things I didn't care for.

So I took that as a sign it was time now to retire. This was March of '21.  Wife retired in June she continued working while I got everything sold.

We put the house up for sale and sold it for much more than we paid, did not want to deal with renters, the house across the street was a rental and was always getting trashed. Paid off the coach, sold belongings. The Jeep was already paid off.

We have only been at it for 8 months but it has been great so far even with some hiccups with repairs the coach needed.

No boredom yet. We can hike, see new places have different views out the window from lakes, rivers, mountains,forest or desert.

Some RV  parks have ponds you can fish in without a license.

We bought some ebikes to ride around on. Wife is still a little scared of hers.

We found the we enjoy the Corps of Engineers parks, always on a body of water.  And with the National Park senior pass they are 1/2 price. So around 8 to 10 dollars a night at the ones we have been to.

And yes I wish we could have started sooner.

And saying maybe next year, may not work out. Had a coworker that waited till he turned 70 to retire, he and his wife were going to go on cruises around the world. One month after he retired she suddenly passed away.

So if you have the means, do it while can and your healthy.

We aren't wealthy but we are making do and living comfortably with our Social Security.

We found that staying places 2 weeks or more gets you lower rv site rates and gives you more exploration time without needing to rush around and see all the sights in a couple days.

 

[wildebill308]

10 hours ago, aztec7fan said:

Following this discussion with interest! I'm 56 and starting to have the retirement discussions with my wife and family.  We own our MH and have a bunch of equity in our house, but not sure if we will sell the home when we retire or rent it out.  We will go full time, but also want a fallback plan when health issues force us to stop traveling.

Why do you need to go "full time" Sell everything for penne's on the dollar and then you have to replace it at retail in a unknown period of time? My out look is when we go on a trip I am full time till I get back. You find you will need to be back to see your doctors more often as time goes on. Doesn't mean you can't do extended trips. longest trip last year was 97 days. So I think you can travel and not be full time. We did 21 states 51 camp grounds and 11,650 miles in the camper. I will put that up against many of the "full timers" Who are just living in their RV. 

By the way watched the Tucson air show today from my patio at Tucson / Lazydays KOA Resort. We will be back home around the first of the month.

Bill 

 

[elkhartjim]

I retired in 2004 at the age of 59 but didn't sell my business until 2007. We had a lake home, a city home and a ranch home all debt free when I retired. Stock options bought the properties. My late wife had a pension that I continue to receive and I didn't start taking SS until I reached full retirement.  I take RMD each year and Bxxtx about the taxes I have to pay because of the RMD.  I suggest investing in Roth IRA rather than the traditional IRA's due to the governments out of control spending taxes are most certainly going to go up.  

Edited March 7, 2022 by elkhartjim

[dbenoit]

I think I'll hang out in the dispensary when I go to pasture. 

[desertdeals69]

On 3/3/2022 at 5:24 PM, fagnaml said:

This past February 1, 2022 at age 62 I celebrated my 40th service anniversary with my large energy company employer.   During the service anniversary I had several colleagues of all ages asking me when I would retire.   My response was "in a couple of years" but if being really honest at the moment my answer is "I don't know".  I greatly enjoy my senior manager role in the company, enjoy my team which spans three generations (Millenials, Gen X'ers, and a couple of Boomers), enjoy the business contributions my team makes, etc.   I (and especially my wife) like very nice compensation package.

The wife and I are financially ready for retirement with a very significant nest egg (nice size 401k account, good pile of company stock awards and rather big lump sum pension monies waiting).   I'm not physically, emotionally, mentally ready to "slow down" yet.   I don't want to be like several somewhat older colleagues who retired and after six months returned to full time jobs because they didn't know what to do with their time.

Several forum members have very successfully crossed the bridge from full time career to a very enjoyable retirement.  My questions for the "retirees" are:

• How did you know when it was time to retire?
• Did you develop a plan for how to spend your time in retirement or just "go for it"?
• How long before retirement did you start thinking /planning your retirement before making the decision to retire?

I have no fears about finances in retirement.  My fear is not yet knowing how to spend my time during retirement.  I don't want to become one of those grumpy old men who sits in a recliner watching cable news all day and complaining about everything.   

Thanks in advance for your insights. 

 

I will answer your questions in order.

 It was fairly easy for me because I had several friends and business associates pass away in their 50s and 60s.  They were all looking forward to the day they retired, counting the months, days.  I thought between 55 and 60 would be right for me.  As it turned out it was 58 for me.

My overall plan was to keep busy building or repairing different things.  I was a teacher in the seventies which allowed me to take my family in the motorhome every summer.  We went through all 48 states in 3 1/2 years.  We had opened up a repair shop for boats and rvs.  

I started to think about retirement when I was about 30.  I decided not to charge or finance anything except a house.  I paid cash for cars, motorhomes, and boats. When the time came to retire everything was paid for.  I built my current home in 87-88.  I was an owner builder.  I paid cash for materials and traded some labor for things I couldn't do such as cement work, framing, roofing, plumbing, and electrical wiring.  We moved into a paid up house.

I am so busy now I wondered how I had time to work!  My current project is solar power for the motorhome.  I just tested today in my driveway.  The big test is Tucson in a couple of weeks.

We still enjoy traveling.  Done almost 300 nights of cruising around the world, been to 7 continents and dozens of countries.  Still enjoy motorhome travel.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by desertdeals69

[wildebill308]

1 hour ago, desertdeals69 said:

The big test is Tucson in a couple of weeks.

I was there yesterday good place to test. I wonder how much the blowing dust will degrade performance. Tucson wasn't to bad but driving in from Deming was a little rough.

Bill

 

 

[manholt]

DD69, Bill and I will both be in Tucson, going in with  AIM.  I will look you up, been a long time!

Mike.  Retirement.  

I joked about it when I was 14, because 65 was "really old age", so I told my friends and family that I would retire by 40....I missed by 2 years, 42!   You can't second guess the price of oil and since I was a drilling consultant, when oil went down my day rate went down!  

I had no plans to retire in Feb of 1985, oil was $42 and dropped to $16 almost overnight.  I had just got home from a 18 month contract with Exxon at $1745 per day, a month later, I was offered a contract at $125 per day....That's retirement. 

Lots of friends, gave me ideas on what to do...Join the local Lions, I did that.  Wife said we could travel more in coach and by ship, we did that and I also took up golf.....everything we had was paid for, including a house in Grand Cayman!  

Looking back, I have no regrets.  Never have I been bored in all these years!  😍

 

[jleamont]

Came up with a retirement plan. If I sell the 140 gallons of diesel in the coach I can pay off our house and retire 😂 

[wildebill308]

41 minutes ago, jleamont said:

Came up with a retirement plan. If I sell the 140 gallons of diesel in the coach I can pay off our house and retire 😂 

Well you have accomplished the biggest part of the retirement plan for most of the North East. "When I retire I am moving to Florida!" 😂🤣

Bill

[fagnaml]

I've enjoyed reading the many responses which were great as usual !    Since my original post two months ago, there has been a big wave of colleagues my age and a bit younger who gave "two weeks" notice to retire on May 31 (today) as the PBGC and 30 year Treasury rates used to determine their heritage company "lump sum" pension are quickly increasing (higher interest rates = small lump sum pension amounts as big as $100,000 -$250,000 depending on years of service).   These colleagues begin retirement tomorrow, June 1, with absolutely no idea of how they will spend their days in retirement.  The general response was 'I'll figure out what I will do later".      Having no plan for use of retirement time would be very uncomfortable for the long time Operations Manager / Project Manager in me.   "Plan the work / work the plan" is engrained in me.   I'm not a "shoot from the hip" style my colleagues have suddenly become.  

Guess I'm too regimented in what I do?