About to retire... having push back from daughter.

[RNretired]

Hi everyone. I am a 61y/o RN that is ready to retire. I am on medical leave and planning not to go back. My daughter thinks I should keep my job, excellent pay and insurance from the hospital that I work for. I can’t even stomach going back to that toxic environment. I think we are ok money wise.. just applied for SS. I do worry about health insurance after the COBRA. Anyway, I hope to gain some insight from this forum.

 

[travelover]

Welcome. Have you been able to do a good estimate of expenses in retirement including taxes and health care? The FIRECALC planner at the bottom of the browser page will help you decide if your money will last.

 

[REWahoo]

Welcome RNretired.

Check out these questions, they may help: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-answer-before-asking-can-i-retire-69999.html

 

[omni550]

Welcome, RNretired!

You've found great forum. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful posters here, including some retired nurses and medical types.

omni

 

[Sunset]

OP - when you say you think 'we are ok', who is the 'we' ?

 

[Dtail]

Welcome to the forum. Are you able to manage your taxable income in order to obtain tax subsidies from the Health Exchange (ACA) for medical?
Depending on the state and county, the savings can be substantial.

 

[joeea]

I can’t even stomach going back to that toxic environment.

There are other environments in which you could work. Some are non-toxic.

Retiring due to dislike of a particular job is common. But retiring when you don't have the assets to fund your retirement could make you feel even worse in the long run. Working part time, changing companies or even changing careers are alternatives that many folks explore.

I think we are ok money wise..

Have you run the numbers, so that you can feel more confident? Have you projected your expenses once retired? Does your daughter disagree with your conclusion?

just applied for SS.

Is that because you have no alternative other than claiming early and reducing your benefits for life? Have you run the numbers? Have you looked at https://opensocialsecurity.com/ or http://maximizemysocialsecurity.com ?

I do worry about health insurance after the COBRA. Anyway, I hope to gain some insight from this forum.

Have you priced insurance plans?

 

[ivinsfan]

Excuse me.. for asking but how is this your DD's business in any way?

Is she worried you don't have enough saved to be comfortable?

 

[marko]

Excuse me.. for asking but how is this your DD's business in any way?

+1

But, "thinking" you're ok on such a serious and life changing event is not good enough. You must KNOW you're OK.

Ok?

 

[Aerides]

Not gonna pile on your DD here, there is not enough info here to say if your daughter is out of line or not. You of course have much more info that your post shares, but the statements "I think we are ok" and "I worry about HI", on face value, suggest you might not be as ready as you need to be.

If my mom were talking retirement and using those terms, I'd worry for her too. But you are almost ready for SS (albeit at the lowest payout level taken at 62), and with cobra (not cheap, will probably cost you half that SS check), you have only a couple of years of medical to figure about before Medicare.

 

[flintnational]

Welcome to the forum. Like others have stated, you need to be comfortable with the numbers. Beyond that, you can accept or decline your DD's advice. Unless she is familiar with your financial situation and knowledgeable about retirement finance, it may simply be the response many people have, "how can anybody have enough to retire".

 

[pb4uski]

Hi everyone. I am a 61y/o RN that is ready to retire. I am on medical leave and planning not to go back. My daughter thinks I should keep my job, excellent pay and insurance from the hospital that I work for. I can’t even stomach going back to that toxic environment. I think we are ok money wise.. just applied for SS. I do worry about health insurance after the COBRA. Anyway, I hope to gain some insight from this forum.

My initial reaction was that whether or not you retire is your business and not your dear daughter's (DD's) business. However, after reading the rest of your post, her hesitancy might be that she thinks that you are reacting to a toxic work environment and are not adequately prepared to retire.

My suggestion is to explore more whether or not you are financially prepared to retire now... if so, then great... your chore is then to convince your DD that you are OK and will not be showing up on her doorstep looking for a place to live.

Check out healthsherpa.com to see what is available for individual health insurance plans in your area and if you might qualify for ACA subsidy assistance.

If you are not financially ready, then get a different job. A good friend of mine changed jobs in his mid-50s... he loved his new job and is still working in his late 60s.

 

[Jerry1]

There are other environments in which you could work. Some are non-toxic.

Retiring due to dislike of a particular job is common. But retiring when you don't have the assets to fund your retirement could make you feel even worse in the long run. Working part time, changing companies or even changing careers are alternatives that many folks explore.


Have you run the numbers, so that you can feel more confident? Have you projected your expenses once retired? Does your daughter disagree with your conclusion?


Is that because you have no alternative other than claiming early and reducing your benefits for life? Have you run the numbers? Have you looked at https://opensocialsecurity.com/ or http://maximizemysocialsecurity.com ?


Have you priced insurance plans?

^^This^^

Nurses are in short supply. You could work in a way that is more satisfying while you figure out your retirement situation. Right now, in my opinion, you are not ready. Taking SS as early as possible, while not having a solid plan regarding health insurance is not a good sign. Yes, there are people who can make it work under just about any scenario, but there is a lot of comfort to be found in having a plan and a high comfort level that the plan will work.

Get another job and figure this out. Also, the hospitals I’m aware of would work with their nursing staff in order to keep them. Have you approached your current employer on an alternative work schedule? Part time? I worked part time for two years before pulling the trigger. That time was very useful to prepare for retirement. There is financial planning, but there is also lifestyle planning, and of course there is a big intersection of the two. If you want to live lifestyle X, you need to plan for lifestyle X so you need to work on both.

You found a good group in this forum. They helped me with many questions these past few years. Retirement planning is one of those things where you don’t know what you don’t know, and what you don’t know can hurt you. Read and ask any questions. This group will be very helpful. And remember, their bias is that you can retire sooner than later, so we’re not just saying to take your time so you work longer. We want you to retire early. We just want you to do it in a successful way.

 

[pb4uski]

One thought. My former boss' daughter was a nurse and did the traveling nurse thing for many years. It seemed like a pretty good gig... good pay and benefits and a chance to see a different part of the country every 6 months to a year. I'm not sure if it appeals as much to experienced nurses like the OP, but those who are untethered and more experienced and adventurous it might be a fun lifestyle.

 

[Jerry1]

One thought. My former boss' daughter was a nurse and did the traveling nurse thing for many years. It seemed like a pretty good gig... good pay and benefits and a chance to see a different part of the country every 6 months to a year. I'm not sure if it appeals as much to experienced nurses like the OP, but those who are untethered and more experienced and adventurous it might be a fun lifestyle.

I was actually thinking about my DMIL with Alzheimer’s and thinking the OP could spend time helping some people in that situation. Home care is expensive so should pay pretty well. Plus, should be rewarding. There are tons of opportunities for nurses.

 

[OldShooter]

When my dad decided to retire many years ago, I was surprised to find that I had quite a negative reaction to the idea. I finally figured out that I was annoyed because "I'm not that old!"

 

[RNretired]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I ran the numbers on the FIRECalc and it is 97%. My husband is a retired firefighter and has a small pension. Trust me.. I have asked my doierector for the last two years to let me go part time. Her answer is always no.they don’t want to pay benefits to part time. Plus if the older nurses quit we can be replaced with younger nurses that are paid much less. Home health part time is an option.

 

[ivinsfan]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I ran the numbers on the FIRECalc and it is 97%. My husband is a retired firefighter and has a small pension. Trust me.. I have asked my doierector for the last two years to let me go part time. Her answer is always no.they don’t want to pay benefits to part time. Plus if the older nurses quit we can be replaced with younger nurses that are paid much less. Home health part time is an option.

Since you mention you have a spouse and are prepared moneywise, I'll repeat my comment that your DD doesn't need to have an opinion and you surely don't need to placate her.

My DH just was in for a surgery and we had a wonderful nurse who worked 20 a week with full benefits. She actually told me when she asked for this arrangement they told her no way and when she said OK here are my papers I'm done, presto, half time with bennies was the next thing out of the PTB mouths.

 

[pb4uski]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I ran the numbers on the FIRECalc and it is 97%. My husband is a retired firefighter and has a small pension. Trust me.. I have asked my doierector for the last two years to let me go part time. Her answer is always no.they don’t want to pay benefits to part time. Plus if the older nurses quit we can be replaced with younger nurses that are paid much less. Home health part time is an option.

Well, your last play may be to ask for part-time again... and tell her that you think that x% of RNretired is better for the organization than 0% of RNretired. If she feels differently, then move on and enjoy life.

Where I worked they had a vibrant reduced hours program that I was part of for probably the last 5 years or so that I worked. If you were over 50% then you got health insurance the same as a full-timer and all other benefits were pro-rata (so where a full-timer would earn 160 hours annually for vacation a 50% employee would earn 80 hours.... in both cases they would be 20 "days" off).

 

[joeea]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I ran the numbers on the FIRECalc and it is 97%. My husband is a retired firefighter and has a small pension. Trust me.. I have asked my doierector for the last two years to let me go part time. Her answer is always no.they don’t want to pay benefits to part time. Plus if the older nurses quit we can be replaced with younger nurses that are paid much less. Home health part time is an option.

Okay. So what kind of additional insight are you looking for?

Is your husband eligible for social security? If so, consider coordinating the claiming of benefits between you. Explore your options using tools like https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/ and https://opensocialsecurity.com/

If you haven't already determined your expenses in retirement, you should do that now.

And you should explore work benefits that you may wish to take advantage of before you retire. You may want to get checkups done while still on company-paid health insurance. Get dental work done, eye exams, etc. If your employer offers group legal discounts, you may wish to take advantage of that as well for a will, durable power of attorney, health care proxy, homestead declaration, etc.

And there are certainly other work situations you may wish to explore. Many folks approaching retirement choose to change careers and work (full or part-time) doing something they enjoy more than their initial career.

 

[HI Bill]

At 97%, sounds like you're good to go! I would consider delaying taking SS to the full retirement age, if possible...

 

[Walt34]

Around here (WV eastern panhandle) there are always jobs available for nurses. When I had two stents in my heart before Medicare started the insurance company wanted me to talk to their on-staff nurse weekly, the objective being to keep me out of the hospital. I was fine with this because I didn't want me to be in the hospital either. I'm pretty sure she was working from home. A next-door neighbor is a school nurse, that works for her because she has two young boys in school. There are always nursing vacancies in various nursing homes. And I'm sure the list goes on....

So you don't have to choose between not working or working in a toxic environment. It sounds like you have three viable choices, stay where you are (not good) or quit working entirely, or find a different job that you like, and you have the luxury of having earned what we used to call the KMA* hat so if things turn sour you can just quit.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

*KMA = Kiss My A--

 

[SnowBound]

If you do plan on retirement at the end of medical leave, plan on for going back for a couple of months. A co-worker who was clearly eligible for retirement went out for medical leave and returned reasonably healthy. He didn't even make it a full week an had to go out again on medical leave. He is back working again, but looks more like to recover financially from back to back illnesses.

 

[Rianne]

IMHO, if I could handle medical stress, I'd be a nurse. Two close relatives and some friends are RN and they can make their own schedule and choose what kind of care they want to give. My first cousin, a male nurse, visits the elderly in their homes on his schedule. He dates and times. My other cousin, administrator at Johns Hopkins has decided to take an easier schedule after 30 years. She sidelines with attorney's all over the country dealing with malpractice lawsuits and loves it. I get what you're saying about toxic environment, I'm watching Nurse Jackie right now.

It's a tough call with those benefits, but if you are miserable, you've answered your own question. High stress jobs lead to poor health.

 

[Sunset]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I ran the numbers on the FIRECalc and it is 97%. My husband is a retired firefighter and has a small pension. Trust me.. I have asked my doierector for the last two years to let me go part time. Her answer is always no.they don’t want to pay benefits to part time. Plus if the older nurses quit we can be replaced with younger nurses that are paid much less. Home health part time is an option.

Well 97% is pretty solid, so you are probably fine.
I'll admit I've never heard of a retired firefighter with a small pension, most I've talked to get a decent one. Maybe it's a different definition.

Do you track your spending, as knowing exactly to the dollar what you spend per month/year really lets one know how much slack is in the budget.