New Member Intro - I Think It's Time

[rdy2go]

greetings from Texas! I have been reading this forum for the past week or so along with other good sites with lots of info and opinions such as Bogleheads, Can I Retire Yet, Scott Burns, etc. and enjoy the opinions and experiences of the assembled multitudes.

I just turned 65 last month and have decided to pull the plug on thirty-five years in the insurance business and being employed in some fashion since I was ten years old. I was planning on waiting until the end of 2016, but have decided to give notice after the first of the new year and plan on a July 1st retirement so as to lock in another year of service for the pension and to qualify for the company bonus program if there is one for 2016. Also, having a snotty, conceited, c@cky young person to report to with little experience that is half the age of the people that report to him just made me want to go even sooner.

My DW and I are naturally frugal people and are not high-rollers by nature. As the old saying goes, "poor folks have poor ways". We're not poor by any means but have always lived below our means and saved. As one sign at a craft fair said -"Too many people buy things they don't need with money they don't have trying to impress people they don't even like". We try not to be like those kinds of people!

Our home is paid for and we are debt free, live in a state with no income tax, health insurance is reasonable with a Medicare Advantage plan from the State of Texas. Our income will be my wife's state pension and SS, my company pension and SS, and no apparent need to draw on retirement accounts until it is time for RMD's.

After reading a bunch of the stories here I have really reflected on how much longer I want to work and have come to the conclusion that it is just time to hang it up. I think they would like to replace me with someone young and pretty that doesn't cost much and doesn't question the brilliance of the bosses. It's just time to go and I'm ready.

Thanks for a great forum!

 

[Whisper66]

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy the next stage of life!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Options]

You're 65, have been in the same industry since you were 30, and have been working since you were 10. Although you appear to have figured out the qualitative side of retirement, I would not underestimate the importance of the qualitative (psychological/emotional) side.

Retirement can impact everything from relationship with significant other, to loss of a sense of self, to a sense of restlessness. I continue to recommend one of the best books I've found on all aspects of retirement preparation, which is "What Color is Your Parachute for Retirement", by John Nelson and Richard Bolles (yes, the same Richard Bolles who wrote "What Color is Your Parachute?" in the 1970')s. The book is almost entirely written by Nelson, who pulls together the latest scholarly research.

Additionally, while not as numerous as websites dealing the financial aspect of retirement, a few good ones dealing with the qualitative side I've found are:

Olderhood.com | Retirement Lifestyle Planning Advice

A Satisfying Journey

I also recommend checking out Satisfying Journey's blogroll recommendations on this page:

A Satisfying Journey: Retirement Blogs: Check These Out

Even with all of my (over) research and preparation, I personally was unprepared for some effects I've encountered: (a) being continually offered FT work and finding no consulting work as I'd planned (b) deciding not to work at all; (c) realizing it wasn't so much I didn't want to do anything anymore, so much as I was burned out on my field; and (d) being totally unprepared for the degree to which my dislike for living in Southern California would be magnified after retirement. I view these next few years as a period of transition/adjustment.

Congratulations on this very exciting next step in your life!

 

[amyj05]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your retirement!

 

[Ronstar]

Welcome, rdy2go! And congrats on setting a retirement date. Now the fun begins!

 

[pb4uski]

Congratulations!!! I had a younger boss in my later years of work but we got along just fine after a rocky start.

While I was not retiring to to anything, I had no trouble with the transition into retirement and dialed up the amount of time that I spent golfing.

If you are healthy and your SS will put you in a higher tax bracket you may want to consider delaying some of your pensions and/or SS to take out tax-deferred funds at low tax rates before your pensions and SS begin.

 

[Katiek]

Welcome and Congrats! My only question is whether you need to (or should) give 6 months notice. I wonder if your boss would use your giving notice to terminate you before the July 1 date. Obviously you know him and the work situation best, so if you are confident that's fine, but based on your description, it doesn't sound like he has your interests at heart .

 

[rdy2go]

Thanks for the welcome! I have learned to not trust anyone in corporate life anymore, so will wait until I have my ducks in a row before giving notice or even telling HR that I am planning on retiring anytime soon. Just "getting information" for the future.

Thanks for the links to the different retirement blogs too. I have been enjoying the tone and substance in the Satisfying Journey blog. It is well written and thought provoking.

I don't think that I will have any problem when it comes time to walk away from it all, I have been working my whole life but realize that it is just time. I am having more trouble putting up with the nonsense, inflated egos, conceited, arrogant jerks and such that corporate life seems to attract to management. Managers no longer care about their people, they just care about themselves and are willing to sell their souls to get ahead. I've never had much use for people that want to tell others what to do and have no need to be important. I see too many men that retire then go looking to join their HOA board so that they can still tell others what to do. I have had my fill of that type and avoid them at all cost.

My DW and I live in an area that is far enough away from the larger cities that we call it "life in the slow lane". We have adapted to driving twenty five miles to go eat breakfast or dinner or to go shopping at the big box stores. I have several hobbies to keep me busy and plenty of work to do around the home when I hang it up. There is a golf course very close by and I have been neglecting my golf game for years now, so I can work on that too.

Travel will be several short trips a year and maybe a trip to Europe every other year for the next decade or so. My first big trip will most likely be to Ireland to see where my family came from and then maybe to Switzerland to visit a friend of my wife's. Who knows, we'll just go where the spirit moves us and enjoy life without any deadlines.

Sounds great to me!

 

[Senator]

Congratulations and welcome to the Class of 2016!

 

[Nodak]

Welcome

 

[golfnut]

Congrats on your retirement. I worked in commercial insurance for about 32 yrs before being shown the door. If I were you, I would wait until the bonus check cleared and then give your 30 or 60 (at most) notice.

The company I worked for ( one of the largest in the world) played games with merit increases and bonuses i.e short changing the older workers to benefit the younger workers. Note of my 32 years, 15 of those were in middle mgmt. There were many times I felt so sh*tty after letting people know what their raises and bonuses were going to be. It was a big shell game and believe me there is a good chance you will be on the short end if they know beforehand you are a "short timer".

Sorry for the preach here.

 

[Diver]

Congrats!

 

[pb4uski]

True. There is not much upside to spending your pool on a short-timer. I'm not saying it is fair... just the way it is. As a manager I tried to be as fair as I could given the constraints placed on me but there are tradeoffs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[rdy2go]

Thanks for the advice on when to give notice! Our bonus program will pay in April and raises for next year will be announced in December so I won't jeopardize that for sure. I have been told that future bonuses will be prorated according to how much of the year you work, so that may be locked in also, but are small bonuses anyway. I worked for a large (Aetna) way back when but have been with a regional company for the majority of my time. You are right about the money going to the new hires and younger people. They know we're not going anywhere so why give us anything? No money, no respect, but we do get a lot of vacation time!

 

[golfnut]

Thanks for the advice on when to give notice! Our bonus program will pay in April and raises for next year will be announced in December so I won't jeopardize that for sure. I have been told that future bonuses will be prorated according to how much of the year you work, so that may be locked in also, but are small bonuses anyway. I worked for a large (Aetna) way back when but have been with a regional company for the majority of my time. You are right about the money going to the new hires and younger people. They know we're not going anywhere so why give us anything? No money, no respect, but we do get a lot of vacation time!

When do they confirm your bonuses in writing? Hey, once you leave you'll have a permanent vacation

 

[kimcdougc]

Welcome to what will soon be the rest of your life with lots of freedom!

 

[Car-Guy]

Congrats... I don't recall ever having to work directly for a younger boss (well maybe by a few years). Most were older than me. Not sure how easy it would have been for me to work for someone significantly younger than me based on my experiences with the younger workers at my Mega corp.

 

[rdy2go]

Congrats... I don't recall ever having to work directly for a younger boss (well maybe by a few years). Most were older than me. Not sure how easy it would have been for me to work for someone significantly younger than me based on my experiences with the younger workers at my Mega corp.

Thanks! The age part doesn't bother me since none of the experienced people in the department would even consider the job and all had turned it down at one point in the past. The problem is a lack of experience and the hubris in the individual. In my experience, the smartest people I know don't think they know very much. The dumber ones don't seem to have learned that yet. As they say, "seldom right, never in doubt".

 

[rdy2go]

Well, I mailed my letter announcing my intent to retire yesterday and also sent HR a copy to make it official. I am going with a June 30th date since the HR lady said that would give me credit for a full year towards retirement and would finish the month for vacation accrual. I'll probably be hearing from my supervisor next week when he gets the letter. I haven't discussed it with him, so it will be a surprise. I'll just tell him that my time off over the holidays made up my mind that it was time to retire. It is a relief!

 

[target2019]

So, you're no longer getting ready to get ready! You are ready to go. Good time to make sure you have enough egg nog...

Congratulations.

 

[Fedup]

Welcome and congrats! Retirement has been great so far.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum