Yes, I am very fortunate. I have been a school administrator for the last 20 years and have made more money than I ever imagined from when I first went into teaching. I have become very weary of the entitled parents that I work with on a daily basis. It's a shame how people feel that the taxpayers should cover their kids every need. Anyhow, that will be for my book.
Longevity plays a role in our pensions in California. You have to work at least 30 years and be 61 and a half to get a big portion of your salary. I will actually make my salary plus some since they won't be taking out our contribution towards retirement any longer. Also, if you have been with the same school district for 20 years or more, if you retire before age 65 you can remain on your medical plan until you are eligible for Medicare. However, this is only for the employee but not the family so you'd have to come out of pocket for your spouse or if you have children.
The golden handcuffs have me shackled. However, I have found a way to make myself happy. I have decided to go back to the classroom for the last few years. I will make less money but will be much happier with the kids and not deal with as many issues. I will get back a whole lot of time which is more important than anything else. I will get my whole summer vacation back. Yeah! Plus, and here is the biggie, we can pull reduce our work year to half after age 55 and still get a full year's worth of service credit which is calculated into your pension benefits. So it would like working for a year, but you have only worked for half the year. No, you don't get to be paid for a full year. You only get the time. I plan to do this for the last two years. I bought a home in Texas to escape California's ugly taxes plus the cost of living is so much less expensive.
That's how I am handling the last few years so I don't get overly burned out and like I said in my earlier post, I look forward to traveling and having fun.
Just curious, where in TX did you buy? DH and I considered leaving CA for TX or FL and actually went on some exploratory trips. We have family in and near FL and lots of friends in TX. But in the end, CA won out for us due to weather, friends, and diversity of activities we enjoy.