Adjusting to retirement

My husband and I consider ourselves very fortunate people who were able to retire early and haven't regretted it at all (except as some have said, not doing it sooner). 

@fishlessman going from maintaining two residences to one is a huge savings!  As mentioned above, you'll know when it's the right time for you.  

@CPFC1905 - you may need a target given your experiences but once you sort out that you are clear from a financial perspective, for me it came down to "You will know when it's when."  Once you make the decision, go forth and enjoy!  No pearls of wisdom here...

This is a great thread.  As someone who is finding some aspects of my job less enjoyable, but is also finding that I'm getting professional opportunities that I really enjoy this has given me a lot to think about as I approach retirement age.

My co-workers have been stopping by my house for the past year, as most are turning 62 soon.  Lots of questions on health insurance & investing their pensions.  So far, I have convinced 8 of them to leave in December.  Lump sums will drop substantially on January 1, so it’s definitely worth running the numbers if you are in that situation!

Heh, retirement does reduce the irritation of the DST conversions... 

ChrisgrillsSTLMO said:

Greetings all - I retired in June after 31 years of teaching high school. My stress level decreased significantly and I have worked hard to make up all of the sleep deprivation I accrued during those years. The hardest part of being done was leaving my coworkers, I was incredibly lucky to work with amazing educators who were more my friends than colleagues. I don’t at all miss the homework and emails.

When I retired I said I would take the summer off from any sort of job, and SWMBO said to make it a year to see how I felt. So far it feels pretty awesome 

I usually get to the Egg twice during the week and at least once on the weekend. The nice part of being home during the day is I can get prep and pre cooking complete while she is working so we can eat at a decent hour.

Cheers,

Congrats! My beloved wife taught English in high school for 35 years up here north of you in Peoria, IL. I will sound selfish as I know I worked my *SS off during my career in banking with 10 hour,  6 days way too common… but her grading of homework was commonplace every night all 7 days a week including the Easter,TGD, Christmas and Spring breaks,

We owned a business, marginally profitable at the time. My wife turned 65 and went to the SS office to get Medicare. man there started her SS and ran number for me at age 65. Delaying another two years until full age would bring in more money per month, but the extra two years of payments meant I would be 85 for the break even point. My wife would draw 1/2 of my monthly which was more than hers so there was no choice. 
The Bush depression had hit and our customers were feeling it so spent less, our expenses were going up and it was time. 
A six week vacation was by a year of reverse snow birding (head north every time it snowed) and then several years of volunteering. My daughter in Denver was expecting end of summer so volunteering for the summer at Rocky Mountain National Park which provided a house was a pleasant way to spend the summer and be there for the new arrival.
While today the idea of a regular job schedule would not be welcome, another volunteer when we want gig might be welcome

RajunCajun said:

I very much admire the folks that are able to retire early.  It's a big step, I can imagine.  Is saving for retirement still a thing after retirement?  Or is saving no longer a goal?  Old enough to wonder and not old enough yet.  

Saving for retirement after retirement is not a thing, at least for me.  Goal already achieved.

I was lucky enough to have a pension with an annual 3 percent cost of living increase( inflation was 6.9 percent this year) as long as my bank account is increasing each month I’m good I imagine. In less than 4 years  social insecurity will kick in. Of course at some time I might have to check in to the Last Stop Hotel and I hear that is expensive. 

Gulfcoastguy said:

I was lucky enough to have a pension with an annual 3 percent cost of living increase( inflation was 6.9 percent this year) as long as my bank account is increasing each month I’m good I imagine. In less than 4 years  social insecurity will kick in. Of course at some time I might have to check in to the Last Stop Hotel and I hear that is expensive. 

We've been helping my parents through the process of trying to find an assisted living place to move into.  They have thankfully saved for retirement very well and are in reasonably good position financially, but good Lord some of these facilities are incredibly expensive.  And they have long waiting lists.  It has definitely impacted the way we're thinking about our own retirement savings, even though it's a ways away.

bag boy at the supermarket last week was forced to retire at 55, he was a traffic controller at logan, now a bag boy. just wanted something stress free. talked about an upcoming pats game and asked him what time it was on, no idea, the 18 year old running the cash register pointed at a sam adams 4o foot schedule hanging over the beer. the ex traffic controller never saw it hanging there right in front of him the last couple months, how does one shut that off so completely

As far as finances and retirement, do some research on the “Monte Carlo simulation” to get a feel of what to withdraw thru the years.  And then sit down with a financial advisor (preferably a fiduciary) that can model your investments.  I use a wealth management company, and meet with my advisor 4-5 times a year to review the portfolio and do lunch.  They charge me 1% annually, but it’s worth every penny….I don’t have to worry about buying/selling stocks, and all the associated paperwork or IRS forms.  They do it “full time”, so I can enjoy retirement & my hobbies without losing sleep in a crazy economy!