Every time I see my neighbor I think of posting this question. He worked until the age of 70 for the medical insurance since his wife was sickly. After she passed is when he retired. He had plans of course, one of which was to buy a new BMW and get another dog. He got rid of the old one because it would chew on his wife's oxygen tubes. Not long after he got a stroke, spent over a month in the hospital and rehab. Now he looks like a dead man walking only going out to the mailbox and the BMW is sold. I retired early and am glad I did. In my late 50's my company was downsizing where now those left were doing the work of two. I volunteered for layoff and milked unemployment, then worked part time at various places until I took SS at 62 & 1/2.
I originally retired in 2004 but after 6 months at home my wife asked if I couldn't get a job for 1/2 days. Well I did and finally at the end of 2019 she, in failing health, decided it would be nice to have me home. So i was 8- wjem I finally hung it up.
I retired at 62 and I've never regretted it. I had the opportunity to do some heavy-duty traveling and I wanted to take it before I got too old.
Early. Retired at 60 and never looked back. I had to hang in till 60 to get my full un-discounted pension.
We "retired" 3 times: first, 1983, laid off from work, lived in hand-built cabin in woods of Northern AZ; income was $450 from second mortgage we carried for the guy who bought our house, other $158 from retirement pension. We thought of it as "semi-retired", I was 41, my wife 32. Cut all our firewood, had laying chickens and a milk goat, lived reasonably comfortably but had to work at it. Second, 1999, after building our own custom home outside Phoenix, cost < %50,000, sold for $150,000, bought 100 acres in Missouri Ozarks, this time WITH electric power and phone, good water well, no internet, wood-fired heat exclusively. Stayed 13 years, arms and shoulders giving out swinging sledge hammer or ax, sold out to an OTR trucker who longed to retire there. Third retirement, I had taken SS at 62 in 2004, which allowed us to finally enjoy some nicer things. My wife got hers 9 years later, by then we lived in AZ. Frank
I got laid off at age 60 from my DC area job I brought with me to this rural area. I was not ready to retire, and was volunteering evenings & weekends on a large project for that non-profit I was with (we were doing major repairs on a home.) So I figured I'd work on that project full-time (and another similar one that came along) for 6 months and then at least get a consulting job. I came to realize that the DC job market and the Central Virginia job market are not the same. Up north I could easily be working in some capacity the next day. Very little white collar work in Charlottesville or even in Richmond (the state capitol.) It really smacked me in the face. I could not find a decent job to save my soul, and knew that part of it was that my heart was not into it. I wasn't ready to retire, but I was ready to stop working. After a while I gave up and collected SS as soon as I could. I still continued to look for something part time (or an occasional sort-term project) for several years after just to lend structure to my life, and other than Walmart, Lowes or "The Hospital," there ain't nuthin' here. I started burning through savings earlier than intended, and lost a few years of planned income, but for me the worse part was that I was unwillingly thrown into retirement (it "just happened") rather than execute it, so I sort of floundered for a while. Fortunately, getting laid off did not kill me financially. Had I been in a real survival position, maybe I would have scraped together a better interview facade and been more aggressive. I was also fortunate that my employer had laid folks off at the end of the prior 2 fiscal years, and I hung on until the 3rd year (when my advocates also got laid off and could not rescue me.)
I retired at 62. Except for the fact that I had been diagnosed with cancer not too long before that time, I probably would have waited for late retirement. Then again, I am still working 30 hours a week, albeit from home.
I took retirement as early as possible and that was at 63 even if that meant losing 10% of my pensions for a lifetime. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be working until the end of this year. Was another very good decision, though. At least it enabled me to enjoy those two and a half years without worries and ailments. Ed, what happened to your neighbor had always been a nightmare for me and was the main reason for me deciding to quit.
I was planning to retire at age 55 but I was only 18 at that time. I knew nothin.' (in my Egritte voice). Anyways, I was laid off from the job I had hoped to retire from at 58 in 2014. Not able to apply for SS until 62, income for me the next 3 years was complicated between PTO (Paid Time Off), unemployment and my pension. I had already made up mind not to go back into the workforce so I didn't really put much effort while job hunting as required to receive unemployment benefits. When I heard the difficulty my middle son was having with a dependable babysitter I offered to babysit for same pay. I made it clear that I won't be 'Grandma' but their employee. In 2018 I could say, I'm retired.
I went semi retired first , filed for SS. I decide to leave company that I had been with for 12 years and try something new. That was a disaster and by no fault of my own was so devastated by it all I refused to try and work anywhere again. I had never meant to retire completely. That was six years ago. Hubby younger than me so he retired last year- mainly due company crap and bad hands after 25 years of meat cutting and surgeries. We planned on continuing our road trips but because of my health and the Virus crap we have been home bound. But may change that soon. I like not having to fight weather , traffic and companies anymore.
I worked a job to pay the bills. There was no vocational dream,just a way to put food on the table. The second I was eligible I had 31 years and was 57 years old I filled out the paperwork and never looked back. My wife was still working at the time so we had income besides my pension. I hit 62 and claimed SS just as she hit her thirty years and retirement threshold, at 56 years of age. Love every second of not HAVING to do anything. I still work per diem on occasion for the BTO farmer as an equipment operater when he is short handed.
I retired at 53 years old had an offer I could not refuse an opportunity to sail the Caribbean. Ford was going to lay off people permanently so the union made a deal to let anyone who had enough years and age to volunteer to take the lay off. They did not have to say it twice.
After I quit my last job, in Oct. 2007, to move, I had an extremely hard time finding another one in my career of Purchasing & Inventory Management. With only experience and no certification and college degree, it was very difficult. However, after a year, I was able to collect EUI (Emergency Unemployment Insurance). With my wife's three college degrees, she had no problem at all finding a descent paying job. When I turned 62, I applied for, and got, my SS Early Retirement. Wife and I decided, since I did have an income with the SS, that I would stay at home and take care of household duties. It worked out excellent for us. When my wife turned 66, she applied for, and got her SS Full Retirement. Nice thing was, at the same time, she was also working a nice paying job, so she collected her SS and salary. Company didn't know about the SS, but did find out about her getting Medicare. So, they had to know her age then. Retirement is nice, especially if a person is getting a nice pension as well as top SS. Neither of us have the pension. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to, or can, stay on a job for years to get a pension. There are lay-offs, departments close as well as companies close.
I retired after 36 years with Boeing on the day before I turned 62. (July 10, 1998) I have not worked a day since, making my retirement pure and unspoiled!