Retirement age

[ArcticFire]

Retirement is only 10 more years away ..... How fortunate am I that I love my job

[ifallsguy]

I retired 10 years ago at 57 and am more tired now then when I was working 14 hours days.

[Homersimpson]

I turned 66 and I am still working. I am at the subject matter expert in my department, and I am appreciated by my managers. I enjoy my work and my coworkers, who are protective of my health/strength. I earn enough to pay for playthings like our camper. Why stop now?

[cabinetmaker]

65 and enjoying retirement...Retirement is wonderful. It's doing nothing without worrying about getting caught at it!

[Atlee]

66. That's when I could get full Social Security and when my last house payment was made. And by the way, my last day was Friday, August 30, 2013, and I wore shorts, island shirt, and straw hat. Most fun filled "work day" I ever had.

[tdlfield]

55 years and 2 days. Birthday was Wednesday and retired on Friday

[edatlanta]

I retired at 62 in 2010. I am a full time RV'er and volunteer at various campgrounds to keep busy. I also volunteer at Talladega twice/year at the races there. Definitely keep busy at Talladega, but a lot of fun.

Retirement is the best job I have ever had.

[Vasquez Kid]

I'll be 57 in a couple months and I have another 10 years of working ahead of me. It's a good thing that I have a fantastic job and that I still really like it.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by Homersimpson

I turned 66 and I am still working. I am at the subject matter expert in my department, and I am appreciated by my managers. Why stop now?

Short answer because at 66 you are on the short side of the rest of your life. If work is what you really "enjoy", then so be it, but don't fall for the "I'm appreciated by my managers". They will be the ones attending your funeral and saying, "boy we really enjoyed that guy".

On a positive note, I am a strong advocate of early retirement. The key to financial security is save your $$ early and often and you will have 2XXX in retirement. If you buy stuff you want and think you need when you are 30, 40, and 50; you will be sitting in that chair at work watching your coworkers retire and head off on their adventures. You have to believe that there is more to you than your job. Believe me after 13 years of retirement, I look back and honestly can't remember having to get up, shower, and shave and then the suit/tie and off to the office. I handed in the keys to the Bank office on my last day and headed off into the sunset, wife and dogs in tow and have never been back.

Retirement is kind of like dieting. Eating right and living right for the first half of life is the key to having a glorious 2nd half in retirement. Enjoy as soon as possible or pack away another buck or two. Each of us have to make the same decision and there is more than one right answer

[NCMFFD]

54 on December 30, 2013. Now working PT on my schedule.

[Stingray75]

Exited the 7 - 5 corporate life last October @ 61. We were 300 miles from family and basically working to pay for a house and the associated taxes. Liked my corporate gig but but really enjoy running a Wisconsin campground spring / summer / fall and spending winter in So Texas.

[RedHorse1]

Less than a month after turning 66. Then I had a contract opportunity come up. Thinking “hey, that’s cool, free money” I took it. When it ended I realized I’d had something for 45-ish years that I called “work”. This felt very similar. Then it hit me, I did that for a bunch of years so I could do this for what ever time I have left.
I’m twice as retired now!

[travelingjw]

We both retired at 67 and are loving every minute!!!

[SOMBATFAMILY]

Only 17 years to go. Looking forward to it.

[norty1]

I'm retired somewhat, my wife however works one day a week that is very liberal for time off when we take trips. She wants to keep her professional credentials a bit longer.

We can't take long trips anyhow due to her parents health so the $$ is good for diesel fuel.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by norty1

I'm retired somewhat, my wife however works one day a week that is very liberal for time off when we take trips. She wants to keep her professional credentials a bit longer.

We can't take long trips anyhow due to her parents health so the $$ is good for diesel fuel.

Something like maintaining professional credentials can be limiting and over time prevent enjoying one of the real benefits of retirement, freedom to roam when ever and where ever. Several of my houseboat friends here at the lake have maintained a home up north. For the most part its nothing more than keeping that one foot on the old base and soon becomes nothing more than an expensive and time consuming maintenance task. One of my conditions when we bought our property on the KY/TN border was that we cut the cord up north completely. After all we have family up there so a place to stay during a short visit is never an issue. I had another neighbor who built a small lake home near us and were planning to use it most of the year, but after retiring from teaching, his wife agreed to a temporary pt assignment at the special needs school that she retired from the previous year. This is the 2nd full year since taking that temporary pt job that quickly became permanent and fulltime. Not sure where I'm going with this but just wanted to give emphasis to how retirement plans can be kept on hold when a spouse doesn't want to completely let go.

[GarlicDude]

Turning 70 soon and still working part time. I have a home base business that the wife and I have run for 40 years. I enjoy what I do and have a short commute, about a 40 foot walk. I'm selective in what I choose to do. We can take off on a moments notice to do things like the desert wildflower bloom, or take off for a 2-3 week adventure.

With all the latest studies showing that some kind of mental activity helps to keep the brain healthy and the extra $$$ keeping working in my situation works.

[kayakterp]

Was hoping to retire in 5 years at age 60 with full pension but realized I will not be eligible for Medicare till 65. Not comfortable going without health insurance so it looks like another 10 years for me.
At least I enjoy my job and will earn 12.5% more on my pension for the extra 5 years. Also gives me more time to pay off debt and be even more ready to travel with my TT.

[Adkins family]

As soon as possible! Probably at 65 (5 more years) then my wife and I can retire at the same time. Our plan is to make use of our trailer and hit the road chasing the horizon.

[farnik78]

I am currently 39 and the tentative plan is to retire at 59 1/2 when I can withdraw 401k money without penalty. My company has a generous 8.5% match and I started when I was 22. Barring any catastrophic failure of the stock market it should work out. My wife is a teacher and will have 30 years in by then and will be eligible for pension.