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Sundancer

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I was about to retire end of August, as a Fed employee - my management pitched me to go part time instead, three days a week, for another year, and I signed up.

Right now, it's looking pretty good - but curious about you guys that have already cut the cord: if you stepped out of the workforce completely, did you never look back and wonder why you waited so long? Get going on some other endeavor that pays, or try your hand at self-employment? Or sitting home in your jammies and bunny slippers, and loving it?

Or, you folks that are more-or-less in my shoes - working less, but still in there; is it feeling right to you?

I'm in good health, not wealthy, but don't have to keep working, either. Just looking for observations/thoughts from those who have gone before. . .
 
No shoe size fits everyone. When I retired I was done with previous occupation and I am happy working part time in aviation now and would be equally happy not working at all.

I worked longer than I needed to and looking back I would have retired earlier.
 
Sundancer said:
I was about to retire end of August, as a Fed employee - my management pitched me to go part time instead, three days a week, for another year, and I signed up.

Right now, it's looking pretty good - but curious about you guys that have already cut the cord: if you stepped out of the workforce completely, did you never look back and wonder why you waited so long? Get going on some other endeavor that pays, or try your hand at self-employment? Or sitting home in your jammies and bunny slippers, and loving it?

Or, you folks that are more-or-less in my shoes - working less, but still in there; is it feeling right to you?

I'm in good health, not wealthy, but don't have to keep working, either. Just looking for observations/thoughts from those who have gone before. . .
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had a career in public safety for 37-years, the last 28 or so at a regional 9-1-1 center. I wanted to go at age 50 but the durn ducks wouldn't get into formation. so at age 55 I walked out happy as a clam. I volunteered at a local history museum for a bit and then as a school xing guard for 12-years (I just resigned that post). so I am truly and honestly unemployed and loving it.
 
I practiced law for 40 years, the last 18 in a satisfying practice in a small firm with wonderful clients, colleagues and staff. I walked out the door on 1/3/2017 and have never looked back. We moved to a state 1300 miles away (where I am not licensed to practice), mainly to be close to our kids and grandkids.

Now I don't know how I ever found time to work. We're involved in the lives of our kids and grandkids, we have wonderful new friends here, we volunteer at church, we travel where and when we want, and we're flying more often than ever.

Work? That was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
 
I also practiced law for over 36 years, with a mix of private, public and corporate practice including time as an Army JAG. At times, I had significant a litigation practice were 80-90 hour work weeks were commonplace followed by 12 years of international practice where I rarely knew what time zone I was in and sometimes not sure about the country. On fairly short notice, I retired last year and like Pilawt, I have not looked back. I miss the attorneys and other staff who worked for me (my last job I was the General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer plus a whole host of other organizations including 6 environmental scientists), particularly the mentoring process, but that’s it. I don’t miss the practice of law, the endless hours of a 24/7 practice and especially the a-holes you run into in the litigation world. I have taken on a few pro bono matters and this fall will become an adjunct faculty member at a law school clinic. That’s enough to keep me busy. I know of others like the OP that have used the weaning process to retirement and for them it has been the right fit. For me, cold turkey was the only way (and it shocked the hell out of my spouse and adult chrilden who thought the only way I would ever quit work was to die) and it shocked me as well. I am still surprised I did it and don’t regret it. Some of my colleagues have taken an additional step of turning in their bar licenses so they won’t be tempted to go back practicing law. At 62, I am a little young to do that but I can see it 2, maybe 3 years down the road.

I now spend my time in far more meaningful pursuits like watching my 5 grandchildren grow and taking them camping, volunteering and at times, just doing nothing. Yes -doing nothing but listening to birds and watching the water at the lake can be meaningful.
 
Thanks guys, food for the brain. . .I have an intuition that I need to cut the cord, and walk away, but also think it may be I just need a break, a signifcant vacation, to de-stress.
 
I retired about 18 months ago, intending a full break. Six months later, they had a semi-panic situation on and asked me to come for a short-term effort. I complied, but after the first fifteen minutes I knew it was a mistake.

On the PLUS side, my hourly rate had doubled, as a contractor. And I set my own hours...came in late, went home for lunch, took a nap afterwards, came in and worked until I felt like supper. Since I was just a contractor, I actually didn't HAVE any responsibility other than to do the stuff I'd been contracted to do. It was a significant stress reducer, vs. being the engineering lead as I had been before retirement.

Elimination of the stress was a major factor. I lost nearly 70 pounds after retirement.

The work was indeed short-term (one week) and I told management I would not be available for anything else.

Had one consultant job drop into my lap earlier this year, but that required just 15-20 hours of work from home. Part of my effort was giving them references to fellow recent-retirees that had specific specialties they needed (propulsion system design, overall satellite configuration, etc.).

I did miss SOME aspects of the type of work I used to do. I'm actually doing it now, in relation to the Fly Baby. It doesn't pay, but I'm getting a lot of engineering satisfaction out of it (http://www.bowersflybaby.com/PB100/index.html).

Ron Wanttaja
 
Sun: Make sure that you have things to do besides drink, eat and get hypnotized by the boob tube. We used to track the survival rate of our coworkers when they retired. Those that had no life or interests outside of the company, generally didn’t make it past 18 months.
 
How does part time affect your fed retirement ?
 
Retired 22 years ago, did part time consulting for another 10 or so and since then, just plain goofing off including building a Sonex Onex, travels where and when I want and spending the ski season in Steamboat Springs CO. I don’t miss work at all.

Life is good.

Cheers
 
Timed out due to age,missed working for about a year. Now happily retired,and enjoying retirement,especially all the flying.
 
I'm two weeks shy of one year retired. Not interested in going back. Still trying to figure out how to accommodate wife and dogs into my bucket list. She wants to go places but there are so many conditions we don't. My bucket list has Alaska next year, then Ireland and lots of beach.
 
I served notice on retirement as soon as I knew I had sufficient retirement funds to continue to do what I do. Then walked out the door. Retirement is an opportunity not so much to do nothing--although that is an option some days!--but rather a chance to choose what you want to do. I went from "three" jobs to two. Now I lead a non profit organization, and have some long term periodic consulting work only. More time for flying, which shows in my fuel bills.

I loved my work of 35 years, but I'm not getting any younger, and there are lots of other things to do. Nothing left to prove in my career, so time for other challenges, and more time for doing neglected things I love to do, too. One year in, no regrets, enjoying more choice and time flexibility.
 
I made a big life change when I did. Sold the house, bought another one and moved. About a half a mile away. It was a fixer upper so I stayed occuppied. I did go back to work shortly after that, same industry, different employer but didn't stay long. If I coulda worked part time I might have stayed but it wasn't an option. Few years latter I did the same thing again, thinking I would be able to work part time but that didn't workout. They said 40 a week, 2 weeks a year vacation, that's it. I said see ya. So I never did do what you were asking "Or, you folks that are more-or-less in my shoes - working less, but still in there; is it feeling right to you?" Not that I didn't try.
 
Sundancer said:
if you stepped out of the workforce completely, did you never look back and wonder why you waited so long?
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This. I used to joke around about retiring at 40. I missed that goal by a wide margin, but when the stars were aligned, I walked away. I would not want to go back to work full time. I don't even want a part-time contract gig.
 
When I have enough put away to maintain a six figure income without touching the principle I will call it quits for full time work.
 
I'm not smart enough or rich enough to retire yet at 45 but when I do, I'm gone. They won't see me or hear from me for a long time. I enjoy the people that I work with but I'm just so sick of the a**holes that always want to blame the engineer, I could walk right now and not look back. I have too many other hobbies to get bored.
 
Craig said:
Make sure that you have things to do besides drink, eat and get hypnotized by the boob tube. We used to track the survival rate of our coworkers when they retired. Those that had no life or interests outside of the company, generally didn’t make it past 18 months.
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Boy ain't that the truth. When I lived in Phx, I watched for 20 years as many of my neighbors around me "retire" with very little to any outside interests. It wasn't long before they all started dropping like flies. The street I lived on was often referred to as "widows row" by the surrounding neighbors as many of the women on my street were left widows by their husbands who had retired and soon after dropped dead. That's why I retired early for awhile and got all of the stuff I knew I wasn't going to be able to do as I got older out of my system. Now I plan on going back to work and never retiring. Many of my friends up here in Colorado are in their 80's and are still very active either farming or taking care of their oil wells or are still running their businesses. I plan to do the same.;)
 
Craig said:
Sun: Make sure that you have things to do besides drink, eat and get hypnotized by the boob tube. We used to track the survival rate of our coworkers when they retired. Those that had no life or interests outside of the company, generally didn’t make it past 18 months.
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A follow-up to @azblackbird:

I heard a retirement planner say something similar. He said when a couple comes to him for retirement planning, he has to have "the talk".

He said if a husband doesn't have something to do, he dies soon. Men need to stay occupied with something. Women seem to get along fine with social activities, but men need something that replaces work.
 
Matthew said:
He said if a husband doesn't have something to do, he dies soon. Men need to stay occupied with something. Women seem to get along fine with social activities, but men need something that replaces work.
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I think it has more to do with how the individual needs their job or career to define themselves, than anything to do with gender. Perhaps, on average, men need this more than women, though. My (male) flying buddy and I faced the same decision. He knew I was on the way out and I had the feeling he would stay, even though he's older than me and he complained more than I did about the job.
 
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I'm 10 years or so out from retiring, unless by some dumb smuck luck, I hit a lottery jackpot. Couple of the guys asked me what I was going to do when I retired... Told them I already have enough stuff lined up to do, that at 40 hours a week working on it, I'd have about 15 years before I would need to start thinking about adding to the schedule.:confused:
 
Went from working way more than 40 per week to part time probably 10 years before my full retirement a few years ago. Got sick n tired of my younger associates’ work ethic (lack thereof)...which drove me out. Otherwise I’d probably still be working part time.
Now a few years out and just now awaking some AMs with the thought “what can I come up with to do today?”

If you’ve got a job you love and coworkers you can tolerate, I think parttime work is the happy medium.
 
I spent 36 years at a job I absolutely lived for.
Unfortunately I was there 37 years. The last year was just,,,,,,,,,,,,, surreal, so I left.
It took me almost to the edge of the parking lot to get over IBM.
For me it was easy. I had another calling (pastor) that gave me a lot of satisfaction, and as a science guy, I just built my own server farm in my home office and continued on with the science things that I love to do.
Plus, I get to fly whenever the weather allows, not whenever the weather and work allow.
 
Retired from the Air Force in '88, then spent 24 years at a large regional airline based in ATL. Retired from that 5 years ago and I have never missed anything about 121. I mean nothing. Even my BP went down. Now we travel when we want, and I'm back to where I started in aviation, flight instruction at the local airport, where I enjoy instructing.

Right after I retired my Dr ask what I was doing for my health. Told her I walk daily, light weights, etc. She says ok, what about your brain. I told her I was playing around with the guitar, and she liked that. She also liked that I was back instructing. IOW, keep busy, don't sit around.
 
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Retired in February after 40 years of airline flying and could have worked another 14 months but I was TIRED of the minutiae of regs and company changes almost daily, the zero ground speed committee second guessing every decision that I was more than ready to hang it up. I fly my Bonanza, work on it, trying to get my CFI ratings renewed to instruct some, working with the CAF to get checked out in a B25, going to worked with Tango Flight to help high school students build an RV 12 this fall, work in my church and spend time with my bride (gone too much over the last 40 years) and my grandkids. My former company flew an MD 11 into Oshkosh and I took my wife onboard and one of the managers asked if I missed it....I said I got sleepy just walking up the stairs....it was a blessed career but nope, don’t miss it a bit.
 
weilke said:
How does part time affect your fed retirement ?
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Great timing on that question! I spent most of today getting that defined, and in my case, turns out not much effect at all. . .it's a pro-rated formula, and the extra year of PT will offset the slight drop caused by pro-rating my time. . .

My feet are getting a little cold, IRT sticking around another year, at three days a week. Condidering whether to give it a trial run, or just step away now. Probably going with the trial run. . .
 
chemgeek said:
I served notice on retirement as soon as I knew I had sufficient retirement funds to continue to do what I do. Then walked out the door. Retirement is an opportunity not so much to do nothing--although that is an option some days!--but rather a chance to choose what you want to do. I went from "three" jobs to two. Now I lead a non profit organization, and have some long term periodic consulting work only. More time for flying, which shows in my fuel bills.

I loved my work of 35 years, but I'm not getting any younger, and there are lots of other things to do. Nothing left to prove in my career, so time for other challenges, and more time for doing neglected things I love to do, too. One year in, no regrets, enjoying more choice and time flexibility.
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Well said, and the replies along this line are resonating with me. . .
 
Sundancer said:
Great timing on that question! I spent most of today getting that defined, and in my case, turns out not much effect at all. . .it's a pro-rated formula, and the extra year of PT will offset the slight drop caused by pro-rating my time. . .

My feet are getting a little cold, IRT sticking around another year, at three days a week. Condidering whether to give it a trial run, or just step away now. Probably going with the trial run. . .
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Does your agency use contractors ? I live in Fed-land and everyone who retires seems to go back as contractor for a couple of years (before they move to North Carolina).
 
The thought of retirement scares the crap out of me -as someone rapidly approaching the Medicare age who largely defines himself by being useful- since it's official notice that you will be dead soon, possibly following a long period of declining health and mobility.
 
I don't know anyone that's been retired more than 6 months who can figure out how they ever had time to work. They are all quite busy.

I'm 59 and about 5 years ago my BIL retired. I told my wife that I didn't understand just walking away. 5 years later, while I still enjoy my job, I could walk out the door tomorrow and be happy. I'd miss people and I'd miss some of what I get to do, but I've got plenty that I'd like to do that I have trouble getting to right now. It's not time yet financially so it's good thing I still enjoy my job.

John
 
Craig said:
Sun: Make sure that you have things to do besides drink, eat and get hypnotized by the boob tube. We used to track the survival rate of our coworkers when they retired. Those that had no life or interests outside of the company, generally didn’t make it past 18 months.
Click to expand...

We had a couple of retirees not make it past a week in the last few years. Neither was in great health though. One worked from home a lot and was supposed to stop by the office to turn in his laptop on the last day. That didn't happen. Calls were made, but no answer. His father called mid of the next week and said he found him dead at home. :(:(:(

My wife and I have saved quite a bit of money. We plan on enjoying retirement. Traveling and seeing the world. We also work out to stay in shape to be able to enjoy that travel.
 
I'm not sure when I'll retire. My wife is now thinking 3 years as that's when her younger sister is retiring, plus the kids will all be out of college. Our youngest graduates in two years. I'm younger than she is, so I'll probably work for a few years or so after that. I joke with my co-workers that I'll retire when working gets in the way of traveling with my wife. :D :cool:

With the kids in college and my parents nearby to watch the dog when we're gone we've started doing more weekend trips. Flying private makes that so much more possible. Often we burn no vacation days, or one if we leave after work on Thursday.

Current plan is to downsize the house next year. Probably paint (interior) and new carpet over the winter, a little landscaping sprucing-up and sell in the spring. That should get us to no mortgage and additional savings. That plus getting the kids "off the payroll" in the near future should make it easy to live well on one income.

We have plenty of things to do. Work just gets in the way of our hobbies. :( ;) Of course it funds them too, so.... :rolleyes:

I'm always surprised when a co-workers says they don't know what they'd do with their time when they are retired. o_O I tell them if they doubled the number of hours in a day I might get half of what I wanted done. Many retirees, like Randy, seem far busier than I am, and I have a full time job and hobbies. I don't think we'll have trouble keeping busy.
 
A couple years ago I ran into a buddy of mine at Home Depot. We hadn't seen each other for a few years, so we caught up for a couple minutes. His first question was, "Have you retired yet?" He had been retired about a year and said what many of you are saying, "After I retired, I never realized how busy I would be!"
 
EdFred said:
When I have enough put away to maintain a six figure income without touching the principle I will call it quits for full time work.
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Out of curiosity, at what avg. return rate would you use for calculation?
Some say 4%, some 5, 6, or 8.
It seemed Dave Ramsey was pushing a whopping 12% at one time.
When I thought of anyone retiring with that expectation, all I could do was gulp.
 
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Everyone is going to get old, unless they die first. My own viewpoint is that I want to spend the years while I'm still healthy and active doing the things I want to do, rather than doing things someone else wants me to do. I realize not everyone has the resources to do this, though, and it's hard to go from accumulating money to knowing that you are going to be spending it.
 
Skyrys62 said:
Out of curiosity, at what avg. return rate would you use for calculation?
Some say 4%, some 5, 6, or 8.
It seemed Dave Ramsey was pushing a whopping 12% at one time.
When I thought of anyone retiring with that expectation, all I could do was gulp.
Click to expand...

From Investopedia:

Approximately 10% is the average return for the S&P 500 since its inception back in 1928. Adjusted for inflation the "real return" is more like 7%. Also worth noting that nearly half of the gains from the S&P 500 resulted from dividends.
​
Generally speaking most people are living much longer after retirement than they did 40+ years ago; which is part of the financial issues with Social Security. You need to plan for that time, and a big part of that is continuing to invest for growth in retirement. The plan used to be to move from stocks to bonds at retirement. That no longer works; other than a short life after retirement or Yuuuge amounts of savings. Not only is the bond interest too low, but people are living longer so more growth is still needed in one's retirement savings to make it last long enough. Part of that is the time is so long that inflation eats away at the value of the savings, even low inflation. No longer are people looking at 5-10 years of retirement, they are looking at 20+ years of retirement. That's a long time for saving to be drawn down from.
 
Everskyward said:
...and it's hard to go from accumulating money to knowing that you are going to be spending it.
Click to expand...

It's a bit like jumping off a cliff. A few months ago I sold a rental property, and for the first time have no W-2 wages or rental income, just savings and interest income. It's that "working without a net" feeling. So a few lean-ish years until I can tap into the 401(k) without penalty.

I am sooooo much busier in retirement than I ever was working. Gotta reinvent yourself, rekindle old interests or find new ones, keep your brain engaged and keep learning, learning, learning. Now I need my friends to retire so we can all do fun stuff mid-week.

I think I found a new project...wanna build a wood-and-fabric plane, small bipe or something. It doesn't cost much for the basic plans/wood kit for, say, the fuselage, and that'll keep me busy for a few years without much cost. The search begins for the perfect subject.
 
wayne said:
From Investopedia:

Approximately 10% is the average return for the S&P 500 since its inception back in 1928. Adjusted for inflation the "real return" is more like 7%. Also worth noting that nearly half of the gains from the S&P 500 resulted from dividends.
​
Generally speaking most people are living much longer after retirement than they did 40+ years ago; which is part of the financial issues with Social Security. You need to plan for that time, and a big part of that is continuing to invest for growth in retirement. The plan used to be to move from stocks to bonds at retirement. That no longer works; other than a short life after retirement or Yuuuge amounts of savings. Not only is the bond interest too low, but people are living longer so more growth is still needed in one's retirement savings to make it last long enough. Part of that is the time is so long that inflation eats away at the value of the savings, even low inflation. No longer are people looking at 5-10 years of retirement, they are looking at 20+ years of retirement. That's a long time for saving to be drawn down from.
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Well 10% would be great. @EdFred could get 3 figures for a cool million (before inflation).
Yet on the conservative side, say 4%, that's going to take 2.5 million. Quite a stretch for most homies.
Lest ye include social security, then it drops, but if you add inflation...
 
EdFred said:
When I have enough put away to maintain a six figure income without touching the principle I will call it quits for full time work.
Click to expand...

Gross or net?
 
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