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Question of the Day: Retirement Planning
By JLP | April 22, 2008
Here’s today’s questions of the day:
At what age are you planning to retire?
Do you think you will really retire or will you just work less or start a new career?
I can see myself never really retiring. I have always thought it would be fun to teach finance classes at the college level. Some of my favorite professors were retired business professionals who decided to take up teaching. They were laid back and easy to talk to and they made college fun. I’d like to do the same for college kids someday.
Or, my wife and I have thought about doing something together like opening a gift shop or something like that. I just think I would get tired of it after 3 or 4 days. LOL!
What about you? What are your retirement plans or goals?
Oh, and don’t forget about submitting a question of the day for the upcoming Question of the Day contest.
Topics: Question of the Day, Retirement Planning | 20 Comments »
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
My mother started a tea business in her late 40s and we’re hoping she’ll grow it into a global corporation at which all immediate family has a position. Right now she’s halfway to the point where she’ll be able to “support” herself and my dad when my dad chooses to retire. My dad’s military pension AND corporate pensions will help with that though.
As for me and my husband, I don’t think we’ll be retiring in our 60s simply because we can’t afford it. *lol* If we DO have the option of only working part-time for fun, I’ll definitely only do it FOR FUN – nothing demanding.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I’d like to retire from a 9 to 5 as early as possible, but that doesn’t mean I’d stop working.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Just cut back on hours and do something else. My parents are doing that an they are making more money than they ever have. My father is retired from the state and gets free health insurance and a pension. My mother also worked for the state for 15 years and qualifies for free health insurance. So when they hit 60 they retired. Like I said Dad has a pension, but mom doesn’t. Mom just does her occupational therapy work on a part-time contractural basis. My father is a liscenced interpreter for the deaf. Both are loving it. But the real key is the health insurance – without it I’m not sure each could work part-time.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I am planning to retire at 53 years old. That’ll be in 21 years for me. If I can I’ll go out earlier but my calculations say I’ll be ready then.
I would like to take a year long trip to Europe or somewhere just days after I’ve retired. I think that’ll help remove that need to show up at an office day after day.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Well, I’d like to “retire” from the daily grind by 45-50. From there, I’d like to shift from the world of finance to my second passion–golf. I set out in college to become a golf course architect, but after earning a degree that wasn’t worth much more than the paper it was printed on, I shifted into business and finance.
So, after putting my time in working just to accumulate assets, I’d then like to go on to purchase land, design and build a golf course and resort community, and then live there and run that for another 15-20 years. Maybe by then I’ll be able to try and get onto the senior/champions PGA tour and make a few bucks playing golf
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I’m fortunate. I’m in my mid-40′s and could conceivably retire today, but for a couple of hurdles:
1) I’d need to eventually relocate out of my present ultra-high cost part of the country.
2) The health insurance question looms large. I really don’t have a ready solution, so want to be in a position to basically self-insure; or work enough to have insurance.
3) And, If I retired right now, I might not have the money to do all the active things a 40-something year old might want to do, like travel the globe (at least not in a style remotely similar to that which wife and I have become accustomed).
So, I aim to keep working for quite some time into the future, primarily because I want to see how far I can advance my career (a home run would be very worthwhile on many fronts… financially, reputationally, future opptys, etc.), and I really do enjoy my vocation though the exhaustion/stress issues make me question my priorities from time to time.
I’m aiming for mid-50′s to slow down, maybe transition into something more independent, and to write and teach, and late-60′s, early 70′s to finally come to a full-stop workwise.
I think I’ll always want to be involved in some vocation, but further down the road the profit-motive will become less of an issue and relaxation, enjoyment, giving back, benefits, and flexibility will take priority.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Looks like 62, possibly 61 will be the magic number for me. Later than I’d hoped (58), but the recent downturn in the market gave me a kicking and made me realize I need to have more cushion for the (hopefully)long years of retirement. After that, I’m not opposed to working at all, but it definitely won’t be full time, and more just to keep active and bring in a little spending money if needed. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to traveling and hanging out with family at the beach.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I am planning to drop to part time at 59, if I live that long. The key is health insurance. One big health scare and there goes your nest egg. I figure if I am mortgage free and the kids are all off on their own, it would be easy to do.
Seems like there are a bunch of “ifs”
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I wonder if the term retirement may be becoming outdated. The new mind-set tha seems to be emerging is ‘Financial Independence.’ It is the point when you have established enough or nearly enough reserves and/or passive income from self employement, that gives you the independence to pursue recreational, philanthropic, and business opportunities that you have a passion about, outside of the traditional 8 to 5 grind.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I retired two years ago at age 55. We, my wife and I,have no debts and live on pension alone. That’s a good thing with the stock market like it is. Will probably tap 401k when we want a new truck. For now living on our hobby farm happy as can be.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 am
I’m looking to retire at 65 and stop working for a pay check. I’d like to travel regularly & get more involved volunteer work.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 am
I “retired” from full-time corporate work 10 years ago at 52 and began teaching finance as an adjunct professor. Then a year ago I became a Certified Financial Planner™ and have now embarked on my 3rd or 4th career, depending on how you count. If retiring means stopping working, I’ll never retire. If it means not going in to the office every day and doing what someone tells me to, I’m gone.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I’m not a golf and margarita type of guy. I see retiring from what I do as a career to start consulting, or open up my own business, something like that.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Ill be retiring from the daily routine work but i wont stop working. I have a friend who has a financial firm. I’ll be joining him for a part time work.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I am shooting for 59 1/2. But I’ll probably still work some.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:44 am
My wife and I will retire in our late fifties, I’m 49 now. I always plan to be “working” in some fashion, but on my time schedule. I truly believe that people are happiest if they stay active, have some structure and keep learning. My idea of retirement doesn’t involve being pinned to the recliner watching television.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I retired at 59 1/2, and, let me tell you, my recliner is perfect for naps. I just turn on the History Channel, and the next thing I know, it’s an hour later! Seriously, one thing to consider before you hang it up is whether you’ve considered Social Security. Have you worked enough years at high enough pay levels to have maximized your payouts? If you retire too soon, the answer is “probably not”. You can estimate whether you are close to the max by using the calculator at the Social Security dot gov website. You have to fool the calculator by working backwards a bit, but you’ll get the hang of it. The point is whether you’ve worked enough years at the max, where FICA cuts off. It will give you an estimated benefit, which you can compare to the maximum at full retirement (which is, I believe, currently in the neighborhood of $2185/mo). If you’re way, way below that, it means you haven’t worked long enough, or at high enough pay levels, or a combination of both.
Happy retirements to all,
Bozo
April 26th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I intend to retire from the corporate world between the ages of 30 and 35, at which point I’ll focus on real estate investing – and blogging, if I’m still doing that by then, and whatever other alternative income producers I may want to experiment with.
This plan is kind of assuming I have a husband and children by then, though. If I happen to still be single and childless by then, I may keep working if I really am liking my career.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:05 am
I guess I would want to retire in my late 50s…I hope to already own my own business at that time…so it would just be shifting the reins over to someone else.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:55 am
My current plan is to retire at age 60. I am currently 51 and my wife is 52. As Canadians, we can take Canada Pension as early as 60 and our Social Medicare system takes care of the major medical stuff.
With our kids done with college and our mortgages paid off we have really ramped up the savings plan. We have a winter home that we plan to spend 6 months in each year with all our friends who also have homes down south. The other 6 months will be spent volunteering, working part-time at garden centers, and travelling for as long as we are physically able to do so.