Retirees - What age did you retire?

[soccerdad72]

My wife and I (we're both 50) have been discussing possibly retiring shortly. More specifically, my wife is likely to retire from her job in the next 6-12 months (she has to give 6 months notice) and I will likely do the same a short while later.

If you retired at a somewhat younger age, did you fully retire or did you do some sort of part time job or other work? My wife was offered a chance to work on a part time basis with our financial advisors and was considering that for a while, somewhat worried that without a lot of hobbies, she would be bored not doing something.

Just curious other's experience with this and any tips or advice as well.

 

[robinb]

I "retired" back when my DD23 was born. My DH is still working in his early 60's. The biggest thing that is holding him back is health insurance.

 

[georgina]

DH retired at 63, just after our youngest graduated from college. He is an avid scuba diver and underwater photographer and has not been bored. I quit when first DD was born and never went back, did a lot of volunteer work to keep me busy after the kids left home. His company provided bridge health insurance until he hit medicare age and is still providing me with health until I hit 65. (That is not a benefit they offer any longer to newer employees)

My dad retired at 62 and could finally golf as much as he wanted. Being the provider for 6 kids had taken up most of his time. My mom had no hobbies and sold real estate until she was 80. After that she was bored. It really depends on the person. A part-time job in a field she enjoys might be a good way for your wife to ease into retirement.

 

[loves to dive]

Technically I'm still employed but I'm actually 80% retired. I'm the bookkeeper for the same company I've worked for for 33 years. We shut down the physical office 2 years ago and I've worked from home since. I work maybe a total of 20 hours a month, sometimes less. It's just the boss and me with a subcontractor who used to work for the company. My boss told me when we shut down the physical office he would be retiring the end of 2022. That didn't happen. He told me the end of 2022 he was stopping work end of 1st qtr. 2023. We will keep the company open for tax purposes but there will be no more billing after 1st qtr. That should mean after April 2023, I will be retired until I have to send the books to the accountant for taxes in Dec. 2023. I'll believe it when I see it. I'll be 66 in April and I've been ready since we shut down the office. Hubby will most likely work until his brain no longer functions. My boss is almost 80.

 

[TraderStitch]

While I'm still working to keep busy.. (planning to do so before 55), I have quite a few folks in my life who've had a magic number in their head and once they hit it they retired. It basically comes down to your budget and how much of a "balling" retirement you want lol. No one I know subscribes to the "I need to keep working to feel valuable" mantra.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’ve been a SAHM since my oldest was born, my husband is planning on 65. He could retire earlier, but health insurance…. He had lunch with a local guy who retired from his company, the guy is going back in a much lower paid position than the one he had just for health insurance.

 

[AussieFan8]

My husband and I could retire at 54 and work part-time until 59 if it wasn't for health insurance concerns.

 

[Kitty 34]

61....I was fortunate because even tho I was just a substitute teacher for 34 years I had gotten in on their retirement plan back in '86 so I receive a pension and the Michigan Public teacher's health insurance; the latter being huge since DH didn't have insurance once he retired.

DH retired at 64.

 

[JaxDad]

I’m planning on 62. I had kids late in life, and I just want to make sure my youngest is securely attending college or otherwise entering adulthood.

 

[RedAngie]

I’ll be retiring sometime this year, after I turn 62 in April. I haven’t yet decided whether to stay until the end of 2023. My company is aware and I promised to give at least three months notice.

DH is pretty much retired but he occasionally accepts some consulting jobs.

If I get bored after a while maybe I’ll take a 12 to 15 hour per week part time position with my company.

 

[soccerdad72]

Obviously insurance is our biggest concern. I hold the insurance through my job, which is the main reason why it's likely that I will work for a little while longer than my wife. We think we have the budget set up to be able to pay out of pocket for our insurance until we get to the age where we qualify for Medicare.

Our youngest goes away to college this fall and that's one of the reasons we're starting to consider this even more than before.

 

[Babs Johnson]

I just retired at the ”standard” age of 65. I could have in my 50s but I enjoyed my job.

So far I’m not bored.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm mid 50s and aiming for 60-62 which is totally doable.
I have many hobbies, a cottage, lots of friends and family, etc. I will fill my time. Maybe do some volunteering.
Senior centre near us and have peeked at their activities and sure I could do some clubs there too.
I have no plans on working as we will probably be snow birds and spend lots of time spring to fall at the lake.

 

[disykat]

I retired early at 56 because of the time required to help my elderly parents. Now I work part time per diem (anywhere between twice a month and three times a week, depending on their needs and my availability.) I've been doing that for 5 years now. I'm contemplating retiring fully at 62 now that DH has also retired early, but waiting to see how all the numbers work out since he retired so recently.

I would totally recommend some kind of per diem work. DH keeps talking about finding something "part time" and I keep telling him please no! If you have to work a regular schedule you might as well still work. Try to find something "substitute" or "per diem" where you can choose to work or not. That way you can take extended time when needed or wanted. He prefers a schedule and keeps thinking working one or two regularly scheduled days a week would be great, but we'd never get to go out of town! DH is younger than me and also retired at 56, so he is definitely interested in doing something. (He just doesn't want my advice! He loves pressure washing so I keep suggesting starting a side gig where he can say yes or no to jobs., but he's not biting.)

 

[White Cat]

Wife retired at 50. I enjoy what I do and have no plans on stopping.

 

[Dan Murphy]

78 here. Retired 2 years ago from 46 year financial planning career, age 76. I enjoyed my career with helping my clients.

 

[Micca]

My wife was offered a chance to work on a part time basis with our financial advisors and was considering that for a while, somewhat worried that without a lot of hobbies, she would be bored not doing something.

She better start thinking about how she's going to keep you entertained!

 

[longboard55]

66. Love being retired

 

[easyas123]

If things work out, between 55 & 60 is when we will be retiring. We are 50 & 51 now.
Insurance is only thing that has me somewhat concerned, but we are working on things being set up so it's not a issue.

I have no idea what we are going to do with ourselves. We travel as much as possible now, and the plan is for that to continue. But day-to-day??? I guess we better get some more hobbies!

 

[tvguy]

As many have mentioned, when you retirement is often dictated by healthcare insurance. COBRA is good for 18 months and our COBRA was through my wife's employer so we retired 18 months before her 65th birthday. I had just turned 64, and my wife was 63 1/2 when we retired a year and a half ago. We had hoped to retire a few years earlier, and purchase health insurance as needed in the private marketplace. That plan was laid out before the Affordable Health Care Act was passed or even thought of with rates as they were. Well, the good thing about the Affordable Health Care Act is it guarantees you can buy health insurance. That bad thing is, if you don't qualify for subsidies, it is NOT affordable. Our COBRA premiums for two of us were $1,400 a month. Affordable Healthcare coverage was $3,000 a month. Now we are on Medicare with a Medigap supplement, our healthcare is $600 a month. If we had selected a Medicare Advantage plan, it would have been only $400, but we did not feel comfortable with some of the restrictions an Advantage plan has.
We are living off savings until we reach our full retirement age of 66 1/2 which will be December for me, and March 2024 for my wife then we will get our Social Security. So far, money is tight, but ABSOLUTELY no desire to return to work.