[3.0L]

An appropriate start to retirement.

[vreihen16]

Considering that I just went to the bank today to deposit my first retirement account payout check, the timing of this post is eery.....

[SpeedBuggy]

Just turned in my retirement date with the company I work for. Going out on December 30th. I was originally going to go on October 2nd which is my 69th birthday.

Company asked that I stay on to train new sales person replacing me.

Do have mixed emotions about retiring, been in this busines/profession for 50 years, 40 of it as a sales/ account manager. Developed a lot of customers and relationships over the years, hard to leave that behind.

Trying to finish up a couple of house projects before I retire (two new decks, interior paint and carpeting) and then the wife and I can relax a little bit. We will be baby sitting grand kids part of the time also, which we enjoy.

Looking forward to a new chapter in my life, wife has been retired 4 years now, I'm sure I'm going to have to learn a new routine ( her's &#129315

[Llarry]

Given that in the U.S. military you can retire and start drawing retirement pay (a pension) at twenty years of service (in other words, as young as 37 years old!), I retired after 25 years at age 48 and have been getting my pension, with adjustments for cost-of-living increases for thirty years now. In speaking with other military retirees, we cannot believe what a good deal we think we got.

Of course, I was in the Navy and never got shot at, was never in danger from an improvised explosive device, etc. There was generally not much danger for Air Force people either. The Army and Marine Corps were a different deal, with plenty of casualties in the Middle East wars. And regardless of service, if you make a career of it there are some duty stations that are just plain unpleasant, so you have to the take the bad with the good.

I still feel like I made out like a bandit -- The Navy has been paying me monthly for 55 years.

[M-technik-3]

Except for the rockets they lobbed at us. I was enjoying the combat pay and decade plus per diem so I hung around when I new I should have retired and started a new career. I'll be working to 67 then transition to a part time job the prevent myself from going crazy.

Just mad I didn't not know about the the change in % that took place back in 1986. Had I enlisted 25 days earlier I would be making 10% more because of a date.

[OtoPA]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Except for the rockets they lobbed at us. I was enjoying the combat pay and decade plus per diem so I hung around when I new I should have retired and started a new career. I'll be working to 67 then transition to a part time job the prevent myself from going crazy.

Just mad I didn't not know about the the change in % that took place back in 1986. Had I enlisted 25 days earlier I would be making 10% more because of a date.

Retired in '90 after 20 with a line # for O4, (prior enlisted) as I'd interviewed and had 2nd career job held for me 6 months prior to actual date. When they said, sign the papers, but you'll need to give us two more years, it was a hard no. Second retirement in 2017. My goal: to collect retirement checks longer than I had to work.

[OtoPA]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Given that in the U.S. military you can retire and start drawing retirement pay (a pension) at twenty years of service (in other words, as young as 37 years old!), I retired after 25 years at age 48 and have been getting my pension, with adjustments for cost-of-living increases for thirty years now. In speaking with other military retirees, we cannot believe what a good deal we think we got.

Of course, I was in the Navy and never got shot at, was never in danger from an improvised explosive device, etc. There was generally not much danger for Air Force people either. The Army and Marine Corps were a different deal, with plenty of casualties in the Middle East wars. And regardless of service, if you make a career of it there are some duty stations that are just plain unpleasant, so you have to the take the bad with the good.

I still feel like I made out like a bandit -- The Navy has been paying me monthly for 55 years.

Air Force medical guy here.. I did retire at 37. E1-O3. (1970-1990). Took advantage of the schooling deals and had a good experience and well trained for 2nd full career.

[M_Six]

I love retirement. Best job I've ever had.

[Esteban]

^^ I’m with you! Almost a decade at this job... my best one yet. And I make my own hours. Plus the boss has a crush on me.

Life is good!

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

An appropriate start to retirement.

I remember waking up after my double bypass and the nurse asking me if I knew what day it was. I told her I was retired and barely knew the MONTH, let alone the day!

[MassWholeBimmer]

Not to turn this into a "Im still working thread", but...Been with my company for 44 years this September as an Engineering manager. Just turned 65 last year and still work. My boss is great, love the job, and best point is I work from home. Told the boss no more traveling, and to put/keep me on legacy projects.. I don't want to be on a project where the design won't hit production for years..

I get 6 weeks vacation, plus 14 holidays and I buy a week of vacation... Life is still good...

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by SpeedBuggy

Just turned in my retirement date with the company I work for. Going out on December 30th. I was originally going to go on October 2nd which is my 69th birthday.

Company asked that I stay on to train new sales person replacing me.

Do have mixed emotions about retiring, been in this busines/profession for 50 years, 40 of it as a sales/ account manager. Developed a lot of customers and relationships over the years, hard to leave that behind.

Trying to finish up a couple of house projects before I retire (two new decks, interior paint and carpeting) and then the wife and I can relax a little bit. We will be baby sitting grand kids part of the time also, which we enjoy.

Looking forward to a new chapter in my life, wife has been retired 4 years now, I'm sure I'm going to have to learn a new routine ( her's &#129315

Congrats Jeff! It was a joy when I was still in the industry and often miss it. I’ve got many years to go unfortunately

[c1pher]

I retired from Navy after 24 (E1-O4) years back in 2007. It has been nice using that pay for toys and such, glad I could have a second career so I could really start planning for retirement. I hope to retire within three years, and feel I am getting close. I also feel fortunate that I can start SS at 62-63 without worrying about healthcare insurance since I have Tricare to cover that period prior to 65 which a lot of my civilian colleagues can’t do.

[3.0L]

I retired 13 years ago, after 21 years of service at Cal Poly State University
as an electronics technician in ITS. Prior to that, I did 23 years at our family mom & pop TV sales and service store. I bolted to the university because I
really wasn’t getting anywhere in terms of retirement planning.

My goal was to retire at age 65, but left a year early due to my growing
disenchantment with my job. The first 14 years were great as I did what
I was born to do: fix things; upgrade things; install new equipment. I
looked forward to going to work. Then we got a new director.

She moved me into another segment of ITS and my work load doubled. I
was now on-call to put out fires in live classrooms, distance learning rooms,
multi-media rooms, special event setups and on and on. I was leaving 3
tracks by the end of each day.

The final straw was having the campus work station program dumped on
me. The program was a mess. The two dudes who weaseled out of it
probably never played outdoors as kids. They clearly pulled the wool
over the eyes of upper management. I pushed back on the two directors
involved and got some things changed, plus I dropped two other
responsibilities.

So, do I miss anything? Yes, most of my co-workers, particularly the
other technicians in the shop. We cross-trained and had some fun in the
process. I still meet some of them for lunch. I also miss the challenge of
troubleshooting and repairing a wide variety of equipment, plus
getting my hands on the new stuff. So, that’s where my hobbies fill in to
keep the grey matter active.

[UPSROD]

I retired in 2001 at 53. I did 30 years with UPS and had all I could take! Really has nothing to do with this tread.

[SpeedBuggy]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

Congrats Jeff! It was a joy when I was still in the industry and often miss it. I’ve got many years to go unfortunately

Thanks T.O.!!
Working with the Steel Industry was a joy. Was able to cross over into a few other industries during the same time, but working with the steel mills and mill builders was rewarding.

Enjoyed working with you during your tenure in the industry. Keep at it, many years from now you'll be in the same position. Just a word of caution, they tend to go by quick 😬

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by MassWholeBimmer

Not to turn this into a "Im still working thread", but...Been with my company for 44 years this September as an Engineering manager. Just turned 65 last year and still work. My boss is great, love the job, and best point is I work from home. Told the boss no more traveling, and to put/keep me on legacy projects.. I don't want to be on a project where the design won't hit production for years..

I get 6 weeks vacation, plus 14 holidays and I buy a week of vacation... Life is still good...

I was still having fun and didn't have a choice; we are required to stop working airplanes at 56. I also had 6 weeks of annual a year that they HAD to give me. We bid days-off and annual based on seniority, so I pretty much got what I wanted. It'll be 13 years since I was fired/retired (I did get a age-termination letter and got unemployment ) and I wouldn't go back for anything.

[RockCrusher]

Got laid off March 30, 2020. Decided to retire. (Last 30 years writing software. But over all I worked 48 years 11 months full time.)

I quickly adapted to retirement.

I don't do much. No house to keep up. I rent a small 1 bedroom apartment. I ride my bicycle and walk and that's about it. No traveling. I'm not much of a traveler.

[3.0L]

I don’t know if its normal or not, but I completely shut out my work
memories during my first year of retirement. I guess I was really fried.
Behaved more of less the same way after I separated from the Army.

Over time, the work memories returned, so I reflected on the good and
the bad. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had been repressing
some red flags I observed with middle management. Gradually, I connected
the dots. I found it somewhat gratifying that nearly all of the bozos had
been shown the door. Some were seriously demoted while others were
given obscure, dead-end assignments. They got the message and resigned.
Unfortunately, one lower management fellow did not deserve the treatment.
Seems there is inevitable collateral damage during shakeups.

I’m sure I made some mistakes along the way as well. I think the biggest
one was smiling too much. In retrospect, this behavior likely sent the
wrong message to management, resulting in me being an easy target for
more work.

Anyway, at least I retired before the bozos did, plus I got a retirement
party to boot. The bozos left quietly with no celebration. Maybe there is
a Santa Claus. ��

[BWBike]

Add me to the retired list. Retired last month after working for 50 years. It took me about three seconds to adapt.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I don’t know if its normal or not, but I completely shut out my work
memories during my first year of retirement. I guess I was really fried.
Behaved more of less the same way after I separated from the Army.

Over time, the work memories returned, so I reflected on the good and
the bad. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had been repressing
some red flags I observed with middle management. Gradually, I connected
the dots. I found it somewhat gratifying that nearly all of the bozos had
been shown the door. Some were seriously demoted while others were
given obscure, dead-end assignments. They got the message and resigned.
Unfortunately, one lower management fellow did not deserve the treatment.
Seems there is inevitable collateral damage during shakeups.

I’m sure I made some mistakes along the way as well. I think the biggest
one was smiling too much. In retrospect, this behavior likely sent the
wrong message to management, resulting in me being an easy target for
more work.

Anyway, at least I retired before the bozos did, plus I got a retirement
party to boot. The bozos left quietly with no celebration. Maybe there is
a Santa Claus. ��

After being laid off and when I decided to retire I purposely tried to forget all work memories and vowed to not write another line of code.

When I inevitably started to think of work I started counting backwards from 100. Thus work memories have faded.

I have the occasional dream about work. But these are becoming less frequent -- the dreams weren't too frequent to begin with.

Oh, and I purposely avoided establishing a social life with co-workers. My mentor told me this years ago that one needs a social life that has nothing to do with work. He added that if you rely upon co-workers for social life if you or one of them get laid off this can abruptly severe social ties at an already stressful time.

So while I liked (most) of my co-workers I never socialized with any of them.

[Vindicator3]

(Setting calendar to check back into this thread in 616 days....)