Bluff Horn
250+ posts
02/23/12 09:44 PM
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My Dad retired from Internatiiol Paper as a mechanic five years ago. He misses the daily interaction with buddies but does not miss work in the least.
Big adjustment, but it has worked out well and he deserves every miinute of it
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Dogbert
1000+ posts
03/26/12 08:27 AM
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Almost two months since I retired and I don't miss work at all. I miss my friends at work, but we've been going out to lunch once or twice a week and that is good. My wife and I have a two week vacation planned this summer that we are both looking very forward to.
The Austin spring weather is beautiful and getting outside doing anything is great. All my former job pressures have pretty much melted away and I can spend most of my day doing what I want. Life is good.
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HornHuskerDad
5000+ posts
03/29/12 08:54 AM
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Good start, Dogbert. Keep your schedule "full" - not every minute, but enough activity to keep you moving and to keep you focused on the future. In my fifteen months so far, the only times I've really been frustrated with retirement are those few times when I had nothing to do and nothing planned. Fortunately there have been very few of those times.
HHD    
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Dogbert
1000+ posts
04/01/12 07:49 PM
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HHD, Right now I have plenty of things planned, but I see what you mean. I am going to finish up the project of selling my dad's house before too long. I have my car project (old 60s era sports car rebuild) that I keep working on as time permits. I am still thinking about what else I might want to do after my vacation this summer. Trips to Longhorn away games are a possibility, but that's seasonal. I will consider a job of some sort eventually. I will want a challenge if I do not find one in what I am doing.
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l00p
25,000+ posts
04/01/12 08:19 PM
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If you are in Austin you could volunteer at the State History Museum, maybe even the Blanton on campus. There is likely stuff on campus too. Maybe look into a part time position as a Security Guard with UT. You get benefits, work on campus and you get retirement...wait, never mind that last part.
Is that fair?
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Dogbert
1000+ posts
04/01/12 08:47 PM
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l00p, I have retired friends who work at the Erwin Center and DKR for sporting events. It's an interesting option. As a Web developer it would be great to work at the LHN -- or maybe in some capacity with Samantha Steele. 
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l00p
25,000+ posts
04/02/12 12:19 PM
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In reply to:
or maybe in some cavity with Samantha Steele.
There, spiced it up a bit for you.
Along the web lines, maybe a part time position at the school itself. I know they don't like hiring full time much since they have to give benefits. But part timers, nope. So maybe you can step into a college on campus such as Social Work, Education or one that needs help and does not have the financial resources of those like Business and Law.
Then you can use your staff ID to work out in the gyms (eye candy) and maybe do laps at the outdoor Gregory pool (more eye candy than you can imagine and I picture you as a fella with a big and vivid imagination already).
Envision whirled peas.
Is that fair?
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hooklahoma
1000+ posts
05/07/12 07:09 PM
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IM a gen X'er. Our parents, aunts and uncles have have recently retired in the last year or two. Almost without exception they sit on facebook or TV all day long. What a waste.
The're not old and decrepit or poor. I dont get why there not out enjoying life
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Basil Your Face
250+ posts
05/11/12 01:21 PM
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In reply to:
I had mixed results with Prince (my cat). He just turned fourteen, and I've had him since he was a kitten. During the years I was working, I arose at 5:00, and Prince quickly associated 5:00 with breakfast. I was hoping to retrain him for a 7:30 or 8:00 breakfast - no luck. But we've compromised - he gets me up at 5:00 to feed him breakfast, and he lets me go back to bed for a couple of hours.
You spent a year [censored] around with that and the thought of an automatic feeder never crossed your mind?
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HornHuskerDad
5000+ posts
05/14/12 01:53 AM
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^Nice thought, Basil. Prince is not into dry cat food, and I can't find an automatic feeder that will accept canned food - so we continue with the early morning feeding, followed by a couple hours back in the rack.
But give Prince credit - he has me trained pretty well! 
HHD
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watashi
500+ posts
05/29/12 08:05 PM
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Good stuff on this thread. I retired from the Air Force in 1996 and am nearing retirement age from my current employer. Not sure I'll hang it up yet, but the option is nice.
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HornHuskerDad
5000+ posts
05/30/12 11:15 AM
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^It is indeed comforting to have the option to hang up your cleats when you're ready. I assume you've gone through the numbers as they relate to retirement income, spending plans, medical insurance, and so on. When the time is right and you're committed to the decision (and the date), you'll start firming up the details and it will come together at the right time.
Good luck on your planning and decision process. And thanks for your service to our country in the Air Force.
HHD
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orangecat1
500+ posts
06/07/12 10:30 AM
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I talked to my mom this morning. My dad was a part of the "class of '93". That year the state offered state employees a ridiculously good incentive to retire that year.
My dad retired, took two months off, and went to work for one of his former employees, an engineer who started his own firm.
Now my dad is talking about retiring again, possibly in February of '13.
The only problem will be how to completely fill his day. He's got some church work to do, but other than that, I'm not sure he has any real hobbies.
Money is not an issue.
State employees who retired from the National Guard do well in retirement.
State pension
Guard pension
IRAs and 457s
Social security
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lostman
1000+ posts
06/08/12 07:35 AM
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Sounds like you are having a great time HHD! Been reading this thread on and off since you started it. Some good advice too. It is never too early to start planning!
In reply to:
Once you are vested and eligible for retirement at your company, you are effectively working for the difference between your current salary and the available pension. If you've been with your company long enough to have a decent pension benefit, that may affect your decision.
This little tidbit was key for me and my first "retirement". After teaching in public schools for 28 years, I was eligible for benefits (about 67% of average of last 5 years). It was going to take working 12 more years to get to 100%. Where if I retired at the end of that year and found another job that made at least $30K I would pull in more than if I stayed in public schools. Not to mention being able to contribute again to an IRA set up years ago, plus current employer matches a 403b at 5.5%.
I can't wait to read what year 2 has in store for you HHD! And for the other retirees out there. Losthubby and I still have a few years left, but it is just about 5-7 years away. Time for me to start getting a hobby that does not involve curriculum, kids sports, or remodeling the house!  Maybe golf, golf courses are always in nice places.
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orangecat1
500+ posts
06/09/12 04:35 PM
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lostman, there is something else also to be gained by getting a job where you don't contribute to TRS. It's what I call the 30 year rule. If you get 30 years of substantial earnings outside of TRS, you are exempt from the Windfall Provision.
Iow, my example is that I will buy my 6 years of state of Texas service(TXDOT) from ERS, so that when I add up my years + age, at 56 I will have reached the rule of 80.
But, before I taught I worked for a company also, so if I add up my years not contributing in TRS I will have a total of about 18 years. So, if I retire from TRS at 56, get the immediate pension, then go to work full-time for 12 years, I will have reached 30 years outside of TRS.
from S. S.
"The Windfall Elimination Provision does not apply if:
You are a federal worker first hired after December 31, 1983;
You were employed on December 31, 1983, by a nonprofit organization that did not withhold Social Security taxes from your pay at first, but then began withholding Social Security taxes from your pay;
Your only pension is based on railroad employment;
The only work you did where you did not pay Social Security taxes was before 1957; or
You have 30 or more years of substantial earnings under Social Security."
Boom, then I get full Social Security and keep my pension from TRS.
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lostman
1000+ posts
06/12/12 08:36 AM
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Thanks orangecat!!! I will definitely have to check that out. I remember some teachers retiring a few years ago talking about not being able to get SS (their own AND that of deceased husband) at all due to some restricition because of contributing to TRS and all. Since I was still years away from even thinking about it, I did not pay close attention. I will definitely be checking into that. I still have lots of good years left to work, and want to work - just in in public ed anymore.
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HornHuskerDad
5000+ posts
06/12/12 02:56 PM
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Thought you that have been following and participating in this thread might find this interesting as a data point.
I just returned home from going to my 50th high school reunion for the Class of 1962. All of us are somewhere between 67 and 69 years of age. I was in a small class; 79 graduated in my class. 10 are now deceased (3 from cancer, 3 from accidents, 4 from "other causes") for an attrition rate of 12.7%. There are another 8 that cannot be located, so we have data on 61 of us. Of those 61, 13 (21%) are still working full-time. That includes a lawyer, a psychologist, a computer guru, a real estate pro, a consultant, and two that are in family-owned businesses. Another 5 (8.2%) are working part-time (including me) - one works in a motorcycle shop (his passion for many years), a CPA, and a former star athlete who works part-time at a golf course. The remainder (70%) are essentially fully retired. Typical hobbies and interests include the following: golf, skiing, travel, music, painting, scuba diving, hunting, and camping. 7 of us are involved in significant volunteer work (churches, community groups, and the like).
I did not find a single person who simply "sits on the porch and rocks." Even those that are "fully retired" are involved in significant outside activities to keep themselves busy and looking forward. Everybody agreed that having plans for the future is essential to continued well-being and purpose.
Hope these figures add some emphasis to the points we have been discussing in the thread.
HHD
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orangecat1
500+ posts
06/26/12 10:45 PM
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HHD, thanks for that snapshot. 1962 was the year my parents got married. (They graduated from high school in '54 and '59) We're throwing them a big "surprise" party about a month or so before their actual anniversary, so the fact that the party will be a month before the anniversary will probably catch them off guard.
Re: the people who are "rocking on the porch", my uncle owned his own business and retired rather early, at about age 60. He had no retirement plan other than his own savings, which he projected would last long enough. He was wrong, he is still alive, and very sharp mentally. He just turned 90 in May. In hindsight, he needed to work another 5-7 years, maybe longer.
Now that's what is scary to me. If I were out of debt, I would have already bought long-term care insurance. That stuff is so incredibly cheap before you turn 55. I will definitely buy LTC after the kids are gone to college, etc.
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orangecat1
500+ posts
07/06/12 08:56 AM
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one other thing. I have been doing some pretty serious internet research re: retiring from TRS, and found a couple of goodies:
1. all TRS members who have 50 days of state days can buy one more year, when they retire. They charge a pretty penny, but it's based on expectancy tables, so you can expect to get your $ back in about 11 or 12 years.
2. all CTE(career and technology) teachers-iow vocational teachers-who can show industry experience and who can get approval from their district to give the teacher two steps on the salary scale can buy up to two years while they are working.
3. The biggie, I can choose to retire from either TRS or ERS!!! wooww!! I have started the ball rolling to buy back my time from ERS, and now I will be able to choose.
ERS has the free health insurance premiums, but I would have to work longer to earn this. The even bigger carrot, imo, is buying health premium for my wife at 50% of cost. So, I could work until 60, get free health premiums + 50% off for my wife, and then get another job to work until at least 72.
Assuming my wife can get herself out of her little credit card debt, the timing would be almost perfect. She would retire at 62(she is two years older than me), she could collect social security plus her pension, and the health insurance could come out of my retirement check.
Her social security plus her pension might be about 70% of her income while working.
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orangecat1
500+ posts
07/06/12 10:20 AM
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I can't believe my wife actually has a decent chance to retire at age 62. Because she has a fairly low salary, and all of the health insurance premium comes out of her check, she could take home about 80% of her current take home, which will not increase hardly at all in the coming years. She's stuck with that "performance pay" bs.
She deserves it, though. IF she can pay off her little debts. Who am I kidding? She will probably put all of the money she has been spending on boy scouts, etc. to spending more $ on the dogs, and the kids college.
I'm planning on spending only the EFC for their college.(good luck to me)
And wow, those 6 years of state employment have really paid off. I'm gold because those 6 years of service were before 2001. ( all a person needed was 3 years of service before '01 to get the benefits) That is the reason I'm allowed to choose ERS or TRS, and get the free health insurance premium when I retire.
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