At what age do you hope to retire?

[PRICEPLUS]

Julie, you are worth it and he is a very lucky fellow!

[Ima saver]

Well, thank you!(blush)

[MonkeyMama]

I love part-time work myself, not necessarily full-time. I want to semi-retire between 35 & 45 and work part-time. Retirement age I have not given a terrible amount of thought to for many reasons. For now I just assume 65. 1 - I love my job. Working part-time sooner, but working longer is a better goal to me. 2 - Too young so still way too many unknowns. 3 - If nothing else the cose of healthcare seems on big giant question mark to me. I would like to think we can retire in our late 50s or early 60s but not exactly counting on it either with current healthcare trends. Even if that straightens out, seems like there could always be something to catch you offguard. I just try to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

For now I rather work longer and retire more comforably so I have no early retirement goal. All the same, I hope to work far more in my youth than when I hit my 40s and 50s. I would not be surprised if we are able to retire early in the end. I am not sure if I will ever retire myself, all the same. I look forward for more flexibility and more time, but not to be free 40 hours a week, would be bored out of my mind.

[thekid]

Employer-defined pensions are extremely rare. For small businesses they are just not used anymore (most of our clients) though we still use for major tax strategies once in a blue moon for clients nearing retirement. I would not count on them either though, it is scary how many people are losing pensions they counted on for a lifetime. Admisintratively, 401ks and profit sharing plans are much cheaper and simpler to implement. As these options grow, benefit-defined pensions fall out of favor.

My current employer gives employees the option to either participate in the defined plan (100% employer contribution) or have the equivalent contribution (an amount equal 14% of salary) put into a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP in Canada, I guess it's an IRA in the US) managed by the employee. Should I stay here, I would have to make this election soon. I haven't fully decided whether I trust the employer (a large investment fund) or myself more with the money.
Are defined plans going bust that common?

[disneysteve]

DisneySteve,

You'd be wise to do the same thing - let me state this as your alternative physician:

MEN DO NOT DO WELL IN RETIREMENT.

Thanks for the concern.

1. As an osteopathic physician, I don't consider chiropractors to be "alternative" providers. I think you are as mainstream as I am.

2. I have no intention of sitting on a rocking chair on the porch after age 62. I'd go out of my mind in no time. I'm looking forward to doing more of what I love now - travel, exercise, volunteer work at my synagogue and elsewhere, selling collectibles, cooking and baking, etc.

I think some people, men and women both, do poorly in retirement because they fail to plan how they will spend their days. Other people, and I think I'm one of them, have many other interests outside of their career and have no problem filling their days with stimulating, active, meaningful activities.

[DebbieL]

It all depends on the person. My dad has been retired for about 16 years now, and I don't think he's ever had a moment's boredom in his life. He was always busy before, and he always keeps himself busy now. Between his gardening, beekeeping, whatever project he's building, etc. he has plenty to keep himself occupied. He also is a great grandpa - my parents are often looking after either grandkids, or other kids. He also bakes great pies and muffins.

He never missed work in 40 years, but I seriously don't think he has spent even 1 minute wishing he were back at work.

[m.f.walters]

Yes, my wife "retired" last month at 43. She really has no desire to work (which I'm fine with), but when she was working, I kept reminding her that the longer she works, the quicker we both can retire since we were investing 80% of her income.

Disney Steve, what do you do for a living, if it is ok to ask?

[th_tan]

If I do real good, I should be able to retire as young as 50 yrs old. With some wise investments and savings it sure is possible.

[disneysteve]

Disney Steve, what do you do for a living, if it is ok to ask?

I'm a family practice physician.

[meaghanchan]

I would like to move into a 'second career' type situation (teaching and making my own films) somewhere between age 65-70. Of course that depends greatly on my health, the industry I'm in, and a lot of other factors.

Of course, I'm 24, so though I love my job now and can't really see wanting to retire in the near future, I can see how that could change someday.

[asmom]

I would like to retire at 55 but realistically I can't even think about it until 60. At that point, I would probably continuing working in some capacity but on my own terms.

[tinapbeana]

honestly, i don't ever see my self actually retiring. ideally i'll be in a position where i own a business where i can work as much or as little as i want. more ideally is that i'll move into that phase of life in the next 5 years and live the next 50 'semi-retired'. saving for retirement is, sadly, betting that the above plan will fail somehow and i will need the money to see me through.

well, not really: it's actually betting that the retirement age will be moved to 85, the average life expectancy will be 100, and i'll have to pay for my own health insurance for 50 years. now THAT'S scary!!!

[scfr]

For me, hard to say since I don't know what kind of work I'll be doing when I get near retirement age. I can imagine myself gradually cutting my hours back starting when I'm around 60 and retiring fully at around 65.

My husband always says he wants to retire at 60 but I don't see that happening because his professional and social lives are so intertwined.

He also dreams of trying out for the Champions Golf Tour when he hits 55 (in 12 years); I suspect he really will give it a try and I will support him in that effort. He is a very good amateur player, played on his college team, etc. He is also very honest in his self-assessment of his abilities. In his late 20's he talked about how his dream of playing the pro tour was going to die if he didn't do something soon, so I agreed that if he would continue working full-time I would take care of the household duties 100% for one year in addition to working full-time so that he could practice every day after work and golf every weekend. (I also cleaned and bandaged his blisters many evenings.) After 8 or 9 months he came to the conclusion that he just did not have what it took to make it worthwhile trying out for the pro tour, and he temporarily gave up on the dream without any regrets, vowing to try again when he reached "senior" status. One of my goals is that we have enough saved by the time he reaches 55 so that if he made the cut, he could go on tour (not an inexpensive proposition).

[disneysteve]

My husband always says he wants to retire at 60 but I don't see that happening because his professional and social lives are so intertwined.

I think this ties in to what Scanner said earlier about men not doing well in retirement. For many men, and women too, their life is their work. They simply don't have much outside of their careers. They live for their jobs. When they retire, they feel empty and don't know what to do with themselves.

Other people, like me, aren't like that at all. My job is my job and that's it. When I'm off, I'm involved in many other things that have nothing to do with medicine. I spend time with family. I chat with lots of nice folks online. I sell collectibles on ebay. I sit on the board of trustees of my synagogue. I enjoy travel, cooking, fine dining, movies and more. In fact, I get annoyed when people outside of my office refer to me as Dr. I expect to be called that at work but anywhere else, I ask to be called Steve or Mr. G. People I see all the time are often surprised to find out I'm a doctor.

My point is that, as I said earlier, some people are more cut out for active meaningful retirements than others. That isn't right or wrong or good or bad. It's just the way people are. Some people will work until they get carried out and they're fine with that. Me - not so much. I enjoy work and get satisfaction from helping my patients, but there is so much else I want to do during my life that I know I won't be bored for a moment in retirement whether it comes when I'm 70 or 62 or 50 (wouldn't that be nice?).

I have a cartoon on my refrigerator. A man is standing at his boss' desk and says, "Sure I like working here, sir, but it really takes a big chunk out of the middle of my day." I work because I have to work. When I no longer need to work financially, I'll stop. Hopefully, that will be at age 62 or before.

[fairy74]

I'm not sure I ever plan to retire, I enjoy my work and can't imagine wanting to give it up....perhaps I'll go part time. Maybe if I had health issues or something like that. I already get to do the things I enjoy, so I don't really see retirement as a time to pursue things I enjoy.