At what age do you hope to retire?

[Daylily]

I'm 36 now. I'm hoping to retire at 58.

[humandraydel]

I'm 25. I plan to retire from the corporate world by age 40. I'm sure I'll still do something for a little money, but there's no way I'm doing "9 to 5 til 65"!

[Gruntina]

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.

That is awesome! But on the other hand, if I was working so much and not seeing much money to take home since it’s mainly going to retirement.. I would think I would burn out from working. I need present tangible motivation to stay at work.

[scfr]

[QUOTE=disneysteve;109907]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.

QUOTE]

Ahh ... Perhaps I should have clarified that my husband owns his own business, absolutely loves what he does, and is doing exactly what he wants to do on his own terms. He has very rich and fulfilling work life that includes socializing (much of it on the golf course). So, if he continues working as long as he is able and is happy doing it, I see nothing wrong with that. If he were an employee in someone else's company, that would be another story entirely (especially if he did not love what he was doing).

[disneysteve]

Ahh ... Perhaps I should have clarified that my husband owns his own business, absolutely loves what he does, and is doing exactly what he wants to do on his own terms. He has very rich and fulfilling work life that includes socializing (much of it on the golf course). So, if he continues working as long as he is able and is happy doing it, I see nothing wrong with that. If he were an employee in someone else's company, that would be another story entirely (especially if he did not love what he was doing).

Got it. Though that still fits what I was saying. If he were to retire, he would be giving up something that is really important to him and a big part of his life. I, on the other hand, can't wait for the day when I can hang up my stethescope and pursue other interests more fully than I'm able to currently.

[nanamom]

I doubt we will ever retire. We are so far behind now with very little hope of catching up to be able to retire. I am hoping to not have to go back to work when DS2 is older (college) but even that may be a pipe dream. Of course by then I'll be so old nobody will hire me!! We are just hoping that if one survives the other the one left will have enough life insurance to raise our little guy until he is in college without having to leave him with anyone.

[bigsaver]

Hopefully age 35. Working hard now, easily 80 hours a week.

[latestart]

Hope to retire at 67.

[JBinKC]

I retired in Nov 2006 and I am 43. All I do now is manage my investments.

[disneysteve]

I retired in Nov 2006 and I am 43. All I do now is manage my investments.

That's great. May I ask what you did for a living prior to retirement?

[Ima saver]

Wow, JB, that is great!!

[MonkeyMama]

That is awesome! But on the other hand, if I was working so much and not seeing much money to take home since it’s mainly going to retirement.. I would think I would burn out from working. I need present tangible motivation to stay at work.

Funny thing is I just had a client come in who made about $350k/year (young doctor) but his wife was a young teacher making $30k. I asked whey on earth they did not max both their 401ks. She got all upset, said it was 1/2 her paycheck. LOL. So I said look, make him write you a check for the difference. I am a "big picture" person so I didn't get it. Every $1 not put in 401k was 50 cents to the government. But I guess I understand her reluctance a little more seeing it put that way. Of course if my hubby made $350k/year I am not sure I would sweat my paycheck - but that's me. Then again if he made 10 times as much as me might make me a little depressed about my job.

[MonkeyMama]

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?

Sorry, just saw this.

I don't know how common it is, but I used to want a nice government job with huge benefits. I have since changed my minds as I now value far more money in my control.

A big problem with pensions is actuaries determine how much needs to be put in every year, determined on a variety of factors. But they can tweak this amount to put in as much as the employer wants. This has been a huge issues in recent years, lots of articles how pensions are so under-funded in reality. Too many assumptions used and manipulated. Under-funding is both purposeful, but often not purposeful. It is just hard to pinpoint how much really needs to be put in to have a certain benefit at retirement.

A lot of big companies have significantly lowered their pension benefits or dropped them in bankruptcy (airlines for example). There was a special on public television about this. To me I would rather have money in the bank in an IRA then have that risk out there though. Especially the younger you are. I think in an industry like the airline industry your pension was probably in grave danger the last decade. I know too many people retiring now who are getting far less than they expected their whole life, due to cut benefits. I am not sure how much you can cut a defined-benefit, if the problem is under-funding or what. Just something I hear the retiring masses complaining about - clients and friends.

[pearlieq]

I had an interesting conversation with DH today where he mentioned out of the blue he wanted to retire at 55!

I guess he figured out that at his current job that's when he'd max out his pension. I think after that he was planning to either work on start ups or boards.

Interesting, though. I never thought he thought about it.

[PRICEPLUS]

All this talk of retirement reminds me of a saying I once heard, "if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans for tomorrow".

I think prudent saving and investment may allow you to retire at a certain time but enjoy life as well because you never know.

I think Steve has the right idea that you need to have a life outside of work. Not just for retirement but for your "life"!