Probably retiring soon

Post Reply New Topic

I (m72) haven't yet retired mostly because I still like my job, at least on the good days. And I think another reason is it took me until my 60s to learn how to get on well with a group of coworkers and not be admonished for "not considering my audience" when communicating with others and so forth. And there isn't anything I'm eager to take up such as a hobby when retiring.

Luckily I can afford to retire although there are clearly financial advantages to not retiring.

Nevertheless, the situation in the US will likely lead to my being let go, surely as somebody for whom that's not genuinely frightening, I shouldn't be bothered.

There are definitely things I will likely do in retirement. My wife wants a dog, but I don't feel I have the time and energy to give a dog the proper attention it needs, but once retired, that shouldn't be a problem. Just as an example.

I've had the attitude for some time that I'll retire when I know the time has come, either because I wake up one day and decide I want to, or because I'm no longer needed or wanted on the job. I actually thought this would be happening at the end of FY2023 because the project I was supporting was shelved, but instead was told they really wanted me and had other work. And at least some of them must have known how old I am.

One way or the other, I probably don't have that many years left anyway and even fewer healthy years.

I think my boss was 75 when he retired. He left a week after I did!

I learned how to play golf before I retired, in addition to my gardening hobbies.
But, they are both good weather hobbies, so I do stuff like my taxes when it is nasty outside with ice covering the lawn.

Would you get severance pay if you get fired or a larger retirement check if you stay a bit longer? If so those might be good financial incentives to to wait till you get fired or plan to retire at the end of this year if you don't. Next year's taxes will be easier if get your last paycheck before the year ends

The issue is that I'm a contractor at a civilian government agency, and as you know, they are aggressively reducing staff levels at such agencies. I am hard pressed to believe they'd keep contractors on when government employees are being canned. However it's impossible to know what will happen because there's been so little clarity. A lot of it seems intended to just scare people into quitting.

But I can afford to retire, so the prospect of losing my job is simply not as frightening for me as for most everyone else. I actually feel sort of guilty about that, although I've been through many scary times in the past. Severance pay isn't really an issue, I may be eligible for some, but probably not much. It has mattered in the past. In 2009 I was unemployed for about 10 weeks, but was getting severance pay the whole time.

The question is, would you be better off continuing to work until you are laid off or the end of the year or not. If you don't need severance and can do it now, you might be better off doing so right now rather than waiting. Especially since the current administration will consider you a DEI hire.

As for what to do, what are you interested in and can afford. I am sure, being on the spectrum, that you have an interest in something that will take up your time.

Finally, I know that there are different rules for Social Security for government workers but as soon as you decide to pull the trigger, apply for retirement benefits immediately. With the recent firings, I would not be surprised if it takes them 6 months to a year to process those. Like you, at least I would be able to financially get through that period but still apply early.

I am not a government employee. If I am going to be let go, it will be sooner rather than later. No reason to rush the process. As a contractor who has been on the job almost 13 years, I don't think I'd be considered a "DEI hire"

To be clear, I already get SSA retirement benefits and I have a 401K with my current employer and retirement accounts of various sorts. I don't need to apply for anything.

Again, I am not a government employee (which I said yesterday but it's too late to edit that so I am commenting again).