Retired when I turned 54 after 30 1/2 years of teaching.

Wonderful retirement benefits from Alabama school system.

Could not be happier. Turning 72 this August.

Enjoy my social security benefits, that I put into savings for trips, special things. I feel blessed that I can do this.

I just turned 54 and I'm not really sure about retirement. I like my job and make a good living so I think I'll carry on as long as I'm mentally and physically able to - or until I don't like it any more. I'm such a practical person and have always been so focused on doing what needs to be done that I can't imagine not having a job and just doing whatever. When I have a lot of free time - when I take vacation and don't go anywhere for example - I feel like a lot of nothingness stretches out to fill up my time. That is I don't find myself being all that productive and I really don't like it. I like the mental stimulation and challenge that work offers. I also get about six weeks of vacation so I feel that's quite a bit of time to enjoy life. I also think that no matter how much money I save for retirement I will be nervous about running out of money the moment I stop bringing money in. If I'm going to spend money to do things like travel I enjoy it more when I know I'm still bringing in income. I don't work for the government so have no defined benefit retirement plan that guarantees a comfortable retirement for life. I know a few people who've ran out in their mid-80s and it's not a good situation. Who knows what I'll think 5-10 years from now.

I retired at 64 due to back issues but I loved my job. I owned a hair salon and the building it was in so when I retired I sold the building and have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life. My husband retired at 58. He gets a good pension and I get a meager social security but we're fine.

I'm sorry to give up my job, but the body is weary and ready to slow down. I have always enjoyed working and will miss my co-workers terribly. It took me several years to make the final decision, and now that it's made, I am looking forward to it in most ways. My job was only half-time, but I was at it for 19 years.

I like to watch the Suze Orman show on Cable TV I love the advice she gives to those contemplating retirement etc. I retired early and really missed the going to work and doing the work. besidees the money angle be sure you have some interests that will help fulfill your day

I just got my report yesterday, and I have to work 10 1/4 years to reach my full pension. DH says I can go earlier because we have our own investments as well. It's not an easy decision to make. I really enjoy my time at home, and I have a many hobbies and activities I like to do. On the other hand, I do like my job, and I also like the extra income. I too, worry that I won't have enough money to live as comfortably as I want to if I retire. Some of my coworkers think because I have these two brain tumours, that I should stop working and enjoy myself, but I find work to be fulfilling. Deciding on when to retire is a very personal decision.

Now, I do tire out too easily, and have trouble doing everything since I have back, neck and shoulder issues. I realized that it is more beneficial for me to work and hire someone to do the housework, than it is for me to quit work and pace myself to do it all by myself. So many people retire and struggle, I just want to make sure that when I retire I'm in a comfortable enough situation. A lot of people have enough for their regular maintenance, but not enough if they need a new roof or a new vehicle or for some other large expense that comes up. I went to a retirement party for my friend last night, and she does not think she is going to have enough money to survive, but her job involves a lot of walking, and she has bad knees, so she didn't have a choice.

I'm 54, a college professor, and I love my job as a teacher and writer: it is an essential part of my identity. I'm in great health and the women in my family are very long lived. So my target retirement goal is age 70. I don't have a pension but am on track with financial planning for a very comfortable retirement then. I'm one of those who wouldn't know what to "do" with myself in retirement!

We are loving retirement, too. My best advice would be to be as debt free as possible. I could not imagine having a house payment or car payment now. We live on our retirement alone. No going into savings or anything else. I know what is due when and how much so this helps. We are not ones that goes out a lot. I watch grocery sales and stock up. I buy all my cleaning products and most of my can goods in the summer so I don't have to buy this type of thing when the heat bill goes up. I have really had fun with all of it. You just know you don't go out and buy a big ticket item without planning..

Something else I do is pay small bills for a year at a time, such as our phone bill down south is only $30.00 a month. I do this in the summertime. I pay our newspaper, trash pickup and a few other things like this. So much easier. This summer I have also been paying $100.00 extra each month on our electric Bill so I can get ahead. My plan is to take that extra off the January, February and March bills..

Something we did the year before we retired we lived on what we knew we would be bringing in for a year and this kinda told us how it was going to be. My hubby worked almost 43 years and I want this to be a good time for him. I did daycare in our home for almost 30 years, too. I loved being able to be home.

I have always looked at life as what you make it. It doesn't mean you don't have a few bumps in the road. We have certainly had a few. We lost a child and Larry almost lost his life in a horrid car accident. I can tell you these are life changers..

Enjoy life no matter what you do. Not every day is going to be a perfect one. Smell the coffee, flowers or just the plain ole fresh air.. Just enjoy!!!

I retired at 46; DH retired the same day--he was 52. We worked for the federal government, and had started work at an early age. We planned for retirement, had substantial savings, no debts, and get good pensions.

We worked together and we both loved our jobs. Unfortunately, DH has MS, which precipitated his early retirement. I retired so we could be together; move out of the city and into the country. We have never regretted our decision to retire early. We would have made a lot more money if we had worked longer, but we live quite comfortably, and still manage to save a good bit each year.

Retirement is great!!

When my Beloved and I married, neither of us had much in the way of savings and he decided that we should have a plan and he did a great job of setting up retirement funds. We retired 6 years ago and have enough to last us well past our deaths. We plan to take advantage of it as best we can and what ever is left our kids can have but in the meantime, we are enjoying having a decent income.

I can retire in 7 years but doubt I'll be able to financially.

I can retire in 7 years but doubt I'll be able to financially.

What interesting stories you all have. Especially, Susie. You and your DH are truly to be admired for your excellent financial planning.

On the TV news last night I heard a quote that 50% of Americans would be 'hard pressed' to come up with $2,000 in a pinch. Perhaps many have no jobs from which TO retire.
(Don't know that. Guessing.)

I still have about 37 years till I retire but it's really tough to save money. I make decent money for my age but my rent alone is $1,700 a month, and of course that's pretty much just thrown away since I'm not building up any equity. I can't touch a house for less than $300k here and that's an old fixer upper, and the rent is so high that I can't really build up a down payment. Sometimes living paycheck to paycheck isn't much of a choice, and moving to a lower cost of living area typically results in lower pay as well. I find the few thousand I am able to put away gets taken up by unexpected expenses like vet bills.

I contribute 10% of my income to retirement. That's about all I can do right now other than saving what I can. I just hope it grows enough by the time I need it. It's pretty depressing to think about, lol.

I am self-employed, so no pension here. Was doing all right with retirement savings until I got sick in 1999 and was sick for the next six years. That wiped out most of what I had at that time, so I've started again. Now, my business has slacked and there isn't much to save, though I still save regularly.

I don't know that I'd actually want to retire, as I enjoy working, but would sure like to work less as I age. Don't know that this will be an option, though.

I am 63 and hubby is 66. I look back at our life and see how we did all we have done. I never had a new home, not many new vehicles, not a lot of big trips but I feel lucky in so many ways. We knew we wanted to have children. We started out wanting 6 but stopped at 3. We knew our goal was to get them educated and out on their own. We made that our main goal. The time for us would come later.. We are not rich by any means but can do most everything we want within reason. I gave up so many things to see our children could play sports and such. My hubby worked every bit of overtime he could. We feel we have the best of both worlds right now. Our children are raised and have given us 8 beautiful grandchildren.

I also know times are harder now and it is much harder to save and prepare for retirement. We happened to be on the right end of all of it.. I am thankful. I see some that will probably never be able to retire and that makes me sad. Everyone should have this luxury.

I could "possibly" retire next year, but I'm not sure if I want to.

I've worked all my life. Not long ago, my worked slacked off a bit, and I felt awful not working. Now I'm working 40 hours a week again and sometimes I think about what I'd do if I didn't have a job...I'm pretty sure I'd end up on the web all day, wasting time.

Plus, if I didn't have the 40-hour-week grind to keep me busy, I'd have no excuse not to keep the house spotless, and I don't want to be retire just to become a full-time housekeeper. ;)

DH will never retire.

Both DH and I wewre forced into early retirement due to Disability. I quit at 53 with kidney failure and DH quit at 58 when his MS (multiple sclerosis) was getting worse. We both feel cheated because we wanted to work well into our 60's, get our kids established in the world. Our dream was to get an RV and see the whole country. When we were younger, we worked liked dogs, rarely took vacations, and we wanted so much to be healthy and active in our later years. But now I'm tethered to a hospital for dialysis three times a week and DH can barely walk.Luckily our jobs gave us dece3nt pensions and health insurance, plus there's Medicare and DH gets Social Security. So at least we have incomes.

I would like to retire at 58, but if I can last until age 60 - I'll reach full retirement age where I work. Meaning I'll be fully vested. I have planned wisely and will have pension plans and other investments to finance retirement.

Hopefully Social Security will still be around when I retire *knock on wood*. I think careful planning from the beginning is the key. Even in tough times, never stop contributing towards your retirement.

Maybe all divorced ladies know this, but it came as a welcome surprise to my cousin and enabled her to retire when she needed to do it for health reasons. Her own contributions to Soc. Sec. were minimal, while her Ex had earned well.

If you were married to your ex-DH for at least 10 years, you can claim Soc. Sec. on his benefits. (Usually a wife can receive half of whatever payment he is eligible for.) I don't know if that works in the reverse -- if an ex-DH could claim on his ex-DW's benefits.

Seems a much-married older man could be 'claimed' by three or more former (or present) wives; each would be eligible. Each would get the same benefit.

I was so happy to retire at 65. Now I do things I enjoy. I always said that when I retired I wanted to rock babies. I so enjoy my friends' baby, Finn, who is now 8 months old. I watch him a couple of hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. I also volunteer, take short classes, exercise and I joined Kiwanis.

I am 63 and eligible to retire, but would miss my job and being with people. My job allows me to help other people get jobs (just part of what I do) so it is very rewarding. We paid off the mortgage last winter and will get the porch replaced next month. Trying to get the major expenses out of the way in case my health gets worse and I need to retire. We started saving seriously about 15 years ago. Now we hope our financial advisor does not retire!

Have lots of hobbies that I can do at home but would not want to stay home every day. Hubby has ten years to go :(

Canada provides an Old Age Security that starts at 65, and has a residence requirement (10 years, 18 years or so residence in Canada) so I applied for it then, 17 years ago. If one earns over about $65,000./year, they begin to claw part of it back, with full clawback at about $110,000. - that provision does not come close to affecting me, with annual income something under $50,000.!

Canada began a mandatory public pension plan, with both employer and employee contributing, about 45 years ago, looking to retirement at 65, with a reduction of 1% for each 2 mos. that one chose to retire early, or an addition of 1% for each 2 mos. that one delayed, up to age 70.

I more or less officially retired 15 years ago at 67, at which time I applied to receive my Canada pension Plan benefit. As I had had a fairly low income for a number of years, thus made less that regular contribution levels, that benefit has been somewhat reduced.

I had a private pension to which I had contributed for just over 20 years and I began to receive that benefit at 65.

I had a modest self-administered retirement plan with contributions deductible and payments added to income when drawn.

I had a part time job at slightly over minimum wage until about 70, but have not been employed since.

I have been able to live within those pensions, and save some to add to investments in almost every year.

As a personal financial advisor for a number of years I learned money management, which allows me to make use of some tax deductions related to investments, and substantial contributions to various medical, social, international, educational and religious charities, plus some political contributions, which have allowed me to cut my federal income tax recently to zero (with extra unused credits, this year) and only a small provincial cost, most of it supporting our healthcare system, which I feel it a privilege to do, though I have made few demands on such service until this past year.

I will be surprised if my pensions, with additions from investments if and when needed, will not be sufficient to maintain me adequately till I reach a hundred and more.

I've heard many retirees say that they've become so busy that they don't know where they ever found time to go to work.

I garden in summer, have only about 200 - 300 feet planted of something over a quarter mile of row planned, but it's been raining so often that it's hard to plant, and part of the ground is clay: if one works that too early, when it's too wet ... it bakes about as hard as iron.

Take the proceeds to a couple of churches to give away, with the proviso that recipients add at least part of the value to their contributions, and some goes to family, friends and social service agencies.

I read and visit friends in winter, plus spend time on the internet and do some social activities, in addition to doing a number of volunteer activities, including income tax preparation for low-income folks, a service offered by one of the churches with which I'm involved, in early spring.

I learned to live fairly frugally while growing up, and had some additional lessons in that game while helping refugees get re-established in Korea following the Korean War.

One of the jolly and heavily involved men at church says that he likes to have me park my car next to his somewhat older one ... for it makes his look good. Never mind - it gets me where I want to go and brings me home (most of the time).

I'm thankful to be physically, mentally and emotionally able to get myself out of various issues that come up from time to time.

My rent here on the farm is rather low (I have to carry my water for drinking and most cooking ... but I've done that before, so it's not a burdensome chore) and I figure that I can continue to live here as long as I am able to drive my car.

I've said for some time that it seems to me to make a lot of sense for up to half a dozen old folks, when they come to the time when looking after their place becomes a burden, to share a house.

Living alone doesn't exactly make for interesting conversation. Intellectual stimulation helps to keep Alzheimer's at bay, I've heard.

Shared chores are more fun than doing them all by one's lonesome ... and the extra hands would mean that they were much less onerous that in one's own digs. Not only that - the reduced costs of household including operation would mean that they could hire heavy cleaning, etc. done.

If someone were to fall over with a problem ... there'd be others on hand to provide or summon help ... and no doubt they'd know whether they could take care of it ... or should call the family caregiver ... or call 911: right now!

There'd be a large reduction in costs over maintaining each individual home ... and certainly over the costs involved in entering either a residential or a nursing home.

Interesting discussion, today.

And there's more info over on the "Retirement" forum, if anyone wants to consider other facets of the situation.

ole joyfuelled