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A LOT HAS BEEN written, here at HumbleDollar and elsewhere, about the “when” of retirement. Not surprisingly, there are strong opinions.
For example, I’m a member of a Facebook group where the overwhelming consensus is, “Don’t work one single day longer than you absolutely have to.” Of course, many people don’t have the luxury of choosing their ideal retirement date because life intervenes: They get let go from their job or experience health issues that dictate the answer to the “when” question.
Despite reading and thinking a lot about the next stage of life, my husband and I are still struggling to set an exact retirement date. Beyond the “when,” we also have had hours of discussion about the “where.”
The “when” question. We both turn 63 this year. Thankfully, we’re in good health. I’m a tenured university professor, so I have the security of knowing that I—not my employer—will choose my exit date. My husband is employed in the private sector and doesn’t have the kind of job protections I do. Still, it seems the “when” decision will be primarily in our hands and won’t be imposed on us.
We’ve identified two possible exit dates: July 1, 2025, or July 1, 2026, when we’d be turning either 65 or 66. I think we’re both pretty clear that we’re ready, mentally and emotionally, to be done with our day jobs. Leaving on the earlier date would be our preference.
Why the ambivalence? In a word, money. An extra year of earnings would help us save more cash for the “bridge” to Social Security and that bridge would be 12 months shorter, plus we’d add another year of contributions to our retirement accounts. The pension I’ll receive when I retire is based on service credit, and another year would add 2.5% to that number.
Between our pensions—my husband is already receiving one because he retired from the state of California in 2016—and eventual Social Security, we should be able to live comfortably in retirement. We receive high-quality health care through his retirement system, and it’ll coordinate with Medicare when we reach 65, so that’s not a concern, either. We also have long-term-care insurance and well-funded retirement accounts.
Honestly, we could both give notice next week and we’d likely be fine. But you never really know what curveballs life will throw you, so having more of a cushion seems prudent. At this point, we have the health and energy to keep doing our jobs for another two or three years. We know that we’re in a fortunate position in terms of both our earnings potential and our job security. Also, because I get extensive time off during the year, as well as occasional sabbaticals, we’re not delaying the travel we want to do until after we retire.
There’s another wrinkle: Once I start drawing a pension, my net income will likely be slightly higher than what I get now. The reason: I have so much service credit, plus I’ll no longer be making pension, Social Security and deferred compensation contributions. There’s no real reason for me to work that extra year. Yes, there’s a financial incentive for him to work longer, but not me. Would he be happy if I was retired and he was still working? Would I feel badly about it?
The “where” question. Like many aging empty-nesters, we’ve considered moving closer to one of our two kids when we retire. We have no grandchildren yet, so that’s not a consideration. Our younger daughter currently lives in a beach community about 450 miles south of us. It’s a nice area and, as I’ve previously mentioned, we love the ocean. The university town where we live now is inland and very hot in the summer.
As we’ve read and thought about retirement, one theme that repeatedly comes up is the importance of relationships for healthy aging. While we might enjoy living near the ocean and being closer to our younger daughter, would we be able to make friends and find purposeful activity in a completely new area?
We’ve lived in our town for more than 30 years. We have friends, we’re on good terms with our neighbors, we like the condo community where we live, and we’re active in our church. I find comfort in knowing who my dentist, optometrist, hairstylist, Pilates instructor and massage therapist are. In addition, my status as a professor emerita will give us opportunities to stay involved with the university community, along with discounts on tickets at sporting events, the excellent regional performing arts center on campus, and so forth.
As we’ve thought all this over, it makes sense to us to stay put in our longtime hometown. This is our place. This is where we belong. We also understand that things could change as we age. We might need to put down a deposit at the local continuing care retirement community, which has a lengthy waiting list. If grandchildren come along or we find we need more help in the future, we could always revisit the question of living closer to our daughter.
What’s right for one person or couple may be completely wrong for others. My husband and I are getting closer to the answers to these important questions. At least we’ve narrowed down our options somewhat. But this is harder than it might seem. I may be writing a completely different article six months from now.
Dana Ferris and her husband live in Davis, California. She’s a professor in the writing program at the University of California, Davis, and is the author or co-author of nine books on teaching writing and reading to second language learners. Dana is a huge baseball fan and writes a weekly column for a San Francisco Giants fan blog under the nom de plume DrLefty. When not working, she also loves cooking, traveling and working out. Follow Dana on Twitter @LeftyDana and check out her earlier articles.
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I worked my tail off, owning my own business. Thankfully I sold and was able to retire comfortably. That being said, I could have gone bankrupt i 2008 as well as the Covid years. But government employees? Absolutely not. In fact, a new study said government employees are the ones who refuse to go back to the office.
In years past, those who worked for the government ( including public universities) accepted lower pay for pensions. Now, not only do they get pensions, but higher pay. It irks me, because no one has a pension anymore except government employees. This has to stop. I don’t think it’s fair, really I don’t.
Do I think you should be able to afford two places? NO
Well, “refusing to go back to the office” is not an option for me. I’m in the classroom with my students, which is exactly where I want to be. As for my future university pension, I pay into it every month (required, not optional deduction), as well as Social Security, and it’s a substantial amount of money out of my paycheck.
I didn’t make up the system, and you made your choices.
Consider splitting your time between two locations. Live a few months at the beach. A good way to test the waters. If finances are limited, rent out your home base.
We are considering this. We have retired neighbors who rent a house at the ocean for several months every summer to get out of the heat here. Cheaper than trying to buy a beach house in California(!), and it lets us keep our home base.
We will consider warm weather rentals in the winter once we curtail our travel. Not only is rental cheaper you don’t have the cost of paying for upkeep/taxes, and you can walk away from the property at any time, especially if your health begins to fail.
That’s exactly how we see it, too. Plus you can choose different locations each year if you want to.
The writer shows her professional skills as a writer with this article on retirement. Succinct with clarity and good balance and perspective.
The comments from Eric Van Buren were roundly and (soundly) criticized.
But since life is a combination of a maze of chances, obstacle course, and a springboard for action, I’m not one to judge. The writer and I have been very fortunate having a wonderful, lucky, and so far long life. But others aren’t so fortunate for any combination of fateful reasons. I say Let’s not judge Eric too self-righteously.
Thanks for the kind words about my writing.
Nice article. Two comments: 1) You and your husbands struggles about when to retire remind me of my struggle as to when to retire. At that time I shared some of the same thoughts with a co-worker who was retiring and she observed to me that my concerns were similar to hers a year prior. She opined to me that my thoughts sounded to her much like her thoughts a year prior. She then told me that that she thought I wasn’t quite ready to retire and when I was I’d know it. A year later, I knew exactly what she meant. During that year I went from all that indecision to knowing it was time for me retire. 2) My wife retired 6 months before I did, and she put no pressure on me to retire. I made the decision when I was ready. That worked out well for us. Good luck to you and your husband on this important decision. I hope whatever you decide works out well for both of you!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I think you’re right. There are some specific reasons why I have the two possible dates circled (as opposed to just “whenever”), but it’s still coming into focus. I can tell I’m getting close to being ready.
I was where you are five years ago, at age 67, when I retired. My daily commute increased to 100 miles per day roundtrip at the same time my media company offered an attractive buyout. It was a no-brainer for me, despite still enjoying the challenges of work. My wife, three years younger, followed suit 5 months later when her company offered an almost-too-good-to-be-true retirement incentive. To this day, we know we chose the right path.
The key here is to have something to retire to, whether it’s hobbies, grandkids, traveling, etc. Have a reason to get up every morning, and don’t fret if you didn’t get to everything on your to-do list today. You’ll still have tomorrow!
Best of luck in your decision.
Great point about “something to retire to.” A few years ago, it was hard for me to envision retirement at all. My career as a professor has been long, mostly happy, and quite all-consuming. I’m not sure if it was COVID or just age/burnout, but a few years ago, I started building other interests, relationships, and purpose outside of my career. Now I feel that I could walk away and have no trouble deciding how to spend my time. So I’m getting there.
It seems that the questions of when and where we retire are pretty much the same for all of us but the answers are also different for each of us.
Money and health care are often the primary drivers, followed by where do we want to live and what do we do with our time? It sounds as though you have the first two taken care of, so I’ll limit my comments to the latter two concerns.
What to do with your time is critical. Retirement will initially feel like a long vacation, but the day will come when you realize you need something to do. Travel? Sure, but that is usually just a few weeks each year. Hobbies? I hope so, but if not you should explore other options, including: volunteer activity, your church, civic involvement or even maybe a part time job. Whatever you do, you need something better than sitting on the sofa, surfing the web and streaming videos.
Where is a bit more complicated and I would strongly advise that you give this very careful thought before making what may be a major location and social change. Most of us with children imagine being closer to our kids, but as another commenter noted, that only works well if your kids are firmly situated somewhere.
Another aspect of the “where” dilemma involves thoughts of senior living arrangements, independent living, assissted living, etc. At some point, you will likely need more help in your living arrangement and will have to decide whether you want to age in place, or want a living arrangement that can provide more care as you age. The important point here is to plan ahead and not wait until its too late to qualify for entry into whatever senior living arrangement you may have in mind.
I retired at 66 and am glad to spend my days building furniture in my garage. Hopefully, you will have a similar experience
Great thoughts. We’re dealing with care/assisted living questions for my in-laws now, so those considerations are very real to us. If nothing else, it’s motivating us to be more prepared for aging and ill-health than they are.
I’m feeling pretty confident that I can fill my post-career days with fun, people, and purpose. I’m looking forward to having more time for the things I can only dabble in right now!
You sound like you’ve reached the exit gate. That happens when you just sort of know “it’s time”.
On the “when”. It is good to do as much math as you can to decide which of your two dates is better. Ruthlessly quantify the actual after-tax dollars involved, plus and minus. Perhaps waiting for a one-time 2.5% change in your pension will not make much difference in your cash flow, especially if it is taxed. But waiting for Social Security to kick may have a meaningful impact on your cash flow until it does, causing you to spend money that you could have saved. Once you’ve done all the number-crunching, balance it off against the unquantifiable – having an extra year of life without job obligations, a fixed schedule or “deliverables”. (Separately, it is probably better for a couple to retire together, but I’ve found that while my significant other has been working for the four years since I retired, I’m still quite happy in retirement. It would have been a big mistake to wait for her.)
On the “where”. First, be careful about following your children. Children move, too, for job opportunities and other reasons. You should have some confidence that they have put down their own roots before you move to be closer to them. Second, one of the critical considerations for moving at an advanced age should be continued access to excellent health care – physicians with expertise, and good hospitals.
I completely agree with all of that, especially not following a daughter who isn’t all the way settled herself. Thanks for the wise words.
Thanks for another thoughtful article.
Your 30+ years in a town of about 70K people seems ideal to knowing where everything is and being able to get there without the traffic that often exists in larger communities. I consider my familiarity of living in the city of my Alma Mater a big plus on the question of where I choose to live.
One thing I would note from the perspective of a soon to be age 73 person is that key persons that have long been providing my wife and me services is that they all seem to also be retiring and thus you may need to replace them regardless of your choice regarding staying or moving.
Best wishes for an enjoyable upcoming retirement.
Ha! I’ve had the same thoughts about finding professionals who are younger than I am. We’ve been going to the same dentist since we were college students, and we’re 63, so you can do the math. He seems to be going strong, but he’s the one who worries me the most.
We “retired” and moved to rural Oregon almost twenty years ago at the suggestion of our daughter. She wanted her family to move to a nearby city but was reluctant to move with no backing. Five years later she took another job and moved several hours further North. Everyone we know who moved to be near children has had the experience of them moving away in a few years.
I can understand the appeal of wanting to stay where you are comfortable, but a lot of cities would benefit from retired people leaving and making space for those working.
Interestingly, our town is building a couple of 55+ communities right now. I think they want the seniors to hang around because they can use us in their tax base…
Very thoughtful article Diana!
I can add one piece of practical advice if you are planning to PHYSICALLY move to another location.
Especially if you are moving to a smaller place!
As soon as you can start going through your possessions and sell or donate as much as possibly can.
We waited until too close to our ‘move’ date. The result was, and continues to be, chaos.
Your children likely do not want your STUFF. They have their own. They may want a few of your books. And, perhaps, some knickknacks.
Thank you! As it happens, we moved in 2019 from the home where we raised our kids to a condo and got rid of a ton of stuff. We told our daughters to come get anything of theirs that they wanted because we weren’t renting a storage unit. We’re committed to regularly going through and de-cluttering—did that this summer—so that we don’t read quite too much stuff. I completely agree that the sooner, the better with this.
Also, I have read that it is advantageous prior to moving during retirement to take an extended visit to where you are considering moving in order to get a feel for the community
Thanks for another thoughtful article, Dana. It sounds like the university town where you’ve decided to stay may be one of the spots my husband and I had considered for retirement. However, as lifelong Northeasterners, we opted for a tiny town in PA, about 100 miles from our family and friends in NYC. A word to those still pondering the “where”: we knew absolutely no one here – we were just charmed by our town’s quaintness and walkability. Within just a few months, we were involved in church and volunteer activities and had met several retired couples who had also just moved here. Five years later, the newbie households are practically old timers. As long as one is a bit of a joiner, forging new friendships doesn’t take long and it’s fun besides.
That’s awesome. I could see that working for us, too. I’m pretty extroverted, and we both like to get involved with things.
The more I read the “Humble” Dollar the more I conclude it should be renamed the “Boastful” Dollar given that the Boomers in many of these featured columns like to flex on their readers about how successful they are and have pots of gold awaiting for them at the end of their working rainbows.
I guess you could look at it two ways: (1) Boastful, or (2) Prepared. Many in this group seem to be organized enough and motivated enough to have achieved a decent retirement. It might be more of a “I did it, you can too” talk they are giving.
While I often see (and probably make) comments that are uniquely personal to one’s life experiences and describe “successes”, it is the extensive variety and mix of specific suggestions and insights I see on every topic in Humble Dollar that helps me assess my own situation. It is a valuable kind of diversification. The many stories often help me make decisions in areas where I have few of my own experiences on which to draw. Perhaps some of the comments share successes with a bit of pride, but I think that those commenters deserve to be proud of their lives, and more importantly, are still hoping that readers can achieve their own successes by learning how those successes came about.
You’ll have that too in future if you keep reading and stay humble. To me the ‘humble’ is about many things, two in particular: 1) the great power of getting market average returns compounded over many years, and 2) being investors who are curious and want to learn from others.
I would have made far fewer saving and investing mistakes if I had the chance to ask questions of people who wore their net worth and their heart on their sleeve.
Comparing yourself to others is a great way to learn if done right, without envy or jealousy which always lead to misery.
David, this is an excellent comment — positive, practical, wise, and yes, humble. I don’t know your background, but you speak like a (great) teacher or a very wise parent.
To Eric: I too get frustrated at times with the tone of some pieces (not this one particularly) and especially with comments that overgeneralize and scold. I’ve given vent to that frustration a few times and been slapped down on occasion with red votes. Let go of the stuff that chafes. Focus on the way more numerous diamonds in the essays and comments — such as David Powell’s counsel — from what seem to be some really smart, decent people. Eric, don’t give up on HumbleDollar.
To the HumbleDollar commenters: As I write this, Eric’s comment has received 34 down votes. A couple of readers have taken him to the woodshed in their comments. Okay, message received. Any more is piling on.
You may also have noticed most of these people have been working at their success for decades, many have overcome significant hardships and obstacles.
To the extent there are any pots of gold, most have filled them through time, diligence and financial prudence over many, many years. Yeah, there may be a measure of good fortune at times, but it was not wasted.
WHAT’S YOUR STORY? Please don’t say you are a millennial and everything today is unfair with no opportunities left.
I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m not sure where you get “pot of gold” from what I said. We are/will be comfortable in retirement but not wealthy. We’re true tweeners—secure enough to probably be OK but not so independently wealthy that nothing could derail us.
I know being relatively secure puts us into a more fortunate category than many American seniors, and I’m grateful that we’re in that position.
Jealous much?
True, not everyone can be as fortunate as Dana and her husband, but they worked hard and saved diligently for many years to get to where they are. The thought processes and planning can help others.
This is a community of folks that value information. Snide comments may be welcome at some websites, but this is (fortunately) not one.
Sir – My hunch is you haven’t been as successful with your finances & investments as you wish. Here’s to hoping you find some good ideas from the HD community to move you to a better place.
I have always thought that the humble part meant that these writers were not wealthy, and still had to exercise prudence and plan carefully how they were going to retire and live. Nowadays, you have to be cautious even if you have $5 million saved. You don’t know how long you’re going to live, what your expenses will be, and what will happen in the economy.
Exactly, and our savings are far from that number. We also understand that the needs of aging parents and struggling adult children could impact our own cash flow in years to come. You just don’t know.
HumbleDollar is a community where writers and commenters are surprisingly open about their finances, and I fear unnecessarily snarky comments like yours will cause folks to be less forthcoming. What you see as boasting I see as an honest recounting–something to be applauded, not criticized.
Sounds like you are approaching this with due care and attention. As I’ve written, I retired at 53 with a pension and retiree medical, and I’ve never regretted it. The good health you are enjoying today may not be with you tomorrow. Also, will one year really make that much difference to your finances? If the economy is bad enough it might make a difference it will probably not be enough.
I made the decision to stay put, although I considered a number of alternatives, including the UK, the NC mountains and Oregon. Given global warming I did not consider moving close to the beach although the situation in California may not be as bad as the southeast US.
In California we’re more worried about fires than coastal flooding. I guess every place has something.
To your question, one more year of work (if both of us work or at least if he does) would make a small impact on our finances. It also gets us closer to filing for Social Security. But it’s not a big delta, for sure.
Waiting until after 72 for Social Security will be a mistake from what I gather of your retirement incomes. Despite having contributed for decades, SS will undoubtedly be reduced sometime after 2032 for those who have ample other income (based on some pinhead government official’s determination). I was going to wait until 70, until I did some SS research. Remember what SS was before 1982 and the number of detrimental (for retirees who have other retirement dollars) changes that have occurred since then. More to come!
Dana, you’ve described a lot of great thought processes here. We had similar thoughts. My wife was in a high pressure job, and retired as soon as she qualified for her pension and retirement health care. This was about 8 months before I retired.
I had several conversations with my HR organization prior to retiring. They endorsed my plan to have knee replacement surgery while on short-term disability prior to retiring. The only wrinkle was this happened during COVID and the surgery date was delayed until 2 months before my planned retirement from work. HR also recommended working through the end of the first week of July for two reasons. One was that I would be paid for one final holiday – July 4th, and the other was that I would receive health insurance coverage through the end of July. While on short term disability I reached my 20th service anniversary with my employer and earned my “anniversary gift”. I was 67 by this time, so I had no health insurance concerns.
I ended my short-term disability period to resume full time work, then called my manager to inform him that I was retiring in 2 weeks. I expected some push-back, but it all worked out very well. I laughed when I received my service anniversary certificate shortly after I retired.
That sounds like very smart timing! One thing I’m keeping an eye on is my sabbatical credits. I want to leave as few as possible on the table when I retire because that’s paid leave. I might as well take it before leaving for good.
Love your article Dana. When and Where are fun to think about during your career, then the true impact of those questions arises as we get closer. It’s clear you’ve given it a lot of thought, so whatever your decision, you’ll be fine. These are very personal decisions with no right or wrong answer. In my case, I chose to retire last year at 62 with my wife’s blessing, and she plans to work 3 more years. It was difficult to walk away. I had the best job, best salary and best bonuses I’d ever had. The temptation to work another year or more was strong. What drove my choice was life and health are finite. A year later, the freedom is simply wonderful. The Where was easy. I told the wife we could move to the beach, mountains or anywhere she wanted. She gave me a firm no and said we’re staying right here, which is ok with me.
I’m glad to hear that it was such a good decision for you! I’m quite certain I will love retirement.
Dana, it seems to me that you are both in a good place to retire now. You mention that your husband has a good health insurance plan for which you are fortunate. I retired early, at 52 years old, and am also fortunate enough to be covered under my husband’s military health plan. I could have worked longer but I was comfortable with my retirement savings. My working life seems like a lifetime ago! While my family has moved away from the area, we have decided to stay put. We are an integral part of our community, volunteering almost every day for one thing or another. We have a lot of friends nearby and to visit family we only need to get a non-stop flight from the airport which is only thirty minutes from home. While I am in excellent health one doesn’t know when that might turn. I am glad that I started early on this next stage of my life.
+1 to Nick’s point about timing and your/Nick’s re place.
Like you, Dana, I had plans to work a little longer, for the same reasons. My retirement started in December. Already I see time is worth more to me than the incremental savings. The inertia of our daily work lives is a powerful force which obscures the preciousness of time.
Our kids are all a few hours or a short non-stop flight away. We’ve worked to make the house more comfortable for anyone staying for a visit. Down the road we may reconsider our ‘where’ choice but for now we’re staying where we’ve lived the last 20+ years.
Sounds like you made a great choice!
You are wise not to jump into relocation upon retirement. Give it time after you have been retired a few years you will have a better idea of what you want in retirement.
I maintain you will know when it’s time to retire and it sounds like you are getting close. It’s not about money, it’s a feeling and a subtle change in how you feel about your work.
‘’You use July as possible dates. I’d check the best date as it can be affected by certain benefit provisions possibly pay practices. Why not December 31?
Don’t count on your retirement health benefits from your employers not changing after you retire. I assume your planning considered IRMAA.
You mention that pensions and SS will allow you to live comfortably. Does that mean that savings are not a critical part of retirement income? If so why wait?
Have you considered all the implications if “we” is suddenly “I”?
Great questions!
1) The July date is more for me than him. The university’s academic/fiscal year start is July 1, and that’s when you complete each year of service credit. I could retire at any point during the year, though.
2) Our pensions both have 100% survivor benefits (and COLAs), so the main financial hit when the first of us goes would be the second Social Security benefit. We’ll have one of us wait until 70 to claim so that the survivor has the largest possible benefit.
3) Our retirement health care is through CalPERS (the state of California’s retirement system), and we are already on it. It will sync with Medicare when we’re 65. You’re right of course that there are no guarantees, but I think we’re in a more secure situation with a public entity. We’re assuming that our income will make us subject to IRMAA.
I think you’re right that I/we will know when it’s time, and you’re also right that it’s getting closer for me. I think I have two more years in me. Not sure I have three. And of course health (my own or family) concerns could change the equation.
Thanks for the comment!
Are you sure you need two 100% J&S options on your pensions? Could it be worth say 50% J&S and save the penalty money given you both have your own pensions and presumably other assets, perhaps even life insurance?
Dana,
You rightly state,”But you never really know what curveballs life will throw you, so having more of a cushion seems prudent.” Even though you have good health now, you don’t know how long it will last. If you have 1-2 years left to work and your health falters to the point that your mobility and thus activities are limited earlier than expected will that 2.5% higher pension matter? Also, since your income will be higher once you are retired why wait? Carpe diem of retirement!
Dana – I enjoyed your post very much. Your thought process on when and where is clearly logical and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing.
As someone who retired early at age 56 but truly did enjoy his professional career very much let me offer one piece of advice on the “when”. As you state – you never know what curveballs life will throw at you to which I completely agree. However, we all must deal with the fact that Father Time is an undefeated opponent. No matter how much money you have or how successful your personal and professional life has been, he will come for you as he will for me. Do not linger too long once your financial figures gel. If you do, I suspect you will regret this later in life when the curveballs eventually do come. 🙂
These are exactly the kinds of questions and conversations we have. Who knows?—I may be writing a follow-up article sooner than I think saying we decided to move ahead!
My wife and I are having a similar discussion. It’s interesting that you mentioned “feeling badly “ about being the first to go. I’ve heard the same comment from my wife.
I’ve always assumed that if we didn’t both retire at the same time, he’d retire first and I’d keep working. But financially, that doesn’t add up in our situation. It’s funny.
It sounds wonderful to have the freedom of choice! I am about 20 years behind you but hoping to make the right decisions now to have that same freedom at retirement time. Can you share a few keys on how to get there?
Honestly, we were kind of late starters. We did grad school/law school (for him) for years and had our kids, and we didn’t buy a home until our 30s or seriously start saving for retirement until about 20 years ago. Both of us being in jobs with good pensions helps a lot, and in my case, sticking with an employer for a really long period of time.
Hi Jamie, I’ll share my two cents. Be content with what you have now so you can save and invest more now. Avoid lifestyle creep so you can save more now. Over a 20 year period, that will make a huge difference.
Enjoyed the article Dana.
On timing…
Toward the end of my army career, I had recently been selected for promotion, and had just received my next assignment about which I was excited. A month later, I had submitted my retirement paperwork.
Of course I was leaving to follow another work opportunity, so wasn’t really retiring in the sense we’re discussing, which would come years later. I just mention in the context of uncertainty of “best laid plans.”
We saw the end of my corporate career from a long way off. Knowing I’d be eligible to retire with benefits in a date certain, that date was the target. We decided unless I was either in role that was amazing, or moved to a cool spot, I would leave. Soon after said date came, I was gone.
Five or six years earlier, I had come close to taking another job. Had I done so, would we have retired when we did? Sooner? Later? Better or worse off? I have no idea.
Or what if toward the end my company had put me in a great role in a cool place? I’d probably still be working. Now I’m glad we had that date and circumstance to prompt our decision on when. And am glad we did it even without having figured out the where.
So many variables, aren’t there?