I have a folder on my desktop named Retirement Fantasy.. Still working, had planned to retire end of this year at 65, delay SS until 70 so my wife gets the best possible survivor benefit. my wife is younger, working another five years then take SS and retirement at 65.
I’d planned to sign up with IOCC rapid response disaster team, do trail maintenance for BWCA and locally in CO, and help with church work. Also take over most meal planning and cooking while my wife is working. There are several backpacking/canoe trips I’ve never had time for while working, put those tentatively on the calendar for 2026.
Our younger son has had a number of health issues and will be living at home for the foreseeable future, which had not been part of the plan. So although we’d love to travel, that’s not an option for us.
However given the tariffs which will produce high inflation, and market declines, and the cuts to SS and Medicare that the administration is promising, it may not be possible for me to retire. I can’t keep doing my current high stress fast response job and won’t be able to find another IT job, so looking into Costco and Ace Hardware. I’m sad for the retirement fantasy I’ll never get to..
I wouldn’t be so quick to ditch your current retirement plans. While today’s various economic and policy fears could be realized, I suspect the results — once the courts and a panicked Congress get involved, and as public opinion turns less favorable — will be far from dire.
we have had experience in down markets that last for decades, with double digit inflation and exchange rates tanking. That wiped out ten years of retirement savings in S. Africa. So I have somewhat catastrophic expectations, having lived through it once already..
One of us still working at 71, no end in sight by choice. Retirement will probably involve caring for our last remaining parent. Am worried about having to help more family in the future with funds as we start to see Medicare/Medicaid/NIH cuts go into effect.
Retiring in 2-4 months, feel like I have prepared pretty well, and am very aware that unexpected developments and surprises will be the norm. So I have only a gauzy image of what my life will be like. Not being beholden to another’s schedule is something I have never experienced as an adult, and I am very ready for. A big variable for my wife (already retired from what was only part time work) is the health of my in-laws, one age 91, the other younger but with Parkinsons. We are at the ready and glad to be able to help them, but know well we can’t predict exactly what that will look like Should we outlive them, we will be climate migrants to the north, prob PNW where I did we lived during my residency. Another retirement issue for us is that our primary interests, hobbies do not overlap much. With that all said, I am beyond excited to embark on this next phase. (fun fact: Senioritis is still a thing at age 63.)
I have a folder on my desktop named Retirement Fantasy..
Still working, had planned to retire end of this year at 65, delay SS until 70 so my wife gets the best possible survivor benefit.
my wife is younger, working another five years then take SS and retirement at 65.
I’d planned to sign up with IOCC rapid response disaster team, do trail maintenance for BWCA and locally in CO, and help with church work. Also take over most meal planning and cooking while my wife is working.
There are several backpacking/canoe trips I’ve never had time for while working, put those tentatively on the calendar for 2026.
Our younger son has had a number of health issues and will be living at home for the foreseeable future, which had not been part of the plan. So although we’d love to travel, that’s not an option for us.
However given the tariffs which will produce high inflation, and market declines, and the cuts to SS and Medicare that the administration is promising, it may not be possible for me to retire.
I can’t keep doing my current high stress fast response job and won’t be able to find another IT job, so looking into Costco and Ace Hardware. I’m sad for the retirement fantasy I’ll never get to..
I wouldn’t be so quick to ditch your current retirement plans. While today’s various economic and policy fears could be realized, I suspect the results — once the courts and a panicked Congress get involved, and as public opinion turns less favorable — will be far from dire.
we have had experience in down markets that last for decades, with double digit inflation and exchange rates tanking. That wiped out ten years of retirement savings in S. Africa. So I have somewhat catastrophic expectations, having lived through it once already..
One of us still working at 71, no end in sight by choice. Retirement will probably involve caring for our last remaining parent. Am worried about having to help more family in the future with funds as we start to see Medicare/Medicaid/NIH cuts go into effect.
Retiring in 2-4 months, feel like I have prepared pretty well, and am very aware that unexpected developments and surprises will be the norm. So I have only a gauzy image of what my life will be like. Not being beholden to another’s schedule is something I have never experienced as an adult, and I am very ready for. A big variable for my wife (already retired from what was only part time work) is the health of my in-laws, one age 91, the other younger but with Parkinsons. We are at the ready and glad to be able to help them, but know well we can’t predict exactly what that will look like Should we outlive them, we will be climate migrants to the north, prob PNW where I did we lived during my residency. Another retirement issue for us is that our primary interests, hobbies do not overlap much. With that all said, I am beyond excited to embark on this next phase. (fun fact: Senioritis is still a thing at age 63.)