Well... Tomorrow's the big day.. "R" Day!

[Oz_Kioti]

Words of wisdom? I asked a mate of mine (work colleague) to help me decide about retirement. We had both loved the work, but with many large outfits, times change. He said draw a graph in your head of two variables over time. On one side plot your job enjoyment and satisfaction, and on the other, the bulldust quota. When the two lines cross, that's retirement day! (Unless financial issues cloud the situation of course)

To sum it up, when the increasing bureaucratic bulldust overcomes your level of satisfaction, give it up. And that pretty well summed it up for me.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mom worked 50 years as a RN but retired at 62 as charge nurse.

She was not retired long and was asked to come back…

She said if you really need me for a couple hours on busy days let’s see how it goes…

She 100% loved it and said the best of her career… working with those she had trained and had no problem working under those she trained saying I trained them and they learned well…

It really was her ideal retirement until she was attacked by a dog and fractured her shoulder… it was career ending.

 

[Yander]

Congrats on making it to the big R. I wish you many years in the big R. It sounds like you have plenty to do.

I remember when my dad retired at 58. He would call me and tell me, "I'm starting another week of vacation this week," as I was driving to work. He had a good 26-year life in retirement, and he did everything he wanted.

He used his time the way he wanted, fishing or hunting about three days a week when he was younger. I will be retiring in a few years, Lord willing. I'll spend it with my grandkids, wife, and on my tractor helping others. I plan to work until I can no longer, but not behind a desk.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I'll say this. I found work got in the way of the life I wanted to live. I had a lot of interests and activities that I just could not enjoy due to lack of time. My career, though I had an incredible passion for, overtook my life such that it was what everything else was built around. After a couple decades that really started to eat at me. But really only in the last year. My discontent was not with being a pilot, it was with working as a pilot.

I think people that cultivate well rounded lives that consist of a lot of interests and a desire to keep learning, will thrive in retirement. Those without that desire or drive, could be better off working until they die.