What's retirement look like for you?

[happypamama]

Who knows? I expect that it will probably include either living with one of our kids, or turning our property over to one of them, in exchange for letting us stay on the property. I don't think that's such a bad idea, honestly, because with mostly boys, I expect that my DILs will probably want their own moms around more, not so much their MIL, and I want access to my grandchildren -- maybe if we're on the property, we'll be able to see the grandchildren often.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

*eyeroll*

 

Knew I shouldn't have bothered.

 

Seriously, to "know" only 3 people who have ever retired is just not the norm.

[Murphy101]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsiedle/2013/03/20/the-greatest-retirement-crisis-in-american-history/

 

http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/jobs/many-older-workers-can-t-afford-to-retire-1.4960155

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/01/24/older-workers-rising/1861519/

 

Also "retired" needs to be defined. If it's defined as "not working for non health reasons" then I've known 3.

[SKL]

I know many people who were retired from their long-term job because it no longer made economic sense to be on the payroll, but they were not done working.  Some stayed on as consultants, some took other related or unrelated jobs, sometimes part-time / seasonal, some opened a business or switched to committed volunteer work.

 

I think "retirement" as we think of it may be more common for people who have a blue-collar background.  However, retirement can be very depressing as one switches from being needed somewhere every day to being just kind of *there.*  Finding work to do in retirement is a valuable coping skill, especially for the "breadwinner" who isn't used to feeling very useful at home.

 

Then again, by the time we are eligible for full social security benefits, many of us have so many medical conditions that retirement is actually hard work.  My parents are around 70 and between the two of them, they spend a lot of time at doctors and generally don't feel good enough to go out for much else.  They can't even muster the energy to get their house clean.  That said, they do have a retail store attached to their house, which they intended to run as a retirement gig.  It is usually closed.

[Shellydon]

Looks good for now.  DH has a healthy retirement account and we put back $$ in a separate retirement account for me each year.   DH should be able to retire by 60 if he chooses. 

[ChocolateReignRemix]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsiedle/2013/03/20/the-greatest-retirement-crisis-in-american-history/

 

http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/jobs/many-older-workers-can-t-afford-to-retire-1.4960155

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/01/24/older-workers-rising/1861519/

 

Also "retired" needs to be defined. If it's defined as "not working for non health reasons" then I've known 3.

Read your third link cans look at 1990 compared to now and you should be able to understand why I am questioning what you said. In 1990 less than 13% of those over 65 were in the workforce. Unless you know an absurdly small sample of those over 65 over the course of your life, then claiming you know 3 retirees seems odd.

[Mom-ninja.]

Living in my son's huge mansion, by the pool, surrounded by grand babies. Oh, wait. Did you mean my fantasy or reality? 

[bettyandbob]

Retirement won't happen. Raising children who had at various times significant medical issues took care of any saving on that end. I'm hoping, perhaps I can downsize my working to just my swimming job. I'd like to teach more swimming, private lessons and maybe get into coaching. I need to stay physically fit to do that.I'm working on the fitness now. I thin DH is counting on doing the work he does until he dies.

 

Another glitch is we will never be sans kids. One of our dc has intellectual disabilities. He will live with us always. Our state is ranked 48th in options/assistance for persons with disabilities. At this time we cannot move and may never be able to move so we need to plan to provide all ds's care. The problem with that is when ds is no longer in public school that may mean one of us cannot work because there are very few spots available for job training programs for persons with disabilities. Since ds will likely out live us we have other concerns about what will happen then. Placements in housing for persons with disabilities are mostly nonexistent unless the person becomes homeless--essentially social services steps in when they are alerted that an elderly parent dies or is completely unable to provide care for their child. There's no smooth transition or introduction to living away from parents. 

 

I need to stop thinking about the future. My current view is depressing. 

 

 

[Mom in High Heels]

I have no idea at the moment.  James Bond can retire from the army in 3 years (unless he gets promoted, then he'll have to stay longer).  We'll have half his current pay as retirement, but he'll get another job after the military.  I'll be hsing for another...12 or so years and by then, who knows?

[Susan in TN]

If we're talking wishes and dreams, I'd travel.  Maybe take my kids/grandchildren on trips to Europe, South America, Africa, Italy and Rome, etc.  I don't think it's likely we will do a lot of globe trotting, but I hope I can do a little.  At the very least I'd like to go with dh to Germany to visit the sights of Martin Luther, since dh is a descendant.  

[Julie Smith]

Oh, I nearly forgot about the pension that dh is eligible for.  As he has been notified, it will amount to about $27 per month.  In 20 years, we'll be able to have an extravagant meal at McDonalds with that small fortune!  :lol:

My dh has a pension for a job he worked at for two? years in his twenties. Every five years or so they find us (we have moved a bunch) and send us a check and we can go out for dinner.

[CyndiLJ]

I don't know where we will sit for retirement.  We have no debt except for our house, but we have nothing saved.  The adoptions of our children took a huge chunk, and just as we completed our final adoption, we realized it was truly a necessity to homeschool due to the variety of challenges our kids have.  It was the best decision we ever made, but we will probably pay dearly for it down the road.  We have no possibility of inheriting anything either.  I will be 55 when my youngest graduates, and I do not have a degree.  If my mom is still living at that point and has not yet moved near us or in with us, then no doubt my role will switch to caretaker, but we actually expect that to happen earlier.  We just talked about this tonight over dinner...does it make any sense at all to consider getting a degree?  Will I return to the working world once the kids have graduated?  Is the remainder of my life to be spent  as support for various members of my family?  I would not resent this, and my husband said he thinks that it might be logical to consider that what I am doing now will expand and take on a different form, but that I might not ever return to the working world in a traditional job.  I do have a friend who is hoping I can work with her part-time doing web site design once the kids are done, and that might be a possible sideline.

 

We worry as we also have a son with disabilities who may or may not be able to live 100% on his own.  He might be able to with some regular assistance, but at 15 we are not sure he would ever be safe to drive, though he will be very high functioning.  

 

We can't save anything right now, but we do have a small low end rental property we managed to purchase.  We owe quiet a bit on our house still, but are going to try hard to get it paid off in the next 7-8 years, if we can.  We dno't have big dreams of travel, though we'd like to be able to easily see our kids and grandkids should everyone move away.  We're just taking it one step at a time, and we'll see where it leads us.  Staying out of debt will help, but we have several more years of kids home and homeschooling ahead.

[Camelfeet]

We are still young and we are about 25-30 years away from retirement, I think.  We are lucky enough that we travel around quit a bit now and I'd hope we could maintain something close to this lifestyle when we are older and have fewer responsibilities with regards to children and pets.

 

Our plan is to purchase investment properties with the hope that they will be paid off and will provide an income for us when we are older. DH is not employed in a field that will give him a pension.  Depending on how well that goes (lol) we may or may not retire early.  

[Melissa in Australia]

I've decided to become a senator rather than be broke. 

you and every other Aussie after the last election and that 4wheel drive guy getting in.  What name would you have for your party? I need to know so I can vote for you

[Mrs Mungo]

We have about 6 years of homeschooling left. DH will probably retire from the military in a few years. We are trying to decide what we want to do with the 10-15 good working years between first and potential second retirements. We have toyed with lots of ideas. We hope to find a way to make room for additional travel.

[Mrs Mungo]

Read your third link cans look at 1990 compared to now and you should be able to understand why I am questioning what you said. In 1990 less than 13% of those over 65 were in the workforce. Unless you know an absurdly small sample of those over 65 over the course of your life, then claiming you know 3 retirees seems odd.

How old do you think we all are? I was graduating high school in 1990. Only one of my grandparents even made it to 65 without severe health problems. I don't call being unable to care for yourself due to a series of strokes retirement. So, not being in the workforce does not equal retired.

 

My parents aren't even 65 yet. So, no, I don't find her claim unreasonable. She is not talking about statistics, she is talking about people in her circles of influence. I only know one person who retired.

 

eta: and by retired, I mean stopped working. We know several people who have retired from the military and gone on to other jobs. We don't know many people who have entirely stopped working.

[Melissa in Australia]

I know heaps of retired people. I live right next to a coastal village that is primarily made up of retired people ( population about 250). In fact I think I might know more retired people than non retired. in the street I live in half the residence are retired.

[Carrie12345]

We're just working on our detailed plans and goals now. Our savings by 65 (or even 70) will likely be pretty modest. It would be very helpful if dh's company gets bought out! I'm eager to invest in other properties and businesses, but we're still educating ourselves on those things right now.

 

I do want to take nice vacations, but more along the traditional 2 weeks or so out of the year, rather than fah-bulous jet setting, lol. That's just not me.

 

My greatest hope is that I'll be healthy enough to still be puttering around with gardens and small livestock until the very end!

[Pawz4me]

How old do you think we all are?

 

I think everybody needs to keep in mind that there's a very wide range of ages on TWTM.  Some of us are a LOT closer to retirement than others, and so have had longer to build up retirement accounts for ourselves, and we have more opportunity to know retired people.  Others on here are just starting out, beginning to build their savings and pay off debt and have parents who are still too young to be retired.

 

I'm pretty sure I know more people who are retired than I do who are still working.

[Rosie_0801]

you and every other Aussie after the last election and that 4wheel drive guy getting in.  What name would you have for your party? I need to know so I can vote for you

 

The Australian Anti-Apathy proto-party was founded last week.  B)

 

(I decided to be a senator before the election. I'm not riding on everyone else's coat tails, I'll have you know.)

 

((There are worse people than the Middle Class Toorak Tractor party, I s'pose.))

 

I thank you in advance for your vote! 

[marbel]

Interesting topic.  I don't know many truly retired people unless I count housewives who quit working when their kids were born. 

 

We were on track for a well-funded retirement, then decided on a mid-life career change for my husband. (I've been "retired" since I had my first child at age 41. ;) )   Between the loss of income during his 4 years of school, his future income prospects (he didn't go into a lucrative career) and the financial downturn of 2008 that devalued our real estate and our 401Ks... it's anybody's guess if there will be retirement!    We are unlikely to be destitute but we're equally unlikely to be traveling the world.

 

I'll be 61 when I'm done homeschooling and will have been out of the workforce for 21 years, so I doubt I'll be employable but who knows what will happen.  My life has had so many unexpected turns that I don't think too much about it. 

[Murphy101]

Interesting.. I do consider home schooling my job, but until this thread I hadn't really thought about MY retirement. I guess because as much as I consider this my job, I also consider it just my life too. I guess because I still have at least 16 years to go, putting us at 56 when current youngest is 18. Not too old, but I don't see retirement happening at that age. And I imagine over the next 18 years it's highly likely I'll have at least a half dozen grandkids. I plan to be very helpful if they want it in that area. Dh has half joked he expects we will spend our old age going from house to house of our kids until we land at one and can't make it to the next one.

[Murphy101]

Dh on the other hand is adamant that we will help with grandkids but he doesn't want us to home school them or be their primary full time daycare provider. He is eager to have our own schedule of events for us some day. Even if we don't go anywhere.

[creekland]

Our youngest leaves home for college next fall (assuming all goes as planned), so hubby and I discuss our options almost daily.  It's kind of fun.

 

I think all we've decided for now is that we have college payments coming for at least another 4 years, so we'll likely stay put until those are done BUT we're both committed to experiencing less winter, so we expect to be somewhere warm during all future Februarys (after the next one).  We've also discussed extending Feb from mid Jan to mid March. Where we'll go each year is part of the fun of discussion.  I doubt it will be the same place twice.  We love exploring new places.   ;)

 

Fortunately, his job (he's self-employed) is rather portable as long as he has a phone and internet connection, so rather than true retirement, we're considering it semi-retired and might stay at that state for quite a few years rather than starting to live off savings (which are mostly invested in real estate, so not super liquid and not at the best selling time).  His slow time here at home is over the winter - so an ideal time to explore elsewhere - once our last youngster flies the nest.

[Chocolate Rose]

Retirement???? What's that?

Yep, that's us, too. I figure I'll have to work until I drop dead.

[*Michelle*]

We'll retire when we're dead, I suppose.

[SailorMom]

Well - DH will be able to retire from the military in about 4.5 years.  At that point, both boys will be out of the house (college?  trade school?  job? military?).   We own a home in FL with renters in it right now, but for us- we barely break even on rent (pool service, management company, maintenance costs, etc.), so we plan to see it as soon as the market rebounds a bit more there. 

We plan to be a bit broke but also travel the world :)  Sell off everything on land, store only highly sentimental and personal items, buy a boat and sail the world. 

Those wanting to RV-it (or boat-it) but think you may not be able to afford it...  the key is to not own a home or have any kind of "home base".  Those are expensive :)  No vehicles either (well - rv'ers may need a tow vehicle, I guess). 

We're willing to pare down to hardly any possessions to make it work for us.

Now - we really think 8 - 10 years on a boat will bring us to a point of setting up somewhere back on land.  We already promised to take care of my in-laws when they get to the point of needing care - I doubt that gives us more than about 15 years from now.  Also - I want to be around more once the kids have my grandkids!!!  :)

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

Living on DW's NJ teacher pension, which probably means NOT living in NJ!

[trulycrabby]

DH loves working, so I cannot imagine him retiring. I traveled A LOT when I was younger, so that's not on my bucket list. I may go back to school and get a retirement master's degree in French lit or perhaps be the oldest person ever to graduate from medical school. :)

[Mrs Mungo]

I think everybody needs to keep in mind that there's a very wide range of ages on TWTM. Some of us are a LOT closer to retirement than others, and so have had longer to build up retirement accounts for ourselves, and we have more opportunity to know retired people. Others on here are just starting out, beginning to build their savings and pay off debt and have parents who are still too young to be retired.

 

I'm pretty sure I know more people who are retired than I do who are still working.

It isn't just age though. My MIL retired from a banking job, but even she got another job after that. Sure, it is mostly to keep her busy and fund her casino trips, but she hasn't entirely quit working.

[LucyStoner]

Interesting topic. I don't know many truly retired people unless I count housewives who quit working when their kids were born.

 

I don't think that counts. I sure don't feel retired. I stayed working FT until my oldest was 8.5 but nothing about being a 30 something homeschooling homemaker-housewife-sahm-kitchen wench-pick.your.term.of.choice feels like retirement. I am tentatively planning to return to the work force FT after the kids are high school/college age on the assumption that I will want/need something to do for 15 years before approx retirement age. If we don't have more kids (and the plan is 1-2 more), I will be 46 when my younger son graduates high school. Another child pushes that to early or mid 50s.

[LucyStoner]

Living on DW's NJ teacher pension, which probably means NOT living in NJ!

It will go far in Costa Rica!

[Tita Gidge]

Will you be broke? Happily traveling the world sans kids?

 

I will be neither rich nor broke, but comfortable.

 

I have plans to "retire" in the next year or two ... by that I mean to stop working at my current F/T job. It's a great, flexible and stimulating job but the older my homeschoolers get the more challenging it is to balance work and school.  High school academics don't lend themselves well to work travel and being on call. 

 

I do want to work in some capacity, though, and am considering those options now.  I think I'll take a year off, then jump back in.  I have advanced degrees and a strong resume, so finding something in my (non-tech) field shouldn't be too hard.  I'm fortunate to work out of desire, not need.  When I lost my husband I got a lump sum plus life insurance and survivor's benefits.  Instead of living off of that money now, I invest it all towards my retirement and only live off of my work income.  I remain eligible for his healthcare plan, so for now health insurance isn't something I need to factor in for work or retirement. 

 

Obviously I'd rather live broke and work with my husband beside me during our golden years. The grass seems greener on the other side, no matter which side of the fence you're on :)

[Kari C in SC]

Obviously I'd rather live broke and work with my husband beside me during our golden years. The grass seems greener on the other side, no matter which side of the fence you're on :)

I understand your feelings completely. My son's life insurance has done incredible things for us and our younger kids. I would dump it all in a nano second to have him back. Hugs.

[mathmarm]

Never mind, thought better of participating in this discussion.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

It will go far in Costa Rica!

 

And in Panama, Nicaragua, and a bunch of other places I'd rather not live!   In all reality, we'll probably be somewhere not far from DD, since we know first hand how much it can totally stink not having grandparents around.

[readinmom]

No retirement in sight.   Ever.  How depressing. 

 

If it happens, we would love to travel, buy some property, build a home. 

[HappyGrace]

I didn't get to read the rest of the thread yet, sorry! Hope to catch up on it later.

 

It looks like we won't be able to retire. Dh is 10 yrs older than me (he's 54) and we have only about $40,000 in the 401-k and he doesn't make much money. I won't even have any Social Security because I didn't work long enough before homeschooling!

 

I suppose in 8 yrs when youngest is done homeschooling (I'll be 52) I'll have to get a job in retail or something since I'm not trained for anything else. We'd likely sell our house and move south, where housing and taxes are cheaper and the money we get for our house (northeastern US) might go further.

 

I try not to think much about it-I know homeschooling is what the Lord wants us doing right now, and I trust that He will provide for us then as He always has. Lately He is helping me get past having expectations for what I want for myself (retired by a pool, traveling with dh, spoiling grandkids). If my goal was those things, I'd have to have put my kids in school all these years. I'm trying to keep my eye on His goals for me instead. I know my main job in this world is to help my children and others to know Him, and I'll never retire from that!!! :)

 

 

[PeacefulChaos]

Retirement... is something I don't really think about.

Not to be flippant and not that I don't think about it because I'm avoiding it or anything.  I just really don't care all that much.  It isn't on my radar yet.  I'd like to earn money to buy a house, to be able to take the kids to music lessons, or to afford decent insurance.  Someday sure, we'll save for retirement.  Right now it's so far away I don't really care about it.  *shrug*

I'm 30, DH is 33.  When Pink graduates (assuming we still live here and I still homeschool at that time) I'll be what, 44?  45?  At that point I might go back to school anyway, or a few years before that.  I really don't know what our future holds, especially when I try to look another lifetime (seriously, with how old we are, retirement is another lifetime away :lol: ) into the future.  We could be in another state, we could have completely different jobs, who knows?

My grandparents are both retired and they do well.  My grandpa still works, though.  :D  But he's still relatively retired - he drives medical transport of a sort, and he doesn't have to take the call if he is busy shopping with my grandma (aka my grandma is busy shopping while he sits on a bench and relaxes :lol: ) or whatever.  DH's dad won't be able to retire, from the way it looks.  He's 61 now.  DH's grandfather who is still living is retired - he was a pastor for a very long time.  DH's dad owned his own construction business for most of his life.  

I know a lot of retired people, but DH and I both work at a nursing home/retirement community.  :lol:  More than that, though, my grandma has 7 brothers and sisters, many of which are now retired.  I think that a lot of people from that generation had more of an ability to retire (or maybe it is just those that I know, I'm not sure, haven't looked at statistics or anything).  So I have a lot of family who is retired.  

 

[Jenny in Florida]

To be honest, I can't imagine how we'll ever afford to retire.

 

We had some issues with extended "family" that required us to loot the retirement account I had started while still working full time. Then, there were a few rough years after 9/11 hit the tourism industry hard and my husband was seriously under-employed, and we cashed out the accounts he'd built up to that point.

 

In the intervening years, we've never managed to get back on the footing we had prior to those trouble spots. We then sent one kid to an expensive early college program (because we felt strongly it was the right choice for her) and have been supporting the other kid's passion for dance (which ain't cheap, let me tell you).

 

And then the recession hit, and my husband's salary stalled. We've been lucky compared to folks who lost jobs, but he's had no raise to speak of in three years.

 

I am now working part-time, but not making even enough to completely cover my son's dance expenses, let alone the gas required to drive him around all week. And, of course, we'll be sending another kid to college within two years.

 

I try not to think about it much, truthfully.

 

 

[sunnyday]

I won't even have any Social Security because I didn't work long enough before homeschooling!

 

FYI, once you have been married for 10 years, you become eligible to claim 1/2 of your spouse's SS benefit as soon as your spouse and you both reach retirement age. This is in addition to your spouse's full benefit. It's not much but it's something...

[HS Mom in NC]

Based on what I've seen my Baby Boomer parents do, it will be caring for my mom, step-dad, dad and in-laws.

 

Retirement looks financially solid for us unless something unexpected happens.

[Wheres Toto]

Back in the 80's, my grandparents were retired and traveled.  My mother and stepfather, father and stepmother, and in-laws are all retired.    I have a few aunts and uncles who are retired, and a few cousins that I know of (I have a LOT of cousins and the oldest is almost 60 and the youngest is 19 or 20).

 

I guess it depends on the people you know.

[Mrs Mungo]

Back in the 80's, my grandparents were retired and traveled.  My mother and stepfather, father and stepmother, and in-laws are all retired.    I have a few aunts and uncles who are retired, and a few cousins that I know of (I have a LOT of cousins and the oldest is almost 60 and the youngest is 19 or 20).

 

I guess it depends on the people you know.

 

I have lots of cousins too. But, my parents are both oldest children, so they are all younger than I am. I'm also one of the oldest among the second cousins on both sides of my family. Neither of my parents are 65 and like I said, they are both oldest children. Neither of my parents still has a living parent. I don't find it unreasonable or ridiculous or unlikely that there are people here who know people who have retired from their jobs. Nobody has implied or stated anything like that. I'm just saying that people should not be surprised or imply others are lying when they say that they *don't* know many people who have *fully* retired. I find both scenarios to be likely and reasonable and truthful.

 

edited due to typing on my iphone before going to bed and only half of my sentences making sense. Should be easier to understand now, lol.

[Jacqueline]

I'll be 63 when my last two graduate. Financially we are very stable. I imagine being surrounded by lots of grandbabies on our farm! Dh will probably work until he can no longer can do so but that could include "retiring" from a job just to start something else. We may open a family bakery (dh would do the business side of it). I'm also interested in flipping houses because I think it would be fun. I'd love to do more art and photography work with my free time also. We will probably travel some but it's not the biggest priority as we've had a lot of opportunities already. We are both lucky to have our health and I hope I will live into my 90's without major health issues just like my grandma has!

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm not asking you to buy it or not. :/

 

But that's what I know. My dh has a set of grandparents that retired and one of the grandparents on the other side semi-retired. That's it. I don't know anyone else that has ever retired. My dad has one foot in the grave and still isn't retired in his mid 70s. We've paid his property taxes this year bc he couldn't make enough to cover it.

 

I know some who were retired from whatever job (usually not by choice), but that doesn't mean they can retire. All of them still need to work, preferably full time or their "retirement" is actually disability because they can't work. And many of them aren't making it very well. They sure don't think they have retired.

 

This is closer to my experience than what some others are posting here, too.

 

My grandparents retired. (Well, my grandmother hadn't worked for pay most of her adult life, but my grandfather retired and they were able to live off his pension and what they had saved.)

 

My mother-in-law passed away before she and my father-in-law could retire. She had stopped working by that point, but only because of her health issues. My father-in-law did officially retire, but continued to work for the same company as a consultant until he, also, died. In his case, that was more because he was bored than because he needed the money, however.

 

There are a few older couples at the church I used to attend in which the primary breadwinner retired from his or her career. However, in many (possibly most) of those couples, at least one and sometimes both partners continue to work at least part-time. Off the top of my head, I can think of one couple for whom this is not true.

 

I do not personally know anyone else who has "retired" in the sense of no longer working for pay and being free to relax and travel and enjoy their grandchildren. Instead, I know lots and lots of older folks who are still working, sometimes at less demanding jobs, but still working.

[susankenny]

Not looking so good these days :(

[Laura Corin]

 

 

I do not personally know anyone else who has "retired" in the sense of no longer working for pay and being free to relax and travel and enjoy their grandchildren. Instead, I know lots and lots of older folks who are still working, sometimes at less demanding jobs, but still working.

 

I'm surrounded by retired people in my village, but I suspect that there is a generational change happening.  Most people around me seem to have occupational pensions in addition to state pensions - they were able to work for a long time in one industry, often in one job, and built up a good job-linked pension.  My father (born 1930) worked for the same firm for 40 years and retired with a pension that almost equals Husband's current (working) income.  My grandfather (born 1906) retired (from being a headmaster) in about 1966 but lived for another thirty years.  So he worked for about forty years and was retired for about thirty.

 

Younger people (ourselves included) seem to have more patchy work records and less secure savings.  Part of this is self-inflicted (personally, we have travelled and job-hopped - others may have chosen less stable careers too) but the nature (in the UK) of occupational pensions has changed too, as has the nature of employment: pensions are now almost all based on actual contributions, rather than being related to a percentage of final salary; many people have gone through significant recession-linked periods of unemployment or underemployment, from the 1970s onwards.

 

L

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm surrounded by retired people in my village, but I suspect that there is a generational change happening.  Most people around me seem to have occupational pensions in addition to state pensions - they were able to work for a long time in one industry, often in one job, and built up a good job-linked pension.  My father (born 1930) worked for the same firm for 40 years and retired with a pension that almost equals Husband's current (working) income.  My grandfather (born 1906) retired (from being a headmaster) in about 1966 but lived for another thirty years.  So he worked for about forty years and was retired for about thirty.

 

Younger people (ourselves included) seem to have more patchy work records and less secure savings.  Part of this is self-inflicted (personally, we have travelled and job-hopped - others may have chosen less stable careers too) but the nature (in the UK) of occupational pensions has changed too, as has the nature of employment: pensions are now almost all based on actual contributions, rather than being related to a percentage of final salary; many people have gone through significant recession-linked periods of unemployment or underemployment, from the 1970s onwards.

 

L

 

Yes, I do think it's become significantly tougher to follow what many of us think of as the "traditional" career path: finish your education, get an entry-level job, work your way up through the ranks and then retire and get the gold watch.

 

My father-in-law, for example, did a little job hopping early in his career. However, by the time my husband was in elementary school, my father-in-law had settled in at the company for which he would work for the rest of his life. My grandfather, too, worked for the same firm for decades.

 

By contrast, my husband, has not been able to build that kind of consistent record with a single employer, despite his best efforts. We moved to the city in which we currently live 15 years ago (as of next week). Within a week of arrival, my husband found a job. However, the company did not hire him on in a full-time, permanent position right away. Instead, they hired him as a contractor, with a promise to transition him to full-time permanent once an appropriate position opened up for him.

 

Over the next three years, he continued to work for the same company, in a variety of roles, but never officially on the company's payroll. Instead, at any one point, he would be officially working for one of two or three local consulting firms. Often, his contract with one firm would end on a Friday afternoon, and on Monday morning he'd be back at the same desk doing the same job, but his paycheck was now signed by a different agency.

 

Finally, he made the leap to full-time permanent and continued happily in that role for a few years . . . until the entire department was outsourced to yet another contracting agency. Again, the following week he went right back to doing the exact same job, but he was no longer an employee of the company.

 

He endured another few years of working on the property but not for the company, until he was "insourced," when the company decided to re-hire the entire department for which he was then working.

 

Each time he has been moved from full-time permanent to contractor and back again, he has been not-directly-employed-by-the-company just long enough to wipe out his seniority for everything from health benefits to vacation time. So, at this point, he's been working for the company for a decade and a half, and is currently in his third year of unbroken employment. If he works for them for another 10 years, he won't be eligible for the 25-year retirement gift, because he'll have only 13 years on his official record.

 

His experience is far from unusual.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Honestly, the money situation should be fair. We won't be traveling the world but a movie and dinner out should be ok. My greater concern is dh's health. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact he is aging at a much faster rate than I, health wise, and his care may realistically take my time.