Retirement



Another stop on the road of Career Changes.



Retirement:   I’ll be honest this is not something that is foremost on my mind.  But, maybe it should be.  I am 34 years old and I know that I won’t even be eligible to draw full retirement benefits until I’m 67 years old.  So I still have a while to go until I have to make the decision about whether to retire or keep working.  But, there are many Americans that are over age 65 that have decided to continue working beyond retirement age.

                This has not always been the case though.  As the nation’s wealth grew, American men had been retiring earlier and earlier since the 1880’s (Quinn, 2010).  In the mid 1980’s the trend stopped and then reversed (Quinn, 2010).  Now more and more people are retiring in stages and using bridge jobs before retiring fully (Quinn, 2010). 

                There are incentives to delaying retirement.  The delayed retirement credit, introduced in 1972, was last increased in 1983 from 3 percent to 8 percent per year over your minimum age of retirement (Quinn, 2010).  With improvements in technology it’s easier for older Americans to work and function in jobs well past retirement age (Quinn, 2010).

                I know that with the economy in the down state that it is in now, such as many people not being able to find employment and gas prices and the cost of everything going sky high, many retirement age Americans are forced to work to make ends meet.  Social Security doesn’t always pay enough to cover the expenses of living, especially if there are medications that have to be paid for.  I also realize that quite a few people lost a lot of their retirement savings when the stock market took a downturn in recent years, my husband and I included.  We fortunately have time to try to recoup that money before we retire, however, a lot of people at or very close to retirement age didn’t have that chance.

                Since I am not at retirement age and still have a ways to go, I have decided to interview a friend of mine, Bob, which retired from his previous career and then became a part time employee in the office where I work.  He is currently in his late 50’s and definitely not at the Social Security minimum for collecting benefits.  I wanted to know why he retired when he did and why he decided to go back to work.

                I began my interview with Bob by asking him why he decided to retire in his 50’s, he stated that he had put in thirty years of employment with the state of Virginia and at that point was allowed to retire and collect pension benefits (Grayson, 2012).  The next few questions that I asked deal with how long he took off before deciding to find a part time job and also about his pension benefits and his need to have a part time job.  Bob said that he did take about a year off between retiring from the state and then gaining the position at the Goochland Extension Office (Grayson, 2012).  He then went on to say that he is currently receiving a pension from the state, and that he does not need to work to make ends meet, because his wife is still working full time and his pension helps to cover the necessary expenses but having the part time job does help with having a little extra money (Grayson, 2012).  My last question to him was about what he plans to do when his wife reaches the point that she may want to retire.  He said “We haven’t discussed that recently, but I believe that we will both try to stay busy either with jobs or with some other kind of volunteer work to keep us occupied.” (Grayson, 2012)

                So it seems the trend for retirement has changed.  At one time people were retiring earlier and taking more time for leisure activities.  Now it seems that people have to work more after retirement age just to try to make their house payments and bills.  But not everybody has that problem.  My co worker Bob does not have to work, but since he worked for the same entity for 30 years, he was able to retire somewhat early, and then pursue something that he wanted to do, not just for the paycheck.  If the economy comes back up to where people are more secure with their retirement funds and have enough saved for the future the trend may reverse itself again.  I hope that when I reach retirement age that I will have some of these options available to me and that I won’t be stuck having to work full time.

Interview questions:

1.       Why did you decide to retire while in your 50’s?

2.       Did you actually retire and take time off, or did you find other employment immediately after retiring from your previous position?

3.       Are you currently receiving retirement benefits from a pension or other source?

4.       Do you have to have your part time job to make ends meet?

5.       Have you and your wife discussed what you both will do when she reaches retirement age?      

Grayson, E. (2012, February) Interview of my co-worker, Bob, over the phone about his experience with retirement and finding new employment.                                                                                          I asked questions about why he retired in his 50’s and how long he stayed retired, if at all and why he decided to find a part time job.  I also asked questions about whether he needed this position to help make ends meet.  We also discussed some future plans that he and his wife may have.

Quinn, J. (2010, February).  Work, retirement, and the encore career: Elders and the future of the American workforce generations v.34 no. 3 p.45-55 Retrieved February 5, 2012 from the Academic Search Complete database.