Your Retirement Age

[Anselm]

Some academics have no desire or intention to retire.  Others would like to retire many years before age 62, if possible.

At what age would you like to retire?

At what age do you plan to retire?

I wanted to be rich and retired by age 30 but things worked out differently for me.

I have no idea about any specific age. It all depends on the economy and how it affects the stock market and inflation.  I would like to string together several part time gigs and ease into retirement by age 60. 

[csguy]

I retired at 65 as I had no choice in the country I was in. Since then I just haven't felt like working and I'm doing OK financially so I don't need to work.

[Stockmann]

Too many unkowns to have a real answer to either question. Right now I'm saving, with no specific plan as to whether it's for a rainy day or for retirement specifically. I don't want to work until I die, but when I want to retire will depend on two things:

-My health
-How badly and how fast academia deteriorates. That it will continue deteriorating as a career is a given (glut of PhDs and other higher degrees) the only question is how fast and how bad.

When I will in fact retire will depend on my health and my finances.

[monarda]

Turning 60 soon... (in the next 90 days!)

I might be able to retire now, but it would be with a lean retirement budget.
So I'm thinking a couple more years.

[clean]

When I will in fact retire will depend on my health and my finances.

If we add 'health care/insurance' to this, then I think that we would have 95% of the basis for the decision to retire.

My best friend died before retiring (at 69 or 70).  He kept working because he and his wife lived only a block away from his inlaws.  His wife was heavily involved in their care or supervision.  He said that he wanted to travel in retirement, but that his wife would not be able (willing) to leave town for very long.  Since he couldnt travel, why quit?
Also, as he was in the defined benefit (rather than the traditional pension) plan, he reasoned that the longer he worked, the more that was added to his retirement accounts instead of coming out of his accounts.

In sum, if we combine wealth (retirement income), health (ability to work), health care and the presence or level of family commitments  I suspect that we have the vast majority of factors that determine one's retirement timing decision. I imagine 'hassle factor' or enjoyment of the job and having something to 'retire to' (echoing my retired chair's advice 'dont retire FROM something, retire TO something).  What other factors do you think would influence the decision?

[nescafe]

60 or soon after that. My spouse and I are saving aggressively and forgoing homeownership, but both of those moves mean we might be *able* to retire earlier than that. But to retire well? 60 or so.

[Antiphon1]

I could have retired 4 years ago with insurance and other perks. We've also accumulated enough passive income vehicles to sustain us through our retirements. However, the antisons are still in school/at home, and Mr. Anti plans to die in his office.  Quite honestly, my job is pretty enjoyable.  If I had a financially viable plan B, retirement from this position might be tempting.  I can't really justify walking away from a stable position while we have dependent children at home.  Rattling around at home by myself doesn't appeal at this point.  So, to work I go. 

[apl68]

I'm in my early 50s and have yet to even really think about it.  Among us Gen-Xers the conventional wisdom has always been that previous generations will have bankrupted Social Security by the time we reached age 65.  I'm a participant in a state pension fund that's in much better shape than some, but who knows how things will work out over the next 20 years.  It will presumably be another 18-20 years until retirement, assuming it's ever a possibility.

My main concern is that the public library I direct will be able to stay open that long.  Our local economy suffered a severe blow with a major mill closure in recent months.  This will likely have the effect of fast-forwarding the area's long-term economic decline.  In a worst-case scenario I can see us being down to a skeleton staff by 2035, with me having had to take a pay cut in the meantime (Barring some near-miraculous turnaround I don't intend ever to ask for another raise).  In a very worst-case scenario we could be closed before then.

Only God knows what the future holds.  Nothing to do but do our best and trust in him in the meantime.

[Diogenes]

I daydream about what the kids are calling FIRE- Financial Independence, Early Retirement.

Basically you just need to have lots of privileges and advantages growing up, no debt, get a 100k tech jobs, but still live like you're in college on $20k. Then you can retire in your 30's and live off of your interest.

I did the math and that'll ever happen for me.

[pgher]

One advantage of this general line of work is that it's not as physically demanding as, say, mining coal. I don't know when, or even if, I'll retire. My wife has a chronic condition that would absolutely bankrupt us on private insurance, so as long as my university's health insurance covers her treatment, I have a big incentive to stay. And as long as the job has a lot of flexibility, why not stay?

When I got my Ph.D., there was still a guy in our department who was nominally full-time (though I don't think he taught, just did research) in his mid-to-late 80s.

[mahagonny]

Some academics have no desire or intention to retire.  Others would like to retire many years before age 62, if possible.

At what age would you like to retire?

At what age do you plan to retire?

I expect to work as long as I can. When I can't work any more, it will be because either (a) I'm not getting hired or (b) I don't have the good health and stamina.

I'm already beginning to see the effects of (a) in the form of age discrimination. Colleges cannot age discriminate legally, but they can certainly do it legally through the students. And they do. When the the students have some flexibility in choosing their instructor, and greater age is not an attraction, you lose hours. You can try to get your union to go to bat for you on seniority if you want to go that route.
(b) is not a problem. I didn't miss any teaching in the fall semester. No calling in sick, nothing like that. I think I teach better than I ever did. But I guess that's just a theory.

Just saw this:

One advantage of this general line of work is that it's not as physically demanding as, say, mining coal. I don't know when, or even if, I'll retire. My wife has a chronic condition that would absolutely bankrupt us on private insurance, so as long as my university's health insurance covers her treatment, I have a big incentive to stay. And as long as the job has a lot of flexibility, why not stay?

When I got my Ph.D., there was still a guy in our department who was nominally full-time (though I don't think he taught, just did research) in his mid-to-late 80s.

Sure, many academics would retire and then catch up on their reading and study. So that may be not that different from teaching as long as your students aren't giving you a hassle and you are able to get to work. 'Life is short, but art is long.'

[dr_codex]

One advantage of this general line of work is that it's not as physically demanding as, say, mining coal. I don't know when, or even if, I'll retire. My wife has a chronic condition that would absolutely bankrupt us on private insurance, so as long as my university's health insurance covers her treatment, I have a big incentive to stay. And as long as the job has a lot of flexibility, why not stay?

When I got my Ph.D., there was still a guy in our department who was nominally full-time (though I don't think he taught, just did research) in his mid-to-late 80s.

Mid-80s -- Whippersnapper! I have at least two colleagues in their mid-90s, with no signs of leaving.

[mahagonny]

One advantage of this general line of work is that it's not as physically demanding as, say, mining coal. I don't know when, or even if, I'll retire. My wife has a chronic condition that would absolutely bankrupt us on private insurance, so as long as my university's health insurance covers her treatment, I have a big incentive to stay. And as long as the job has a lot of flexibility, why not stay?

When I got my Ph.D., there was still a guy in our department who was nominally full-time (though I don't think he taught, just did research) in his mid-to-late 80s.

Mid-80s -- Whippersnapper! I have at least two colleagues in their mid-90s, with no signs of leaving.

Or maybe they need the money.

[Vkw10]

Some weeks, I look forward to retiring at 62. Other weeks, I hope to continue working forever. Lately, I've been thinking that retiring at 62 and looking for a part-time job running a cash register at Target or WalMart might be ideal. Enough work to give a bit of structure to my day, but very little responsibility sounds good.

I've been planning to be able to retire at 62, in 2025. I'm on track to retire with 90% of my gross monthly salary from two of the better-funded state pension plans and social security. I'm focusing on my deferred compensation account currently. I want at least $200k in it, so I can buy into a continuing care retirement community around age 70.

[EdnaMode]

What I've been working towards is to be able to retire at 62 and live moderately comfortably. So far I'm on track for that, or so says TIAA and the other calculators I've used to keep me on track. Now, whether I choose to retire at 62 or not remains to be seen.