Retiring during a pandemic

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DonFifer
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by DonFifer »

I was going to retire in 2019, but I enjoyed my job and the people I worked with. So I started Social Security and my pensions, and decided to continue working through 2019, bank my entire paycheck and see if I could live off my guaranteed income. Which surprisingly worked well. When 2020 came around I decided to continue working only until I had put 26K in the 401K and 7K each into Roth accounts. But then Covid 19 hit and I decided to finish out the year, and continue to bank my entire paycheck. When 2021 started, I once again decided to just do the 26k/7K/7k, get the shots and retire. Then it dawned on me that if I work another 6 weeks, I could get another year on my pension. Last month, I finally retired. Now I'm sitting here wondering why I didn't do it sooner. I have more than enough money in investments and way too many things to keep me occupied.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by quantAndHold »

I retired in 2017, so I’ve seen both sides of this thing.

I think from my perspective, if I wanted to retire now, I would just do it. You’re really talking about two things; local activities, and travel.

As far as local activities, there are definitely some adaptations, but at this point, I’m doing pretty much all the same activities as I was doing before the pandemic. More things are outside, some require proof of vax, some require masks, but they’re all up and running again, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything like I did 18 months ago.

We have definitely been traveling less, but it’s more by our choice than because it isn’t possible. I think the main thing with travel is it requires more flexibility than it did before. Getting refundable tickets, being flexible about dates and locations, and yes, wearing masks on planes.

I think the way things are going, stuff will come and go in waves for awhile. If you wait for it all to be “over,” you might be waiting for some time. I do still have a bit of that existential dread. But I don’t think continuing to work would make it any better.
Nyc10036
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by Nyc10036 »

Chip wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:03 am I actually felt fortunate to be retired during this pandemic, despite the travel curtailment. I had no money worries and was able to choose the times & places where I had to be around potentially infected people.
I am not completely retired, as I worked part-time at a 1099 job in 2019.

But I was and am so glad to be able to go shopping during the weekday mornings when stores are not as crowded.
It has been and is really wonderful!
DangerDad
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by DangerDad »

>> If you've retired or are expecting to retire during this pandemic (and who knows how long it will last), what has been your thought process or experience?<<

I’m retiring in a few months and counting the days—literally, I have a countdown widget on my phone! Covid travel restrictions will temporarily diminish some of the joy of retirement—but so many pleasures remain—such as the simple joys of spending more time with my wife and kids and having more time/energy for hobbies and passions. I have loved my career but I’m truly ready to move onto the next chapter and the pandemic hasn’t lessened my excitement for this big change.

Regards,
DangerDad
Alex Frakt
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by Alex Frakt »

I removed several off-topic COVID-related posts.
wrongfunds
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by wrongfunds »

marep wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:13 pm And we do not like long car rides past 8 hours.
Can you explain this reasoning? What difference does it make if your destination is 8 hours out or 16 hours out? You are retired! You sit in the car as long as you want and NO MORE! Why would you NOT split the 8 hour ride in to 2 day 4 hour ride? It is NOT like you are limited by vacation days and need to travel to destination in one day.
curmudgeon
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by curmudgeon »

I think it is reasonable to allow covid to impact your retirement choices. For some that might mean retiring sooner, for others later. When I retired a few years ago, the decision was pretty evenly balanced; I gained satisfaction from my work and liked the people I worked with, but the commute and some of the corporate stuff was annoying. What pushed the balance over to retiring was gaining more freedom to travel when and as much as I wanted. Our travel after retirement tended to be two 3-5 week international trips, plus probably one week per month the rest of the year. While it might still be possible to do that travel (at least we don't live in Australia or New Zealand), the hassles and limitations have caused us to cut back quite a bit. If I were making the same retirement decision today, with the commute gone and travel less attractive, I might well work another year or two.

We are still enjoying retirement, spending a lot of time with kids and grandkids, doing some travel, doing projects around the house that we enjoy. I have no desire to un-retire. Some years are just better than others, and that could just as easily have been the result of personal medical issues rather than global ones. My mindset is just to make the best of what we have and not worry too much about what might have been.
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namajones
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by namajones »

Cruise wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:37 pm
namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:12 am I'm ready to retire, financial and emotionally. But the idea of retiring into or during a pandemic does not appeal to me. Restricted travel, face masks, etc., etc. I'm thinking I may as well continue working until all of this stuff dies down. More money in the bank...not much of value to spend it on if I were to retire.

If you've retired or are expecting to retire during this pandemic (and who knows how long it will last), what has been your thought process or experience?

Thanks.
Excuse me, but are you my wife and you have a secret BH account?
LOL.

BTW, did you take out the trash yet?
Cruise
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by Cruise »

namajones wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:24 pm
Cruise wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:37 pm
namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:12 am I'm ready to retire, financial and emotionally. But the idea of retiring into or during a pandemic does not appeal to me. Restricted travel, face masks, etc., etc. I'm thinking I may as well continue working until all of this stuff dies down. More money in the bank...not much of value to spend it on if I were to retire.

If you've retired or are expecting to retire during this pandemic (and who knows how long it will last), what has been your thought process or experience?

Thanks.
Excuse me, but are you my wife and you have a secret BH account?
LOL.

BTW, did you take out the trash yet?
That was yesterday. Today I'm doing laundry while my wife works on some reports. :(
togb
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by togb »

I suspect this pandemic will linger to some degree. Or it could be replaced by a new health threat, or a political threat, or a war. But even if it's just Covid, that's already drug out longer than I originally imagined. I'm still working, but my employer is definitely impacted by the pandemic, and like most "mature" workers, I'm aware that I might be retiring sooner than my own timeline. I like my work, but would also like more time, more balance. I'm roughly planning to retire in 2-3 years, and hoping to have a sabbatical thrown in there as a trial run for 24/7 freedom. But if not, that's fine too.

Focus on what's important. Your family, your church, your friends. Your health. Some fun things. Make sure you have that focus now, don't wait for retirement... then just shift to bigger slices of the pie when that job is no longer part of the picture. My 2 cents.
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ApeAttack
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by ApeAttack »

namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:47 am
SQRT wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:55 am

I think many more people are still working from home in Canada. Many new retirees are hoping to travel internationally? But I grant your other point. Face masks wouldn’t stop me either.
I keep wanting to think that wearing face masks is not so bad. But the reality, for me, is that it's horrible. I can barely breathe in that thing, and I can't wait to rip it off as soon as I get outside. The thought of being in a 10-hour overseas flight--or heck, any flight--with an N95 stuck to my face is not a happy thought.
Have you run out of places to visit in the US? (Assuming you live in the US)

There are lots of places you can visit via a long drive or short flight. Consider traveling domestically until the global pandemic situation improves.
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willthrill81
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by willthrill81 »

ApeAttack wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:50 pm
namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:47 am
SQRT wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:55 am

I think many more people are still working from home in Canada. Many new retirees are hoping to travel internationally? But I grant your other point. Face masks wouldn’t stop me either.
I keep wanting to think that wearing face masks is not so bad. But the reality, for me, is that it's horrible. I can barely breathe in that thing, and I can't wait to rip it off as soon as I get outside. The thought of being in a 10-hour overseas flight--or heck, any flight--with an N95 stuck to my face is not a happy thought.
Have you run out of places to visit in the US? (Assuming you live in the US)

There are lots of places you can visit via a long drive or short flight. Consider traveling domestically until the global pandemic situation improves.
That's why the RV market has been scorching hot for the last 18 months. Thankfully, we got a good deal on our small motor home back in March and have absolutely loved traveling in it. With our six year old daughter, it's a fantastic means of travel. When someone needs to go to the bathroom, we always have our clean one with us. When someone is hungry or thirsty, we always have inexpensive food and drink. The temperature is always what we want it to be. When we we're done for the day, it's usually not too hard to find a place to boondock for the night.

When I dove into a tidal pool in Oregon this summer to grab a couple of Dungeness crabs, I was able to go back to the motor home to shower, put on dry clothes, and cook the crab in our kitchen within 30 minutes of pulling it out of the water (best we ever ate!). Try doing all of that with a rental car and a hotel. There are some international trips we want to make at some point, but we're in no rush at all.

Also, my DW and I hate everything about flying (e.g., the price of flights and rental cars, flights being changed, flight schedules being poor, TSA, my DW's fear of flying, my motion sickness). There are some international trips we want to make, but we're in no hurry at all to take them.
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vested1
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by vested1 »

My wife and I retired 5.5 years ago and I can truthfully say we're just as busy, perhaps even more so during the pandemic than before it. There is never enough time in the day. Then again, we're always looking for a new adventure, or more accurately, try to treat every landmark experience like a new one. We have different passions, although some intersect. Our "secret" is a well developed independence, which we both value tremendously, both from expectations placed on us by others, and those that occasionally crop up between us.

We were never focused on travel for satisfaction however, although we always enjoy our trips, so the pandemic had little effect in that regard. We miss our Hawaiian trips, but have faith that those restrictions will pass soon. We still get a lot of visitors, and although conscientious in our precautions, don't fixate on the pandemic enough that it controls our lives. We are fully vaccinated as is everyone who is allowed into our home.

In my opinion, for what that's worth, any number of excuses can be used to delay retirement. The most common, once financially able to do so, is boredom, which I've never understood. Like many other things, defeating boredom is a personal responsibility, and blaming its existence, or fear of its existence on anyone or any thing other than oneself is a fool's errand and a failure to use one's imagination.

The world is not responsible for entertaining you, and if you're waiting around for that to happen you will be disappointed in the outcome. Waiting for the pandemic to end in order to enter the next phase of life is a waste of valuable time.
MikeG62
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by MikeG62 »

I retired in 2016 and my DW and I had been very busy living our retired lives, which included considerable travel (our plans had us sleeping away from home around 50-60 nights per year). Not only does the travel involve time, but planning for 7-8 trips per year takes almost as much or more time. So very busy with that and again just enjoying our lives. Then the pandemic hit and we shut down all travel and pretty much stayed home for most of 2020. I told friends if I knew I was retiring into that I would have continued to work. Then we got vaccinated in 2021 and have resumed San increasing level of travel as well as doing the things we enjoyed doing prior to 2020. Although our lives are not back to the way they were pre-2020, it’s a dramatic improvement over last year. We’ve been on four trips requiring airplane travel and a few others that were more local this year. We are currently on our first international trip (Aruba) since early 2020. If things stay as they are we can manage this. If they got back to 2020 (which I think quite unlikely) then no so much.

So, OP in summary I think you are right to ask the question you have asked. To be clear, it is not all about travel. It’s about having an idea (even a rough idea) of what retirement life will be like for you. How do you envision spending your days. If that seems to gel with the current state of things, then you sound good to go. If not, then rethink the timing. The rub is no one knows what the future holds and if/when things will return to the way they were pre-pandemic. So there will always be come risk.

Good luck with the important decision.
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marep
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by marep »

wrongfunds wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 1:21 pm
marep wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:13 pm And we do not like long car rides past 8 hours.
Can you explain this reasoning? What difference does it make if your destination is 8 hours out or 16 hours out? You are retired! You sit in the car as long as you want and NO MORE! Why would you NOT split the 8 hour ride in to 2 day 4 hour ride? It is NOT like you are limited by vacation days and need to travel to destination in one day.
Very true. Being we are going into the third year of this "pandemic" we just might have to bite the bullet at some point. 8 hours in one day to get to a final destination we can do. And 2 / 4 hours we can do. But most places we want to go to are much further than that.

But something like driving from NH to South Dakota - or a cross country drive- is totally out.
punkinhead
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by punkinhead »

marep wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:18 am
Very true. Being we are going into the third year of this "pandemic" we just might have to bite the bullet at some point. 8 hours in one day to get to a final destination we can do. And 2 / 4 hours we can do. But most places we want to go to are much further than that.

But something like driving from NH to South Dakota - or a cross country drive- is totally out.
So take a week to drive from NH to South Dakota. Heck, take two weeks. There's no hurry when you're retired.
Valuethinker
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by Valuethinker »

namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:31 am
Ed 2 wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:21 am If you ready than go . But, I am not going to spoil your plans if you have not noticed we are pretty much going into endemic territory for years. So, if I was you I would ask myself why I am still hesitant.
Thanks. I'm still hesitant primarily (or almost solely) because I want life to feel "normal" again as I venture out to the places (foreign) that I've looked forward to visiting and living in for the past 25 years (or more). If I end up sitting at home most of the time, well, I may as well continue working--or at least it's a tougher call, since I can work from home.

So that's it. Endemic...well, I'm not sure what that means in practical terms. Europe is 70+ percent vaccinated. I'm assuming the vaccines will allow life in heavily vaccinated areas to return to normal sometime in the next year.
With the obvious coda "assuming no new novel variants that are (at least somewhat) vaccine evasive".

We mustn't go into medical details but I will note that new variants have emerged, successively. At least here in the UK.

So we don't know. We really don't. Things are certainly better than 2020 I am not sure they are "back to normal" in any European country.

One problem is your vulnerability is more or less linearly related to your age. So what might be fine for younger people, is not necessarily so for you.

I don't know what the travel insurance situation is if you are hospitalised? Is Covid-19 covered?
marep
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by marep »

punkinhead wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:33 am
marep wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:18 am
Very true. Being we are going into the third year of this "pandemic" we just might have to bite the bullet at some point. 8 hours in one day to get to a final destination we can do. And 2 / 4 hours we can do. But most places we want to go to are much further than that.

But something like driving from NH to South Dakota - or a cross country drive- is totally out.
So take a week to drive from NH to South Dakota. Heck, take two weeks. There's no hurry when you're retired.

It's just not for us. Driving for a week or two to get to a destination and then getting there and driving constantly to sight see and then having to drive back home. No thanks.Too much driving and sitting in a car. Don't have the patience for that. I like to get to where we are going to and then driving out from there to see the sights and do things.
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JDCarpenter
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Re: Retiring during a pandemic

Post by JDCarpenter »

namajones wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:12 am ...
If you've retired or are expecting to retire during this pandemic (and who knows how long it will last), what has been your thought process or experience?

Thanks.
This is longer than I anticipated, but seems responsive...

We retired August 1, 2017, to travel. Through March 2020, we were traveling ~6 months of the year, about 50/50 international/domestic. Then, we didn't travel for 6-8 weeks right after mid-March, 2020. Adjusting to pandemic, our travel in 2020 was about 5.5 months, and majority was domestic, including long Alaska summer trip (only one international dive trip in second half of year). But, US destinations started getting crowded....

So in 2021, we had over 5 months international/puerto_rico and only a few little domestic trips (northern lights in Fairbanks, and family/friends stuff). Some amazing trips with small to no crowds even in popular UNESCO world heritage sites. (Petra, pyramids, valley of kings, etc)

This year, we were home 6 days in January, otherwise traveling internationally until end of this month. End of the year is still in flux, but we still see international travel as better than domestic for now--just a matter of where.

Thought process: 1. we aren't getting younger (62/61), and a trip delayed will equate to that or some other trip never being taken. 2. We are MUCH more spur of moment now than pre-covid. "Who will let us in within 30 days that isn't too constrained internally?" 3. Gosh, no one is traveling, so there are good deals and few crowds (getting less true)
Our personal blog (no ads) of why we saved/invested: https://www.lisajtravels.com/
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