[DubaiRich]

I have 360 days until I toss in the towel.

20 years of military, 15 with the Feds...just tired of dealing spoiled, entitled people!

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by DubaiRich

I have 360 days until I toss in the towel.

20 years of military, 15 with the Feds...just tired of dealing spoiled, entitled people!

I always told my wife that the only difference between the FAA & the Navy was I get to wear my own clothes, can quit when I want and get paid much, much, much better.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by DubaiRich

I have 360 days until I toss in the towel.

20 years of military, 15 with the Feds...just tired of dealing spoiled, entitled people!

Reminds me of my Army days.

At 99 days, we were a “2 digit fidget.”

At 30 days, we started saying, “Short!”

The day before, “One day and a wakeup.”

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Reminds me of my Army days.

At 99 days, we were a “2 digit fidget.”

At 30 days, we started saying, “Short!”

The day before, “One day and a wakeup.”

We (OSes) sectioned-off this and used it for our short-timers calendars...



I can't remember how many days it covered.

[demas]

End of 2023 managed a great sev package from JPM where I was for 25 years - prior to that worked as a GS-12 civilian doing tech work for APAC DoD.


I don’t miss the corporate life but look back periodically on all the fun and regulatory headaches etc. It’s a good feeling of achievement with no regrets.


Passively, doing realestate with the Navy here in Yokosuka and the other branches in Okinawa.


Safeguarding wealth management, maximizing tax savings is almost a full time job - on top of that maintaining 2 older (but worth it) BMW’s - it’s almost full time work…

[bucketfoot]

Our current plans are to retire at the end of 2026 or maybe wait for 2027 bonuses.

Financially we are good to retire at any time, but are mainly just waiting for me to hit 65 next May and be Medicare eligible so that we only have to fully pay for medical out of pocket for one of us.

I'm pretty happy in my job and very much enjoy my paycheck, but I'm definitely ready and have to admit that I'm leaning more and more towards retiring closer to my birthday

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by MassWholeBimmer

Not to turn this into a "Im still working thread", but...Been with my company for 44 years this September as an Engineering manager. Just turned 65 last year and still work. My boss is great, love the job, and best point is I work from home. Told the boss no more traveling, and to put/keep me on legacy projects.. I don't want to be on a project where the design won't hit production for years..

I get 6 weeks vacation, plus 14 holidays and I buy a week of vacation... Life is still good...

Kinda same here. Been self employed for he past like 10 years and honestly I feel like I'm basically retired. Everything I do is online with maybe 7-9 days out of the year where I attend some events in person. Even then it's like an hour max I'm at those events. I work whatever hours I want and most days I barely have an hour worth of work.

First couple of years we traveled around the country with our RV. As long as I could get a cell signal we were fine.

Honestly as long as I can keep this gig going I will "work" forever. That being said I'm saving up like crazy, because if/when the shit hit's the fan I'm done. I'll be retiring for real because I can't even imagine going back to a 9-5.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by bucketfoot

Our current plans are to retire at the end of 2026 or maybe wait for 2027 bonuses.

Financially we are good to retire at any time, but are mainly just waiting for me to hit 65 next May and be Medicare eligible so that we only have to fully pay for medical out of pocket for one of us.

I'm pretty happy in my job and very much enjoy my paycheck, but I'm definitely ready and have to admit that I'm leaning more and more towards retiring closer to my birthday

Learn about Medicare and IRMAA costs before making the retirement decision. If you retire at 65 or older and file for Medicare, they will look at your most recent income to determine the IRMAA, and being work income you are likely to get a significant adder to pay. You can appeal this by demonstrating a change in circumstances (retirement, no more job income) but be careful about retiring one year and receiving a payout the next or similar changes - you’ll be regularly filing IRMAA appeals.

FYI it is most productive to do this at the SS office near you, not online, as of today. Hopefully that changes soon. (I filed online in Dec 24, called monthly for updates “being processed” and finally went in to the office in May, they never had it, then found it, etc. Got it straightened out and they still owe me almost $2k for IRMAA overcharges)

[SpeedBuggy]

Originally Posted by SpeedBuggy

Just turned in my retirement date with the company I work for. Going out on December 30th. I was originally going to go on October 2nd which is my 69th birthday.

Company asked that I stay on to train new sales person replacing me.

Do have mixed emotions about retiring, been in this busines/profession for 50 years, 40 of it as a sales/ account manager. Developed a lot of customers and relationships over the years, hard to leave that behind.

Trying to finish up a couple of house projects before I retire (two new decks, interior paint and carpeting) and then the wife and I can relax a little bit. We will be baby sitting grand kids part of the time also, which we enjoy.

Looking forward to a new chapter in my life, wife has been retired 4 years now, I'm sure I'm going to have to learn a new routine ( her's &#129315

Well, four months to go...........

Interior painting finished. All new face plates on switches and plugs.

Getting ready to start pulling up old carpeting in anticipation for new carpet. Carpet folks due in the last week of September which hopefully gives me enough time to get old carpeting up and tighten up the underlayment prior to install.
Hopefully deck contractor in the end of October.

[SpeedBuggy]

Well. Two days left to work, the 29th and 30th and new chapter starts.

Last of the major house projects finished, (new carpet, living room furniture and decks completed), so now off to finish some smaller projects and enjoy the grand kids all while driving my poor wife crazy.

Reality is starting to set in though, but I am sure looking forward to retirement.

As one other acquaintance said to me recently, every day is Saturday 🤣

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by SpeedBuggy

Well. Two days left to work, the 29th and 30th and new chapter starts.

Last of the major house projects finished, (new carpet, living room furniture and decks completed), so now off to finish some smaller projects and enjoy the grand kids all while driving my poor wife crazy.

Reality is starting to set in though, but I am sure looking forward to retirement.

As one other acquaintance said to me recently, every day is Saturday 🤣

After my double bypass the nurse was giving me the neurological question test. She asked me what day it was and I got it wrong (I went in late Saturday night, had an angiogram before noon on Sunday and right into surgery immediately after the angiogram, so logically I thought it was still Sunday); I thought it was still Sunday, yet it was actually Monday. Then she asked me if I knew where I was, so I started reading the status board behind her. I told her I cold still read, and as for the day, I said I was retired and barely knew the month, let alone the day of the week!

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Learn about Medicare and IRMAA costs before making the retirement decision. If you retire at 65 or older and file for Medicare, they will look at your most recent income to determine the IRMAA, and being work income you are likely to get a significant adder to pay. You can appeal this by demonstrating a change in circumstances (retirement, no more job income) but be careful about retiring one year and receiving a payout the next or similar changes - you’ll be regularly filing IRMAA appeals.

FYI it is most productive to do this at the SS office near you, not online, as of today. Hopefully that changes soon. (I filed online in Dec 24, called monthly for updates “being processed” and finally went in to the office in May, they never had it, then found it, etc. Got it straightened out and they still owe me almost $2k for IRMAA overcharges)

A bit late with my response but yeah second your advice.

I was laid off in March 2020. My income went to $0. Well, I had worked until March 30 and had considerable unused sick leave and vacation time on the books so my last paycheck was quite big. And as is my habit I had considerable savings not in tax deferred accounts. So even with no salary money was not a problem.

I had one month's health insurance as a "parting gift" from my employer. So I signed up for Medicare Part B and Part D ASAP.

Based on my income in 2018 Medicare was going to charge me I think double the Part B and Part D premiums. I filed an appeal. And was successful. Big sigh of relief.

Oh as requested I sent in originals of all the paperwork to back up my appeal and while it was stated I'd get these back I never did.

By August of 2020 I was out of CA and living in AR. In October I started SSA benefits. This covered all my expenses so I could stop tapping my savings.

Then late in 2020 I was informed due to my income in 2019 I was going to be subject to IRMAA. While I could file an appeal I didn't have the originals back from Medicare. I had made back ups.

But I did what I could. I wrote a letter to SSA -- in early January 2021 -- accompanied by copies of the copies I had made of the supporting documents I submitted for the first appeal and rather promptly I heard back that I would not be subject to IRMAA for 2021 as my income was still under the IRMAA threshold.

Whew!

Income was still low in 2022 and 2023. But 2024... RMDs were taken. Income shot up. A lot. Checked my SSA statement several times. Income for 2024 NA...

Then just a month or so back I received a letter from SSA/Medicare I was subject to IRMAA starting in 2026 due to my income in 2024 and my Part B premium would go from around $190/month to over $500/month. Likewise my Part D premium which to Medicare had been $0 would rise to $60/month.

(I'll add this was quite a "shock" as for the last 17 years of employment as part of my compensation package my employer paid all my health, drug, eye care, and dental care insurance premiums.)

Got online and checked my SSA statement. Sure enough the income field for 2024 was filled out and it agreed with my AGI amount on my 2024 tax return.

Nothing I can do about this. I have to take the RMDs.

Sure one can do a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) directing some of the RMD money to a charity. But I'd have to donate tens of thousands of dollars to eliminate about $5000/year in IRMAA. While I plan on making a couple of QCDs from my tax deferred accounts in January 2026 they won't be enough to affect my IRMAA premium increases.

[M_Six]

When it's too cold to do anything outside, retired IT geeks do things like install Lubuntu (Linux) on Wifey's 15 year old MacBook Air. It's surprisingly fast. Boots up in under 30 seconds and works as well as any Chromebook.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M_Six

When it's too cold to do anything outside, retired IT geeks do things like install Lubuntu (Linux) on Wifey's 15 year old MacBook Air. It's surprisingly fast. Boots up in under 30 seconds and works as well as any Chromebook.

That's old. My last MacBook Pro was purchased in 2014 and I bought a replacement, another MacBook Pro, in 2024. Everything was failing on that old girl; needed to be retired. So I had to put her in the Retired Folks Thread.

[demas]

Originally Posted by M_Six

When it's too cold to do anything outside, retired IT geeks do things like install Lubuntu (Linux) on Wifey's 15 year old MacBook Air. It's surprisingly fast. Boots up in under 30 seconds and works as well as any Chromebook.

Attachment 3896724

Excellent.

After playing with countless distro’s I’m pretty set with Q4OS with KDE plasma desktop.


Broke free from Windows 20 years ago and never looked back. Wife on Linux these days but took a while to convince her.

[Velvet Fog]

Called it a career last June at 64. I'd had some kind of job since I was in my teens with the last 25 years in applications sales at Oracle.

Working on my golf game, volunteering and traveling take all my time now. My wife got me these business cards for my new career.

[swcrow]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Reminds me of my Army days.

At 99 days, we were a “2 digit fidget.”

At 30 days, we started saying, “Short!”

The day before, “One day and a wakeup.”

This was me in 2ID in Korea....good times


8 years Army
12 years DoD contracting
8 years DA civ

no where near retirement, but I'm tracking more and more the sweet spot as to when I can. Thinking early retirement from federal and go back to DoD contracting until I can draw at ....63? Just not sure.

It's so hard to find someone to give straight answers on how/when someone can retire from fed.....like pulling teeth

[Vindicator3]

Originally Posted by Velvet Fog

My wife got me these business cards for my new career.

My buddy's wife got him business cards that say "Full Time Hobbyist"

[UncleWede]

Did I mention you're all BANNED!!!!???????

grumble grumble still working grumble

[Watching The World Burn]

Yeah, I've got at least 16 years left (assuming health is not a concern), so I'm just not going to look very much at this thread - I'll only become bitter for the next 15.99 years.

Truthfully, I don't even know if we'll be able to retire in 16 years - that's just the goal. Freedom 60.

[c210rg]

Retired in November at 68. Spent 32 years in broadcast TV as an engineer. Then spent the last 18 years working on aircraft. Mostly custom builds, my favorite was wiring avionics. But working in the cold in winter, and the hot in the summer in old drafty hangers takes it's toll.

I have plenty to do, live on 6 acres in an old house! Some days it's hard to get started and motivated, it's weird, you get lost without proper direction. Hopefully I will figure it all out. Wife still works, and it's remote now, so she's home which is nice.

Have my youngest son's 328i to work on. He bought it cheap and it's a mess. Well at least that's a direction.

Best of luck to all who have worked for so long.

[mmarsalone]

I retired at 60 back at the beginning of September. So I'm five months in now. I hadn't figured out my daily routine. My wife still works, so I run errands a lot.