Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Add me to the list of those pushed out within a month of my 50th birthday. I'll never get close to making that kind of money again.

Sorry . . . what industry?

Anonymous wrote:Add me to the list of those pushed out within a month of my 50th birthday. I'll never get close to making that kind of money again.

Anonymous wrote:Because I don't want to be a greeter at Walmart when I'm 80.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people here obsessed about saving for retirement?
I do save for the future but not aggressively. I do not max my 401k.
I am not concerned about retirement because I plan to work well into my 70s possibly 80s if still alive.

Retirement is for blue collar workers and poor people. These blue collar jobs are often unpleasant, they take a toll on the body and require a
physical fitness that workers no longer have as they age. It makes perfect sense to call it quit and retire.

White collar don't often face the same situation. They even get wiser and better with age. Why retire if you love what you are doing?

Most successful people I know are not thinking about retiring. You find a lot of old men and women at the top of the business, corporate and
political pyramid in our society. They are still working.

I know my perspective might be unique here. I'm a research scientist. Maybe I'm a crazy scientist?

I am also a research scientist. I enjoy what I do. The pace can be frantic at times. And I absolutely plan to retire. Why? Well, right now, the work I do -- the research -- is geared to what others want/need. It is very applied. I am taking my science and building algorithms that with work within the customers constraints. That is what I have to do to get paid. I would like to do some more basic research (6.1 or 6.2 instead of 6.4 in terms of DoD funding guidelines). But, I know I can not get paid what I am making to do that.

I am currently 55 and have just over 1 mil in my 401K. I am looking to work to at least when my child finishes college, in 6 years. I figure I should have closer to 2 mil; my house will be paid for and worth close to 800K. Sell it, move to an area where I can continue working (central Florida) at a lower level of effort (and lower salary) to cover expenses while transitioning to retirement. Full retirement will begin when Medicare is available.

You’ll have to be putting away at lest $75k/year (which is over the 401k limit) and hope for at least 6% per year to go from 1 million to 2 million in 6 years. Last year was great but I’m negative YTD so 6% is pretty optimistic

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the PPs above. When people go on about - oh it’s only lazy bums retiring at 65, I think they forget industries vary. If you’re a tenured professor or a govt paper pusher with a lifetime job or in some field that ends up being so high demand at 65 that you can work until you choose to quit, great. Don’t save. For many others out there including in fields that are always pushed in these boards like STEM, push outs at 50 or 55 are very real; lots of law firms are also now super strict with their retirement at 65 clauses. And while everyone says, so what go hang a shingle - let’s be real in fields like engineering and law the majority of the million dollar projects/cases you worked on for 30 yrs aren’t going to solo practitioners - with your own firm started at 50 or 65 you easily could be taking a huge cut from your salaried job bc of lack of business and costs like healthcare. I’ve seen one mechanical engineer after the next laid off in their 50s or early 60s. And frankly even in regular “business” jobs, the threat of layoff just increases as you get older and higher prices for the company. So if working until 80 is guaranteed for you, great. But realistically everyone should think thru what happens if there’s a “forced retirement” earlier than planned.

Meh. Expert witness testimony is a lucrative field for retired white collar workers. We just had one who is 80 years old. The firm puts them up, pays for food and travel, and they often charge $$ per hour. No need to stress about hanging your own shingle at 50.

You will have exactly 0 expert witness testimony in IT fields at 80. A guy who is 60 was just pushed out at my company. His brain simply can no longer work fast enough. Management found an excuse. I hear so many people say "so and so just needs to give it up".

Always think it’s interesting when the 30 or 45 year olds say that - that joe should give it up - as I always think, you wait buddy your turns gonna come sinner than you think. When I hear a 22 yr old say that it’s more “excuseable” bc they can’t even fathom being 40 let alone 60.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the PPs above. When people go on about - oh it’s only lazy bums retiring at 65, I think they forget industries vary. If you’re a tenured professor or a govt paper pusher with a lifetime job or in some field that ends up being so high demand at 65 that you can work until you choose to quit, great. Don’t save. For many others out there including in fields that are always pushed in these boards like STEM, push outs at 50 or 55 are very real; lots of law firms are also now super strict with their retirement at 65 clauses. And while everyone says, so what go hang a shingle - let’s be real in fields like engineering and law the majority of the million dollar projects/cases you worked on for 30 yrs aren’t going to solo practitioners - with your own firm started at 50 or 65 you easily could be taking a huge cut from your salaried job bc of lack of business and costs like healthcare. I’ve seen one mechanical engineer after the next laid off in their 50s or early 60s. And frankly even in regular “business” jobs, the threat of layoff just increases as you get older and higher prices for the company. So if working until 80 is guaranteed for you, great. But realistically everyone should think thru what happens if there’s a “forced retirement” earlier than planned.

Meh. Expert witness testimony is a lucrative field for retired white collar workers. We just had one who is 80 years old. The firm puts them up, pays for food and travel, and they often charge $$ per hour. No need to stress about hanging your own shingle at 50.

You will have exactly 0 expert witness testimony in IT fields at 80. A guy who is 60 was just pushed out at my company. His brain simply can no longer work fast enough. Management found an excuse. I hear so many people say "so and so just needs to give it up".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the PPs above. When people go on about - oh it’s only lazy bums retiring at 65, I think they forget industries vary. If you’re a tenured professor or a govt paper pusher with a lifetime job or in some field that ends up being so high demand at 65 that you can work until you choose to quit, great. Don’t save. For many others out there including in fields that are always pushed in these boards like STEM, push outs at 50 or 55 are very real; lots of law firms are also now super strict with their retirement at 65 clauses. And while everyone says, so what go hang a shingle - let’s be real in fields like engineering and law the majority of the million dollar projects/cases you worked on for 30 yrs aren’t going to solo practitioners - with your own firm started at 50 or 65 you easily could be taking a huge cut from your salaried job bc of lack of business and costs like healthcare. I’ve seen one mechanical engineer after the next laid off in their 50s or early 60s. And frankly even in regular “business” jobs, the threat of layoff just increases as you get older and higher prices for the company. So if working until 80 is guaranteed for you, great. But realistically everyone should think thru what happens if there’s a “forced retirement” earlier than planned.

Meh. Expert witness testimony is a lucrative field for retired white collar workers. We just had one who is 80 years old. The firm puts them up, pays for food and travel, and they often charge $$ per hour. No need to stress about hanging your own shingle at 50.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people here obsessed about saving for retirement?
I do save for the future but not aggressively. I do not max my 401k.
I am not concerned about retirement because I plan to work well into my 70s possibly 80s if still alive.

Retirement is for blue collar workers and poor people. These blue collar jobs are often unpleasant, they take a toll on the body and require a
physical fitness that workers no longer have as they age. It makes perfect sense to call it quit and retire.

White collar don't often face the same situation. They even get wiser and better with age. Why retire if you love what you are doing?

Most successful people I know are not thinking about retiring. You find a lot of old men and women at the top of the business, corporate and
political pyramid in our society. They are still working.

I know my perspective might be unique here. I'm a research scientist. Maybe I'm a crazy scientist?

Good for you? Some of us are in white collar industries where being pushed out at 50 or 55 is very common and also common to then never land a professional salary again. That’s why I’m personally front loading retirement savings. No guarantee you can work to 70 in my field even if you want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people here obsessed about saving for retirement?
I do save for the future but not aggressively. I do not max my 401k.
I am not concerned about retirement because I plan to work well into my 70s possibly 80s if still alive.

Retirement is for blue collar workers and poor people. These blue collar jobs are often unpleasant, they take a toll on the body and require a
physical fitness that workers no longer have as they age. It makes perfect sense to call it quit and retire.

White collar don't often face the same situation. They even get wiser and better with age. Why retire if you love what you are doing?

Most successful people I know are not thinking about retiring. You find a lot of old men and women at the top of the business, corporate and
political pyramid in our society. They are still working.

I know my perspective might be unique here. I'm a research scientist. Maybe I'm a crazy scientist?

I am also a research scientist. I enjoy what I do. The pace can be frantic at times. And I absolutely plan to retire. Why? Well, right now, the work I do -- the research -- is geared to what others want/need. It is very applied. I am taking my science and building algorithms that with work within the customers constraints. That is what I have to do to get paid. I would like to do some more basic research (6.1 or 6.2 instead of 6.4 in terms of DoD funding guidelines). But, I know I can not get paid what I am making to do that.

I am currently 55 and have just over 1 mil in my 401K. I am looking to work to at least when my child finishes college, in 6 years. I figure I should have closer to 2 mil; my house will be paid for and worth close to 800K. Sell it, move to an area where I can continue working (central Florida) at a lower level of effort (and lower salary) to cover expenses while transitioning to retirement. Full retirement will begin when Medicare is available.