My answers:
Originally posted by: wje
Age: 39
Plan: Now
Best case: Now
Worst case: 65
Planned: No. I received a severance package from my previous employer. I'm only 'so-so' looking for work at the moment. Living freely and doing what I want to do during the day has been wonderful.
My days basically consist of:
- Taking career classes
- Volunteering in my community or my daughter's school
- Reading
- Looking for a potential employer that can use all of my skills
- Networking with former co-workers
- Lunch with friends
- More family time: board games, bike riding with my daughter, etc.
- More home projects: ceramic tile on the kitchen floor, refinishing the Cherry cabinets, mouldings, woodworking, etc.
- Talking politics with associates at my work/search office
- Dressing as I choose when I'm around the neighborhood and walking my daughter to the bus stop.
Can I truly retire now? Not really. However, I can take the next 6 or 10 months to freely mold what I want to do. My mortgage payment is smaller than most apartment rentals in my area. I don't need a corporate job to survive. Actually, corporate life sucks - and it took me 17 years to figure it out. After leaving the company and getting my skills/salary profiled, I was underpaid by about $10K per year.
Life is good ... for now.
Don't have kids yet, but i expect them to be done with school ataound 52. I hope. Actually, my planning shows that even if they are in college at the time that I can retire. It's even a fairl conservative plan!
If this is the case there must be other jobs that can stimulate you a little better... or have I just lost it?Considering that working for someone else sucks, of course we're all ready to leave at any given moment. Companies don't make life pleasant for their workers anymore. No, I'm not talking about luxuries. However, I am talking about their lack of focus, lack of ethics and many other issues that exist within companies today. 20 years ago, it used to be an honor to work for a large corporation. Today, the perception has completely changed. For the most part, people are underpaid and overworked. The stress has zapped whatever energy they would have had. People get home and just turn into blobs on their couch. There is little community participation, little voluteering and little effort on the behalf of parents in paying proper attention to what their children are doing or involved with. Most families have both partents who work just so they can afford a nice house to keep up with (or beat) the Joneses' - oh, and then there's the two SUVs they need to keep parked in their driveways ... and the two jet skis in the garage ... and the ... - you get the picture.Originally posted by: bromer
My god.. most of the people in this thread are going to retire soon.. why it that... begin out in the working world should be funny, it shoudn't be a place where you just think about getting the hell out of there
Originally posted by: wje
Considering that working for someone else sucks, of course we're all ready to leave at any given moment. Companies don't make life pleasant for their workers anymore. No, I'm not talking about luxuries. However, I am talking about their lack of focus, lack of ethics and many other issues that exist within companies today. 20 years ago, it used to be an honor to work for a large corporation. Today, the perception has completely changed. For the most part, people are underpaid and overworked. The stress has zapped whatever energy they would have had. People get home and just turn into blobs on their couch. There is little community participation, little voluteering and little effort on the behalf of parents in paying proper attention to what their children are doing or involved with. Most families have both partents who work just so they can afford a nice house to keep up with (or beat) the Joneses' - oh, and then there's the two SUVs they need to keep parked in their driveways ... and the two jet skis in the garage ... and the ... - you get the picture.Originally posted by: bromer
My god.. most of the people in this thread are going to retire soon.. why it that... begin out in the working world should be funny, it shoudn't be a place where you just think about getting the hell out of there
People's lives need to change. People can't progress with living in the current situations they are in. I'm not completely blaming the corporations for all of this - just some of it. The rest of the blame can go with the employees themselves. They push themselves harder to make more money to afford more material things. People in this mode are not thinking about retiring early. However, it would be an very valid option if they could sacrifice themselves by living in a bit smaller house, not having the latest and greatest vehicles, not having the jet skis that they only use three times each Summer, etc.
Please correct me if I'm wrong 
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