WOW.  

Yes fictional, but still bloody scary stuff.

JayDee wrote:

---

WOW.  

Yes fictional, but still bloody scary stuff.

 

Sorry guys,

But with my lack of computer skills, the attachment that I was going to send, I had to delete, as it showed my friends email address etc, sorry re this error.

Would have been a security issue for me and them.

Jay&Dee

-- Edited by JayDee on Friday 12th of July 2019 08:34:39 AM

---

2foot6 wrote:

---

I think the last ten years have been scary.........Peter

---

 I reckon that they've been pretty good.

10 years ago I was 58 & working full time, now I'm 68 & have been retired for 8 fantastic years.

Olive Oil wrote:

---

2foot6 wrote:

---

I think the last ten years have been scary.........Peter

---

 I reckon that they've been pretty good.

10 years ago I was 58 & working full time, now I'm 68 & have been retired for 8 fantastic years.

---

 I too retired at 58 but have had 20 years of wonderful retirement ..  Only 20 more to go.

sandgrooper1 wrote:

---

Hi Cupie and Olive Oil,

Did you find 58 a good age to retire? Would you recommend it or not if it was financially possible?

My wife and I are getting closer to that age and considering our future moves.

Thanks AL

---

 Absolutely the best decision of my working life.

I had always planned to retire at 55 but it took me a few years after that to 'arrange' a redundancy package.

At time of retirement I was still coming to work with a smile on my dial, but I could see the storm clouds gathering over many of the things that I enjoyed (like expense accounts, company car, et al). 

There was also the distinct possibility of an interstate posting.  Although financially attractive the thought of having to uproot  & move to Sydney at my time of life was certainly very unwanted.  More & more was expected every year but without accompanying remuneration increases. 

Had I stayed on, I believe that the tremendous stress would have taken years off my life.  At the time I was working standard hours of 7am to 5pm then 8pm to 11pm in the evening and at least one day every weekend.  No O/T of course. I had offices & large work groups in Brisbane & WA and had to go over to WA at least every 5 weeks leaving Saturday & returning Thursday managing them remotely in the interim. (I never got extra pay for doing what was really two jobs over a number of years). As well, there were many interstate conferences & workshops.  All the time I was dealing with continual re organisations, trying to ensure that there was a role for my people in whatever the new structure entailed as well as delivering continual productivity & quality improvements.

You ask me was it a good idea to retire early!

At 58 my health was still very good & mind still quite active allowing us to do many of the things that we had not been able during an all consuming working life.  Looking back, I like many others, invested too much time in the Company at the expense of My Family, personal wealth & health. 

But it was good fun & I enjoyed my working life, but retirement is better even though at first, I used to miss my views being sought & listened to.  From a rooster to a plucked chook.  But at least I chose my time of leaving & with no regrets.  I saw well respected colleagues come to work for a normal day only to be escorted off the premises that afternoon .. forced redundancy!  Not a nice way to go after a lifetime of service.

At least our finances are holding out, even after 20 years and despite the  WTC, GFC and bloody Trump and his ilk.  Compulsory employer supported superannuation is a wonderful thing.

(I'm sorry for waffling on .. just like a therapy session hey)

Don't retire, you won't have time to do anything. That's what my accountant said.

I'm mid 50s, semi retired a decade ago. Then I decided to become fully retired when the government took my GST number away as they couldn't cope with my irregular income. I got one large job about once year, so I got the message from the government to stop working!

I was always good at saving due infrequent income so I manage quite nicely. If I can't live off my income now I couldn't live off a pension, & I'm not going to get a pension anyway.

I'm always busy & would not know where to find the hours for paid work!

It is easier to save a dollar than earn a dollar.

sandgrooper1 wrote:

---

Hi Cupie and Olive Oil,

Did you find 58 a good age to retire? Would you recommend it or not if it was financially possible?

My wife and I are getting closer to that age and considering our future moves.

Thanks AL

---

 In our opinion 60 is the ideal age to retire.

You don't pay tax on your super income stream after you reach 60.

You're more likely to be fit & healthy.

If you live on a modest super income until you qualify for a part aged pension at around 65+ you're laughing.

Then drop your super income stream down to a lower rate so that it lasts longer. Too easy.    

Another tip is to ease into retirement slowly.

If you can in the lead up reduce your working time & if possible set up a part time / consulting / contracting opportunity. The optimum arrangement is one that can be ramped up towards full time if the need arises.

I my case I was in an extremely busy job that was all consuming.  To manage the change to retirement, I agreed on an exit date some 3 months further on.  I assisted in selecting my replacement & training that person ( first week she sat behind me and observed, the next week we reversed roles & I watched over her. Finally I removed myself to another location but was available for advice / consultation).

I changed from suits to casual clothes, gradually varied my attendance hours to mid morning, leaving before the afternoon rush.  I even changed to public transport.  In the final month I reduced the number of days per week that I came in to the office and had long lunches.  In my days at work I had accepted a special project that kept me busy but was not stressful.  I was able to fit in a couple of interstate trips (for conferences & hand offs ..  LOL). That allowed me to say farewell to old colleagues.  We had an old fashioned retirement function that gave me an opportunity to say goodbye to my many work friends.  (& the company paid).  All in all a close to perfect way to end my working life.   Thanks to my bosses & employer!

I had arranged to do a consulting job for a WA Company but in the end they went belly up before it eventuated.

All in all it was a very happy & fortunate end to a career of over 42 years.  I went out with a smile on my dial & haven't regretted the decision one bit.

sandgrooper1 wrote:

---

Hi Cupie,

Thanks for taking time to offer that consideration re retirement.

I am in a occupation which does not allow for the gradual move away from employment, once you are gone that's it. Only thing I can do is use up whatever long service leaves etc that I have available and have the option of returning if needed. At least I can return to work at the expiration of that leave period.
If I can access it at half pay should last for up to a year.

I guess by the time that expires I will know one way or the other if it is a good decision for me to leave. The way I feel at the moment on this topic is that there will be no desicion to have to make, as long as the sums add up.

Cheers AL

---

 Al ..

Be careful with using LSL on half pay.  You should check the type of super scheme you have.  If you have one of the older 'defined benefit' schemes then your super payout is calculated by multiplying your 'Final Average Salary' (FAS) by a factor determined by your years of service.  Perhaps only long serving Public Servants or other Govt employees, Federal & some States, would have these schemes. 

The FAS is 1/3 of the salary that you received in the last 3 years of employment.  So by taking time on half pay, you MAY reduce your FAS  significantly & when multiplied by your factor then it could be a substantial loss.

eg ..  Say salary of $100,00 per year for the 3 years = FAS of $100,000 X multiplier of 9 = Lump sum of $900,000 (usually + your actual contributions plus a nominal interest). 

If you reduced your FAS by around $8,000 (6m 1/2 pay in the 3 year period) x 9 = loss of $72,000.  Almost enough for a new caravan or Tug.  The tactic is to do everything to increase your FAS in the lead up to retirement!

When I left I got 43 years worth of LSL payment in cash at my retirement salary rate (I'm not sure of the taxing rate but seem to recall that it was around 15% .. too long ago to be certain) but I left behind 86 weeks sick leave at half pay & around 80 weeks accumulated full pay sick leave, never having taken much sick leave or any LSL during my 43 years.

If you go to retirement advisors like Aspire Retire they will be able to give advice on the matter.  I went to several in the lead up to my exit & by the end I think that I knew as much about it as they did.  Important that you do the same.  Centre link provide a good unbiased service too.

sandgrooper1 wrote:

---

Hi Cupie,

Point one is correct in terms of how I am affected but am assured they take your final pay rate as if you worked full time.

Certainly I would not do the half pay long service leave option if I were to lose money off my gross income.(FAS).

Currently, I have after 30 years, 60 weeks sick leave accumulated as well which I hope never to have to use.(I see it as an insurance policy if something does go wrong.)

Thanks for your advice.

Cheers AL

---

 In reading this it seemed to me that you are possibly in the Public Service or one of the older once semi Govt entities like Telstra.  If so you might be well advised to consult with your HR people who might be able to advise on such things as - on what date the 'years of service' clock ticks over. To choose a retirement date that counts an additional year's service & accompanying increase in your multiplier might be worthwhile.

There are lots of tweaks that may have an impact on your post employment financial situation.

Do you have a medical condition (even stress) or 'put off' medical interventions, like a wonky knee, that can be attended to while you are still at work.  Get a thorough medical check up and address potential issues that may impact on your post retirement life.  Applies to your partner, if any, too.  You may have to take time off to look after her during recovery. Be careful that you don't have too much time off (get the facts on this from your new pre exit best friends, HR) or the employer may choose to exit you as medically unfit at a time of their choosing.

Don't overlook the possibility of redundancy.  It took me several years to work myself into a redundancy package situation.

Another aspect is ensuring that all of your assets (like home & RV) are in good shape before retiring.  Easier to pay for any work while still earning a wage/salary than when on a pension of any sort.   Work hard to retire any debt like credit cards & personal loans.    A good Financial advisor will walk you through all these things as well as choosing a suitable income/asset protection model.

Hi Cupie,

Yes I am in a semi public service industry, but I am within the public service employment umbrella.

In my occupation there will never be redundancies due to it being a somewhat of a growth industry.

Fortunately I am pretty healthy re medical conditions...from my perspective, the doc seems to think otherwise re weight/blood pressure etc.

HR is basically a faceless entity where I work these days, pretty impersonal as most of us feel we are just numbers.

Will own everything including our home, new van, new tow vehicle, mostly new whitegoods, solar already installed on the house and wife's runaround car before pulling the pin.

I intend to see a financial advisor prior to any changes to see if my retirement model is practical or needing tweaking.

It is always helpful to get others perspectives on these things as a individual/couple we cant think of everything. Those who have gone before us have working knowledge that's valuable in my opinion.

Anyway thanks for taking time to provide your input.

Cheers AL

Note, sorry re hijacking original thread.

Al ..

Sounds like you've got your act together.

(re HR .. A lot of Companies contract out their HR these days & perhaps that's the case with your lot.  Saves costs but is undoubtedly bad for employees, but what's unusual about that in this age of the pursuit of greater profits, executive bonuses & share price value at the expense of workers & all else)

Good health & good luck in your retirement.