The Countdown to Retirement

[kstrong]

Ken, Do you enjoy working at the University? Is working preventing you from doing the things you enjoy? I had to ask myself those 2 questions. I am fortunate to enjoy my work and it still allows me to enjoy the fun things in my life. However, I would like to take a couple months off to drive my Shelby to events across the US.

Hi Rob. I do like working at the University. I love doing the work I do. I get do use my brain, use my hands, and corrupt young minds.

We make ideas happen. :happy feet: Order tons of parts, know about tons of things. Workload can be insane at times but we manage.

I earned 5 weeks vacation a year, plus 8 stat holidays, plus 7 of the 10 days of Christmas off, (Dec 25 to Jan 2 this year).

I can take time off in the summer but don't have the funds to do it yet. Being a single parent for the last 10 years has been a bit costly.

Things will get better, I just have to be patient.

 

Oh, I do use a few vacation days up in the winter. If the roads are real bad, too much snow, I email in and burn a vacation day.

[HARALD KELLEY]

While I am retiring on Dec 27th. I will most likely be re-hired for a short two months or less as the interim chief until the new person gets on board mid January or maybe early February. Cannot believe 32 years have gone by. Still remember my very first call I went to as a paid firefighter. I loved my career and always will. But there comes the time to pass the torch.

 

I do have to say get out when you still have your health so you can enjoy that chapter. A family member went to the hospital because he was feeling under the weather. Before we knew it he was in surgery getting cancer removed. This was last week and now he just had a second surgery yesterday. Only 50 years old and will not be home for Thanksgiving. A city manager told me once, there is life after work. All that said, cherish life.

Edited November 27, 2014 by H0050

[Bill Hamilton]

While I am retiring on Dec 27th. I will most likely be re-hired for a short two months or less as the interim chief until the new person gets on board mid January or maybe early February. Cannot believe 32 years have gone by. Still remember my very first call I went to as a paid firefighter. I loved my career and always will. But there comes the time to pass the torch.

 

I do have to say get out when you still have your health so you can enjoy that chapter. A family member went to the hospital because he was feeling under the weather. Before we knew it he was in surgery getting cancer removed. This was last week and now he just had a second surgery yesterday. Only 50 years old and will not be home for Thanksgiving. A city manager told me once, there is life after work. All that said, cherish life.

 

That was great advice from the City Manager. Enjoy your retirement. The first six months are the roughest. You feel "guilty" at first about not going to work everyday but you start to enjoy the time and find other things to do after awhile. At some point you'll be as busy as you were when you were working (LOL). Enjoy

[regalt87]

I can go in 11 1/2 months but not sure if I will yet.

Ya that post was march of 2010. Wow how things change. Had a brutal and costly divorce Where my Ex or 23 years had a discreet affair. So nice of her.

So I had to keep working. No mustangs in my barn. Made sense to keep the 2012 F150 and sell the Boss. But I kept the shop and the house. Today I have 15 months to go as I have to leave at the end of my 60 month DROP. Hard telling what I will do after that. Have been selling a few boats on the side over the last few years, so you never know.

Dated a multi millionare for a while. Cute too. Broke up with her and all my friends thought I was nuts. It's not about the money.

Been dating a really great girl and we have become really close friends. Hmmm, Smoken hot too. And she has money, great job and retirement too. Again it's not about the money but stability and good decisions have a lot to do with who they are. Like my EX, there are so many freeloaders out there.

Will I ever get married again??

Oh hell NO. Even with a well written Pre Nup, you can still spend thousands getting divorced as many family law Attorneys will still try and run the tab up.

To sum it up, sometimes people change, and not for the good. Sometimes we get knocked down but ya gotta get back up, dust off and move forward. There's always someone out there who is worse off.

Life's good. :-)

[MY500SS]

Ya that post was march of 2010. Wow how things change. Had a brutal and costly divorce Where my Ex or 23 years had a discreet affair. So nice of her.

So I had to keep working. No mustangs in my barn. Made sense to keep the 2012 F150 and sell the Boss. But I kept the shop and the house. Today I have 15 months to go as I have to leave at the end of my 60 month DROP. Hard telling what I will do after that. Have been selling a few boats on the side over the last few years, so you never know.

Dated a multi millionare for a while. Cute too. Broke up with her and all my friends thought I was nuts. It's not about the money.

Been dating a really great girl and we have become really close friends. Hmmm, Smoken hot too. And she has money, great job and retirement too. Again it's not about the money but stability and good decisions have a lot to do with who they are. Like my EX, there are so many freeloaders out there.

Will I ever get married again??

Oh hell NO. Even with a well written Pre Nup, you can still spend thousands getting divorced as many family law Attorneys will still try and run the tab up.

To sum it up, sometimes people change, and not for the good. Sometimes we get knocked down but ya gotta get back up, dust off and move forward. There's always someone out there who is worse off.

Life's good. :-)

 

Sorry to hear this 87 but I admire your attitude.

[Grabber]

Sheesh 87,

 

That totally stinks. I hope the girl your with now brings you happiness. A good women is hard to find. Keep your new goal intact and strive for it.

[MY500SS]

Sheesh 87,

 

That totally stinks. I hope the girl your with now brings you happiness. A good women is hard to find. Keep your new goal intact and strive for it.

 

Well said Rob.

[Grabber]

New target date: July 1st, 2015

[twobjshelbys]

What's magical about that date?

[MY500SS]

New target date: July 1st, 2015

 

Sounds like a fantastic way to start the 3rd quarter

[HARALD KELLEY]

Ya that post was march of 2010. Wow how things change. Had a brutal and costly divorce Where my Ex or 23 years had a discreet affair. So nice of her.

So I had to keep working. No mustangs in my barn. Made sense to keep the 2012 F150 and sell the Boss. But I kept the shop and the house. Today I have 15 months to go as I have to leave at the end of my 60 month DROP. Hard telling what I will do after that. Have been selling a few boats on the side over the last few years, so you never know.

Dated a multi millionare for a while. Cute too. Broke up with her and all my friends thought I was nuts. It's not about the money.

Been dating a really great girl and we have become really close friends. Hmmm, Smoken hot too. And she has money, great job and retirement too. Again it's not about the money but stability and good decisions have a lot to do with who they are. Like my EX, there are so many freeloaders out there.

Will I ever get married again??

Oh hell NO. Even with a well written Pre Nup, you can still spend thousands getting divorced as many family law Attorneys will still try and run the tab up.

To sum it up, sometimes people change, and not for the good. Sometimes we get knocked down but ya gotta get back up, dust off and move forward. There's always someone out there who is worse off.

Life's good. :-)

Love the attitude. Its the only thing we can really fully control.

[Grabber]

What's magical about that date?

My pension contribution year ends June 30th. This would give me a bigger monthly benefit amount on my monthly Pension check if I work the entire pension year. It also then kicks off a new year July 1st to June 30th which I am allowed to work 480 hours (3 months) during that time period every year and double dip. I plan on working part time in my trade, 480 hours a year for a while.

[HARALD KELLEY]

Today is my last day. I will return as the interim chief for about 60 days or less. Hopefully an offer will be made shortly after Jan 20th to the new person. Wholly toledo where has the time gone. Now the new chapter begins, "turn the page".

[JeffJ]

Congrats Harald!

[Blown Away]

Congrats Harald!!!

 

Dan

[Cali_KR]

Today is my last day. I will return as the interim chief for about 60 days or less. Hopefully an offer will be made shortly after Jan 20th to the new person. Wholly toledo where has the time gone. Now the new chapter begins, "turn the page".

 

Now thats what I call a Christmas present....

 

Congrats, no go shred the tires off of that "H"

 

Tom

[Grabber]

Today is my last day. I will return as the interim chief for about 60 days or less. Hopefully an offer will be made shortly after Jan 20th to the new person. Wholly toledo where has the time gone. Now the new chapter begins, "turn the page".

 

A big congrats to you for all the years you put in

[vapor08GT500]

Congrats Harald. Hopefully, you will get the new chief trained quickly then get to enjoy the retired life.

 

Alex

[Grabber]

I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but 2 months ago on my 49th Birthday I couldn't help but start the 5 year countdown in the back of my mind.

My goal to hit this date is on track and currently solid. I just hope the economy allows me to work at least 1000 hours a year so my pension can be activated. I'm looking forward to my 54th Birthday more than any other birthday.

 

58 working months left.

 

http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?month=12&day=30&year=2014&hour=&min=&sec=&p0=234

Hard to believe it has been almost 5 years since I started this thread. I had posted 58 working months left and was worried about getting my minimum 1000 hours a year. In 2009 construction industry along with many other industries crashed hard. I went from being a Superintendent to a Journeyman Carpenter so I could keep working. That lasted for a year and that was when I made this thread. The economy slowly picked back up and in 2011, I was granted my Superintendent position back. It took me a year and a half to climb from the bottom back up to the top of the ladder.

 

When I started this thread I put the countdown clock in the corner of my computer screen. It is so odd to see what it says today. Tomorrow, on my 54th birthday, I will have my pension in my back pocket. That is a great feeling. I have dreamed of that day for the last 28 years ! Work is good right now....so I will continue the path. However it is so much easier knowing that I can pull my full pension any day I want.

[Coachmoe]

Grabber,

 

That's awesome that you got your pension back. Equally good that the economy picked up as well.

[Kevin Patten]

H0050 (Harald) - Congrats !

 

Grabber (Rob) - A BIG thumbs up and a Happy Birthday !

[DrKSGT]

Grabber,

Been watching this thread without commenting, just little envious. Kind of egged me on a few years back when I had a rare couple slow work days to figure out when to start a count down. The date had been known for a while based on reaching the Social Security age of 66 and birthdate falling on a Labor Day weekend. Magic of that week to me was if I worked to the Friday I will have been working in the Auto industry for 44 years and 1 month to the day.

 

Interesting was that in March 2012 there was 2000 days to my date. Did not seem that bad of increment to shoot for considering when done I will have over 16,000 when complete and never laid off in the whole period. Now I am down to 984 days to go.

 

Your thread has had a lot of interesting things mentioned that has kept me thinking about adjustments to make. Thank you for starting it. Hope you keep posting as you work toward the new June 30, 2015 date.

 

Goal when I get to mine is to do just enough contract related work to afford my affliction of having to keep adding mods to the car.

 

Tom

[Grabber]

Grabber,

 

That's awesome that you got your pension back. Equally good that the economy picked up as well.

I never lost the pension. It just takes a certain amount of service credits and years to be able to activate it at a unreduced amount. I hit that magic number at midnight.

 

The economy is better, but not for everyone. In fact I have had to do a fair amount of travel to stay employed. I did it because my goal was to hit my retirement. Now I am on a good in town job. Would I go out of town again to keep working ? No ! Unless it was somewhere nice and I could bring my wife and doggie.

[Grabber]

Grabber,

Been watching this thread without commenting, just little envious. Kind of egged me on a few years back when I had a rare couple slow work days to figure out when to start a count down. The date had been known for a while based on reaching the Social Security age of 66 and birthdate falling on a Labor Day weekend. Magic of that week to me was if I worked to the Friday I will have been working in the Auto industry for 44 years and 1 month to the day.

 

Interesting was that in March 2012 there was 2000 days to my date. Did not seem that bad of increment to shoot for considering when done I will have over 16,000 when complete and never laid off in the whole period. Now I am down to 984 days to go.

 

Your thread has had a lot of interesting things mentioned that has kept me thinking about adjustments to make. Thank you for starting it. Hope you keep posting as you work toward the new June 30, 2015 date.

 

Goal when I get to mine is to do just enough contract related work to afford my affliction of having to keep adding mods to the car.

 

Tom

Tom,

 

It sounds like you have about 2.7 years to hit your goal. It's funny how my goal has changed. In fact my wife is a big influence on my decisions. We just plotted out our vacation days on a calendar for next year. In fact I have been off of work for Christmas all last week and this week too. PAID ! I will be ready to hit it hard at work on Monday Jan. 5th.

 

I have been in the construction industry for 36 years either pounding nails or running work. Its been very interesting and never boring. Your 41+ years I bet has some interesting tales / stories.

 

This last company I have been with for a total of 25 years and 9 months and never laid off. They treat me good and I do what ever they want me to do....in return. My seniority and perks and vacation time off makes it hard for me to leave. Plus I am on a 4 Tens project right now. So while things are good...I will keep on taking things one day at a time. They do add up quick, so make sure you are ready for your date.

 

Rob

Edited December 30, 2014 by Grabber

[Grabber]

I was wondering what the countdown would say when it reached it's end. I need to re program it.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Grabber

[Grabber]

OK.....Startling a new countdown.

 

http://free.timeanddate.com/countdown/i4hc895e/n3237/cf13/cm0/cu4/ct0/cs0/ca0/cr0/ss0/cac000/cpc000/pcfff/tc000/fs100/szw320/szh135/tatTime%20left%20to%20Event%20in/tac000/tptTime%20since%20Event%20started%20in/tpc000/mac000/mpc000/iso2015-07-01T00:00:00

Edited December 31, 2014 by Grabber

[Grabber]

It feels great to turn 54 today. God is good

[rpmcobra]

I've enjoyed watching this thread for 4 years and as of today I'm at 117 days and counting.

I only have to work about half of those. After 44 years and 2 careers it feels good to be in this position.

Good Luck in the New Year to all Team Shelby retirees and near retirees.

[DrKSGT]

It feels great to turn 54 today. God is good

Gabber,

Day late to wish your happy Birthday. Picture with the dog implies your life is doing well. Your dog that is happy for your attention, obvious someone to share and beer and take the picture.

 

Live long and well to the next countdown goal.

 

Happy New Year!

Tom

[HARALD KELLEY]

It feels great to turn 54 today. God is good

Nice. Happy "B" Day