thinking about retirement. . .
In less than two months I turn 65. In a normal world, and were I a normal person, I might well be ending my work career and moving on. But little is normal.
I am not eligible for full Social Security for another year.
Still, on Saturday I went to a pre-retirement conference sponsored by my school system to explore my options, among other reasons because of one thing - this year only, with our school system under extreme financial pressure, there is a possible one-time only $20,000 payment for highly paid teachers to retire. I needed to explore options to ensure I was making the best possible decision.
Yesterday when I returned home I had my retirement pay estimate from the state of Maryland teachers are part of the state retirement system, which is itself changing. To continue to earn the same benefits we will at a minimum have to contribute an additional 2% of our salary (it could be 3%) because the pension is underfunded - the state has not been making its employer's share of the pension obligation, which is what caused the shortfall. And since our pay in our system is frozen, that means our take-home pay will be decreases some, even as costs for things like health insurance go up.
I felt I had to consider all options. Among these were retiring from my current job and seeking other employment, either teaching elsewhere or doing other work, at least for a year until Social Security kicked in.
Except in a sense I had already decided. And the reasoning was not financial.
