Setting a Date

This has actually been the hardest decision for us to make. It is a balancing act between saving for retirement and leaving soon enough to be reasonably fit and in good health. The financial advisers warn those contemplating early retirement that medical insurance until Medicare kicks in at the normal retirement age is extremely expensive.

Neither of us has retiree medical insurance. Linda lost hers when her employer totally revoked the benefit and in its place made a small addition to her 401K. I lost mine in one of the many corporate reshuffles I have otherwise survived. I could work just another year plus and again qualify for retiree medical insurance, but that would delay our departure by two years, since we could not leave until the fall of the following year. It sounds enticing but the trend has been to shift more and more of the premium burden to the retiree and I do not have the confidence that the program will not be dropped in the future anyway.

In the end we decided not to wait for this benefit and to struggle through the gap with individual insurance plans. It is not so bleak as once we leave the United States and as long as we do not spend more than 60 days each year in the US we can get international coverage at much better rates. Since this is our plan anyway, at least for part of the gap, it is a good fit.

So then what happens in 2007? I will reach the 30 year anniversary mark with my employer. This is special because I can then draw a full unreduced pension. The timing could not be better. My anniversary is in August and we want to leave in September.

Linda is already retired. She retired at the time we moved to Massachusetts from Ohio. She no longer had a career as such, but a job with little advancement opportunity. During one of campaign periods for an increase in the local school levy, they restricted school buses to the state minimum of outside two miles from school. We lived just within the two mile range so Linda gave up her position in the Trust Department and accepted a part time position as a bank teller with the same employer to be closer to home and to have more flexible work hours. Within a couple weeks bus service was resumed, but the change had been made and she was never considered for a position in the Trust Department again. As time went on she was assigned to branches further and further from home. It was an easy decision to retire when relocation provided another good excuse.

For me I am not so anxious to retire as I am to pursue our dream while we can. For the last 10 years I have been a consultant configuring SAP software. This is project work which by nature is very demanding with long work hours and a very high level of travel. It is also extremely rewarding as the teams, conditions, and challenges are constantly changing. If we did not have this dream I would not even think of early retirement.