Reflecting on retirement (or not)
Just for fun I logged into to my state retirement portal the other day to see how close I am to being able to retire. Turns out I have something like two tenths of a year to go before I am officially at the thirty year mark. Well technically. In reality it is only twenty five years, but the Michigan public school system used to have this really cool thing where you could buy up to five years towards your retirement. Over the course of about eight years I paid $50 per paycheck so that now with 25 years in I can retire like I have 30. Likewise, If I wanted to work the full thirty years, I could retire with a service credit of 35 years.
They don't have that system anymore....
At least not in the same capacity as they used to. A short time ago my wife looked into buying some years and the system now is a terrible deal. You are better off investing that money on your own.
Needless to say, my mind has been thinking about retirement a lot lately. I've said this before, but the fact is, I simply can't. As cool as it would be to retire at the tender age of 50, I've still got a mortgage to pay and despite what people (conservatives) seem to think, a state pension doesn't really get you too far these days. Especially if you are still that young.
I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that I am probably going to be here for a bit longer, at least until something better comes along. Unfortunately, "something better" feels less and less likely these days. With layoffs and downsizing sweeping the world especially in the technology sector, it feels like I might be a bit stuck. Which really isn't a big deal I guess. I do enjoy my job. It is fulfilling for me and it gets the bills paid, so you can't really complain about that.
It allows me to sit on HIVE pretty much all day, and for the most part I feel like it might be safe from the dreaded AI tsunami that is sweeping the globe.
For the longest time I have taken issue with the fact that I am not specialized in anything. More like a jack of all trades, I know a little bit about a lot of things. While in the past, that seemed like a detriment, I think today the value is becoming more apparent.
It's easy to take AI and have it complete a specific task. Students are using AI, staff are using AI, even I use AI to some degree, but even if you remove one or two of my responsibilities and hand them off to AI, there are still a couple dozen other things on my plate that I am responsible for.
AI isn't going to crawl on the floor and figure out why a teachers computer isn't projecting to a projector. AI also isn't going to repair a broken screen on a Chromebook. Yes, there are some data, policy, and management things that AI can accomplish, but I think for the most part, people want to see that face when they have questions or concerns.
I'm pretty lucky that I work in a small school district with a very small tech department. For the longest time it was just me, then more recently I was able to hire on @iikrypticsii, but in the grand scheme of things, we are still tiny. I think districts and businesses that have a larger tech department are going to have a harder time staying safe from the changes AI is going to bring.
I was thinking about it the other day and although I am sure there are many other industries like this, it occured to me that education and healthcare are possibly two of the safest sectors right now when it comes to the impact AI is going to have on jobs.
Of course once robots get added into the mix, it might be a totally different story!
As I said before, retiring really isn't an option as cool as that would be. I honestly don't know what I would do with my free time. I'd probably go crazy, so I may as well work right? As long as they aren't shoving me out the door, there isn't much point of leaving. Why not continue to build my investments to put @mrsbozz and I in a better position when I (we) do decide to retire.
It doesn't feel like HIVE is going to be that passive income stream I was hoping it would be in my later years At least right now anyway. Who knows what the future holds!
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It may not make you rich but it does provide stable income for life which is a huge plus. Is your healthcare covered in retirement as well? If it is why not start a side business to keep yourself busy, plus you have time to travel when you want to! You've put in a lot of years, the big question is when are you going to pull that retirement trigger?
I'm not really sure about the health care thing because I get my healthcare from my wife right now. I guess since she will still be working I should be fine, but I don't really know.
You and I must be same age, I am turning fifty in June.
I would recommend working at least five more years as in addition to the mortgage you should consider the costs of health insurance...
I am planning on working until 62 as that is when I have no benefit reduction. So 12 more years for me despite not having a mortgage...
Probably closer than you think! I turn 50 in May ;)
That's some sound advice. I've said it before, but health insurance scares me. Even when you have it they find a way to still bleed you dry. It's all those deductibles and out of pocket expenses that scare me the most. I planned on doing something (somewhere else) until at least 57 or 58 when my wife can also retire, but it feels like I might be better off just sticking it out here.
Plus, my wife and I would like to move eventually, so that throws the whole mortgage thing out of whack. I doubt our new place will be less than our current place even though we want to downsize.
You know the housing market has been quite weak... So you might be able to get something for less...
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Could be out of the context but I have a question - Are these photos from your work place?
Yes, these are all views from or near my office.
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"a state pension doesn't really get you too far these days. "
LOL, well I can believe that but the vast majority of people dont have a pension at all these days and increasingly, employers dont even do any 401k matching.
Hey, if I got paid the same as the private sector I would be more than happy to manage my own retirement investments. The problem is, public employees don't. The typical gap is anywhere from 25% to 30% less in wages for the same job. People who don't get a pension consider that before they criticize.
You must be in a backwater IT market, here in Seattle area private companies pay at least double of what public IT people get paid and that is before considering stock options
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Yeah, you have to take into account total compensation, not just one thing. I think state employees typically get better health benefits too (or at least cheaper ones). In my previous private sector job, I was paying more than 10% of my salary for health insurance (for family, not individual). This varies a lot based on employer though.
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The best thing about Retirement is no commute.
Thanks to AI and Crypto blogging there are lots of side hustles you can do from home. While you sleep.
AI content? That's cheating!
Ha ha.. how ?
It’s a ton of work. POW
Just like IRL Bitcoin mining.
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I remember when automation began to replace humans people used to say, "there'll be loads of jobs in the technology sector, it's all good."
Then AI came along and people embraced it and talked about how awesome it is.
Now...layoffs and downsizing sweeping the world especially in the technology sector as you mention. And...people are still delusional about the damage AI and automation is doing to human jobs.
Oh well, that's progress. 🤣
At least people won't have to worry about working into their older ages...there'll be no fucken jobs.
I'm hoping I do things right so I don't have to work in my old age anyway, but I know what you mean. It's starting to look pretty bleak!
Bleak indeed. I've been working on things for a while now, difficult at times, but I'm in what I see as an excellent position due to the hard work and with only a relatively short time to go now...well, good to see the light shining at the end of the tunnel.
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I'm a bit older than you and may be able to retire in a few years. I need to work out the numbers. I will get the state/government pension, but have also paid into private ones that have built up a fair bit. I really don't know what it will be like for younger folk, but the earlier you can start a pension the better.
AI is creeping in where I work, but it's not taking over yet. I ought to learn what it can do for me. In some ways I am happy that I mostly avoided it as I like the craft of coding and that job is changing. I am not sure I can keep up, but I could still play with it when I do retire.
I agree, I am happy that I grew up in the time I did between no computers and everything being digitized. Investing on your own is so important. I keep trying to get my worker to even put away $50 per month now so he can get started on a path to not having to worry down the road.
I wish I had such a Safe Space.
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