I am retiring from a job that I have had for 22 years, a job that I love. I am a computer lab manager in a middle school. My decision to retire did not come easily. I had decided to retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year because I wanted to retire under the current contract.
So I went to meet with a retirement system representative on a Monday in early May. They tell us to do that the year before we plan to retire so that we can be prepared financially for our retirement. My retirement check was going to be a bit more than I had figured on... good news.
The next day, Tuesday, was a snow day (I love snowdays!) and one of my colleagues called me and told me that at a meeting held Monday afternoon she had been told that we had been caught in the budget cuts and our positions had been cut. We still had jobs (thank goodness), but we would be working in Special Education and no longer in Technology. That night I talked to my husband and he asked, "So, are you thinking about retiring this year?" Well, no I wasn't... I was just talking out loud, telling him what was going on. I told him that I felt like I needed a sign, something to tell me I needed to retire this year instead of next year.
Bring on Wednesday... I had been at work for about an hour when our union building representative came to tell me that the Board of Education had offered us more than double the pay for our unused sick days. I have 171 unused sick days. That is a lot of money. It was a one shot deal... take it or leave it. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I went home and told my hubby about the newest development in the retirement saga. His response? "I think you've been hit over the head three times with 'signs'... now you have to decide."
After a lot of thought and angst I decided to retire a year early. I wrote my letter of intent and turned it in. And then I began to regret my decision. What had I done? I don't want to retire... I'm not old enough to do that! I still love my job... I love the kids, the people I work with... ugh! How are we going to survive on half our salaries? What am I going to do with my time if I'm not working? But there is no going back... the district does not allow rescinding of retirement letters.
So, a few weeks have gone by and I've attended a retirement tea in my honor, my building hosted a retirement party in honor of the seven people who are retiring and today a very dear friend hosted a small gathering of very dear friends to wish me well. At each of those events there were friends who are already retired and they have professed their love for the retired life and I'm beginning to feel a lot better about my impending (four more days!) retirement. I'm beginning to think of all the things I can do now that I won't be working. My last day of work is Friday (yikes) and my retirement officially starts on July 1st... but the true test will be when those buses roll down my street on and early morning in September and I'm still in my nightgown, watching the morning news with nothing but time stretching ahead of me.
Thanks for dropping by...
So I went to meet with a retirement system representative on a Monday in early May. They tell us to do that the year before we plan to retire so that we can be prepared financially for our retirement. My retirement check was going to be a bit more than I had figured on... good news.
The next day, Tuesday, was a snow day (I love snowdays!) and one of my colleagues called me and told me that at a meeting held Monday afternoon she had been told that we had been caught in the budget cuts and our positions had been cut. We still had jobs (thank goodness), but we would be working in Special Education and no longer in Technology. That night I talked to my husband and he asked, "So, are you thinking about retiring this year?" Well, no I wasn't... I was just talking out loud, telling him what was going on. I told him that I felt like I needed a sign, something to tell me I needed to retire this year instead of next year.
Bring on Wednesday... I had been at work for about an hour when our union building representative came to tell me that the Board of Education had offered us more than double the pay for our unused sick days. I have 171 unused sick days. That is a lot of money. It was a one shot deal... take it or leave it. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I went home and told my hubby about the newest development in the retirement saga. His response? "I think you've been hit over the head three times with 'signs'... now you have to decide."
After a lot of thought and angst I decided to retire a year early. I wrote my letter of intent and turned it in. And then I began to regret my decision. What had I done? I don't want to retire... I'm not old enough to do that! I still love my job... I love the kids, the people I work with... ugh! How are we going to survive on half our salaries? What am I going to do with my time if I'm not working? But there is no going back... the district does not allow rescinding of retirement letters.
So, a few weeks have gone by and I've attended a retirement tea in my honor, my building hosted a retirement party in honor of the seven people who are retiring and today a very dear friend hosted a small gathering of very dear friends to wish me well. At each of those events there were friends who are already retired and they have professed their love for the retired life and I'm beginning to feel a lot better about my impending (four more days!) retirement. I'm beginning to think of all the things I can do now that I won't be working. My last day of work is Friday (yikes) and my retirement officially starts on July 1st... but the true test will be when those buses roll down my street on and early morning in September and I'm still in my nightgown, watching the morning news with nothing but time stretching ahead of me.
Thanks for dropping by...
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