Today is the day I Retired

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

it takes 18 years to break even between 62 and 67 difference. I took it at 62 so I can invest and do better than ol uncle sam with my money.

My financial adviser and I have planned on taking it at 67 but I may look in to doing what you are doing and adding the spousal benefit.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

We took the no spouse survival.
Like SS, take it all the day you can.
50 bucks a month bought a huge term life policy.
With everything paid, a few hundred thousand in her pocket the day I kick off, and SS plus survivor benefit, she ain't going hungry.

This is the ideal way to handle your pension------take the extra money and buy a term policy.

 

[clean hairy]

Abe?

Built with Lincoln Logs?

 

[InsideUPS]

It's nice to have a discussion without the bitter hatred found on general UPS discussion found elsewhere on BC.

Given the gravity of the news on student debt, I can't imagine having $73k in debt as a positive. I am not being critical. To me it's not any different than say $73k in credit card debt(albeit better interest terms). That said, to each his own. What has driven me for the last 30 years is that (1) my daughter did not ask to be put on this earth, (2) I've been very fortunate and want to give back and share.

I don't plan on working past "normal" retirement age either. As I understand it, that's age 67. To me, my life is quite normal. As far as having a stake in her future, my daughter has a better platform than many and what I had. I'm satisfied I did my part. Her part? Well...She just completed her Masters in education. So far so good. Everyone in my immediate and extended family worked until retirement age(generally unless dying prematurely) lived for 10-20 years and passed away. This is "normal" as I have observed and I'm on track to do just that. We'll see.

Congratulations to your daughter on receiving her Masters in Education! I'm much like yourself when it comes to helping children achieve their goals in life. Everyone has a different philosophy on how to raise children, how to invest their money, etc. and we each have to follow our own path as we all have different destinations in where we want to go in life and how we want to be remembered (our legacy..... the dash (-) between our date of birth and date of death on our memorial stone).

My wife and I have taken the approach that we would rather invest in our children now rather than leave them with an inheritance where it may be too late to for them to achieve their goals. Fortunately for us, our investment in our children has paid off as our son is a physician and our daughter is a professor (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology/Genetics) in California. BTW, I'm a 41+ year part-timer at UPS and therefore have been 1/2 retired all of my life as my son would say ;-) I was able have my own business as a part-timer while maintaining all the security and benefits of a full timer.....not to mention the part-time pension, life and health insurance, paid 7 week vacation, etc...

As we all well know, there are NO guarantees in life. Our health can be taken from us in a heartbeat. Pensions and social security are also fragile especially for those in the Central States Pension Fund. This fund as many may know is expected to go under in 2025 as is the PBGC. (Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation). Those workers that continue to accumulate more years in the UPS/IBT Plan will be better protected than those that have retired earlier with a greater proportion of years in Central States (pre-2008). Some believe that either the government or UPS will bail out or fund the difference when these funds go under. That is strictly wishful thinking IMHO when reading the fine details of the SPD (Summary Plan Document) and the contract language.

FWIW, both my wife and I are both signed up for Medicare however we save over $700/month by not having to actually pay for Part B, Prescription coverage (Part D), supplemental insurance, etc.. TeamCare provides us with excellent coverage at basically no cost. My wife just started receiving her full social security check and I will be receiving mine in December of this year. Many early retirees that started or will start collecting at age 62 are incurring a permanent 25% reduction in benefits for the rest of their life. In summary, working longer and helping your children or child is an individual decision based on individual circumstances. I've been extremely fortunate in my life and UPS has afforded us many benefits and continues to do so. My goal now at UPS is to reach the two women in our building that work as part-time clerks that are over 70 y.o. and were "forced" (government regulations) to start collecting their UPS pension of $2300/month, are collecting full social security, AND.....making $45,000 to $55,000 in wages. Total combined income of nearly $100,000/year, 7 weeks paid vacation, life insurance policy of $50K, and full health coverage all for a "part-time" job!