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“work for the gummit in some way...cop, teacher, military, firemen, dams, etc etc....
you will have a guarentee pension.....SS will not be as necessary as for those without pensions...”

That’s what happened to me, by default. While my ex was going through grad school many moons ago, I worked for the University he was attending for about 5 years. Many years later of having worked in positions under SS, I then took a position at a major public university in my State. I was then on the university’s pension system rather than SS, and it was the same system I had been under years ago when I worked while my ex went through grad school. The good news is that the pension system was a good one, and I am one of those who doesn’t have to depend solely on SS, thank goodness.

The second fortuitous thing was that I was able to “buy back” those 5 years I worked when young at a sister university to the one I worked for later. So, I was able to retire at age 58 after I accumulated all my university working years (25) and I will still get 40% of SS for all of the previous years I worked under it. I am a lucky duck in this regard. The chips all fell into place for me, although with some planning on my part.

So, now I have a new job, sitting on this recliner, with my shawl around me (it’s freezing here in IL), my cup of hot tea on the side table next to me, and my cat on my lap, right below my laptop computer, chattering away on FR. Not such a bad life right now (except for the damnable frigid weather we have been experiencing here in the Midwest). But I have my three lapwarmers, my fleece throw, my warm laptop, and my furry black cat.

I do want to hammer home the necessity though of starting to think retirement and how you can best plan for it as soon as you can. I should have started earlier. I started to seriously think about it when I hit 40, and from that point on, I thought of literally everything as to how it would benefit and impact me when I got older. For instance, I made sure to lock in my healthcare so that I had the prerequisite number of years in, so as to make sure I didn’t need to pay my premium anymore when retired (by staying 20 years at the same workplace); making sure I was in a viable and good HMO after studying all of the options, buying furniture I knew would last a lifetime (I would buy it one piece at a time as I could afford it until I had the whole set, and always waited for when it was on sale). I used coupons all the time when shopping, used credit cards that had givebacks of one sort or the other, bought gadgets and gizmos with an eye to ease of use when older (I knew arthritis runs rampant in my family, and sure enough it has set in). I still make my purchases with one eye to ease of use and/or ability to move things around easily. I also took a 20 year mortgage out on my condo rather than a 30 year one, so as to have it paid off completely just about the time they will shove me into an old folks home. That will give me the extra money (if I need to sell the paid-off condo) to stay in that retirement home until I pass on to my final resting place.

Also, luckily for me, I am reasonably proficient at use of the computer because of my working days spent on them. This has been such a plus by allowing me the option of doing my business on my computer. Banking, purchases, paying bills, I do it all on-line now, and have been doing so for about the last 5 years. I have never yet had one problem with any of my transactions. The Web is such a boon as you get older, as well as a source of pleasure (freeping), researching, reading in general, a giant encyclopedia at one’s fingertips. My head is so full of extraneous knowledge now, it’s ready to explode. Ok, so this is some of my advice to the younger generation as to what to consider as you age to prepare for that inevitable fact. Start thinking now about this. Life can always throw curve balls though, and the best of plans can go astray. I therefore wish you all good luck.