Take This Quiz: Are You Ready to Retire – Or Not?

Another very important consideration is your health, mental and physical. I would ask myself if continuing to work, at least in your current job, is having a negative impact on your well being. Is your level of job-related stress or physical exertion resulting in adverse health issues? When I reached the point where it was apparent to me that my level of stress was likely to cause serious medical conditions, I knew it was time for me to retire.

Two of the questions ask about a spouse. I would note that for single seniors, the considerations are different. I think for single seniors the question is whether you have family and friends nearby to spend time. I don't know the stats ,but I think there are a large percentage who are divorced, widowed, or never married.

L.S I am glad that you were able to retire. I am a single divorced woman and I do not know if I will ever be able to--it is expensive to live in DC, yet moving elsewhere I may be bored. I do have job related stress at times and they know that I am 62 and will be 63 next September. They have me up against a wall if I do not take the stress--where would I find a decent job with healthcare at my age??? It may not be impossible but it could be tough. I have a one bedroom now and have had for the last 20 years. I am reluctant to downsize to a studio....well being is a big consideration but not all of us have the option.

LS, I agree that well-being is a critical factor in retirement, even for those of us who are healthy. I pushed back my retirement a year to age 67 due to financial reasons, and I can see how my well-being has been impacted negatively by staying in this job. Because of this insight, I have been saying "No" to my job for additional responsibilities they try to load me with, and it has helped. I mentioned this to a colleague who said, it's the curse of someone who gets things done: more work. There doesn't seem to be any backlash to my saying No, at least that I can see. Maybe this spring they'll say, we don't want to recontract you for next year, and then I will retire from this job. I'll continue working to age 70, however, because I need the money.

I am single and family is urging me to retire. I envy that they are retired, but they are much better off financially than I am, and I will not allow myself to entertain thoughts of their "helping" me in the future. I already made several lifestyle changes that are helping me healthwise. My job's stress level is high, as are the expectations, and to continue working through the end of the calendar year would increase my Social Security; however, to do this, I must handle stress in healthier ways than I have in the past. I'm working on that.

Personally. ....I'd rather live in a studio or tiny house and be stress free. You only live once and with the extra money you can travel or do the things you've always put off when working . So I'm retiring at 62 in 2 months! !

I'm a doctor and had to retire shortly before 65. I'm taking early SS. I have no spouse and no debt.
I've never seen a column written about people forced to retire because of health and not able to do part time work

I will be 63 in August. I still work. I am a Realtor. My spouse retired 9 years ago. He is encouraging me to work till I am 65 to delay SS. I am not enjoying the job as before. I failed to mentioned we moved to Florida from Illinois about three years ago. I work in real estate now in Florida. The work is steady and I am able to save more toward retirement. I know my husband means well encouraging me to work a bit longer. If I retire too soon, I will have to be careful how I spend. I am in good health and could work longer, but its not the same since I moved to a new location. Its like starting over again in the real estate business. I am not enjoying the business as much as in Illinois.
The two income, I feel we will be okay financially.
The quiz is a great tool.
Thanks

Jennifer, I can relate to what you are saying. I am divorce and 65 and realistically, I will have to work until I die. It's just the way things are and there is not much I can do about it. Life sometimes is not what we planned.

MaryNB, why do you feel that you have to work until you die? You can do a roommate or get assistance from the govt if your social security is low. You do have options not having to live with stress in your life.

MaryNB--that is true you do not have to work until you die. I have decided to maybe work three days a week--just to keep myself active and make extra money. I will choose something fun to do. I could always change my plans too. Once the mortgage is gone, the only steady bill I should have is healthcare (Medicare once 65), and my co-op fees--which are not going down anytime soon. I can work on food costs, but in DC I have polled single people in a situation such a mine and we cannot seem to spend less than $100 per week or $400 a month for food and household supplies. I am not even a meat eater. I am trying to adjust to what will be a lower income in future years.

Arte and Jennifer,

I think I will have to keep working until I die for financial reasons. I will not take help from the government as long as I can stand and work and I do not want a roommate. It is just the way it is for so many divorced women. We were quite well off, but ex. hid assets successfully. Such is life.

Jennifer - my husband and I live in sandiego and spend less than $400 monthly on groceries. DC must be very expensive.
MaryNB- I would like to know what companies will allow any of their employees to continue working pass early 70s. I was let go at 58....I wish you luck with that. Also, I mentioned govt assistance such as SNAP because I see so many single retired women struggling with putting food on the table.

areti11, I too was laid off at age 58 and I tried getting an equivalent job to what I previously had with no luck. Later on I applied for an office job at a retail company and they turned me down after a GROUP interview for that job but offered me a job in customer service. That is the last job on earth I would consider and turned it down. Other than that one stupendous offer making minimum wage, no other professional jobs turned up for me. So I waited 4 years and applied for SS. If I were eligible for food stamps or any other Federal assistance I would take it. I was on unemployment for 73 weeks after I got laid off. I diligently applied for jobs every week with no luck. I feel no shame for collecting unemployment. I have a girlfriend who works in retail and barely makes ends meet and she qualified for food stamps. However, she was only entitled to about $17 a month! Not much! She came into a small inheritance and was no longer qualified for food stamps. She has worked around 40 years and is still working and plans to keep working due to not have much savings. She is divorced and I would encourage her to take any Federal assistance she might qualify for. Employers typically will not continue to employ older workers. Many corporations clean house every so often and offer all employees over age 55 a package to leave. Sometimes generous, but not usually enough to survive till age 62 to start collecting SS. I worked for a big corporation that offered packages at least twice in the 18 years that I worked there and then they closed the doors and gave a package to all not offered jobs elsewhere. Even though there is supposedly no discrimination against older workers, there is. My husband's old company offered a package to everyone in the company and said no one would be denied the package. They wanted to downsize. My hub was one of the first to raise his hand to take the package and then a few of the higher ups just about cried and said they didn't want him to go and tried to deny and then delay him leaving. He had enough of the company after 20 years and demanded the package since it was offered to all. He got it but they didn't expect some of the people to take it.

Louise, thanks for your input. I also will be claiming my social security in 2 months. After I got layed off, my sister passed away, and I needed to move in with my mother who has dementia. She needs constant care so I was not able to look for work even though some companies were interested in me. After my unemployment ran out and cashed out my 401K we were all living on a limited budget. I'd rather not claim SS so early but we need the money. We did qualify for full SNAP and Obama Care benefits but will probably be losing that soon. In my case I will inherit my mother's home so I most probably won't be needing further assistance from the govt, but one never knows what the future may bring. I'm just praying that Mr. Trump won't mess with our Socialsecurity or Medicare benefits.

Note: This Post used to have a very long thread with budget and cost saving ideas that is quite interesting, but off topic. So we moved it to its own new Post, "Living in Retirement on a Budget: Member Ideas". You can see everything over there and make additional suggestions there, so lets stick to "Are You Ready for Retirement" on this post.

Group: Just an FYI from a recent news article that I believe is applicable here?

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/seniors-more-likely-work-longer-big-metropolitan-areas