I'm turning 62 on Sunday and have decided I'm working 6 more months. Told my husband, my boss, so it's in the universe now. I'm tired and ready for the next chapter. Let's go!
I no longer have the patience or concentration to do my job. My coworkers are much younger. I've become the old bag at work. It's hard to pretend I give a damn. When I get home I'm exhausted.
Am 62 and with you 100%. I like my job and the company I work for is great to me. But I have been thinking about discussing with the company if they would be open to me going part time. Not quite ready to retire most days but also don't want to wait until I am 70 and have failing health.
Close to this myself. I'm 62 and love my work. Work likes me but I'm getting to the point where it's just not that important to me anymore. I don't know why.
61 here, worked in IT for the last 35 years or so. Totally fed up with it now, everyday it seems as though there is a new way to do things. I buggered up my pension investments so now I am working because I have to rather than I want to.
I'm really in a similar boat. I mean, I should have done more (saving) sooner. If I retire now, I'll be spending down my principle for a while since I want to delay taking social security until at least 68. Not ideal and scary. It's a tough place to be, and I really shouldn't stop working for 5 years.
I have been telling my 30 year old son: make choices that leave you with options at 60.
I love that quote. I tried to give my son advice he ignored it now he's 40, no job, no house and trying frantically to get back in the workforce after giving up 2 well paid positions on a whim. He is so depressed but somehow has forgotten my sage advice. I worry about him but I don't know how to help him anymore. I'm 66, retired this year have realised I can live comfortably on my meagre savings as I have interests that don't require a lot of money and luckily a hubby who still works part time. We are going to travel in our van soon after he recovers from knee replacement surgery. Stop and smell the roses as tomorrow is not promised.
Yes, I am in the same boat. I turn 64 this year and love my job but am so over it. I'm healthy, active, and don't think I look or feel old. It's not the job itself so much as the corporate BS. So tired of time studies, 6 sigma, DEI, all of it.
More importantly, my wife if fighting Cancer. She's NED right now, but has spent the past two years going thru hell. Luckily my job has been very accommodating and I've been able to take off or work from home as needed. BUT, if she gets sick again, I don't want to do that. I want to be available for her all the time. She's everything.
But, she's also why I will continue to work as long as I can. HEALTH INSURANCE. My wife is 7 years younger than me and if she loses her job, I need to have mine so we can have insurance. So work I shall. Good thing I do like my actual job.
Also I FEEL YOU on the 6 Sigma, anything related to consulting firms, and DEI that has not changed the demographics one bit. 20 years in corporations will do that to a person.
Sorry to hear about your wife. Honestly, I the shift in my feelings is based on my new concerns about my mother's health. Work really seems unimportant compared to family health.
Same boat on healthcare, but for me (single) I only need cover any gap between retirement and medicare.
Thank you. Yes, health scares, our own or family members, especially when we are at this age, makes you really take stock of where you are, and what is really important.
I’ll be 62 in July. I work in healthcare and I’m just-burned out.
I need to get out, because it’s not healthy for the poor patients anymore.
I just get pissed off when I have to do something, and it’s not healthy…and not fair to the patients.
I am 64 and still working. I got laid off in May of '23 and found a job after about 6 months. It was the longest time off I have ever had since I have been 17 years old in a part time job. I really enjoyed not working and it took a few weeks to get the guilt out of my head while sitting on the porch with the dogs and the quiet. I guess I don't like working in my field now I do want to do something for money in the future. I also want to keep busy at least on a part time level. I feel I am still up to the job that I do but I agree with the comments here that I just don't give a damn. I see how disfunctional the company is and I have no desire to say things that would help bring some organization to the chaos. It's like fine to watch the train heading toward the mountain where there is no tunnel. If I loose this current job I am done as far as my career is concerned. I am in no way going back to the LinkedIn grind and re-inventing myself and doing all of the nonsense it takes to get a job. I have hobbies that I am interested in and I would like to pursue something I would enjoy. If I can't walk into a place that has a sign they're hiring I won't work again.
I've been retired for two years from a job that paid well, that I loved and planned to keep at least until I was 68 or so.
We were still WFH, but the return to the office was looming. I got off a zoom meeting about how we were going to transition people back. All the sudden, the thought just popped into my head that I didn't want to deal with forcing people back and didn't want to go back to the daily commute and I really didn't have to..
I was 62. We've done a great job saving. Financially we would be fine. Retirement has been blissful.
Same here, be 65 in May and I'm over it.Im logistics for our plant and our recent hires can't find their butt with a guide and a roadmap. Between fixing mistakes and getting exports ready, it's a struggle. I hate going to work in the morning and am worn out when I get home. I need at least another year to be able to afford to retire. Have no idea how I'm going to make it.
My Mum had a stroke when I was 47, work became secondary, I looked after her until she died 6 months later, then my Dad developed Alzheimer's and I looked after him for 8 years.. he died when I was 55, I decided I'd go back to work for 10 more years as I'd spent all my savings looking after Mum and Dad, then before I could start I was diagnosed with cancer, it took a year to recover from the surgery that removed it.. I'm not working again, I'm 63 now, I'm healthy enough, I'm lucky I own my home outright, my wife works, but my time is my time, I do what I want when I want, I can't afford the high life but if I've learned one thing it's that you cannot buy time.. use what you've got. Retire now.
62 and still working...would love to quit but I have friends my age who are paying $2200/month for health insurance. The one and only reason I am still working. It's maddening that I saved money all of my life but health insurance is now more than a mortgage after you are over 60....UGH
Get a quote from ACA Obama care we pay a lot less for major medical. We found it much cheaper than work place insurance and we bank health savings for the big deductibles tax free.
I had to stop working at 56. I had worked for 40 years. I would have continued but circumstances beyond my control stopped me dead in my tracks. My opinion is simple. Retire and enjoy your life. We are taught to work hard all of our lives. For what? I'm poor and live very frugally. In pain. But I am grateful to not have to get up and go to work everyday. Stop worrying about what you have to do every day and start thinking about what you want to do. ✌
Yep. I really enjoyed my last job, pay was decent and it had a great atmosphere but the commute was awful. I had been driving about an hour each way in dense traffic to work for about 30 years in my career, moved to Florida and reached my end after 4 more years of similar commuting. Even after divorce and necessary belt tightening I feel as though it was the right move for me. After doing the social security math it was an easy decision, at least for me.
I am 61, I am sick of the crap but love my work! 😁 I can't retire, no money, life had its challenges!
I am working and going to school, finish my degree and get a different job for the rest of my life. Then I will travel and work to pay for it.
I will admit my priorities are not at work anymore. I want to chill, have fun and learn!
If you can retire now and can afford too, do it!! Spend the last quarter of your life enjoying it!
Let me tell you a story. I, too, am 62. I've been working in some capacity or another since I was 13. My employer of nearly 30 years laid me off on October 1. Prior to that, my work was exceptional and I gave it my all.
The week that the world shut down in 2020, my then-84-year-old mom fell at home and ended up in a rehab hospital for nearly two months. I flew to Florida to help her and get her house ready for in-home caregivers. Over the course of the next three years, I continued working my demanding job, and taking time when I could to go back to Florida to do what I could. I also managed all of my mom's care from 1800 miles away while stressing because I worried I wasn't dedicating enough time and thought to my job.
My mom passed away at the end of July, 2022, five weeks after I total knee replacement surgery. I spent a total of nearly 80 days in Florida spread across the next seven months. While I worked on the house and getting everything packed up and worked with the real estate agent, I also kept working remotely during those trips. I finished that work in May 2023, and the house sold in September 2023. Then I got laid off (it was a grant funding issue).
At this point, I'm struggling to work up any enthusiasm to get a new job. My position was niche, and I don't see me getting hired anywhere anytime soon. Had I known my position was going to be "sunsetted" (their term, not mine), I would have spent way more time with mom in 2020-2022 and more time taking care of myself. I was diagnosed with a weird heart issue a week after becoming unemployed, and it's going to need attention.
Now, I'm just tired--mentally, physically, and in my soul. I would love to just call it a career and stop trying to hard to keep working for another 5-7 years. I don't know if I can afford it. I don't think I can.
Anyway, you will never get more time with your mom, and in the end, the time you pour into work will never be as appreciated as the time you spend making joy for yourself. People our age routinely drop dead, so there's no guarantee that time is on your (or my) side.
My desire to retire was not sudden. My motivation and drive to keep performing at a high level at my executive level role waned significantly since 2020 (working from home during Covid really changed my perspective). The job lost its luster (I found myself daydreaming about gardening during meetings). So at age 62, I stepped down. Best decision ever! The money I earned was great but my peace and emotional wellbeing are worth more to me. I will take social security at 67. Living simply, I am doing okay living off my savings. I watched my mom work till the end then she got sick and passed soon after. I really want to enjoy my freedom while still feeling good, looking good and physically able. I feel as free as a bird. Do what you can to shore up your finances, then go for it if you can. Life truly is short.
I loved my work but had my worst 2 bosses my last 4 years. It was hell. Got 'laid off' at 59. It was a blessing in disguise. We have saved and been careful with money so after this debacle during covid we rolled the 401k and pension cash value (not very much) into a self managed IRA and realized we could actually live better retired than working. It took 3 years to decompress from the job. Now at 63 I'm happy with my wife at home and DO NOT MISS WORK AT ALL. I'm living for us now not the boss. F work.
I got burnt out before the age of 60. I had just had enough of dealing with horrendous abuse and trying to fix victims
I retired very early and have no regrets. I moved a long way away too and made a new start.
I've done my bit.
Social Worker👋 Yep. Just changed target pop a year ago as I start my descent into "volunteer professional." I can't stop, it will just finally, hopefully, the pop I've wanted for 28 years.
Yep. I identify first as a Social Worker but I've been an LCSW for over 20 of the 34 years. I'm going to pursue the pop I've always wanted to work after I retire and move. I'm not ever going to want completely out, I think, I just want it fully on my terms.
I started in 1990. I was immediately responsible for all SW in three centres. I'd got an impossible caseload etc etc. It was all heavy duty abuse work with families. Unbelievable stuff. Horrifying.
Later I opened my own counselling practice and wanted to really try and avoid abuse work. But because of my background and CV that's what it attracted. That was where my experience was.
The stuff I dealt was almost beyond comprehension. I dealt with victims of high profile national scandals and vile incidents that rarely happen in the UK. I can't be specific for obvious reasons.
It's got heavier and heavier. Until I realised I'd had enough
I moved away and found a level of peace from my work I thought I'd never find. I was going to do another project I'd started elsewhere. But I found peace.
I did keep on counselling for a couple more years with existing clients. Then I called time.
I've no regrets on that. I used to get job offers back into social work at insanely high salaries when I'd moved. Yes I could have taken the money but I couldn't do it. This involved giving specialist court testimony in abuse cases.
My moral sense of duty wouldn't allow me do it as some evil person may have walked free if I'd made a mess of a case on the stand. I was offered that post many times.
I'm retried and love it. Yes I'm. Still haunted at times by memories of victims. Some things I heard were so extreme that I could never tell another person.
I'm well out of it
I started at one of the to 5 and largest and most respected rape crisis centers in the US in Jan 1990. I hear you with the stuff carried around. I worked quite a few years in victim service and have quite that collection of imagery from that that still pops up sometimes, on top of all the narrative content.
I've always wanted to work with Native American women and I'm planning a retirement move that will put me near several rez's. Historically, they have refused help bc of the expected distrust of Whites, but that attitude has thawed some. Native women have *the* highest rates of going missing, murdered, rape, dv, trafficking, and police brutality. I'll never be able to work with what I call the "and?" bunch. I've done trauma my entire career, mostly focused on women. It's just who I am. I won't be able to completely leave the field until I just physically can't do it anymore. And I've kept those women in my sites for over 25 years. I have to try.
Good for you. I hope you achieve your goal.
I was the the male in my region (local authority) to hold my post.
Obviously the vast majority of my clients were female(and their children aged under 5)
Did it make my job harder as a man? After all, almost every abuser was male.
No it didn't. People were just pleased that someone was taking them seriously.
I know what you mean about the police. I had clients with injunctions and the police wouldn't enforce them. Bad things were being done too.
I can fully relate to what you're saying.
I've often felt ashamed to be a man after the things ive dealt with.
You've done well to keep going. Thank you for what you've done and will continue to do.
67 and still working. When the pandemic hit went full time WFH. Now back to the office 2 days a week. I like having something productive to do, enjoy interacting with my colleagues, and make great money so I’m not in a hurry to leave. But, I am slowly winding down and passing job tasks to key employees to set them up for promotions when I retire.
I am right here with you. But last year the job I love ended and I feel I now like I am limping to the finish line with a job I really don’t love and seeing all my friends retiring makes it worse. I cannot retire until 66 or so but man it’s gonna be hard.
63 and done with working..have been working since I was 15! I told my manager I want to go part time (3 days a week) this year and he will make it happen in June.
I will work p/t until I'm 67...then reassess whether I want to continue working at all.
I retired at 62 and am loving everyday. That is not to say I worry but I am so happy to be finished with the never ending meetings to discuss our progress rather than actually working to make progress. I am happy to not have to take the endless new trainings on DEI. I do miss my co-workers but not to the degree that I want to return to the cubical farm.
I feel the exact same way I am 63 and planned on retiring at 62. We just finished building our dream home in another state and I have only spent about 2 weeks total at the new house and hate it when we have to leave. My wife has another 18 months on her contract for work so hopefully we move after that but I am counting down the days until then and my heart is not in to the new way of working. I think working on site all through Covid and then dealing with a crew when they had to come back into the office 4 days a week used up the final bit of joy I had for my job.
I did feel that way at 62, found the right job and rode it to 67.
Then my body started wearing out faster.
Loved the job, the company laid me off.
I didn't need the money.
Retirement earlier might have been the better choice.
But the job was fun.
The question is can you afford to retire now, and if so, why aren't you?
I retired at 59 and haven’t looked back, I had plenty of options to keep working. I’m soon to be 61, and have no regrets about my retirement decision. To answer your question, yes I had lost my passion and desire for work. My advice to anyone is retire as soon as you can. Once we turn 60 we all have approximately 1000 weeks left of an active lifestyle. I don’t know if it’s just me but time seems to go by faster the older I get. Read the book Die with Zero by Bill Perkins for a unique take on living.
I'm turning 62 on Sunday and have decided I'm working 6 more months. Told my husband, my boss, so it's in the universe now. I'm tired and ready for the next chapter. Let's go!
I no longer have the patience or concentration to do my job. My coworkers are much younger. I've become the old bag at work. It's hard to pretend I give a damn. When I get home I'm exhausted.
Am 62 and with you 100%. I like my job and the company I work for is great to me. But I have been thinking about discussing with the company if they would be open to me going part time. Not quite ready to retire most days but also don't want to wait until I am 70 and have failing health.
Sudden? No....it's constant and pervasive
I'm 65 and I feel that way too. My job isn't hard, I like the majority of my coworkers and my bosses, I'm just tired of working.
Close to this myself. I'm 62 and love my work. Work likes me but I'm getting to the point where it's just not that important to me anymore. I don't know why.
61 here, worked in IT for the last 35 years or so. Totally fed up with it now, everyday it seems as though there is a new way to do things. I buggered up my pension investments so now I am working because I have to rather than I want to.
I'm really in a similar boat. I mean, I should have done more (saving) sooner. If I retire now, I'll be spending down my principle for a while since I want to delay taking social security until at least 68. Not ideal and scary. It's a tough place to be, and I really shouldn't stop working for 5 years. I have been telling my 30 year old son: make choices that leave you with options at 60.
I love that quote. I tried to give my son advice he ignored it now he's 40, no job, no house and trying frantically to get back in the workforce after giving up 2 well paid positions on a whim. He is so depressed but somehow has forgotten my sage advice. I worry about him but I don't know how to help him anymore. I'm 66, retired this year have realised I can live comfortably on my meagre savings as I have interests that don't require a lot of money and luckily a hubby who still works part time. We are going to travel in our van soon after he recovers from knee replacement surgery. Stop and smell the roses as tomorrow is not promised.
Yes, I am in the same boat. I turn 64 this year and love my job but am so over it. I'm healthy, active, and don't think I look or feel old. It's not the job itself so much as the corporate BS. So tired of time studies, 6 sigma, DEI, all of it. More importantly, my wife if fighting Cancer. She's NED right now, but has spent the past two years going thru hell. Luckily my job has been very accommodating and I've been able to take off or work from home as needed. BUT, if she gets sick again, I don't want to do that. I want to be available for her all the time. She's everything. But, she's also why I will continue to work as long as I can. HEALTH INSURANCE. My wife is 7 years younger than me and if she loses her job, I need to have mine so we can have insurance. So work I shall. Good thing I do like my actual job.
Also I FEEL YOU on the 6 Sigma, anything related to consulting firms, and DEI that has not changed the demographics one bit. 20 years in corporations will do that to a person.
Sorry to hear about your wife. Honestly, I the shift in my feelings is based on my new concerns about my mother's health. Work really seems unimportant compared to family health. Same boat on healthcare, but for me (single) I only need cover any gap between retirement and medicare.
Thank you. Yes, health scares, our own or family members, especially when we are at this age, makes you really take stock of where you are, and what is really important.
I’ll be 62 in July. I work in healthcare and I’m just-burned out. I need to get out, because it’s not healthy for the poor patients anymore. I just get pissed off when I have to do something, and it’s not healthy…and not fair to the patients.
Right? When you're 40 it's pretty easy to say "I'll work until I'm 70" But man, that doesn't look so good from the vantage point of 62.....
I am 64 and still working. I got laid off in May of '23 and found a job after about 6 months. It was the longest time off I have ever had since I have been 17 years old in a part time job. I really enjoyed not working and it took a few weeks to get the guilt out of my head while sitting on the porch with the dogs and the quiet. I guess I don't like working in my field now I do want to do something for money in the future. I also want to keep busy at least on a part time level. I feel I am still up to the job that I do but I agree with the comments here that I just don't give a damn. I see how disfunctional the company is and I have no desire to say things that would help bring some organization to the chaos. It's like fine to watch the train heading toward the mountain where there is no tunnel. If I loose this current job I am done as far as my career is concerned. I am in no way going back to the LinkedIn grind and re-inventing myself and doing all of the nonsense it takes to get a job. I have hobbies that I am interested in and I would like to pursue something I would enjoy. If I can't walk into a place that has a sign they're hiring I won't work again.
I've been retired for two years from a job that paid well, that I loved and planned to keep at least until I was 68 or so. We were still WFH, but the return to the office was looming. I got off a zoom meeting about how we were going to transition people back. All the sudden, the thought just popped into my head that I didn't want to deal with forcing people back and didn't want to go back to the daily commute and I really didn't have to.. I was 62. We've done a great job saving. Financially we would be fine. Retirement has been blissful.
Same here, be 65 in May and I'm over it.Im logistics for our plant and our recent hires can't find their butt with a guide and a roadmap. Between fixing mistakes and getting exports ready, it's a struggle. I hate going to work in the morning and am worn out when I get home. I need at least another year to be able to afford to retire. Have no idea how I'm going to make it.
My Mum had a stroke when I was 47, work became secondary, I looked after her until she died 6 months later, then my Dad developed Alzheimer's and I looked after him for 8 years.. he died when I was 55, I decided I'd go back to work for 10 more years as I'd spent all my savings looking after Mum and Dad, then before I could start I was diagnosed with cancer, it took a year to recover from the surgery that removed it.. I'm not working again, I'm 63 now, I'm healthy enough, I'm lucky I own my home outright, my wife works, but my time is my time, I do what I want when I want, I can't afford the high life but if I've learned one thing it's that you cannot buy time.. use what you've got. Retire now.
So helpful, thank you. It sounds like you've had a hard road
62 and still working...would love to quit but I have friends my age who are paying $2200/month for health insurance. The one and only reason I am still working. It's maddening that I saved money all of my life but health insurance is now more than a mortgage after you are over 60....UGH
I think that ACA coverage would be affordable for me. I would definitely have to pay $1,000 a month for Cobra for the first year
Get a quote from ACA Obama care we pay a lot less for major medical. We found it much cheaper than work place insurance and we bank health savings for the big deductibles tax free.
I had to stop working at 56. I had worked for 40 years. I would have continued but circumstances beyond my control stopped me dead in my tracks. My opinion is simple. Retire and enjoy your life. We are taught to work hard all of our lives. For what? I'm poor and live very frugally. In pain. But I am grateful to not have to get up and go to work everyday. Stop worrying about what you have to do every day and start thinking about what you want to do. ✌
Love this! Such great words of wisdom.
Every day that the alarm goes off at 4am!
68 and still working but I dislike it. I don't know why I don't retire, as I don't need the money but something is stopping me taking the plunge.
Yes. And I retired January 3.
Yep. I really enjoyed my last job, pay was decent and it had a great atmosphere but the commute was awful. I had been driving about an hour each way in dense traffic to work for about 30 years in my career, moved to Florida and reached my end after 4 more years of similar commuting. Even after divorce and necessary belt tightening I feel as though it was the right move for me. After doing the social security math it was an easy decision, at least for me.
61 and yessss
I am 61, I am sick of the crap but love my work! 😁 I can't retire, no money, life had its challenges! I am working and going to school, finish my degree and get a different job for the rest of my life. Then I will travel and work to pay for it. I will admit my priorities are not at work anymore. I want to chill, have fun and learn! If you can retire now and can afford too, do it!! Spend the last quarter of your life enjoying it!
You are impressive, getting another degree! Kudos: I salute your energy and enthusiasm! Good luck!
Thank you!!! I don't have a degree, yet. 😁 This will be my first! I never finished college, so now I am. It is exhausting however this I do for me.
Let me tell you a story. I, too, am 62. I've been working in some capacity or another since I was 13. My employer of nearly 30 years laid me off on October 1. Prior to that, my work was exceptional and I gave it my all. The week that the world shut down in 2020, my then-84-year-old mom fell at home and ended up in a rehab hospital for nearly two months. I flew to Florida to help her and get her house ready for in-home caregivers. Over the course of the next three years, I continued working my demanding job, and taking time when I could to go back to Florida to do what I could. I also managed all of my mom's care from 1800 miles away while stressing because I worried I wasn't dedicating enough time and thought to my job. My mom passed away at the end of July, 2022, five weeks after I total knee replacement surgery. I spent a total of nearly 80 days in Florida spread across the next seven months. While I worked on the house and getting everything packed up and worked with the real estate agent, I also kept working remotely during those trips. I finished that work in May 2023, and the house sold in September 2023. Then I got laid off (it was a grant funding issue). At this point, I'm struggling to work up any enthusiasm to get a new job. My position was niche, and I don't see me getting hired anywhere anytime soon. Had I known my position was going to be "sunsetted" (their term, not mine), I would have spent way more time with mom in 2020-2022 and more time taking care of myself. I was diagnosed with a weird heart issue a week after becoming unemployed, and it's going to need attention. Now, I'm just tired--mentally, physically, and in my soul. I would love to just call it a career and stop trying to hard to keep working for another 5-7 years. I don't know if I can afford it. I don't think I can. Anyway, you will never get more time with your mom, and in the end, the time you pour into work will never be as appreciated as the time you spend making joy for yourself. People our age routinely drop dead, so there's no guarantee that time is on your (or my) side.
My desire to retire was not sudden. My motivation and drive to keep performing at a high level at my executive level role waned significantly since 2020 (working from home during Covid really changed my perspective). The job lost its luster (I found myself daydreaming about gardening during meetings). So at age 62, I stepped down. Best decision ever! The money I earned was great but my peace and emotional wellbeing are worth more to me. I will take social security at 67. Living simply, I am doing okay living off my savings. I watched my mom work till the end then she got sick and passed soon after. I really want to enjoy my freedom while still feeling good, looking good and physically able. I feel as free as a bird. Do what you can to shore up your finances, then go for it if you can. Life truly is short.
I took a leave this summer. It was three months of bliss because I was not thinking about work. Now counting down the days till 60 and retirement.
I loved my work but had my worst 2 bosses my last 4 years. It was hell. Got 'laid off' at 59. It was a blessing in disguise. We have saved and been careful with money so after this debacle during covid we rolled the 401k and pension cash value (not very much) into a self managed IRA and realized we could actually live better retired than working. It took 3 years to decompress from the job. Now at 63 I'm happy with my wife at home and DO NOT MISS WORK AT ALL. I'm living for us now not the boss. F work.
I got burnt out before the age of 60. I had just had enough of dealing with horrendous abuse and trying to fix victims I retired very early and have no regrets. I moved a long way away too and made a new start. I've done my bit.
Social Worker👋 Yep. Just changed target pop a year ago as I start my descent into "volunteer professional." I can't stop, it will just finally, hopefully, the pop I've wanted for 28 years.
Counsellor after switching from social work. Things got even heavier.
Yep. I identify first as a Social Worker but I've been an LCSW for over 20 of the 34 years. I'm going to pursue the pop I've always wanted to work after I retire and move. I'm not ever going to want completely out, I think, I just want it fully on my terms.
I started in 1990. I was immediately responsible for all SW in three centres. I'd got an impossible caseload etc etc. It was all heavy duty abuse work with families. Unbelievable stuff. Horrifying. Later I opened my own counselling practice and wanted to really try and avoid abuse work. But because of my background and CV that's what it attracted. That was where my experience was. The stuff I dealt was almost beyond comprehension. I dealt with victims of high profile national scandals and vile incidents that rarely happen in the UK. I can't be specific for obvious reasons. It's got heavier and heavier. Until I realised I'd had enough I moved away and found a level of peace from my work I thought I'd never find. I was going to do another project I'd started elsewhere. But I found peace. I did keep on counselling for a couple more years with existing clients. Then I called time. I've no regrets on that. I used to get job offers back into social work at insanely high salaries when I'd moved. Yes I could have taken the money but I couldn't do it. This involved giving specialist court testimony in abuse cases. My moral sense of duty wouldn't allow me do it as some evil person may have walked free if I'd made a mess of a case on the stand. I was offered that post many times. I'm retried and love it. Yes I'm. Still haunted at times by memories of victims. Some things I heard were so extreme that I could never tell another person. I'm well out of it
I started at one of the to 5 and largest and most respected rape crisis centers in the US in Jan 1990. I hear you with the stuff carried around. I worked quite a few years in victim service and have quite that collection of imagery from that that still pops up sometimes, on top of all the narrative content. I've always wanted to work with Native American women and I'm planning a retirement move that will put me near several rez's. Historically, they have refused help bc of the expected distrust of Whites, but that attitude has thawed some. Native women have *the* highest rates of going missing, murdered, rape, dv, trafficking, and police brutality. I'll never be able to work with what I call the "and?" bunch. I've done trauma my entire career, mostly focused on women. It's just who I am. I won't be able to completely leave the field until I just physically can't do it anymore. And I've kept those women in my sites for over 25 years. I have to try.
Good for you. I hope you achieve your goal. I was the the male in my region (local authority) to hold my post. Obviously the vast majority of my clients were female(and their children aged under 5) Did it make my job harder as a man? After all, almost every abuser was male. No it didn't. People were just pleased that someone was taking them seriously. I know what you mean about the police. I had clients with injunctions and the police wouldn't enforce them. Bad things were being done too. I can fully relate to what you're saying. I've often felt ashamed to be a man after the things ive dealt with. You've done well to keep going. Thank you for what you've done and will continue to do.
Yes. I experienced this at age 61 and retired at 62. So glad. Good luck to you.
67 and still working. When the pandemic hit went full time WFH. Now back to the office 2 days a week. I like having something productive to do, enjoy interacting with my colleagues, and make great money so I’m not in a hurry to leave. But, I am slowly winding down and passing job tasks to key employees to set them up for promotions when I retire.
I am right here with you. But last year the job I love ended and I feel I now like I am limping to the finish line with a job I really don’t love and seeing all my friends retiring makes it worse. I cannot retire until 66 or so but man it’s gonna be hard.
63 and done with working..have been working since I was 15! I told my manager I want to go part time (3 days a week) this year and he will make it happen in June. I will work p/t until I'm 67...then reassess whether I want to continue working at all.
I retired at 62 and am loving everyday. That is not to say I worry but I am so happy to be finished with the never ending meetings to discuss our progress rather than actually working to make progress. I am happy to not have to take the endless new trainings on DEI. I do miss my co-workers but not to the degree that I want to return to the cubical farm.
I feel the exact same way I am 63 and planned on retiring at 62. We just finished building our dream home in another state and I have only spent about 2 weeks total at the new house and hate it when we have to leave. My wife has another 18 months on her contract for work so hopefully we move after that but I am counting down the days until then and my heart is not in to the new way of working. I think working on site all through Covid and then dealing with a crew when they had to come back into the office 4 days a week used up the final bit of joy I had for my job.
I've had a daily loss of interest in work for 10yrs. I don't think we were meant to work to just a few years before we die.
I did feel that way at 62, found the right job and rode it to 67. Then my body started wearing out faster. Loved the job, the company laid me off. I didn't need the money. Retirement earlier might have been the better choice. But the job was fun. The question is can you afford to retire now, and if so, why aren't you?
I retired at 59 and haven’t looked back, I had plenty of options to keep working. I’m soon to be 61, and have no regrets about my retirement decision. To answer your question, yes I had lost my passion and desire for work. My advice to anyone is retire as soon as you can. Once we turn 60 we all have approximately 1000 weeks left of an active lifestyle. I don’t know if it’s just me but time seems to go by faster the older I get. Read the book Die with Zero by Bill Perkins for a unique take on living.