Early retirement: advice please?

[Trevor]

 
This sounds like good news.  Perhaps you undervalue your worth because you are taken for granted. 
I was going to ask you about writing a book...   you may not now have time.

I am taken for granted that I can do miracles sometimes, like rescuing the career of the person who was given promotion over me, amongst other things.

About the book: I have written one. PM me your email address and I'll send you a few chapters. 

[Newt]

What 'Cerb and 'Hallows said.   

[HappyGilmore]

Is there any way you can, perhaps, ask for a pay increase while "taking someone under your wing" and teach them for a year or two, so you can maybe retire by 57?

[Trevor]

What 'Cerb and 'Hallows said.   

[Trevor]

Is there any way you can, perhaps, ask for a pay increase while "taking someone under your wing" and teach them for a year or two, so you can maybe retire by 57?

You should be my Director as that is a good idea: however, it's a bit difficult in the public service as "pale males" such as myself are seen as anachronistic and a remnant of the past (yes, true) and are shunted to the background until their knowledge is needed so that they can make the bosses look good or there is a crisis and that person is needed to fix the issue. 

[ER]

Is there any way you can, perhaps, ask for a pay increase while "taking someone under your wing" and teach them for a year or two, so you can maybe retire by 57?

You should be my Director as that is a good idea: however, it's a bit difficult in the public service as "pale males" such as myself are seen as anachronistic and a remnant of the past (yes, true) and are shunted to the background until their knowledge is needed so that they can make the bosses look good or there is a crisis and that person is needed to fix the issue. 

Marginalizing the demographic that invented virtually every aspect of the modern world and global civilization itself, like that's going to improve things.

Good luck amid that open discrimination, Trevor. Sorry for you.

[Trevor]

Is there any way you can, perhaps, ask for a pay increase while "taking someone under your wing" and teach them for a year or two, so you can maybe retire by 57?

You should be my Director as that is a good idea: however, it's a bit difficult in the public service as "pale males" such as myself are seen as anachronistic and a remnant of the past (yes, true) and are shunted to the background until their knowledge is needed so that they can make the bosses look good or there is a crisis and that person is needed to fix the issue. 

Marginalizing the demographic that invented virtually every aspect of the modern world and global civilization itself, like that's going to improve things.

Good luck amid that open discrimination, Trevor. Sorry for you.

Thanks: when things changed after 1994 (for the most part, a very good thing) those "pale males" in my department were called in to the office of "THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF TRANSFORMATION" and told that we were not wanted there due to our skin color and the only thing keeping us from getting fired were our skills.

Everyone was offended by this whitewashing and quite a few of those people left the job shortly thereafter. Me? I stayed and I gave the person in charge an earful, in short telling them to go F themselves as I was raised in a non racial household and found this attitude of hers damaging. The person left the post about six months later due to "work stress".

Yeah, right: work stress. 

[Jim H]

I am retiring in 18 months mate. Go for it and enjoy life.

Thanks  

One thing I'll say, whether you're able to retire or not in a few more years, consider an off-ramp rather than a cliff if you're not sure if you'll be happy with it.  Like, transition to part-time in a new place, or do some volunteering on a regular schedule.  Take a class or two of something purely out of interest.  Or if you can afford it and want to do it, plan ahead for things like travelling long term.  I know in Africa there's basically infinity things to see.  

I only say that as I've known some people who retired early and ended up feeling real malaise after a few months or years, less happy than they thought they'd be, just sort of an empty feeling when they didn't have the schedule work provided.  Don't want to see you end up there.  

[The Burgomaster]

I'm hoping to retire when I'm around 85 . . . I think I'll be able to do it.

[Newt]

I'm in the same boat as Burgo. 

And listen to Jim H.  Retirement goes that way far too often.

[Trevor]

It seems from a chat I had with my mentor yesterday that she has no immediate retirement plans so my plans are back in motion.

1. I have registered with our pension fund which I have been contributing to since 1989 and my fund in SA money is sizable.
2. I have two clients from the UK in early April and then I am taking the rest of the month off to decide what to do.
3. I am scared that what happened to Dad at retirement will happen to me: that cannot happen again.
4. I will make my final decision in May this year but as thing stand right now, I will be retiring before the middle of the year.

[Alex]

Make sure you have something planned to do when you retire. Be it another job, a hobby or whatever.

[Newt]

^^^^^  What Alex said.   

[chefzombie]

i said my piece via another form of social contact. i hope you'll keep in touch, brother trev. i love you a lot.

[Trevor]

 I know in Africa there's basically infinity things to see.  

Agreed: if I go, I would like to go home to Zimbabwe, see my birth town and the town where I grew up (two different places) as I haven't been home since 1997.