If this has been discussed in the “C” threads or the Retirement thread forgive me because I do not for the most part read those.
Has working from home (for those who are) changed your outlook on retirement?
made retirement more desirable?
made retirement less desirable?
made you realize you would miss the socialization of work in retirement?
made you realize you are ok staying at home more often? Or not?
made you think about coming out of retirement if work at home was an option?
I’ve been WFH for not quite a month. Hard to say if that is enough time to make a decision. Also spring (and good weather) always seem to make “not working” look more desirable because there is so much I want to do outdoors.
That said, retirement really hasn’t been a draw for me in the past. I’m 60. H is retired. I figured that I would work full time another year or two and then find something part time.
Now? I’m pretty good working from home! I miss the office some, but also don’t feel like I thrive on the socialization there. I DO have some days when my motivation at home is not up to par - but I suppose I have that at the office too.
If someone told me tomorrow my job was ending and I would need to retire, besides the financial component of it, I don’t think I would be devastated BUT I think I would still seek something part time either from home or outside of home that would allow me more time to BE home.
So my outlook has moved a bit from “no way do I want to retire!” to “if I retired or worked part time in or out of the home I could survive and be happy”.
It’s giving me a new appreciation as why he has a target retirement date and why he wants to retire. And why he is a certain way when he got home from work.
So a little different slant to your question ?
He talks all day on the phone. I think people are lonely and the people who work for him are chatty. All. Day. Long!
One fire after another to put out. And between the calls from one person are the conference calls. On speaker phone! Or Skype! Talking, talking, talking all day long. No wonder he wants to be quiet at the end of the day.
And the complaints! About work. About other people. About every little thing.
Some days don’t have one call after another. Those days, he gets to catch up on email and do projects. Thank goodness for the quiet days, where there’s only a couple of conference calls.
Oh and everyone is so loud, so so loud.
I really have a new appreciation for what he does. No complaints here but I will be glad once he goes back to the office. And once he retires.
@deb922 that is a good perspective to share. I really think my H has no idea what my day entails. Maybe that is a little more evident now. I think he sometimes doesn’t understand “why or how” I can have as much work to do now - he was not someone who relied on computers when he worked - so he doesn’t get the “sit at a computer and work for most of the day” concept.
I’ve been thinking about this, so glad you brought it up. I have 5 weeks in now WFH and I like some things but not others, and I am definitely at the age where retirement is looming. I have resisted, and don’t feel ready. I love my work and feel that I bring a lot to the table- and I am well paid. However, it is a tough job and a lot of people depend on me. I really need socialization, and I’ve missed that dearly. My husband has been retired for quite awhile, and is an introvert. He stays busy- is athletic and always has a lot of home projects and has gone down the family history/pictures rabbit hole.
Fortunately, my job generates some interesting discussion and my husband appreciates and respects the company for which I work.
I guess I’m in the camp of “if I had to retire now, I would survive being at home.” I’m still not ready, but I feel tired. The stress of the virus isolation and the fact that my work has been revolving around virus issues is wearing me out. I want to see what Life After Virus is like both in the workplace and in the community before I make any decisions. Maybe we go to a lot more WFH and I don’t get the socialization anyway???
My H is on the phone 24/7. He barely stops working long enough to sleep. His job has always been demanding even in normal times , but it always becomes doubly stressful during crisis. When he was Dir. of Emergency Communications for NYS during Sandy he was in the “bunker” for 6 straight weeks. The only difference now is that he’s working from home (which he hates.) He’ll have 30 years in June so eligible for full retirement pension - but he won’t leave until he knows what he’ll be doing after. He does not want to stop working - especially since he’s only 61.
And the last thing he wants to do when he has a few minutes to come up for air is to have to talk to anyone, including me.
I don’t think this is a fair comparison as to what life would be like post retirement. No concerts, no museums, no dining out, no traveling. Can’t even hike where we want.
^^^ I agree with that - however my thought is that if I can be reasonably “happy” with a daily routine even with these restrictions and the thought of not working, then it probably even bodes better for after restrictions are lifted.
Many people say the thing they miss while doing WFH is the office socialization. It’s probably the #1 complaint I hear. So is that something that can be worked around? Would/Could your work socialization be replaced with non-work people? Book club people, running club people, wine and dine people - whatever???
I have thought of this forced isolation as kind of a “test retirement” and I’ve got to admit I don’t mind it. I think I’m ready for retirement, if the market does OK so I can afford it. I do miss some socialization, but I think I can find ways to keep myself busy that I’ll enjoy in retirement.
I actually more ready for retirement now (still on track for next January). What is driving me crazy about WFH is that being home all the time now I realize how many projects and things I need to be done around here which I don’t have time for. I also realize how many things I WANT to do (read more, watch movies I missed etc. ).
I would love a “staycation”. I never have that luxury so I am really looking forward to retirement.
+1 @FallGirl to all the projects I see that need/could be done and/or stuff I’d just like to spend time doing!
There may be a lot of that “staycation” going on the coming months…
In fact, I keep telling myself - but haven’t done it yet - that I am totally allowed to take a day of vacation off here and there even during this quarantine time. A whole day to devote to those things above! I have plenty of vacation time and besides small breaks throughout the day I’m too much of a rule follower to not work when I am on the clock.
I have not worked since early September, and I love it. Even now with social isolation, I am okay not being in an office. I plan to work again, assuming I can get a job given the sudden surge in available employees, and I would really like to WFH. I don’t think that will happen, though … nothing I see that is always WFH (not just temporarily WFH) appeals to me.
I would be happy to retire, but I am just not quite ready. We’ll see what the future brings.
This might fit on another thread, but the whole situation is curtailing my retirement plans, plus making work much more difficult when we get back. I was 90% sure of retiring to part-time this fall, but now probably not. Sigh.
I’m worried about cutting back our income because our retirement funds are taking a hit, like everyone’s, plus we have family members we may need to help, plus H has been recently diagnosed with a chronic illness that might mean I need to keep being the one with med insurance.
However, at the same time, because of income hits, the university I teach at is upping by 30% the number of students I will have to teach next fall, and I just. Don’t. Know. if I can face that.
I already worked from home most of the time and felt very very lucky to have been able to do so.
I’m laid off & uncertain if my job will be there when we take steps towards normality.
And if the job is there, I don’t know what the compensation will be.
I’m in my mid to late 50s, so retirement will not be anytime soon.
However, this crisis has got me thinking a lot about the “bare minimum” I think I need.
Also, it has me thinking about my relationship to work & money — not really looking forward to jumping back on that hamster wheel again & paying down debt, squirreling away savings…and for what again?
It’s a confusing time. I would love to not have to worry so much about money. I would welcome more free time and less time devoted to earning a buck.
I’ve no plans to retire in the near future. But this morning, I had the thought that I might well retire if the school wants me to change to online teaching in the future. Not enjoying this remote learning thing at all.
I am not one who has home projects and I don’t garden or quilt or anything like that. I work out, I socialize (not a huge partier or bar person) and I run and eat! I’ll readily admit that a lot of my identity is tied up in my job. I’ve been successful in my career and a lot of benefits come with it- and I do feel like a big contributor to a great company. I’m just not sure I could easily leave that. Business travel can be a pain, but it has also given me many gifts in terms of people I’ve met and places I’ve gotten to go (domestic travel only in this job). I work with great people both in our corporate office and all over the country. I miss them right now!
DH and I have been WFH for almost 21 years now. We love it, for the most part. Our plan is to gradually taper off on the number of projects we accept. We won’t retire cold turkey. We live in a beautiful area and can escape to our cabin when we need a break. ?
I never wanted to work and started planning for retirement from the first day of my first job out of college. Retirement has been my life’s goal.
I worked from home for several years before retiring three years ago. I much preferred being at home to being in the office, but I’ve always preferred being home to almost anything else. I don’t like to travel, did enough of that for business when I was younger to last a lifetime. I’ve posted elsewhere that my retirement dream was to tend a lighthouse on a remote bluff somewhere in a place like Maine, going in to a small nearby town perhaps once a month for food, mail, and necessities. Kinda like now. DH is more social than I am, but he is retired, too, and we’re enjoying this time together with no outside commitments. Our hobby is cooking; we’re happiest in the kitchen, so we’re getting to do even more of what we enjoy most. My life has not changed much since this implosion. I spend my days reading, crocheting, writing, cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, walking, listening to music, like I always have. I don’t miss my professional job one bit. It served its financial purpose in enabling early retirement, but I never confused paid work with my identity even when others often saw me and the company as one. My heart has always been elsewhere–at home.
It’s a bit different for DH who traveled 100% of the time for the 17 years prior to retirement. He, too, is glad to be home, but he continues to consult freelance part-time from the comfort of his PJs. His current client is in Dublin where our morning is their late afternoon, so he does conference calls in the early AMs and completes his deliverables on the schedule he and the client agree to, not much more than 20 hours/week. His identity was never tied up with his job either, so he did not have any trouble stepping off and only agreed to the freelance gigs because his previous company keeps reaching out. If the work ever starts to interfere with our play, the work will lose. Until then, he is enjoying his semi-retired WFH life, but he does miss his bourbon and cigar club and weekly men’s breakfast. As I said, he’s a bit more social than I am.
God forbid DH go before I do but, if he does, I will start looking for that lighthouse. Oh, and perhaps a kitty or two.
