Tag: retirement

Five

I’m five years away from retirement. It feels weird. It was 10 years up until last November, but after two decades of trying to get my classification corrected, we succeeded thru a ballot initiative. Prior to that we were considered miscellaneous clerks instead of public safety. For real, I save lives for a living but was considered a clerk.

I should clarify, I’ll take my pension in 5 years but I won’t have the age for social security. The city has a program called Prop F that allows retirees to work for the city on a limited capacity without violating your pension rules. I can work roughly 1000 hours a year which works out to about 2 days a week. I’d love that to be honest. I’ll end up doing that for an additional 2 years until I can take social security. [1]If it still exists.

Anyway, it feels surreal. My job has been my life for so long, it’s hard to imagine not doing it. Oh, make no mistake I’m more than ready, but it doesn’t feel real yet. I don’t have an exact plan yet but there are things I want to do. I’m probably the odd man out in that I don’t have big plans to travel the world. I’m sure I’ll do some traveling, but it’s never been a driving force for me. There are still a few bucket list items to visit though.

I’ll probably end up volunteering again. I volunteered a lot when I first moved to SF and I enjoyed it. I really miss working with animals. I could see spending a lot more time with the SFSPCA here.

Depending on the state of the world, economy, etc, we might end up in a different country. Nothing is concrete yet. We’ll be in SF at least until I’m 62, but after that it’s still up for grabs. It also depends on what type of job Shawn has at the time as well.

I’m definitely looking forward to it. I never dreamed of a “retirement” growing up as poor as I did, but looking forward to it now feels like a full circle in many ways. I built a life and a career from the remains of my old self. Even then I didn’t dare dream, but here we are bouncing around that last corner into the hike stretch.

References

References
↑1 If it still exists.

Care

Sort of related to my last post, I’ve been looking toward the future. It’s funny, as a kid, I never imagined old age. I guess that is to be expected in your youth. I mean who really thinks of retirement in their 20’s?  Most of my 20’s were pretty rough so probably even more so for me. And while I’m far from ancient, I am at an age where one certainly begin to thinks of the future. I’m nowhere near retirement but the idea of such a thing no longer seems foreign.

Being in civil service and unionized does come with some benefits. I’m fortunate to get good health and life insurance. I’m ‘vested’ [1]I’ve worked the required number of years to qualify for a pension so when I do finally retire, I’ll have a paycheck for the rest of my life. This comes on top of social security (if it still exists by then). It is comforting to know I won’t have to worry too much when I retire. Granted, I won’t be living the high life, but I also won’t be eating out of cat tins. Growing up very poor I usually avoided the thought of what retirement would be like. If I’m being truthful, in my 20’s when I did think of retirement I figured I’d just off myself when I got old so I wouldn’t be a burden. Yes, I know how awful that sounds now but youth isn’t always about being smart. For you long time readers, you know my first 25 years weren’t so rosy.

Anyway, as I look to the future I worry for The Pup. God forbid anything should happen to me, but since I am older I want to make sure he is taken care of in the event of my death. Granted, he isn’t one who needs to be ‘taken care’ of but you get my point. It has always been my nature to take care of those I love so this is just an extension of that. It gives me great comfort to know he’ll be ok in the event something does happen to me. Of course, when we do get married he’ll be eligible to get my pension just like a straight couple would. (There are profound benefits for the LGBT community finally acheiving equality under the law, this being just one.) 

I guess going from having nothing as a kid to my current status, it gives me a strong sense of pride and accomplishment.

References

References
↑1 I’ve worked the required number of years to qualify for a pension