Since turning 60 a couple of years ago I've had a retirement plan targeted at age 68, six years from now, retiring with 16 years pension credit at the University of Illinois, on top of 26 years of existing credit with Social Security. The university has been hit hard by costs related to the pandemic, and they're aiming to cut long-term employees with a cash incentive for those already eligible to retire. As it happens, I'm eligible to repurchase 4 years pension credit from past employment at the Beckman Institute, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and 40 years ago when I worked on the PLATO computer system. For me, the incentive is pretty much the same as the cost to repurchase that pension credit. By retiring and taking my pension now, I'll be making more in 6 years than if I waited and retired in 6 years.
As a result of this arithmetic, I will be retiring from the university on July 1st of this year, at age 62. I'll need to make some money to supplement my retirement, and to delay taking Social Security for a while. Over the next 6 years, I plan to greatly expand my martial arts practice in Monticello. I didn't expect an opportunity to reinvent myself at this point in my life, but I'm happy to give it a try.
Today is my birthday, and my last day, June 30th, is 8 weeks from today.
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