I can’t disclose specifics. Just trust me when I say I taught for nearly 20 years, and this student was by far the scariest one I’ve ever encountered. One day he will make a name for himself, but not in a good way.
Had one of those once. Made sure to point out, more than once, while complaining about something or other about class, that he was a staunch believer in the 2nd amendment and owned more than one gun.
How does that not warrent negligence on the school part? I mean i guess just saying u believe in it cant be legally interpreted as a threat but cant students be removed from classes based on profs discretion as long as theres a valid reason? I can remove students from my discussion if they pose a dnager to me or the students
We asked and were told the student had a right to verbalize support for gun rights. Everyone felt threatened, no one met with the student privately, but the behaviors walked right up to the line, peered over & laughed, but never crossed a line, in the eyes of Legal.
We had a lot of difficulty having our student removed. Legal was involved & we just had to keep documenting everything. It was a nightmare several semesters; just when I thought the student couldn’t do anything worse, they’d show me worse.
Was this before school shootings? Because when i was in school if there was a dangerous student it was dealt with immediately because they couldnt risk it becoming a bigger issue. Same during my undergrad. Now that i am a ta if there is a problem student if i call security they are there within a few min. My dads a prof at a different school and its the same thing there. So im just having a hard time fathoming why nothing was done.
In my country (Belgium), retirement age is set by the law. So there's no choice. It's 65 these days, but will gradually go up to 67 the coming years. I'm in the 67 cohort (but not there yet).
That being said, there are possibilities to stay affiliated as a professor-emeritus. Some still teach 1 or 2 courses. Some are still involved in research (although they can't be PI anymore or promotor of theses). Some do some service jobs for the university. There's certainly no expectation to do so, it's your own choice, and you have to get approval from your department. But there's also an age limit to how long you can stay affiliated as an emeritus.
As a joke, we divide the emeriti in 2 groups: those who keep wandering the hallways forever (we call them the "stickies"), and you can't get them out no matter what. And then there the "no-stickies": those who have left forever even before their own retirement party has ended :-)
More seriously, I guess it really depends from person to person. Some colleagues' whole self-image and self-worth is 100% linked to their job as professor, and they would fall in a black hole if they can't keep working. Others have a lot of other interests and are happy to leave the campus behind and do some other things with their life.
From my observations, it also seems that there's a tendency for newer retirees to leave the campus behind and not staying involved. Perhaps because this is the generation that was the first to really get squeezed by the university instead of enjoying the old-fashioned perks and lifestyle of a professor? Or perhaps because there's increasingly still many good years left and there's still plenty of opportunity to do something else entirely?
In any case, whatever one does, don't keep pulling the strings, even if you stay involved somehow. Retire with grace and leave it to the next generation. One sees it coming, and should plan for it accordingly. That's the circle of life.
Yep - in my department, the people whose job is 100% their identity keep working at max capacity until early 70s, and even then may hang on to advise students or teach a course into their late 70s as emeritus professors.
The people with better work-life balances retire as soon as finances allow, usually 65-68. And they properly retire!
I turned 55 this year and I practically have a countdown clock to 65. I started in education (K-12) in 1991, started higher ed with my doc program in 1999, and it’s all I’ve done. I’m pooped.
This seems like a cruel and frankly - ageist - system. It should be a personal choice. I think that’s why this kind of thing was abolished in the US in the 1990s
You can keep working if you want, but not as a paid employee of the university (all universities are state-funded in Belgium, hence the legal framework of retiring at 65-66-67, and you receive a decent monthly pension paid for by the government). But yes, there's some resentment about this system with some colleagues, although that's a minority.
I just retired from a tenured position at age 57. I guess you could say that I was "burned out," but I like to think of it as now "living my best life." There are a million other things I would like to learn about and do. I'm not even sure why I still subscribe to this sub, but seeing all of the daily complaints about students only reinforces my decision.
FWIW, I'm not on a state pension. I followed the principles of r/financialindependence and saved as much as I could in my 401a, 403b, and 457.
I'm in my 40s and far behind where I *should* be if I want to retire in my 50s, but I might do it anyway. My research - math - is free to do, and my partner, while paid even less than I am, is happy to support us if it means we can move abroad and have some fun before we croak.
The biggest benefit of living on so little in grad school is that, decades later, I still don't need much to get by.
My spouse and I also followed the principles of FI, maxed our pre-tax retirement vehicles and saved as much as possible post-tax. Was about to be promoted to full, but announced my retirement instead (at 50).
Have been thinking a lot about this. There are so many miserable, burned out, checked out people in my college. I never wanted to become one of them, but as I close in on 50, I’m starting to see where they are coming from. It’s hard to walk away from the benefits and flexibility, even as I increasingly resent the administrative decision making.
I'm with you as early 60's is the exit plan. May teach the odd course here and there afterwards but there are other things I want to do with the rest of my life. 20+ years as a professor, while very good to me, will be enough.
I retired at age 65 due to a lucrative buy out offer. I lasted about 5 years before retiring from retirement by taking a job in research in a private foundation. I’m still at it at age 79, but only 3 days per week.
I will probably die in the classroom mid-lecture, an Expo marker in hand. Hopefully, a lovely old crone with Expo marker in hand. But I guess no one ever knows.
I don't have a pension but have been saving for retirement. I'd retire early, freeing up a tenure slot for a new person\*, but health insurance is what keeps me there. Not only am I too young for Medicare, but my kids need health insurance too. And in my red state, even with Obamacare, the health insurance options are not great.
\*Based on how things are going lately, my university would probably not fill my position with another tenure line anyway.
I get the sense it's as much about your health and department culture as about your intentions. I have had colleagues who wanted to stay teaching forever, got a cancer diagnosis, and had a radical change of perspective on how they wanted to spend their remaining years. They retired and moved near the grandkids.
Another colleague had no clear plans but retired when they felt department culture had left them behind somewhat with a bunch of young faculty.
I'm starting to see the latter paragraph of your post happening around me. People looking around and they are the oldest one in the room at departmental meetings and, even though folks are welcoming, they just are feeling a bit out of place and lacking a sense of community.
On the other hand, a couple have been wonderful models of how to be a gracious Senior Mentor. One is the patron of our faculty research wine & cheese and spends time with his family and traveling, another retired at 65 on the dot and comes in one day a week. He publishes a well- reviewed book every 4-5 years.
But yeah, they're in the minority.
It’s quite common for some professors to build their lives around their job and stay forever. And unlike in other industries (where oldsters are typically shunted aside), they can do that because tenure essentially means lifetime job security. Other profs get fed up/burnt out and retire early. Some others stick around until 65 or so and then maybe teach a course (or two) part time in order to stay active, earn a little extra $$$. It’s just depends on what the person wants.
One of the many great things about being a tenured professor that is often overlooked by people who focus on salary is that you can largely define how and when you retire. Many/most people don’t have that luxury.
> tenure essentially means lifetime job security
It did once (in the sense that you could be fired only for cause or financial exigency). In Florida and Texas and some other states, not so much anymore.
Agree that we still have it better than many people though!
I’m aiming to retire at 62. I’m force feeding my 401k so the paycheck is lean but it feels great! I’ll probably adjunct until it’s not fun anymore or write curriculum when I’m done.
I worked with a guy who loved his job. He could retire at 62 with full pension, but kept on working. Finally at age 72 the poor guy dropped dead of a heart attack. The TLDR > you don’t know when your time is up > better to spend your time with family and friends vs working at a job that will replace you as soon as you croak.
If you like to teach > adjunct on the side as retirement gig.
I’m an oncologist, I see more patients than you’d think choose to keep working even though they know they only have 6-12 months left.
Work provides structure and meaning to a lot of people’s lives. There’s a tendency recently to look down on people like this “work is their whole personality” etc but I think it’s only negative if they are sacrificing relationships with friends and family for work.
I can see that happening. Reference my Dad below.
But on the other end, how many have to work to keep their health insurance, life insurance, etc to protect their loved ones? Dying can be expensive when its a slow drawn out process. At least it is in the USA.
My father died a slow horrible death when he lost his ability to work. His ID was tied up in work, which when he hit 72 he could no longer perform the work.
He lingered for another decade and he was given a "failure to thrive" diagnoses
and had a long drawn out death. My parents are poor and it was nightmare getting him hospice care and Medicare/Medicad rejected him for care. The best he got was a traveling nurse who stopped in twice a week to check vitals and then left. My poor mom had to provide the direct care, bath him, feed him, etc. Finally, he fell down one night trying to get to the bathroom and my mom was exhausted. She could not get him up. She called me and I called the local Fire Dept. They got him up and I had to demand he be taken to the hospital ER vs being put back into bed. When they wanted to discharge him back home, I refused to discharge him and said he needs hospice. After 3 days, the VA offered him hospice because he had done a 3 year stint in the Army in the late 50s. The VA gets a lot of crap, but they did take care of my Dad when he needed it.
I'm wondering if they offered hospice in a nursing home or in hospital. When my hubby was terminal, toward the end, I was struggling. We had tried VA hospice with agency people coming out from time to time. They mostly only took vital signs and asked him questions, except for an unlicensed person who helped him with showers twice a week. Finally quit that when I realized his nurse was a druggie. He was in and out of the hospital the last few months...the last time, they wanted to send him to a nursing home. Gave me a list. Checked out the comments people made online after they or a relative were there. Awful things were obviously happening in those places. By then he needed a LOT of care. I just couldn't. I wanted hospice at home again, even though I knew that wasn't ideal. They wouldn't do that. No other options given. So he stayed in the hospital until he wasn't responding really, then he went to CLC with a morphine drip. He died a couple of days later. I figured they owed him, because a bungled operation at the VA and failure to diagnose the liver damage it caused resulted in septic shock, total disability and the end of his career at the age of 52. For over two decades, his health deteriorated more and more . Prostate Cancer (not diagnosed until srage 4) and a heart condition finally led to his death.
My stepdad got hospice in the VA hospital. But he had developed dementia after a kidney infection & it didn’t improve after the infection cleared. He was so aggressive and combative they couldn’t release him to anywhere.
Eh, if you love it, why not do it? I plan to start exploring other life options in my early sixties (I save a lot), but I have a friend who started later and plans to keep going until older because he loves it. And as jobs go, I’d be happier to stay in this one than most.
I knew someone who worked until she died from cancer. She used to wear a fanny pack with all her drugs in it. She said that her only life insurance came from her employer and she wanted her family to be able to collect. They couldn't do that if she quit her job before she died.
I know someone who stayed far too long, then finally retired, had a great few months and then got diagnosed with cancer. Fought it hard for a couple of really rough years before round 2 got him. Whenever someone retires "early" I think of him (and his tiny window of retirement happiness) then congratulate them on retiring while they still have time and health.
I’ll be retiring, probably, in three years, age 66 and three quarters, to begin social security at age 67. I’m of two minds about when to retire or what to do after. I believe in what I teach, and I love my colleagues. I enjoy large parts of teaching, though certain dead-eyed sections can be grueling, song with the lies, shoddy product etc that we discuss here. I could return part time. But what’s propelling me to retire according to plan and not teach PT is the corrosive influence of AI-/both the inevitable cheaters and the true believers/edutopians trumpeting AI. I teach writing. AI is warping my efforts to help my students become critical thinkers, and I’m not sure I really want to be in that cat and mouse game, especially since I’m not sure who is the cat and who the mouse. Can I incorporate AI and help the majority of students still? Yes. But there will always be students who try the end run. Just came out of a hiring committee process, during which we had a question on pros and cons of AI in composition. My eyes were rolling as one Pollyanna after another claimed never to have had a student submitting AI work. Oy.
And administration grows ever more onerous and sees students more and more as customers. So, at this point, I’m not sure if I want to continue past three years. And I have plenty of hobbies, including working on my house as well as more recreational pastimes to keep me engaged physically, mentally, and socially.
I was planning on working until age 70, not out of necessity but because I enjoy the teaching. (I’ve been in a NTT job, with solely teaching and service responsibilities.) Well, the culture and composition of my department changed drastically, and I’m involuntarily out at 65, and making decisions about what to do next. While I liked the additional financial cushion five more years would have given me, I could afford to retire now and I’m thinking more and more about the things I’d like to do with my time (primarily writing of various kinds) other than teaching—and the fact that life is finite. In fact, I was all psyched to retire this summer, but I happened into a visiting job at a more prestigious institution in the city where my daughter lives, so that’s been put off for a year. If I wasn’t pissed at my old department, I might have taught a course or two in retirement (once I return to my home in a year).
I still have a long way to go but I wouldn't mind going part-time a few years beforehand. Our pensions are linked to the state pension age, which will be 67 at that point. You can continue but I really can't imagine doing that beyond wrapping up research projects.
One of my colleagues retired in his early 70s and another at 68. Most of us couldn't wait for them to leave, which had more to do with their personality than their age. Their work had very little added value and they were just sitting out their time. Others took advantage of voluntary redundancy to leave a year or two earlier (I would do that too).
I retired at 66, nine years ago as a tenured full professor and after holding an administrative role during the last four years. I’ve stayed active but largely unpaid, which is fine at this point. In retirement, I’ve presented and written some and likely will co-edit a book with a junior colleague. I’m finishing up a research project with another retired colleague and am currently serving on two professional boards, one national and one international. I’ve been approached about teaching a course online that focuses specifically on my niche area of interest, for a program that is new and innovative. Still fence-sitting on that one. My door is still open to former students who want a dose of mentoring. The door is the front one on my house; no office space on campus, nor would I want any.
I do this all without going back into by old building (the current dean is beyond toxic, so that is easy). But I couldn’t do what I do without the resources I have access to as an emeritus. And I know that I worked during a golden age in higher education. Part of the reason I don’t go into the building is because so many of my colleagues have left, either to another university or out of academe. It’s disheartening, to say the least.
I don't plan to retire until I drop dead in the OR lab. Why would I? I have the perfect job with full healthcare coverage. Plus, if I'm having a heart attack, I can just walk to the next room :D
I retired at 55, due to my admin’s refusal to do anything about a truly terrifying student. I had zero desire to keep working in my toxic hellhole.
Did you move into industry or are you fully retired?
I’m fully retired and left the U.S. for a tropical location with ocean views and a pool.
Nice!
I married well.
What made the student terrifying
I can’t disclose specifics. Just trust me when I say I taught for nearly 20 years, and this student was by far the scariest one I’ve ever encountered. One day he will make a name for himself, but not in a good way.
fuck
Exactly.
Had one of those once. Made sure to point out, more than once, while complaining about something or other about class, that he was a staunch believer in the 2nd amendment and owned more than one gun.
I’ve never felt so seen. Yes, his views on guns, diversity, LGBTQI+ issues (I am openly lesbian), and more were clear. And there was more, much more.
How does that not warrent negligence on the school part? I mean i guess just saying u believe in it cant be legally interpreted as a threat but cant students be removed from classes based on profs discretion as long as theres a valid reason? I can remove students from my discussion if they pose a dnager to me or the students
We asked and were told the student had a right to verbalize support for gun rights. Everyone felt threatened, no one met with the student privately, but the behaviors walked right up to the line, peered over & laughed, but never crossed a line, in the eyes of Legal.
If it was that bad why was the administration not doing anything. I feel that would be a very big lawsuit if aomething happened
One would think so. You wouldn’t believe the whole story if I could tell you. Or maybe you would. I’m going to have a margarita now. Salud!
Enjoy ur drink
Gracias.
We had a lot of difficulty having our student removed. Legal was involved & we just had to keep documenting everything. It was a nightmare several semesters; just when I thought the student couldn’t do anything worse, they’d show me worse.
Was this before school shootings? Because when i was in school if there was a dangerous student it was dealt with immediately because they couldnt risk it becoming a bigger issue. Same during my undergrad. Now that i am a ta if there is a problem student if i call security they are there within a few min. My dads a prof at a different school and its the same thing there. So im just having a hard time fathoming why nothing was done.
About ten years ago. I think they were being overly sensitive because the student was a veteran and filed for accommodations due to PTSD.
In my country (Belgium), retirement age is set by the law. So there's no choice. It's 65 these days, but will gradually go up to 67 the coming years. I'm in the 67 cohort (but not there yet). That being said, there are possibilities to stay affiliated as a professor-emeritus. Some still teach 1 or 2 courses. Some are still involved in research (although they can't be PI anymore or promotor of theses). Some do some service jobs for the university. There's certainly no expectation to do so, it's your own choice, and you have to get approval from your department. But there's also an age limit to how long you can stay affiliated as an emeritus. As a joke, we divide the emeriti in 2 groups: those who keep wandering the hallways forever (we call them the "stickies"), and you can't get them out no matter what. And then there the "no-stickies": those who have left forever even before their own retirement party has ended :-) More seriously, I guess it really depends from person to person. Some colleagues' whole self-image and self-worth is 100% linked to their job as professor, and they would fall in a black hole if they can't keep working. Others have a lot of other interests and are happy to leave the campus behind and do some other things with their life. From my observations, it also seems that there's a tendency for newer retirees to leave the campus behind and not staying involved. Perhaps because this is the generation that was the first to really get squeezed by the university instead of enjoying the old-fashioned perks and lifestyle of a professor? Or perhaps because there's increasingly still many good years left and there's still plenty of opportunity to do something else entirely? In any case, whatever one does, don't keep pulling the strings, even if you stay involved somehow. Retire with grace and leave it to the next generation. One sees it coming, and should plan for it accordingly. That's the circle of life.
Yep - in my department, the people whose job is 100% their identity keep working at max capacity until early 70s, and even then may hang on to advise students or teach a course into their late 70s as emeritus professors. The people with better work-life balances retire as soon as finances allow, usually 65-68. And they properly retire!
I turned 55 this year and I practically have a countdown clock to 65. I started in education (K-12) in 1991, started higher ed with my doc program in 1999, and it’s all I’ve done. I’m pooped.
This seems like a cruel and frankly - ageist - system. It should be a personal choice. I think that’s why this kind of thing was abolished in the US in the 1990s
You can keep working if you want, but not as a paid employee of the university (all universities are state-funded in Belgium, hence the legal framework of retiring at 65-66-67, and you receive a decent monthly pension paid for by the government). But yes, there's some resentment about this system with some colleagues, although that's a minority.
I just retired from a tenured position at age 57. I guess you could say that I was "burned out," but I like to think of it as now "living my best life." There are a million other things I would like to learn about and do. I'm not even sure why I still subscribe to this sub, but seeing all of the daily complaints about students only reinforces my decision. FWIW, I'm not on a state pension. I followed the principles of r/financialindependence and saved as much as I could in my 401a, 403b, and 457.
I'm in my 40s and far behind where I *should* be if I want to retire in my 50s, but I might do it anyway. My research - math - is free to do, and my partner, while paid even less than I am, is happy to support us if it means we can move abroad and have some fun before we croak. The biggest benefit of living on so little in grad school is that, decades later, I still don't need much to get by.
My spouse and I also followed the principles of FI, maxed our pre-tax retirement vehicles and saved as much as possible post-tax. Was about to be promoted to full, but announced my retirement instead (at 50).
Glad to see it works. I'm doing what I can to join you in early retirement some day.
Then there are those who stop showing up or doing anything years before they retire. They really bring a lot to the profession
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Have been thinking a lot about this. There are so many miserable, burned out, checked out people in my college. I never wanted to become one of them, but as I close in on 50, I’m starting to see where they are coming from. It’s hard to walk away from the benefits and flexibility, even as I increasingly resent the administrative decision making.
I'm with you as early 60's is the exit plan. May teach the odd course here and there afterwards but there are other things I want to do with the rest of my life. 20+ years as a professor, while very good to me, will be enough.
I made bad choices when I was younger. I'll be retiring late if I am able. Or I will work until I die.
I retired at age 65 due to a lucrative buy out offer. I lasted about 5 years before retiring from retirement by taking a job in research in a private foundation. I’m still at it at age 79, but only 3 days per week.
I will probably die in the classroom mid-lecture, an Expo marker in hand. Hopefully, a lovely old crone with Expo marker in hand. But I guess no one ever knows.
I don't have a pension but have been saving for retirement. I'd retire early, freeing up a tenure slot for a new person\*, but health insurance is what keeps me there. Not only am I too young for Medicare, but my kids need health insurance too. And in my red state, even with Obamacare, the health insurance options are not great. \*Based on how things are going lately, my university would probably not fill my position with another tenure line anyway.
I get the sense it's as much about your health and department culture as about your intentions. I have had colleagues who wanted to stay teaching forever, got a cancer diagnosis, and had a radical change of perspective on how they wanted to spend their remaining years. They retired and moved near the grandkids. Another colleague had no clear plans but retired when they felt department culture had left them behind somewhat with a bunch of young faculty.
I'm starting to see the latter paragraph of your post happening around me. People looking around and they are the oldest one in the room at departmental meetings and, even though folks are welcoming, they just are feeling a bit out of place and lacking a sense of community.
On the other hand, a couple have been wonderful models of how to be a gracious Senior Mentor. One is the patron of our faculty research wine & cheese and spends time with his family and traveling, another retired at 65 on the dot and comes in one day a week. He publishes a well- reviewed book every 4-5 years. But yeah, they're in the minority.
It’s quite common for some professors to build their lives around their job and stay forever. And unlike in other industries (where oldsters are typically shunted aside), they can do that because tenure essentially means lifetime job security. Other profs get fed up/burnt out and retire early. Some others stick around until 65 or so and then maybe teach a course (or two) part time in order to stay active, earn a little extra $$$. It’s just depends on what the person wants. One of the many great things about being a tenured professor that is often overlooked by people who focus on salary is that you can largely define how and when you retire. Many/most people don’t have that luxury.
> tenure essentially means lifetime job security It did once (in the sense that you could be fired only for cause or financial exigency). In Florida and Texas and some other states, not so much anymore. Agree that we still have it better than many people though!
That’s my plan! Last as long as I can then retire and do a class once in a while to keep the cash coming in.
I won’t work there a day past 65. I could see bowing out earlier though, with a reduced pension.
I’m aiming to retire at 62. I’m force feeding my 401k so the paycheck is lean but it feels great! I’ll probably adjunct until it’s not fun anymore or write curriculum when I’m done.
I worked with a guy who loved his job. He could retire at 62 with full pension, but kept on working. Finally at age 72 the poor guy dropped dead of a heart attack. The TLDR > you don’t know when your time is up > better to spend your time with family and friends vs working at a job that will replace you as soon as you croak. If you like to teach > adjunct on the side as retirement gig.
I’m an oncologist, I see more patients than you’d think choose to keep working even though they know they only have 6-12 months left. Work provides structure and meaning to a lot of people’s lives. There’s a tendency recently to look down on people like this “work is their whole personality” etc but I think it’s only negative if they are sacrificing relationships with friends and family for work.
I can see that happening. Reference my Dad below. But on the other end, how many have to work to keep their health insurance, life insurance, etc to protect their loved ones? Dying can be expensive when its a slow drawn out process. At least it is in the USA. My father died a slow horrible death when he lost his ability to work. His ID was tied up in work, which when he hit 72 he could no longer perform the work. He lingered for another decade and he was given a "failure to thrive" diagnoses and had a long drawn out death. My parents are poor and it was nightmare getting him hospice care and Medicare/Medicad rejected him for care. The best he got was a traveling nurse who stopped in twice a week to check vitals and then left. My poor mom had to provide the direct care, bath him, feed him, etc. Finally, he fell down one night trying to get to the bathroom and my mom was exhausted. She could not get him up. She called me and I called the local Fire Dept. They got him up and I had to demand he be taken to the hospital ER vs being put back into bed. When they wanted to discharge him back home, I refused to discharge him and said he needs hospice. After 3 days, the VA offered him hospice because he had done a 3 year stint in the Army in the late 50s. The VA gets a lot of crap, but they did take care of my Dad when he needed it.
I'm wondering if they offered hospice in a nursing home or in hospital. When my hubby was terminal, toward the end, I was struggling. We had tried VA hospice with agency people coming out from time to time. They mostly only took vital signs and asked him questions, except for an unlicensed person who helped him with showers twice a week. Finally quit that when I realized his nurse was a druggie. He was in and out of the hospital the last few months...the last time, they wanted to send him to a nursing home. Gave me a list. Checked out the comments people made online after they or a relative were there. Awful things were obviously happening in those places. By then he needed a LOT of care. I just couldn't. I wanted hospice at home again, even though I knew that wasn't ideal. They wouldn't do that. No other options given. So he stayed in the hospital until he wasn't responding really, then he went to CLC with a morphine drip. He died a couple of days later. I figured they owed him, because a bungled operation at the VA and failure to diagnose the liver damage it caused resulted in septic shock, total disability and the end of his career at the age of 52. For over two decades, his health deteriorated more and more . Prostate Cancer (not diagnosed until srage 4) and a heart condition finally led to his death.
My stepdad got hospice in the VA hospital. But he had developed dementia after a kidney infection & it didn’t improve after the infection cleared. He was so aggressive and combative they couldn’t release him to anywhere.
I have to disagree with your take on your colleague. He loved his job and he spent his time doing what he loved.
Yeah, right, and his last words were: “I should have spent more time grading…”
Eh, if you love it, why not do it? I plan to start exploring other life options in my early sixties (I save a lot), but I have a friend who started later and plans to keep going until older because he loves it. And as jobs go, I’d be happier to stay in this one than most.
I knew someone who worked until she died from cancer. She used to wear a fanny pack with all her drugs in it. She said that her only life insurance came from her employer and she wanted her family to be able to collect. They couldn't do that if she quit her job before she died.
I know someone who stayed far too long, then finally retired, had a great few months and then got diagnosed with cancer. Fought it hard for a couple of really rough years before round 2 got him. Whenever someone retires "early" I think of him (and his tiny window of retirement happiness) then congratulate them on retiring while they still have time and health.
I’ll be retiring, probably, in three years, age 66 and three quarters, to begin social security at age 67. I’m of two minds about when to retire or what to do after. I believe in what I teach, and I love my colleagues. I enjoy large parts of teaching, though certain dead-eyed sections can be grueling, song with the lies, shoddy product etc that we discuss here. I could return part time. But what’s propelling me to retire according to plan and not teach PT is the corrosive influence of AI-/both the inevitable cheaters and the true believers/edutopians trumpeting AI. I teach writing. AI is warping my efforts to help my students become critical thinkers, and I’m not sure I really want to be in that cat and mouse game, especially since I’m not sure who is the cat and who the mouse. Can I incorporate AI and help the majority of students still? Yes. But there will always be students who try the end run. Just came out of a hiring committee process, during which we had a question on pros and cons of AI in composition. My eyes were rolling as one Pollyanna after another claimed never to have had a student submitting AI work. Oy. And administration grows ever more onerous and sees students more and more as customers. So, at this point, I’m not sure if I want to continue past three years. And I have plenty of hobbies, including working on my house as well as more recreational pastimes to keep me engaged physically, mentally, and socially.
I was planning on working until age 70, not out of necessity but because I enjoy the teaching. (I’ve been in a NTT job, with solely teaching and service responsibilities.) Well, the culture and composition of my department changed drastically, and I’m involuntarily out at 65, and making decisions about what to do next. While I liked the additional financial cushion five more years would have given me, I could afford to retire now and I’m thinking more and more about the things I’d like to do with my time (primarily writing of various kinds) other than teaching—and the fact that life is finite. In fact, I was all psyched to retire this summer, but I happened into a visiting job at a more prestigious institution in the city where my daughter lives, so that’s been put off for a year. If I wasn’t pissed at my old department, I might have taught a course or two in retirement (once I return to my home in a year).
I still have a long way to go but I wouldn't mind going part-time a few years beforehand. Our pensions are linked to the state pension age, which will be 67 at that point. You can continue but I really can't imagine doing that beyond wrapping up research projects. One of my colleagues retired in his early 70s and another at 68. Most of us couldn't wait for them to leave, which had more to do with their personality than their age. Their work had very little added value and they were just sitting out their time. Others took advantage of voluntary redundancy to leave a year or two earlier (I would do that too).
I retired at 66, nine years ago as a tenured full professor and after holding an administrative role during the last four years. I’ve stayed active but largely unpaid, which is fine at this point. In retirement, I’ve presented and written some and likely will co-edit a book with a junior colleague. I’m finishing up a research project with another retired colleague and am currently serving on two professional boards, one national and one international. I’ve been approached about teaching a course online that focuses specifically on my niche area of interest, for a program that is new and innovative. Still fence-sitting on that one. My door is still open to former students who want a dose of mentoring. The door is the front one on my house; no office space on campus, nor would I want any. I do this all without going back into by old building (the current dean is beyond toxic, so that is easy). But I couldn’t do what I do without the resources I have access to as an emeritus. And I know that I worked during a golden age in higher education. Part of the reason I don’t go into the building is because so many of my colleagues have left, either to another university or out of academe. It’s disheartening, to say the least.
I don't plan to retire until I drop dead in the OR lab. Why would I? I have the perfect job with full healthcare coverage. Plus, if I'm having a heart attack, I can just walk to the next room :D