h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And let's face it - the way things are going right now it looks more and more likely that a lot of us won't.

But if I did, there is now less time between today and my 65th birthday than the length of time I spent at my last job.

A sobering, but somewhat happy, thought.

I'm almost at the same point. But as much as I'd like staying at my job, I just have little confidence that it will last another 5 years, much less another 17.

I am officially old and have the Medicare card to prove it.

BG, are you referring to your specific job or NASA in general?

Good question. I meant my specific job, but NASA is at it's nadir right now. I'm confident it isn't going away, but things need to change. The NASA budget has always been subject to the whims of politics. This is exacerbated by how government budgets work in that they are allocated on a yearly basis, preferential to the lowest bidder and subject to cancellation on short notice. How it should be for NASA is that each project should be budgeted through their projected lifespans, with some expectation of overages and bonus awards for coming under budget and ahead of schedule, like many projects elsewhere are done.

But NASA's budget is submitted by the administration, then bickered over by congress, then resubmitted to the President for his signature. Long term projects are very problematic, and because of this we are now left with a gap in human spaceflight capabilities and no distinct project plan for the future of manned spaceflight. While this goes on, our Planetory Exploration (probes) budget is getting cannibalized to support other projects.

The surest sign I've seen that NASA is in trouble is how easy it is to find parking spots at work lately. It's really sad how things have changed in the last decade or two.

I'm glad I am as close to retirement as I am. The thought of looking for a job at my age is pretty scary. As is the number of libraries closing their doors nationwide. In Missouri, libraries are independent political subdivisions, created by the voters and with a dedicated tax that can't be removed on a whim. This gives us a level of protection that is absent in many states. It doesn't mean we necessarily have enough money to operate properly, but we can't be closed down by politicians. When places as important as NASA have problems, it is doubly scary.

I'm pretty certain that I've been overlooked for a job or two in the past 12 months because of my age. I have no firm proof so I won't mention any names, naturally, but it does worry me about making sure I'll have enough money to live on. Having split my life between two countries I'm not sure how well I'm likely to do when it comes to government pensions, and I didn't start my 410k until I was into my 50s.

I had a personal pension plan in the UK which I wasn't able to contribute to any more once I left, but they said it would simple keep earning interest until my 65th birthday. I only started it about six or seven years before I came to America so it never got very big, and I haven't actually contacted the people with a change of address for... probably ten years, so it might have been wound up. I ought to look into that.

Either way, short of a lottery win my retirement isn't looking exactly comfortable.

The interesting thing about pension plans, some of which I have had for nearly 30 years, is that they are payable on my 65th birthday. In the meantime, the retiring age has been pushed further away, so I shall be getting my first few months' payments from the private pensions while I'm still earning.

Nice.

The first private pension I took out (at age 18 I think) I nominated myself a lump sum at 55, but I can only take out what I paid in as 'extra' so probably won't be very much). Only another 11 years. All the years I was opted out of serps went in there, although I stopped paying in myself at age 20 so not sure how much is in there. I guess I am looking forward to the 'opting out of serps compensation' starting up at some point as it's now seen as generally a bad idea! I didn't ever have enough money to start paying in again until I started at the Beeb, then I just got a pension through them as it was a final salary.

I did think about getting a pension review about a year ago, but in the end couldn't be bothered. Probably should do it really

I sometimes which I'd been born 25 or 30 years earlier than I was. I think that was probably the last generation to be sure of getting a decent company pension, if one was offered. My dad, who worked for one of the nationalised electricity boards for more than 25 years) had a very, very comfortable retirement thanks to the income he got from his company pension.

I will be comfortable but not very comfortable. I'll still have to be careful. I turned 65 last month. My full retirement age is 66. But, if you start collecting social security during the year that you reach full retirement, there is no penalty for making too much money. So, my plan is to start collecting in January or February at the latest. That will give me 16-17 months of SS checks while keeping my full salary. These checks will be used to pay off everything except the mortgage and do some repairs on my house.

Also, as a widow, I can collect Frank's SS instead of my own. This will be about $300 a month more than if I took my own. Then when I actually leave the library, I can collect my city pension. What I plan to do there is take an option that pays me slightly smaller monthly payments plus an initial payout equal to 24 months. This lump sum is intended to go into the bank for a rainy day. The beauty of my city pension is that the library has made 100% of the contributions all these years. It is gravy.

The combination of SS and my pension will yield me about 80% of my working take home pay. So like I said, I'll have to be careful. But I won't have as much expense, either. My car and credit cards will be paid off, for one thing.

I do sometimes idly wonder whether I'll have a retirement. That isn't to say I haven't made provision for it - that would just be stupid. But the retirement age seems to be receding into the distance more rapidly than the average age of kicking the bucket.

Maybe I'm preparing better than most of my Gen-X bretheren, but what motivated me was the knowledge of impending doom for the Social Security system back in the late '80's and '90's. I've never assumed Social Security would be a major part of my retirement, or even a significant part because my generation expected the Baby Boomers to bleed it dry before we got to retirement. It's simple mathmatics based on population and longer expected life spans. What we didn't expect is currently down trending life spans and the republican blitzkrieg on the Social Security system. So, it's a wash. Either way, what I wasn't expecting was three decades of minimal interest rates. Tell me why again that interest rates should remain just above 0%? Oh, yeah, profit taking.

Anyway, as good as I've been at contributing 15% of my income to an IRA, the cratering of the stock market in '08 nearly wiped out a decade and a half of investment. I've recovered some of it, and what was most at risk I put in an insured annuity.

Oh, and I've never been offered any type of pension. And I never expect to. It's a different world from my father's.

I only joined the Beeb's pension because BluesShark advised me to - final salary pensions are disappearing - he said. I think even the Beeb doesn't offer them anymore. Just hope my 3 years of paying in have been helpful. I'll probably just be on top up benefits my whole life, including retirement anyway.

The more I think about it the more it's becoming clear that if I want to continue with my 401k (which I can roll over), and I really do need to, I'm probably going to have to get a job with a big company or a corporation, rather than a small independent business, which is the kind of company I prefer to walk for (other than working for myself, of course). I know there are smaller companies that offer retirement plans, and often match your contributions (one good thing about the Drafthouse) but they're not so easy to find.