Countdown

 

I put a countdown timer app on my phone to track how far out I am from retirement. It has a cute little widget that I check every day. Sometimes more than once. Fewer than 600 days to go. That’s not even 2 years.

The grant that pays towards my student loans runs to the end of 2027. It would be incredibly dumb to leave guaranteed money on the table. I will still have a bit of loan debt after the grant ends but I should be able to wrap that up in two or three years. The Odyssey will be paid off by then so I can divert that money to the student loan. Easy peasy.

Why not retire on December 31, 2027? I turn 65 the following spring. Waiting until just after that makes retiring from the state government job a bit easier since it is a “standard” retirement target.

Making this decision has already affected my mindset at work. When I get dragged into administrative situations that are dumb or annoying or make my job harder, which is pretty much all of them, I remind myself that in fewer than 600 days, those things won’t be my problem anymore.

Of course, I feel a bit guilty because my departure will be extremely inconvenient for my team and for the lab. There is a significant programmatic change coming to the lab in the fall of 2029 or thereabouts. I am deeply involved in planning and preparing for this change. It relies quite a bit on me and my expertise. Only I know that I won’t be here to see it happen.

I keep reminding myself, I cannot have more loyalty to my employer than it has for me. And believe me, as an employee of a deep red state government agency, my employer has no loyalty to me whatsoever.

Just checked the widget. Yep, fewer than 600 days.