I have filed for retirement from the State of Illinois on May 31, 2012. I know that is 2 1/2 years away. But if you retire at the last minute, you miss out on certain benefits.

I could not sleep last night as I started to second guess myself on this whole retirement thing. But it is a little too late to do that since the Vice President and Dean have already set things in motion. The only way I can get the benefit of teaching for the two next summers and increasing my average salary by a significant amount was by declaring a firm retirement date. They calculate your salary based on the average of your last four years. Plus, I will get reimbursed for about 25% of my accumulated (about four months) sick days. The longer I teach the greater the possibility I might need to use them and then miss this advantage.

I meet with a retirement counselor on Tuesday. I am taking a penalty for retiring before I am 60, but I seriously do not think I could make it until then. The penalty is a bit higher than I had anticipated, but if my calculations are right I will still make about 50% of my salary. Plus there is a 3% cost of living raise each year. In addition, will also get a payment due to the fact I do not have a survivor that I can add to my monthly pension, put into an annuity, or take as a cash payment. I will only have to pay federal income tax and medicare.

At this point the state does not require us to pay for health care once you have retired and have 20 years. (Of course Illinois is 7 months in paying its insurance premiums right now.) I should be okay as I will have a decent savings account (cd's) and a few other small annuities, etc, plus no debt, but this is still scary. If I had taught until I was 60, I would have received about 72% of my final salary. And once you reach 30 years, you receive 80% which is the maximum. Since this is only my 21st year, I don't see how I could possibly do that. I am not even sure I will make it through he next 2 1/2 years. Am I making a huge mistake? Disability benefits and disability retirement are less.

If you manged to read this entire post, thank you! Sorry for the long ramble. I am just trying to think this through. It is scary not knowing what the future holds. I guess I should have met with the retirement counselor before I submitted my letter, but I could not get an appointment prior to the deadline for guaranteed summer teaching.

Any advice would be appreciated.