I’m not there yet – in terms of age or savings – but it’s something I find myself thinking about. It could be the case that I don’t fully retire, rather, I just get super picky about the type of jobs I’ll take.
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I’m buying lottery tickets. 
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I think everyone questions whether they are ready financially to retire. Well, unless you’re the Queen of England, Bill Gates, etc.
Technically I still have another 20+ years. Here’s hoping I’ll be ready by then!
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The plan for my retirement gig is a progressive metal band called Gods Named Dave. Here’s hoping that the geriatric rock music scene picks up by then!
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I’ve never thought much about retirement until this past year when a know-nothing, psychopathic VP was inexplicably installed one step up the ladder from me. Now, getting out of this place is just about all I can think about.
Financially, I’m in good shape with pensions and various kinds of savings. However, retiring early will really cut into those monthly checks, so I’m holding my breath, biting my lip and just enduring this hell hole.
Honestly, though, I have no desire to ever retire. I just want out of my current job. I’m finding, however, that no one is in the market for a creative director a few years from normal retirement age — despite the fact that I’m probably at the top of my game. Heading out on my own sounds great, but I don’t have the extroverted personality or networking skills to pull it off.
Each day on my way to work, as I approach the freeway exit on my motorcycle, the urge to just keep on riding gets stronger and stronger. One of these days, I’ll just keep on going.
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I’m getting up there (turn 32 on Friday) but I can’t see myself ever really retiring. If I stopped having a standard 9-5 Job I would just pick up some other type of work to fill my time.
Financially I’ll be ready to retire at around 50, as long as I don’t get extremely sick, or even worse- accidentally have kids
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Same lmao 
Not much luck yet
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LOL … every generation has a geriatric rock music scene … either that or they turn into cover bands
I don’t think the Stones will ever die … they’ve been pickled for preservation 
LOL
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I still enjoy creating and the creative process. Lately, I find that creative work is a smaller and smaller percentage of what I do. That’s what gets me thinking about retirement. Like I said in my original post, that’s a few years away – a good 15 or so. But that doesn’t stop the daydreams and fantasies about escaping the rat race – or being in the position to only work on very select projects. Honestly, the latter sounds better to me than completely retiring.
I cannot retire out of this industry fast enough to avoid the impending train wreck.
10 years to go.
When young, we did not have 401K plans and pensions are pretty much a thing of the past. I ran my own compound interest equation on the 401K I do have (as opposed to the accountant’s formula) and I won’t ever have enough money to retire, at least not in the state of Massachusetts. And probably by the time I do, the government will have spent whatever savings I put into Social Security, so we’re pretty much screwed there too.
Practicing with my shopping cart now.
I don’t think I’ll ever be financially ready to retire. Mentally, I’m already semi-retired. And now I have to come out of that semi-retirement to invest in some children who will probably never retire either.
I buy lotto tickets.
I’m making more money now than I ever have but don’t have much in savings and don’t own a house or anything of value. I don’t have any debt though so I have that going for me. Over the past year I have been working hard at growing my savings. However, at this rate it will take me 10 years to save for a deposit on a house, assuming that house prices don’t go up. Then I can look forward to repayments of $1000 per week for the next 30 years. That will make me 74 by the time I’m mortgage free. I enjoy working (for now) but I need to seriously put my prices up if I want to think about doing things like buying a house.
If I don’t buy a house, then maybe I could retire on the pension. I haven’t given that part much thought.
What ever happened to us all buying an island somewhere? Boobie Island was it?
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Can’t retire because I have no savings (financial crisis of 2008 - thank you bankers) and the state pension won’t be enough. I’ll be 60 next year so I’m just hoping to keep on working as long as possible. Already living on one third of what I was earning 10 years ago and still have debts from 2008 with no hope of clearing them, and the interest is taking 45% of what I earn.
If I was on my own and the time came I’d try robbing a bank - if I succeed I’d be set, if I get caught at least I get fed + housed, and lots of new friends . . .
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I think a lot of people who work in visual media never fully retire. Saul Bass was working up until the end. Milton Glaser is still going and he’s 90. The photographers Alfred Eisenstadt and Andre Kertesz were still working when they were pushing 100. I guarantee if I get to 90, I’ll still be putting in at least a few hours a week. My output will slow, but I’ll always be working. It’s mentally and creatively stimulating and I know I wouldn’t be able to completely walk away from that.
My bigger concern is walking into meetings and pitching my ideas while being the oldest person in the room. At 54, the implications of this are starting to be real.
Yup, I agree with you Mojo. Most of us started out in this field (while passing up more lucrative careers) because we feel driven to express our creativity and problem-solving abilities. I’m certain that personality trait won’t disappear when I hit 66 (or whenever) and decide to quit my 9-to-5 job of working for other people. For that matter, it might give me the freedom to be more selective about what I choose to do. Many people, for whatever reason, lack that drive. They retire, sit on the couch and watch TV. I’d get depressed and probably go nuts doing that.
All that considered, though, what I’m finding is that people start taking us less seriously as designers after about the age of 50. It’s bassackwards because that’s about the time when a good, motivated designer can finally state with confidence that he (or she) really does know what he’s doing. Everyone in their 20s and 30s, though, just wants us to get out of their way. Hit 60 and they think you’re so far over the hill as to be irrelevant. Ten years ago, I received calls from headhunters about once every week or two. Today, I have a hard time landing a simple interview.
People like Milton Glaser, however, have their considerable reputations to keep them going. I won’t mention his name, but I sometimes work with a designer who has that same kind of reputation. He retired a few years ago, then moved to Utah where I live. Within months he got bored, started up his own agency and, relying on his reputation, seemingly had clients waiting in the wings. Is he a great designer? Well, yeah, but probably no better than lots of others (including me). The difference, though, is he’s reasonably famous whereas the others aren’t. So I guess my advice to other, younger designers is to make sure you get famous before you get too far into your 40s. 
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There’s no Off Switch for people like me …sigh.
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"Old designers never die, they just fade away. "
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The impact of age in this industry is something I think about.
There are older designers that seem to be irrelevant, and there are designers like Paul Rand that could go into a room full of young people (including Steve Jobs) and own the place.
Ageism in our industry drives me crazy. I’m not saying it’s indicative of every situation, but we briefly had a smart and pretty talented designer on our team a little while back who was in his early 30s. Nice guy. not pretentious, asked questions, etc. … but what floored me was how little practical design knowledge that he knew. Don’t get me wrong, he could do the job and to most non-designers he did well.
But here I am in my mid 40s, and yup, I get worried that I’m already being viewed as “non-hirable” if my job goes belly up. It makes me start thinking about moving more into a managing role which age is considered more of a benefit. Ugh.
Try being over 50 and someone who never, at all, ever bought into social media.
That equals not only unhirable, but almost a commitment-worthy offense in some folks’ eyes.
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