Are you planning to retire from public schools?

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Hi,

I work in a public school that has (what I think) is a good/decent pension. For me to get the best benefit out of it, I should stay a total of 30 years (I'd be 63 when I retire with a decent pension). For those of you in public schools that have pensions- are you planning to stay and get comfy and eventually retire? Is school nursing just an interim thing you're doing while you have school aged children? What is everyone's long term career outlook? Nursing-wise, it's a great job. Stable, steady income, good benefits/pension, great schedule, etc. However I'm not sure about 26 more years! It just seems soooo long to stay in the same realm of nursing.

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I have been in my position for three years and really love what I do, however I don't necessarily see myself here for another few decades. My kids are still young (10 and 12) and my hours are perfect. I am taking it year by year. Each year we are asked back (or not) with a letter we have to sign to re-commit for the upcoming school year. I should be getting mine soon.

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Specializes in Home Health,Dialysis, MDS, School Nurse.

I have about 15-20 years to go to retirement. (depending on which side of 65 I want to retire at). I've been her 3 years and will stay at least 6 more until my kids are all gone. If all is going well, I will probably stay for the long haul. I have no other career aspirations. We have decent retirement. The only thing that could sway me would be health insurance. I use my husbands, and he is older than me, so if that would every not be an option, I might leave for better insurance.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.

I have been here 5 years, and I plan on staying. Mainly because I like the job, but also I don't want to start over doing something else anymore. I do have retirement money from my hospital jobs, so I will use all that I can get when I retire, but I cant see me retiring until I am at least 70. My kids are young as well and I am old. LOL

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Specializes in kids.

I am in it for the long haul, here for 24 and 10 more (all things being equal!) to go. I will never get the health insurance that I have now for the price I have now. I contribute to the state retirement system and thath is doing ok (I have other accounts as well).

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Specializes in School nursing.

I have 15 years until I can retire, 10 more if I want a better retirement deal. I love school nursing and plan on sticking it for a the pension to be honest. And I'm in my 30s with no kids. (I also have another retirement fund from my non-nursing days in my 20s.)

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.
I have been here 5 years, and I plan on staying. Mainly because I like the job, but also I don't want to start over doing something else anymore. I do have retirement money from my hospital jobs, so I will use all that I can get when I retire, but I cant see me retiring until I am at least 70. My kids are young as well and I am old. LOL

I can relate!

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Absolutely. One of the main selling points for this job is the pension. I graduated nursing school in 2010 so it was shortly after the stock market crashed. It took me 8 months to find a part time job since so many nurses that were anticipated to retire chose not to because their retirement was uncertain. I do not want to risk that happening to me when I am ready to retire.

Also, my insurance is incredible. My daughter broke her arm and needed surgery and the whole thing (ambulance, ER, surgery, overnight in hospital, follow up visits, meds) cost me ~$300 out of pocket.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

15 years for me as well. I reach my 25/55 and I am OUT. Well, i'll have more than 25 in at that point, but it just pads the pension.

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15 years for me as well. I reach my 25/55 and I am OUT. Well, i'll have more than 25 in at that point, but it just pads the pension.

I will plan to look into it more as I get to retirement age (I'm 37 now). I was support staff for 5 years and on a different pension system. Since I became certified in school nursing a year ago, I am on the teacher retirement system. I know that for my dad (he became a teacher at age 41), once he hit 20 years, they started offering pretty big incentive to retire. He also had SS for years of working outside the school system. He never got a chance to collect SS but my mom receives his benefits from both SS and TRS. She is young to be a widow (she was 60 when he passed) so she could feasibly collect his TRS pension longer than he put into it.

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I have 15 years until I can retire, 10 more if I want a better retirement deal.

You can retire in 15 years?!? I think you're in Mass like me. How is this possible? I've been torn between staying private or going public.

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I'm in MA and the earliest age they offer to start collecting is 60. The percentage is way lower though. You're better off waiting just 2-3 more years. The only way to get the 80% is 30 years of service and 65 or older. The percentage goes down from there if you retire younger/earlier.

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