Retirement can be a wonderful end-of-career time to travel more, spend time with family and grandchildren, or to just focus on your hobbies and what you love to do. It’s something that everyone should be thinking about, even if it seems far off in the future.
Allovus has been in business for over 7 years, so it’s natural that some of our employees are thinking about retirement already—and in fact, we have one employee who took the retirement plunge last year—Barb Nichols.
Barb has been with Allovus since its inception—January of 2009. She was employee number 2. (Hayley was employee number 1.)
According to Barb, she started to think about retirement the day after Allovus’ first Open Enrollment. “We were up to 35 employees, instead of the 7 Hayley told me we’d have at the beginning,” Barb said. “It was my first time through the health care enrollment process. Yikes! I thought I was prepared for the event, but it was a much bigger task than I thought. I was a crazy person, but after the dust settled, I was okay.”
Before you make the decision to retire, Barb said there are some things you should really think about:
- Think about what your income will be and where you want to live.
- Also what kind of things would you LIKE to do. It’s important to make a list of things you would like to do after you leave your career. I think every person, whether they’re millionaires or otherwise, should think about that. Do you get to keep your standard of living? Most of the time, yes.
- Check the rules and requirements of Employment Security and, Social Security. I’d recommend learning as much as you can about Medicare long before you enroll in it. I had our insurance agent help me enroll in Medicare and I’m so glad; it can get very confusing. Estimate your monthly income on Social Security, make a plan, and know if you will be required to pay any kind of taxes on different sources of income; don’t forget to plan your 401k income or IRA income if you expect some.
Now that Barb is officially retired, she spends her days doing what she loves. “I love being retired; don’t let anyone tell you it’s boring. I do farm chores, ride horses, tap dance (really), travel; I have so much fun. Looks like I’ll be helping with Sami’s 4-H activities this year. We’ll be hauling her horse around to shows and competitions.”
At Allovus, we love happy endings. And we’re thrilled that Barb has made the transition from career to retirement so easily.
“Thanks to my son and daughter-in-law (Rob and Hayley Nichols); my retirement transition has been one, that 20 years ago, I couldn’t have even imagined. Following them into Allovus Design was the best thing I ever did. The success of this business helped me build the future I have now. I’m thankful for this every day of my happy, retired life. I miss working with the Allovus gang, and wish ALL OV U the best of luck.”
Happy trails, Barb!
Read more about Barb’s retirement here: The First Allovus Retiree
Read about beginning your career with Allovus:
