Salute to Spouses Blog

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About Face: When is it Time to Retire?

Many of us have asked ourselves that question for years. Do we (I say “we” meaning the active-duty member and the spouse, since it is a joint decision) leave at 20 years? Stay in for 25? Retire after three years at the highest rank?

Or just forget about retirement altogether and leave the military after five years, or 10?

Leaving the military, especially for retirement, is like having a baby. There’s never going to be a perfect time to do it. For most people, the question of when to leave the military revolves around two issues: money, and what to do with the next phase of life.

The reality is, there’s probably never going to be enough money or the perfect job offer.

My husband came very close to getting out of the military in 2002, when he had 12 years of service. He didn’t really know what he wanted to do in the real world, so he stayed.

In 2006, when he had 16 years in, we bought a house in Florida and decided we would stay put until he hit 20 and then retire there.

Nine years and four PCS moves later, he finally dropped the paperwork.

My husband and I are the same age and I’ve been married to him since he joined the Army 25 years ago.

That is more than half our lives.  I’ll say that again: We have spent more than half our lives in the military world.

At first we stayed because he loved his job and the people he worked with. He still does, but as time went on so did the toll on his body, both our psyches and our family. Still, there was nothing enticing enough outside the military to make us leave.

Now, he’ll retire in August of this year after 26 years. There still isn’t necessarily anything especially enticing outside the military, but there’s not much challenge left for him here on the inside, either.

My husband’s boss asked him why we wanted to retire.

The reply: “Because it’s time.”

His boss told him that was all he needed to hear.

How will you know when it’s time to retire?

Don’t worry. You’ll know. Because, it’ll be time.

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