Do you plan to retire from IT?

Bl8ckr0uter

Interesting stratification in the responses and votes. Interesting indeed.

Slowhand

I'm sure I will retire from IT. In fact, I'm pretty sure I already have. While I'm still gunning for a part-time IT gig to help me pay for school, my educational path is taking me down a slightly different path. I'm studying computer science & electrical engineering, and I find myself browsing the mechanical engineering department's class-listings like they were adult sites, sometimes. In my heart of hearts, though, I'd love to move more and more away from technology-specific fields as I enter grad-school, and with some luck I'll end up studying something like physics while I do research and maybe even teach.

In short: IT's been good to me and this kind of work will always have a special place in my heart and my life, but I dream of being a mad scientist when all is said and done.

N2IT

I am heading the way of an consultant. Higher bill rate spotty hours. One week I may work 60 hours the next 0. With my wife having an extemely high IQ we are (I AM) pushing here on to do her dream of being a nurse anesthesia. Her first week of work was last week, 2 years from now she should able eligible to apply for the anethesia school. Her job will pay for the whole masters so why not right?

Anyway that's what I plan on doing. Hopefully retiring before 50. I have been investing since I was 18 so I should be able to sustain.

Excellent1

Monkerz wrote: »

I choose no, only because in my dreams I see myself stumbling over a very large stock pile of thallanylzirconio methyl tetrahydro triazatriphenylene.

Going to go ahead and give this the "random post of the day" award. Well done.

Bl8ckr0uter

Let me also add that I am shocked at the number of people who don't ever see themselves retiring. Working all of your life just to die in the end is a scary thought for me. When I retire, I just want my money working for me (and not the other way around ).

ehnde

Monkerz wrote: »

I choose no, only because in my dreams I see myself stumbling over a very large stock pile of thallanylzirconio methyl tetrahydro triazatriphenylene.

Had to google this. Good man! That's "NZT" from the movie Limitless.

kevozz

Devilry wrote: »

Nope, I plan on being in IT for about the next 10 years, while I build a real estate portfolio, then i'll switch full time into that.

That's also my plan, though i'm getting into real estate much sooner than expected.

erpadmin

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Let me also add that I am shocked at the number of people who don't ever see themselves retiring. Working all of your life just to die in the end is a scary thought for me. When I retire, I just want my money working for me (and not the other way around ).

People seem to think retiring means doing nothing while collecting a check (be it Social Security, 401k, pension, etc...). That's simply not true...studies have shown that if you retire without doing some activity, you will succumb to senility faster.

Now yes, when I reach retirement age, I'd like to see myself out of IT or otherwise stressful environments in my older age. I would take either a less stressful job (even at lower pay as my pension would augment whatever salary), or if I'm able to be covered financially get involved in some sort of community service, mentoring, local politics (like attending council meetings or something), gardening, or whatever gets me out of the house that has me contributing something.

As I mentioned to someone else, I'm not going to retire from technology for myself. I love technology, as I'm sure we all do. I just don't want to deal with the current aspect of it in my 60s and 70s...even if I'm in management. In my 60s and 70s the only whiny user I want to deal with is myself (and perhaps the wife...lmao). However, we're not that much of a whiny bunch....lmao.

NinjaBoy

At this moment in time, I'm planning to work in an IT related role until I retire in 35 years time.

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Interesting replies! For those of you that don't plan to retire (within the next few years which it seems no one is that close), what skills do you plan to pick up within the next 5 years to keep yourself valuable for the next 10 years?

Not sure what qualifications, however I want to also increase my technical, my management and my teaching knowledge. At some point do and complete my Masters, however that all depends on funding...

ColbyG

I don't know how to do anything else. I'm 28 and have no idea where I'll be in ~35 years, but it would suck to have move to another field.

N2IT

erpadmin wrote: »

People seem to think retiring means doing nothing while collecting a check (be it Social Security, 401k, pension, etc...). That's simply not true...studies have shown that if you retire without doing some activity, you will succumb to senility faster.

This is a great point. I think "retirement" is preceived differently from different people, regardless you bring up a great point. My idea of retirement is not working fulltime anymore and having more days to myself and family than to my work. Albeit it may just mean I am working as needed as a consultant or a mentor for unprivledge youth. Whatever it is I will still be using my brain no questions about it.

SteveO86

ColbyG wrote: »

I don't know how to do anything else. I'm 28 and have no idea where I'll be in ~35 years, but it would suck to have move to another field.

I'm with you on this one. I've dedicated quite a few years to IT already, and so far I've been doing pretty well for myself. I don't know what else I would rather do.

Shanman

I am 31 and I really hope I can retire from IT. Four years ago I decided to go back to school and make my hobby a living and get my bachelors in security. I have not looked back and enjoy it. I like the challenges that come everyday on the job. I really enjoy networking. The only thing that scares me is technology passing me by. I see my son who is almost 2 work the iPad and netflix and it scares me how quick he grasps things. It is just a matter of time until he is showing me how to do things. He already asks to come downstairs where I have my servers and cisco home lab. He tells me "want the puters". Aside from worrying about not being able to keep up is that fact that you here about everything going to the cloud and there being less of a demand for network admins. Kind of scary but this is my direction and I love it. Just hope I can stay in the field with hard work and continuing to educate myself to stay about.

djfunz

For me, retiring will include continuing to travel the world and experience new cultures and enjoy life as much as possible. It's impossible to answer this question unless retirement is only a few years away. Market conditions, family, health and if we'll even still be alive by retirement age are all realistic determining factors. I would love to still be in IT in 10 years but then I'll be 40, so who knows what will happen after that.

instant000

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

And by this what I mean is in 20-40 years do you still see yourself working in IT? I know I don't..

YES. Definitely yes.

swild wrote: »

MS, CCIE:S, RHCE, that will cover the next 5 years, after that CCDE and possibly a doctorate.

LOL at being similar in goals.

I also want the MS, CCIE:S, and Doctorate. Exception: you can keep the RHCE to yourself. I'm not excluding the CCDE, it's still a consideration, even if I only do that one for "studying only." This is the order I'm taking:
MS > CCIE:S > Ph.D.

Let me plan out the next 20-40 years: (yes, this sounds crazy, when I really only do five-ten years out most of the time)

5 years: MS, CCIE:S, Working (Full-Time)
10 years: Ph.D., Teaching, Working (Part-Time)
11 years > Death: Teaching, Working (Part-Time)

There is a saying, "those who can, do, and those who can't, teach." Well I plan to get into teaching, as it's something I've always wanted to do. It gives me that "AAAAAHHHHhhhhh" feeling. I want to teach either IT, Math, or Science. Those things have always come easy for me (I know, people say the best teachers are usually people who don't catch on to things easy) but whatever I want to try it, because I like doing it. (All three would be awesome, but I don't want to overcommit my time. Want to spend more time with my family, as I get older.)

Hah, I put "Death" in my plans. Didn't list taxes though (now, every thing I do on the internet from here forward is logged by the IRS) oh wait, it already is logged, they just need to request my records .

hackman2007

Tricky question.

I find it hard to predict what the future will bring. A lot of it depends on the future of IT in general. I love the industry and hope to stay in it, but it all depends on where the industry goes.

onesaint

hackman2007 wrote: »

Tricky question.

I find it hard to predict what the future will bring. A lot of it depends on the future of IT in general. I love the industry and hope to stay in it, but it all depends on where the industry goes.

This is the one that keeps me up at night. Goals and learning can be done. Heck, I think being in IT requires you to learn constantly. I love that aspect of it. However, I am always concerned that the specific field I am / have gravitated towards will someday be dissolved. That is the case in any IT discipline though.

To answer the question, I do plan to stay in IT for the remainer of my working days. Do I ever see myself retiring? No. Not for the lack of financial stability, I'll be fine there. It's that I've gotten used to reading IT books every night and constantly seeking new technical information to absorb. It's that really, I think I would be thoughly bored if there wasn't thousands of developers and engineers working on new technologies for me to learn.

Ah, I think I reassured myself there in that when the IT world changes, I'll just change and learn with it.

the_Grinch

26 and I don't believe there will be a such thing as retirement for my generation. Looking at it now, I don't think I will "retire" from IT, but I also have no idea on what else I could do. I always found it funny about looking into other careers fields because when you begin to weigh what is gained/loss, you often find yourself sticking to your field. I was looking at nursing and when I looked at going back to school and the pay I would get once out, I could stay in IT and probably be making the same amount. My sister is a nurse and so I knew I was probably looking at just another thankless job. So for now I'll see what happens, paying my bills, enjoying life a bit, and working on a plan.

Forsaken_GA

I seriously doubt I'll ever do anything career wise that isn't related back to IT in one form or another. It's where my strengths are. Will I always be in operations? Probably not, but I could see myself moving to management or teaching later in life, so I'd still be part of IT, I just wouldn't be down in the trenches.

jmritenour

I think the sad reality is, most people in my generation will not be able to fully retire. Social security is probably going to be long gone by the time I reach "retirement" age, and cost of living is only going to increase.

Forsaken_GA

jmritenour wrote: »

I think the sad reality is, most people in my generation will not be able to fully retire. Social security is probably going to be long gone by the time I reach "retirement" age, and cost of living is only going to increase.

People will be able to retire, they'll just have to plan for it and do it themselves. Anyone who sits back and waits on the government to fix their problems is going to be sorely disappointed. The only reason I would never retire is if I didn't want to. I fully intend to have a networth north of 7 figures by the time I'm 50.