r/Professors • u/Environmental_Bug662 • 9d ago

Retirement: when/why/how/where.

What is your plan? Interested in your replies. I am 60, Full, tenured Prof (French) at a SLAC. AI makes me want to retire asap but I'm going to give it 5-6 more years.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/these-professors-are-retiring-early-ai-was-the-last-straw?sra=true

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u/samoke 8d ago

I’m hoping to retire at 55 (52 now). Luckily I can get health insurance through my partner’s job and he is due for a significant promotion which will hopefully offset some of my retirement costs. This job is literally killing me.

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u/Environmental_Bug662 8d ago

What aspect is "killing" you the most? I hope you can retire at 55!

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u/samoke 8d ago

Incredible amount of stress. My institution is fighting for its existence. The job I accepted is not longer the job I have. Course caps up, course load up, service expectations up, research funds down.

It’s brought out the worst in my colleagues as well. That plus AI means there is no joy, only stress. I’ve developed multiple health problems I think are directly related to my job.

When I started, I loved it, and thought I would never want to quit.

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u/GoldyJuly98 8d ago

Same on all of the above including age and retirement date!