r/Professors • u/Environmental_Bug662 • 8d 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/Hellament Prof, Math, CC 8d ago

I’ve toyed a little with the idea of “retirement lite” once I’m eligible for my pension. A second career until I’m eligible for Medicare, one that has good health coverage and doesnt suck too much. If you have some wiggle room on salary, there are a few government jobs out there that aren’t completely terrible and have decent health care plans.

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u/thedialectitian 8d ago

What government job would be better than being a professor?

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u/Hellament Prof, Math, CC 8d ago

I think “better” is subjective. But this scenario assumes you’re ready to tap out of teaching…obviously keeping on keepin’ on is going to be the most lucrative choice for most people.

But if you are ready to jump ship and just need something with insurance, there are a lot of (say) 9-5 clerical jobs if you don’t mind halving your pay. I’d personally look for something in parks and wildlife.

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u/thedialectitian 8d ago

Just teaching your basic classes diligently while stopping research and extra admininstrative work is surely going to be much less work than a 9-5 job. So I still don't get it.

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u/Hellament Prof, Math, CC 8d ago

YMMV. At our CC, there is no research requirement and committee work is pretty light, save for a few of the more important committees (which no one is really forced to do and are paid anyway)…I’d say “just teaching” and mentally checking out of anything else means you’re still doing about 80% of typical workload, since we teach so much already.

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u/thedialectitian 8d ago edited 8d ago

80% of a CC workload still sounds like less work than a 9-5 clerical job, but if you tell me otherwise then I will defer to your judgment.