Originally Posted by
trashhauler
I wouldn't count on too many retirements. A lot of pilots that have 2 to 3 years until retirement attend these briefings to get an idea of what to expect. Remember last year when the rumor was 300 guys were going to retire when it turned out to be a lot less? The rumor was based on all these guys attending the retirement briefings.
One of the biggest drawbacks to any retirement decision is medical coverage. At the current time pre-65 retiree health care at FedEx will cost you around $800/month for you and the spouse. The $25K that was put in all of the over 59 1/2 year olds accounts that was intended to get you to Medicare age will not cover the health care expense if your spouse is significantly younger than you.
There is also a lot of uncertainty about the new healthcare rules, Medicare costs, Tricare copays going up (for those who have Tricare), tax ramifications of health care expenses, etc. etc. I'll just hang on to age 65 and pay my $161 per month (nontaxable) to keep what I have and see what happens with the new contract and the health care system.