Retirement age.

[C.W.E.]

To the best of my knowledge there is no set retirement age for pilots but eventually everyone will have to retire for one reason or another.

I retired at age seventy for several reasons, the main reason being I was tired of being away from home and I had made enough money to live comfortably unless I live to be well over one hundred and if I do I will deal with the money issues then.

Another reason for retiring was I was stuck in a flying job I was very unhappy in.

And finally I got to thinking that sooner or later I might have an accident or incident that would ruin over fifty years of safe flying so I decided to quit at the end of that years commitments.

Looking back the only thing I would have done different was quit sooner.

How about the rest of you out there, what are your thoughts on this subject?

[sunk]

I retire as soon as I could afford it, 56 years old and 37 years of accident free flying.

[C.W.E.]

I retire as soon as I could afford it, 56 years old and 37 years of accident free flying.

Excellent.

You will make it.

[oneplus]

whats the $ threshold when one can retire?

[Schooner69A]

I only quit at age 63 because I couldn't get six weeks off to motorcycle across Canada and back. Would have gladly continued on flying following the trip if I had been able. (Flying AStar, Citation, Hawker 125 at the time)

I've had a grand time since I retired from flying, but I didn't do so because I was tired of flogging aircraft around the country; only because there was no other way to do the cross-Canada thing...

[C.W.E.]

whats the $ threshold when one can retire?

Excellent question.

You need to be in a position where your income be it from retirement plans from flying plus your government cheques and your investment's will cover your living costs until you croak.

One very important issue is you should have your house paid for or close to paid for.

Another important thing is where you want to live, for instance it is far more expensive in cities such as Toronto , Vancouver etc. than in smaller towns or outside of cities, towns.

Here is a suggestion that worked for me, I quit smoking and drinking thirty five years ago and invested the money I would have spent in safe investments.

I live in Nanaimo on property I bought in 1980 on a hill above Long Lake with a view to die for, and I built the house myself and paid for it as it was built.

Another big waste of money is cars and trucks, I was careful about wasting to much money on them.

Last year I bought a new Ford Escape as my final vehicle and for me it is quite sufficient and comfortable to drive.

Another real way to lose money is getting divorced too often so if you do get divorced make sure they want you occasionally more than your money.

[Hilroy]

With the retirement age being discussed all over the world by governments, I wouldn't be surprised the class 1 maximum age to be raised in the next years...

[rookiepilot]

With the retirement age being discussed all over the world by governments, I wouldn't be surprised the class 1 maximum age to be raised in the next years...

The age any government retirement benefits are paid -- will rise. And will be mean's tested, too. Better have a better plan.

Learn to invest. Get towards debt free.

Don't listen to the bloodsucking bank and their used car salesmen financial advisors. You will end up broke. They exist to take your money.

[Dasher310]

A little over 70, still living the dream, spent close to 40 years in Africa/ Europe, aged out there so came home and took a little part time job flying a couple of days a week......of course it has gone nuts and I now work 24/7 as chief pilot/ops manager doing line checks, rides, training and trying to keep the young guys out of too much trouble.
Most fun I have had in years, a good reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Just did a stint based out of Nanaimo, love the place and am really thinking seriously of growing up and settling down somewhere around there.

[Old fella]

On the subject of retirement I have over the years a lot more to be happy about than pissed off over and always thankful of what I have been given not annoyed over what I didn’t get. I embrace my advancing years combined with retirement because it’s a privilege many don’t live to see. Retirement is something we all earn by contributing ,it wasn’t given to us free of charge, we worked for it.

[Squaretail]

Personally, I am starting to think one should just count themselves lucky if you make it far enough to start seriously making a choice about retirement. Seems like every day I learn about someone who dropped out of the race, or retirement choices were severely limited before they got there. You don’t get to take anything with you, and you won’t get to the end and think “I should have worked more.”

[C.W.E.]

To retire you must have an income to live on, in Canada there is the old age pension and Canada security plans.

You will have a problem living on that so you need to have made sure you have either a lot of money saved or some other form of income such as rental property.

Flying can be a tough way to make enough money to be able to save money.

I did two things to build up a retirement fund.

First thing I did was I flew in specialised fields such as Ag.flying, fire bombing and other types of flying that paid well.

The other thing I did was owned other businesses such as a taxi company and a construction company.

[laserstrike]

If an income is all you need, then why aren't all those Sr airline pilots leaving with their $200,000 a year pensions?

Would be nice, since you know... thousands of other pilots are waiting patiently.

Oh right, it's greed.

[C.W.E.]

Oh right, it's greed.

Envy - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envy
Envy (from Latin invidia) is an emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it".

[laserstrike]

Oh right, it's greed.

Envy - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envy
Envy (from Latin invidia) is an emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it".

Wrong.

It's greed plain and simple.

Thanks to all the fly to 65 folks.

[Old fella]

If an income is all you need, then why aren't all those Sr airline pilots leaving with their $200,000 a year pensions?

Would be nice, since you know... thousands of other pilots are waiting patiently.

Oh right, it's greed.

Well, it didn’t take long to see such commentary, kinda expecting it.

[CpnCrunch]

Max out your CPP and RSP contributions, pay off your mortgage, and don't work yourself into the ground. You spend most of your life working, so don't work somewhere you hate.

[trey kule]

Oh right, it's greed.

I dont know how many I speak for, but that comment is offensive to me.

I love flying, it is not what I do but who I am.
At 65 they put me out to pasture. I found in the pasture whole new areas of flight.
It gets me up in the morning. I look forward to “work”.

You kids that got into the big metal at twenty have a lot of years to go....a lot of years.

Labelling us as greedy is just unfair.

[laserstrike]

Oh right, it's greed.

I dont know how many I speak for, but that comment is offensive to me.

I love flying, it is not what I do but who I am.
At 65 they put me out to pasture. I found in the pasture whole new areas of flight.
It gets me up in the morning. I look forward to “work”.

You kids that got into the big metal at twenty have a lot of years to go....a lot of years.

Labelling us as greedy is just unfair.

Why does everyone always assume everyone is being hired in their mid 20s?

[C.W.E.]

Labelling us as greedy is just unfair.

It goes beyond being unfair, it shows a very narrow immature view of life.

[Diadem]

Then you old guys better not complain anymore about how young people are lazy and don't want to work. It's a lot harder to work when people keep working into their 70s and occupying jobs that used to open up when employees hit 65.

[C.W.E.]

It's a lot harder to work when people keep working into their 70s and occupying jobs that used to open up when employees hit 65.

What jobs are you talking about?

[C.W.E.]

I have another question.

At what age should a pilot not be allowed to fly commercially?

The reason I am asking is I am thinking of going back to work part time as a pilot and for sure I am over 65.

[laserstrike]

I have another question.

At what age should a pilot not be allowed to fly commercially?

The reason I am asking is I am thinking of going back to work part time as a pilot and for sure I am over 65.

Commercially with lives at risk? 70. Provided you are held to strict fitness standards.

In a 705 airline environment? 65 is more than enough. Some of the pilots I've worked with that were a few years below that age were already pushing it... For various reasons including health/eyesight, overall ability to act quickly and maintain proper situational awareness and understand new technology. One of the biggest issues I find on the line is the inability to act in a quick and decisive manner. It's proven that with age, cognitive ability decreases.

There will always be people who are healthy and fit, smart and ready to go after that age but in my experience there aren't enough to consider increasing the retirement age yet again.

Anyone who says that the fly to 65 group initiative was not driven by greed, greed of an extra 5 years at top wage payscale is naive.

65 is enough. Take your fat pension and million extra bucks 5 years got you and give up the reigns for the next generations.

The above is just my opinion, feel free to disagree with it.

[trey kule]

As I understand your argument laser, you feel that the over 60s should give up their jobs....so you and those like you can get to bigger checks faster. Is that about right?

What entitles you more to the higher wage than the pilot you want to put out to pasture? Other than you want their job. That seems to me to be afairly clear piece of entitled greed.

It would be interesting to get your perspective again when you hit 60. But of course you will just step out of the way and retire.