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How To reTIre earLY Living the good life before your 60s is possible I By BETSY DEMITROPOULOS
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That last day of work, right before a person is about to retire, is a dreaded day for some. But it’s a total delight for others. Count Barb Amadei in that second category. It’s been nearly two years since the Waukegan woman retired in November 2010, and she’s never regretted her decision to retire early at the age of 55. Amadei got her first job at a Burger King restaurant when she was 15. When she was 20, she started working for the Lake County government. Amadei went on to spend the rest of her working years at the county level. “I never thought I’d stay anywhere that long,” Amadei says. “Thirty-five years of employment was my magic number.” She worked in the county administrator’s office and in the solid waste agency, and she says she very much enjoyed her 35 years working for the county government and misses her friends there every day. “But it’s my time to relax now,” she says.
Living the good life
Amadei had originally planned to buy a condo or home in Florida during her retirement, but had second thoughts once the economy changed. She now plans to rent a
place in Florida or another spot in the U.S. But for the moment, she’s enjoying her retirement close to home. Amadei admits it wasn’t until the February following her 4 Barb Amadei retired two years ago at age 55. Photo by Candace H. Johnson
retirement that she finally felt retired. However, it didn’t take her long to realize the perks of being retired. She gets up later and has breakfast on the porch. She plays golf twice a week and participates in a golf league. She’s taken up yoga and exercises regularly. She loves to garden. “Now that I’m retired, I can do what I want when I want to do it,” Amadei says. Her husband, Raymond, who also worked for the county as its director of finance, passed away in 1999. But Amadei has three adult children — one in New York and two in Chicago — so retirement has meant more family time for her, as well. Retirement also has allowed Amadei time to be more altruistic. She pet-sits and housesits for her friends, waits for the “cable guy” to arrive at her friends’ homes and if a friend thinks she left her curling iron on, Amadei is free to check while the friend works. “The opportunities to be a good neighbor and friend and to help others are virtually endless,” Amadei says.
How she did it
Amadei has a government pension, a benefit that allowed her to retire at a younger age than the national average. Plus, she was a great saver. “Every time I got a raise, I pretended it didn’t exist, and I put it in the bank,” she says. Many people have concerns about when