When I retired from the Bloomington Police Department, I was done. I knew that, walking out the door. There was no way I was going to go back to the department and work for them again. I was moving on with my life.
But, to be fair, it was easy for me. I had prepared for retirement. I had followed the Dave Ramsey financial plan and was debt free save for my home mortgage. I had a substantial emergency fund and I had a job, teaching.
I started traveling the country and teaching right away, and I have to say being my own boss was a massive benefit.
But most officers when they retire aren’t in the same position. Many of them haven’t prepared for the possibility of retirement. They haven’t put away any money. They have no idea what they are going to do.
And that hurts.
When you combine the challenges of financial needs, the lack of social interaction, boredom and the loss of identity of being a cop, going back to the job is easy to understand.
Let’s take a moment and look at each of those reasons for going back to the job.
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