I was following the career change thread closely and now that it died down I wanted to start a retirement thread again. I am 59 and my financial guy said I would be good to go at 60, just a few months away. I am feeling quite good physically and I even do triathlons for a hobby(qualified for nationals even).

Anyway, from the time I started into the workforce, one of my goals was always to retire early or at least not work as long as my dad did. I could hang onto my job and save more or I can go at 60. My job is not so stressful most of the time and I get five weeks vacation (and still don't make it to the BWCA every year) but it sure would feel nice not having to get up for work every day and having time to pursue my own interests.

What's your retirement story, either past or future, and are you glad you quit working?

If you find yourself in that situation, don't forget to wake up every morning and be grateful.

I'll never see that situation.

I was a late starter. In six months I turn 59, and just put first daughter into college two weeks ago, have another daughter who's a sophomore in high school, and a son in 6th grade.

Oh well,,,they keep me young.

I was a full-time Mom and a part-time piano teacher and church choir director until I was 40 years old. Then I was a full-time Mom and a full-time school music teacher and a part-time church choir director for a few years until we had an empty nest. :-) I retired from my full-time school music teaching job at age 59 after 19 years of teaching, and from my part-time choir directing position when my husband retired at age 65. We wanted to be able to travel and to visit our children on the weekends, since they didn't live near us.

I am very glad that I retired early. I have thoroughly enjoyed retirement, and I have found activities that I enjoy to keep me involved in the community, church, and life in general. I don't miss school teaching, but I do sometimes miss directing the church choir. Still, I am content with the way things worked out.

We enjoy our retirement. We made sure that our home was paid for and that we were debt-free before we even considered retirement. My husband was a prudent saver while he was working, and we were blessed with children who had academic scholarships that paid for their college education. We love to travel and we do a lot of it. Both of us have health issues now, and we try to keep going to places that we enjoy while we are still able to do it.

Every day is a gift. My husband says, "when you are retired every day is Saturday, except Sunday, because then you go to church!"

52 now, and my ex has seen (is seeing) to it I'll have to work 'till I'm 80! I'm incredibly envious - good for you, man!

I "retired" at 53, just over 12 years ago, and have never regretted it. i have seen too many people, my late wife included, delay retirement until a health crisis screws up all of the plans. if you can afford it financially, go for it.

One thing is what are your plans? You are probably as healthy and fit as you ever will be. Vacation plans involving backpacking,camping BWCA maybe it is time to pull. I see you get weeks vacation-have you taken a lot of vacation time at once and see how you like extended time off?
Social Security you will have to wait awhile.
I also have seen many coworkers work up to a certain point and retire and shortly after they die or get to sick to enjoy their big plans.

Even the least stressful job has stress and retirement made me much more relaxed. Also part of my job when I retired was to spend more time exercising.
Only you know if you should retire,you will always get a lot of free advice.

Great question! When I was younger, I always said I would retire at 55. That didn't happen, then I said 60... that didn't happen either. But at 61, my company offered a retirement incentive I couldn't pass up. Now, nearly 2 years after retiring, I couldn't be happier!

While I really liked my job, there were so many other things I would have rather been doing.
Now I am doing those other things... spending lots of time with grandkids, photography, taking 2 canoe trips per year and getting some of those neglected projects done around the house.

No regrets here!

I am so glad I did.
Turned 50 and walked out the gate 5 days later.

Did some lawn work for a few years.
Built some guns for a couple yrs.
Wait a minute.... that's still work... Now I work 1 day a week in the pro shop at a local course....free golf...and I can fish the course lakes....

Now we're talk in.
I consider myself very lucky
I keep a low profile as many buddies are not so lucky.... I am fricking happy..

They say it's like having kids... if you wait til you can afford it.. you'll never do it.....

Those 1st couple paychecks you get after you retire are real eye openers.....
Then you say to yourself.
Hell ya. I can do this.

I'll let you know in three weeks.
Retiring from Wildland firefighting after 28 years, I'm 54.

I have mandatory retirement in 2 years, but I figure it's time now.
I find my joy very stressful, it's not all glory like the movies.

There comes a time after 28 years that you realize it's time to let the younger generation advance. They are more of a go getter than I'm now, are way better with all the new technology and more physically fit.
Most retirees I talk to tell me why wait?

My health is good, but firefighters have a much higher incidence of cancer and lung cancer due to lung damage. I'm not taking any chances, and getting out while I can still hike and paddle.
Living in Alaska, I'm am also homesick to move back to Mn and my wife.
I've only spent around 6 months with her in the last 2.5 years. She's my rock, don't know if I could have done it without her, but she deserves to have her husband back.

Congrat to you Linden.

I'm 57 and am very unsure if it will happen for me? Even though I've been working since I was 16, I've spent more money on healthcare in my lifetime than most people spend on a mortgage and a vacation home. Retirement funds have been "Raided" on a few occasions to pay off medical bills. But that's ok, every extra day on this earth that I get to work is one more day I was "Blessed!" The way I see it, the circumstances that keep me from retiring is because I'm fulfilling my life's mission in taking care of others!

Great thread. I've never put these thoughts in writing and so this is somewhat therapeutic and helpful in organizing my plan. I'm 45 years old and my goal is to retire at 55. We'll see. Ya never know what might happen. My wife and I have been saving til it hurts for the past 20 years. We have no kids and we both work. You know the acronym for Double Income No Kids? That's us. We have a financial advisor that helps us to reach our goals. We meet with him twice per year and correspond much more than that. He says that we are right on track. Our home is almost paid off. We have no other bills. Credit card balances are zero. I think psychologically, keeping busy after retirement will be key. I have many interests and hobbies outside of my career and so I really don't think that will be a problem. Of course I'll spend lots of time in the BWCA and other wilderness too. My wife and I love to travel and so we will spend a significant number of days each year traveling. The big wild card will be health care. If I had to predict one thing that might prevent me from retiring at age 55, it would be the affordability of health insurance for my wife and I until Medicare kicks in.

I retired at 55. I enjoyed my mail route but figured I could do something else. We live conservatively and are having fun! Go for it! Marc

I am 60 I have 2.5 yeas to go. I put my wife (7 years younger) through grad school and my daughter just finished college. We are debt free and with both of us working now and with no schooling to pay for we are getting finances in order. My wife will have to work for awhile yet. I have a great job and it has been fun but it has changed a lot and it is harder to get motivated to take on new challenges. I will miss the social aspect at work as I work with some really great people that make it fun. There are not many days that I do not think about my last day at work and what lies beyond. I will probably still work part time to fill in some gaps.

If you can afford to retire, go for it.

I just retired at 60 in April. It has been great for me. We now are free to travel the world, see the sights while we can. I'm also very bust at home doing projects, golfing and fishing. My stress level went way down. I could not be happier. One bit of advice I will give is no matter what, put as much money as you can into your retirement fund. You will be very surprised how fast your money grows if invested properly.

quote Laketrout58: "I retired at 55. I enjoyed my mail route but figured I could do something else. We live conservatively and are having fun! Go for it! Marc"

Another USPS employee? I was a sub for 6 years and have been full time for almost 4 years. I'll be eligible to walk at 57 and I can promise that I'll know exactly where the door is. I really like my job but I like vacationing with my family even more. I'll have to wait a few years before I would get any retirement money but I'm fine with that. I farm with my dad and brother after my day job and that will be all the bridge I need to get me by.

I am 54 and planning to retire in 4 years. I have yet to ask anyone that has retired if they like retirement say no. Personally, I plan to start a second part time career upon retirement from my structural engineering/management position to stay mentally engaged and driven to accomplish something everyday. Financially we're fine I'm just waiting until our youngest daughter graduates from college. It's odd how I could line up 20 colleagues of mine and everyone has a different retirement plan with roughly the same careers, finances, lifestyles, etc.... I will add this, everyone only gets one chance at this life, make the most of it. Good luck with your future endeavors.

I won't retire on a certain day. As a writer and traveling teacher, I've been working less, but working less isn't working financially, so if I can hustle the work, I'll be working more soon. I'm 61 and want to delay SS until I'm 70 to increase my monthly income by about $900. When my dad retired, he felt wealthy, but for the last six or seven years, he's needed money from me and my wealthy sister. I don't have kids, so I can't tap one of them if needed, although my wealthy sister said she has my back (She told me yesterday she made $90,000 this past week, not counting her many income-producing investments. It takes me more than two years to make that!). So, I reckon I'll be working until 70. I just wish my income rose as prices rise. I got my home insurance bill yesterday and it's 20% than last year. I'm still making what I made 20 years ago. Sigh.

Early-retirement.org has a fantastic forum for "early" retirement considerations. I don't have a firm timeline but hope to call it quits by 50.

Save early and often. I don't make a whole lot, but I'm 25 and have been saving religiously since I was 21. When I do the online calculators and use a 6%/yr fund growth, it tells me I will have about 500K by the time I am 55. Someday I imagine I will make a little more money, and I will likely sock that away too. But boy I tell ya, it hurts to do my bills... between the mortgage and home projects (the only way we could afford a home was if it was in near shambles), student loans, and groceries, I have just enough money left to buy gas to go to work and start all over again.

Folks closer to retirement than I tell me I'm doing it correctly, but at least for now I can kiss travelling (minus to the boundary waters - that's a yearly must take trip) and most general sight seeing goodbye.

I'm jealous of all you current and upcoming retirees! I'm not wishing my life away, but would much rather just work for me than the man!

I'm 1 year into my retirement I'm 58 and I taught Middle School for 33 years. I really liked my job but I don't miss going to work. I love being retired and the freedom of choice it provides.. I get to plan my day around the many activities I've enjoyed all of my life. That's the key. I think people who retire and don't have any activities outside of work, struggle with retirement. I Mt and road Bike, XC Ski,Paddle, Hike, along with playing bass guitar and drums. My wife is still teaching and is much younger so it will be a while before she retires. I still get up a 5:00, make my wife breakfast and get on with my day.

yellowhorse,

Thanks for posting early-retirement.org forum site. It has a lot of good information that will help one with early retirement considerations.

I turn 44 in Sept. I am eligible to retire at 55 when I reach my rule of 80. I might stretch it until I'm 58 to max out my pension. That would make it 25 years as a LEO. I will be ready to be done then. I will get another "fun" job that I will work a few days a week. I have noticed that people that keep themselves busy do better in the long haul.

A lot of things come in to play though. I too didn't have children until I was in my 30's. My kids are 12, 10, and 7. We have told them that we will help them all we can but that they really need to study in school because college is expensive. Both my wife and I paid our own ways as I expect my children to do. I plan to change our house over to a 15 year mortgage so that is done by the time I retire. My wife will not be able to retire when I do so that is a little bit of a sore spot with her.

Now if I could just win that damn lottery...

Mike

I graduated from college at the peak of the recession. I'll never see a day of retirement in my life. SS may be entirely broken by then, too, so I'll truly work to death.

I'd love to retire at 45, if I could afford it. Problem is that was about 10 years ago! Things happen in life, circumstances throw off what seemed good plans, and so on. I'll be lucky to retire at 75. Daughter will be starting college in ten years too.

If I were retired now, I'd love it & still not have time to do all the things I want to do!

quote mschi772: "I graduated from college at the peak of the recession. I'll never see a day of retirement in my life. SS may be entirely broken by then, too, so I'll truly work to death."

Mitch, I've heard others assert that they'll work until they die, but for most people, it's not doable. Ageism is real and there are real reasons for it, such as dwindling energy and cognitive agility. Then there's one's health. Your employer might be willing to keep you working, but you simply can't keep working. Save as much as you possibly can by living as simply as you possibly can.

^ now I feel even crappier.

I'm a diabetic and fully understand the ravages of this disease as time goes by, so I worked very hard to be able to retire early, I was able to retire at 60 and worked part time until I was 62 and could collect Social Security.

I am now 69. I have had some rare health issues not at all related to diabetes, but I basically do whatever I feel capable of doing.........just slower. I have not regretted retiring early for one minute.

In fact, I don't know anyone who ever told me that they wished they had worked longer. My only real issue is that almost all my friends are several years older than me. It has been hard to find younger retired guys around my locale to share adventures with.

I like my job as a middle school teacher. That said, if I could call it a day right now I would! I have roughly 10 years left, and once I get there, I will not look back.

I have been watching this thread with great interest. lots of great insights. I am 61.5 years old and tentatively planning on retiring in June of 2021. By passing my anniversary with the company that will give me about $10000 in vacation pay due which will be a good start on not getting my weekly paycheck.

My wife is almost 7 years younger than me and at this point plans working until she can get Medicare at 65. So that leaves a lot of time for me to keep myself busy which I don't think will be a problem. We are homebodys who dont travel much and dont spend a lot. i am planning on a lot of camping during that time, probably much of that solo. Looking at buying a fishing kayak so I can get out on the water and fish a lot. Also thinking about buying a small trailer big enough to accommodate me and my wife on occasion. This will be the height of luxury for me after 50 years of roughing it in a tent in all seasons and some difficult conditions. But I am tired of crawling into my 2 man tent on my hands and knees and not being able to sit up straight:). (I will still do it for the BWCA though)

I have questions on what is "good enough" to retire on. With her making 40k those first 7 years it shouldn't be much of a challenge to live just fine. Won't have to get too far into pension, social security or my investments. But when she retires the game changes a bit. But by then I will be 72 years old and longevity is not a trait of my family.

I am excited about retiring and i think I will be able to spend more time in the woods than ever before, that is awesome. Not opposed to getting a part time job to supplement our income if needed or wanted, something I enjoy.

But given my family history and my current health situation I am beginning to wonder if I should even wait that long. I definitely want at least 10 years not working to relax and enjoy life, family and my passions. If I get a little more than that, or even a lot more that would be great but we would have to plan for that financially.

Im thinking we can live pretty well on about 75% of our pre retirement income, given our pretty mellow lifestyle. Does that sound about right? Won't have the same expenses, most debt will be paid off and the 20% I currently put into retirement plans will no longer be there.

As much as I am looking forward to retirement in 4 years or so, i don't want to overlook the next 4 years and want to enjoy life every day and every week, one never knows how much time we have. Thankfully camping is what I do in my leisure time and it is about as cheap a hobby/passion as you can have. And I will finally have the time to do something with my lifelong passion for photography which I definitely intend to do. If I can start my day with a walk in the woods somewhere locally with my camera, life will be grand indeed.

Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

Some places you can roll over your vacation time into a health account Tax free. Worth checking into if your place of work can do that.

lindylair,
Not being sure of your families health history, but consider long term care insurance.
The typical scanero is the husband gets put in a resthome for the last few years of his life, eating up the nest egg, and leaves the wife who typically lives longer, destitute.
Check out Dave Ramsey.com

I get a lot of my financial advice from his team team. It's free.

I've got 35 years in...35 to go. Should be out by 91. Maybe a little earlier because I also married a younger woman.

I've noticed almost all of my friends who are married with no kids retiring between 50-55, sometimes to a volunteer or other job that is their hobby. Friends with government jobs between 57-61. Sometimes getting a second job for 1-2 years if spouse does not work. Most of the rest are 67-74 or so, including many who I'd consider fairly well off who don't need to work that long, you'd think.

My thinking is, it's maybe not how much money you have for retirement that dictates how early you can retire, but rather at what point you can accurately project your future expense to income ratio and lifespan. My other thought is, if you don't have the funds to be constantly globetrotting, most people seem to get bored without working, unless they've already had years of practice.

I also was fortunate to retire at 59. I was debt free, very financially secure and only had one daughter still in college. That was 4 years ago. I loved my job, but I love not having to go to work every day even more. Since you never know when your final day will come, if you can comfortably retire (financially) then I see no reason not to. Its a lot of fun to be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want!!

The wife and I both retired 11 years ago, she at 57 and me at 59. It has been great. We were fortunate that we had no debt and the children were out of school and on their own. Older friends told us that as the years go by your retirement income does not grow as much as your expenses and that is becoming quite evident to us.

What I would do differently were I retiring now would be to not take early SS retirement benefits but tap into the retirement savings accounts and delay taking SS. The increased SS benefit each year you delay is probably better than most people could generate on their own. Other than that we are still completely happy to have exited the world of work when we did. Personally there is nothing I miss about working.

In terms of staying busy, I am now looking to eliminate some activities so I have a little more free time for myself. I need to "retire" from one of my volunteer jobs. I took the summer off from both of them and spent nearly a month in Canada canoeing, a week in BW and several shorter trips to the UP. I plan to take several more canoe trips before the season ends.

My favorite 85 yo neighbor told me retirement means "every night is Friday night and every day is Saturday." How true.

9 months from now, I will wake up without ever having to plan my schedule around a day of "work." I turn 55 in 27 days but will finish my teaching year, then call it quits. It's been an interesting 31 year run. I always tell young people, save as much as you can for as long as you can. Live within your means. The last thing you want is to have no choice but to work! Hopefully, I'll finally get my winter camping trip completed.

No matter your income, spend less than you make if possible. Then retire as soon as you can and plan to spend down to zero in bank when you die. If you outlive that, hope your kids if any will take you in. My break even point is around 90 and probably will have house for reverse mortgage income from age 82. All is good. For me, not "drinking, gambling, or smoking" put a lot of money into the kitty as we took those expenditures and saved that in addition to regular savings. Not wealthy by most standards, we now are able to travel and enjoy things we never imagined as I was growing up.

quote missmolly: "

quote mschi772: "I graduated from college at the peak of the recession. I'll never see a day of retirement in my life. SS may be entirely broken by then, too, so I'll truly work to death."

Mitch, I've heard others assert that they'll work until they die, but for most people, it's not doable. Ageism is real and there are real reasons for it, such as dwindling energy and cognitive agility. Then there's one's health. Your employer might be willing to keep you working, but you simply can't keep working. Save as much as you possibly can by living as simply as you possibly can. "

Working until I die isn't my choice/plan. It's literally what I'm fated to do unless a quasi-miraculous opportunity comes along. I know it makes people feel bad to think that there is someone who is stuck in a legitimate rut because no one wants to admit that it's possible (because then they'd have to worry it could happen to them), but truth hurts, and I'm living with it every day. I'm 31, I'm making $15/hr with zero benefits in southeast Wisconsin sometimes making more than I need to make ends meet, often making so much less than necessary that I have to suck my savings dry. I have about $9k in a 401k from a previous job right now, and that's about it.

When I say that I'll be working until I die, I fully expect that I'll either die early enough for lack of work not to be a factor or to truly end-up jobless, penniless, and living only because the government will insist on providing me just enough assistance to slowly lose my mind in assisted living/nursing home. I'm not going to be having any children, so I won't have that to rely on.

I'm trying to make a change right now by starting my own mobile auto detailing business, but I have a LONG way to go and quite a bit of luck necessary for that to get to the point of paying all my bills as well as put away some for retirement.

Until I strike gold with an occupational paradigm shift, I'm just trying to squeeze drops of enjoyment out of life because I recently realized that I've spent the last 5+ years of my life not LIVING and instead constantly preparing to live "in just a little while--life will be easier if I just bust my butt for a little longer." Nope, I'm not going to spent my whole life letting life pass me by only to find myself too old to enjoy all the things I'm no longer young enough to do.

quote DuluthPak: " The big wild card will be health care. If I had to predict one thing that might prevent me from retiring at age 55, it would be the affordability of health insurance for my wife and I until Medicare kicks in. "

Absolutely.....I turned 50 this year. I've saved all my life and have a decent nest, and can probably go early, but the big kicker is Healthcare.

What do folks who have retired do for healthcare. I suspect quite a few of these folks have good pension based health care, and that is fantastic, but for a whole lot of folks that will not be a possibility.

And with pension based health care, or retiree health care, I wonder how long that will exist. I know in my mothers case, her "union" voted retirees out of their insurance, and she ended up going back to work just to get some health care benefits.....Yea, that kind of sucked.

My plan is to sock away as much as I can in my HSA ( I'm doing that today), and be in a position in 10 years for my HSA to pay a significant chunk if premium or coverage.....we shall see.

Later,

Geo

quote deerfoot: "What I would do differently were I retiring now would be to not take early SS retirement benefits but tap into the retirement savings accounts and delay taking SS. The increased SS benefit each year you delay is probably better than most people could generate on their own. "

I'll offer this perspective on this position. Using realistic financial projections you will have to live to age 77 to "break even" vs. taking SS at age 62 vs 67. The thing to remember is you have 5 years of payments vs. ZERO. Using little or no interest income on the payments between the 62-67 range the break even point is approximately 77. Finally, when do you need additional resources? 50s or 80s? That said, using personal investment income to bridge financial gaps in retirement income is reasonable advise provided it is based on solid conservative financial projections. Just food for thought but, I assure you it is based on solid financial analysis and projections of financial needs as we age.

I think health care is the bottom line on retiring early. If you don't have a retirement plan that includes healthcare you will have to go back to work part time to purchase healthcare on your own. A friend of mine who has some military coverage for a disability, still pays $460.00 a month for cobra to completely cover himself. I retired at 50 with a good pension (80 percent) and medical, I was back to work full time within a year because I was bored with hunting alone, fishing alone, golfing alone etc, etc, etc because everybody I knew was still working.

quote BnD: "

quote deerfoot: "What I would do differently were I retiring now would be to not take early SS retirement benefits but tap into the retirement savings accounts and delay taking SS. The increased SS benefit each year you delay is probably better than most people could generate on their own. "

I'll offer this perspective on this position. Using realistic financial projections you will have to live to age 77 to "break even" vs. taking SS at age 62 vs 67. The thing to remember is you have 5 years of payments vs. ZERO. Using little or no interest income on the payments between the 62-67 range the break even point is approximately 77. Finally, when do you need additional resources? 50s or 80s? That said, using personal investment income to bridge financial gaps in retirement income is reasonable advise provided it is based on solid conservative financial projections. Just food for thought but, I assure you it is based on solid financial analysis and projections of financial needs as we age."

My parents are both mid-eighties, so I've the likely longevity to wait. However, your point about when will you most need the resources is what I can't project. One can do more with the money when younger and squeeze maximum joy out of it, but one might desperately need it when older.

I retired when I was 58; that was 17 years ago.
Have not regretted one day of my retirement; glad I hung it up when I did.
Went back to my workplace once; stayed about 30 minutes, and haven't been back since then.

I have medical insurance from my work. It covers what Medicare doesn't cover. I am a vet and can use the VA for medical issues; for example they take care of my RX, glasses, hearing aids, and all needed tests, and exams.

I participated in a deferred compensation plan at my work place; it was maxed every month & all raises went into that plan. I rolled it over into IRAs when I retired, and get a monthly check. I get a monthly retirement check from my old job, and I also draw social security.

My monthly income now, exceeds my salary when I was working (so much of it was deferred back then).

Wife is 11 years younger; works part time now to continue building her IRAs,CDs and deferred comp plan, until she qualifies for Medicare, and Social Security. She has a quite large deferred compensation account, and a goodly amount in CDs, and IRAs. She's is looking forward to saying, "I'm outa here"!

Our CPA told us we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, within reason.
That's exactly what we do now. Really glad we had the motivation to plan ahead for our retirement & follow up on our plan. Now we are reaping the rewards of save, save, saving.

BOB

Before retirement your paying into Social Security,Pension plans and Deferred programs if your lucky. None of that happens when retired. That makes a huge difference.

Retired 1.5 years ago at 59. Wife is retiring next year. Will pay for our own healthcare until 65. Had to retire because of stand up job, and the knees are iffy.
I second MissMolly in how employers do NOT want you if you are older, unless you levitate on the air/water interface. Retirement is very good and I have a lot of interests.
Young people: you will get there if you save, save, save. We started out with a 13% mortgage. All is not lost. It looked bleak for us at times too.

But you know what? I would trade it all to be young again and running sub 3 hr marathons again.

quote mschi772: "I graduated from college at the peak of the recession. I'll never see a day of retirement in my life. SS may be entirely broken by then, too, so I'll truly work to death."

IT worker here, dot com bubble burst 2 years after I finally got a steady gig. Unstable employment in the years since, until a couple years ago when things leveled out. I've sporadically been able to pay into 401k/IRA. I figure I'll be working until 70. If my health gets bad and the money gets short I'm going to take up more dangerous hobbies.

In the meantime, I don't have a bucket list because I'm doing the things I want to do now. If I won the lottery I'd drop the job in an instant!

quote arm2008: "

quote mschi772: "I graduated from college at the peak of the recession. I'll never see a day of retirement in my life. SS may be entirely broken by then, too, so I'll truly work to death."

IT worker here, dot com bubble burst 2 years after I finally got a steady gig. Unstable employment in the years since, until a couple years ago when things leveled out. I've sporadically been able to pay into 401k/IRA. I figure I'll be working until 70. If my health gets bad and the money gets short I'm going to take up more dangerous hobbies.


In the meantime, I don't have a bucket list because I'm doing the things I want to do now. If I won the lottery I'd drop the job in an instant!"

.com bubble cost me half......I started over.
meltdown in 2007-2008 cost me half again....I started over.

EXTREME aggressive investing since 2008 has put me back in a position to be able to retire when I want. I'm less aggressive now, but the past 8 years have been good for AGGRESSIVE investing......I'm not too sure what the next 8 will be, but I sure don't want to lose half again.

I'm 58 I got 2 years left, was up in the air til my daughter got offered a full ride scholarship for volleyball last month. I want to watch her play. Been working 12 hour swing shifts for over 20 years, really been wearing me down but I can see the end line. My wife is younger then so don't have to worry about insurance which is nice.

I have found the job of being retired is one of the best ones I have had.

I have been retired for 6.5 years people ask me if I am bored no I am not.

If your bored in retirement you need a better imagination.

The days come and go so fast I wonder where the last 6.5 years went.

quote riverrunner: "I have found the job of being retired is one of the best ones I have had.


I have been retired for 6.5 years people ask me if I am bored no I am not.


If your bored in retirement you need a better imagination.


The days come and go so fast I wonder where the last 6.5 years went. "!$/iI feel bad for my fellow health care/lab workers still trapped. Horrible career, no reward whatsoever, and always someones scapegoat.

Retirement is a great gig. At least for me. It helps to have financial security, health, many varied interests and a wide circle of family and friends to spend time with.
I quit and have never looked back. Too busy to look I guess.

I retired at 61 and am 71 now. Everything was fine and we were adding two thousand a month to our savings despite both of us being retired.
Things will change. We are moving (tomorrow, in fact) to a location with a higher cost of living in order to be near to the grandkids.
I am glad I retired when I did. I no longer liked my job. Fortunately, we had lived modestly and had paid off both our current house and our 1st house which we had turned into a rental.

Just enjoying the thread and seeing if I can fix the quote problem.

Been away from board for two months
Last year we got a small travel trailer and this summer packed it with canoe camping gear loaded a canoe on the truck roof and went to Alaska and the West and cross Canada
We did the Bowron Lakes chain. 8 days but very smoky from the fires
We decided to do this when we can as you don't know what will happen health wise. We're both 71
We like the convenience of the trailer and the comfort and the handy bathroom at 3 am but still hope to continue to canoe camp
Meanwhile my sister in law was in denial and was comatose when taken to the hospital last week
She had been sick for a while but wanted to hide it. We are going as fast as we can. She is in hospice. Inoperable cancer. She has COPD and can't take anaesthesia

My life style is MY retirement plan

I retired 6 years ago at age 61 from full-time elementary school teaching in public schools. Our plan was to go back overseas and teach as we had done many years ago starting out, but my wife got a job here that she really liked so we stayed put and I was no longer teaching full-time. I started subbing - I love it! I get to be with the kids when I want to, and I can pretty much do what I want. I'm like a grandpa - I get to spoil them and to hell with the standardized tests!

Yes, I am very happy with my decision = and I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for Ely and a fall solo trip.

Dave

I'm 52 and just retired from the school system in April after 36 years with them as well as helping my father and uncle farm. My wife did not start teaching until she was in her 30's so she has 8 more years before she can join me, but it takes care of the health insurance issue and I try to make her time away from work as pleasant and relaxing as I can. I don't know If I will go back to work or not, but for now I would highly recommend retirement, every day is a weekend, how can you beat that?

quote Pinetree: "Before retirement your paying into Social Security,Pension plans and Deferred programs if your lucky. None of that happens when retired. That makes a huge difference.
"

Not exactly true about this. One of my pensions was transferred to another fund and they gave me an option to cash out of the very conservative pension. Most cashed out and reinvested it into a more aggressive fund like an Roth IRA that continues to make money. You can also transfer your work IRA money into a fund controlled by you, that also continues to make money.

And this is exactly why I say to put as much as you can away. Put it away and forget about it.

Plan for that money to be put away every paycheck. Then you won't miss it. I can't tell you how many times I have heard from young guys that a pension is no use to me. They think that retirement is an eternity away. They would rather have the money now, and figure out the money later. One day you wake up and find out you are 55 years old and have zero money put away. I never failed that at contract time the young guys wanted more money up front, and the older guys wanted it put away in the pension before taxes. I was very lucky that an old guy at work talked to me about retirement when I first started out. Now I'm the old guy with two different work pensions, a 401K, and social security. Start planning for your retirement early and you won't have to stress when it's time to quit.

It's interesting, how most who retire at a young age are in the education field. How many people in my day, when deciding what to study in college & what vocation to pursue, were put off by "sure, you'll get summers off - but if you're a teacher you'll be making $13,000 a year for the rest of your life!". (I heard similar if I stayed in biology, if I didn't get into vet or med school I'd "end up doing research or teaching for $13k") Sometimes it doesn't pay to listen to people...my friend wanted to teach, his parents who were paying for most of college vetoed it on those grounds....30 years later, parents both gone, he went back & got his certificate & masters and is now a teacher....maybe he won't be retiring early like the rest of you teachers, but at least he's doing something he enjoys (now, if only I could get him up to the BW,,... :) ).

Currently 26 and wife and I put enough into our 401(k) to get our employer's match but we don't save more than that. We are putting off buying a house also because the entry-level market is terrible right now. Rent is a waste, yes, but we don't have any unexpected repair costs and we are very slowly saving for a down payment. In the meantime, we are using these next 3-5 years before kids to enjoy our youth via what we like to do - vacation. We are spending a s&^$ ton of money next year to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro which is a bucket-list item for us and you can never guarantee future health, but we have it now so we are going for it. We have many other vacations as well, mainly outdoors-y ones that we won't do for a while until our kids get older.

We always second guess ourselves that we should focus on a house like our friends do but we keep going back to the fact that when we are 55 we probably won't say "I wish we bought a house at age 26 rather than 29", but we know for a fact that the memory of climbing Kilimanjaro will live for our entire lives.

It's all about the choices we make. Is this semi-reckless plan a wise one? Probably not, but you truly only live once so to heck with it.

quote ozarkpaddler: "The way I see it, the circumstances that keep me from retiring is because I'm fulfilling my life's mission in taking care of others!"

I think there there are two key questions that can help you decide when to retire, other than money:

(1) What would you do tomorrow if you didn't HAVE to work? Some people say they would quit their job immediately. Others say their job is what brings meaning to their life and they would keep working. Maybe your answer is neither of those. Maybe you can think of a lot of things you'd rather be doing than going to work.

(2) I agree with Ozark Paddler that you should fulfill your life's mission one way or another. That starts with having an idea of what your mission is. I think of it as a legacy---what do you want to leave behind so that your life mattered? I think like Ozark here---I want to know that I've helped enough people, in significant ways, before I stop working.

The vast majority of people can't retire early. I think that as a society we attach a lot of value to saving up a million dollars and retiring early, like the financial books say you're supposed to. Well, there's that fantasy and then there's reality. It only takes ONE major event to throw you off course and cut you out of that dream---an illness, divorce, loss of a job when you're older, your company closing in the recession, your pension plan crashing, etc. etc. For anyone who loves the outdoors, there are a lot of other ways besides early retirement to be happy. Natural beauty is often free and there for the taking. If you can't retire early, live every weekend as if you were retired and make the best of it.

All good points on saving,but don't do as some people do. Sacrifice to the extreme and don't enjoy life to the fullest now by saving every penny now. Be rational.

Also there is some kind of time warp that hits retired people. Time speeds up and boy do the years fly bye in a supersonic way.

quote Pinetree: "All good points on saving,but don't do as some people do. Sacrifice to the extreme and don't enjoy life to the fullest now by saving every penny now. Be rational.


Also there is some kind of time warp that hits retired people. Time speeds up and boy do the years fly bye in a supersonic way."

Good point pinetree,
I started my first savings account at 7 yo. My parents took me into the bank to open it with my allowance. (which I had to do chores for)
I have been frugal ever since, and married an even more frugal wife.

My wife and I work hard, are 55 ish, and doing fine financially.
I've been very tight my whole life, moths fly out of my wallet when I open it.
1.5 years ago my father who is a millionaire told me to quite being so cheap.

I have taken his advice and started spending/enjoying my hard earned money.
The wife, is still trying to gasp my altered direction with our assests ??

quote LindenTree3: "

quote Pinetree: "All good points on saving,but don't do as some people do. Sacrifice to the extreme and don't enjoy life to the fullest now by saving every penny now. Be rational.

so tomorrow...a bear gets you, a tree falls on you when you are playing fireman, some crazy Canadian driver who is illegaly passing a car nails you when you come over the hill, yep all sorts of ways your heirs will get your stuff..

:-)
dr bob



Also there is some kind of time warp that hits retired people. Time speeds up and boy do the years fly bye in a supersonic way."

Good point pinetree,
I started my first savings account at 7 yo. My parents took me into the bank to open it with my allowance. (which I had to do chores for)
I have been frugal ever since, and married an even more frugal wife.


My wife and I work hard, are 55 ish, and doing fine financially.
I've been very tight my whole life, moths fly out of my wallet when I open it.
1.5 years ago my father who is a millionaire told me to quite being so cheap.


I have taken his advice and started spending/enjoying my hard earned money.
The wife, is still trying to gasp my altered direction with our assests ??"

Ok, I am close to decision time and I am having a hard time letting go. Consequently I am not going to go May 1st as originally planned but may go July 1st instead. The good news is I have a BWCA trip in the works for the last week of June. Maybe i take that vacation as my going away present and don't come back to work after that? My financial guy still says all systems go.

salukiguy: "Ok, I am close to decision time and I am having a hard time letting go. Consequently I am not going to go May 1st as originally planned but may go July 1st instead. The good news is I have a BWCA trip in the works for the last week of June. Maybe i take that vacation as my going away present and don't come back to work after that? My financial guy still says all systems go. "

It depends on what you want to do. Your heathiest years are probably now. Get out and enjoy if you got big plans.

Go - Retirement is even better than I imagined - at least for me. Health care and insurance were my only drawbacks, then I got a great buy-out and I was - "out of there". Best decision ever. More canoe trips, more projects, grandkids, and friends! Run, don't walk to the nearest exit - that is my advice!!!

I've never thought that I made the wrong move by retiring. I retired knowing that I would eventually find something part time, as long as it was nearby, and in a climate controlled environment. I am now driving school bus where I am warm and dry and only 5 minutes from work. School bus driving is pretty much what you make of it. If you want to hate it then you will. But if you form a bond with each student then it can be a good time. Not big money but it is something extra that helps pay for playtime. Oh, and there's always June, July and August!

Not sure what you do for a living but is it possible to work it out so that you keep on at your day job on a part time basis? Depending on the situation your company may appreciate you staying on in some reduced capacity so as not to lose the wealth of knowledge you've likely accumulated over your career. Maybe go with reduced hours and plan a phase out plan. Something along the lines of 4 days a week for a few months, then down to 2 days a week, and then retire. That gives you time to adjust to your new found freedom, lets you dip your toe into the differing monthly income, and gives your company more time to plan for your leaving. Once getting a bit more free time you may also find that either you really like the extra free time prompting you to speed up your exit or you find that you still like working and decide to extend the part time gig for awhile long.

As for me my retirement is like 25+ years away so at the moment I'm feeling the chain tightening between my desk and my ankle. I assume when the time comes I'll collect my things, head out to the office parking lot where I'll havet a ride waiting for me, and then as my ride drives away I'll be mooning the entire office out the moving car window with the word "Cya" painted on one butt cheek with "Suckers" painted on the other butt cheek.

One reason I chose my profession is that I won't have to retire.
I actually have a lot of fun doing what I do.
Eventually, I will cut back my caseload, but I hope to work well into my 70's.

What never gets talked about is the difference in "work" and a "career". I left the corporate world and a business that i had employees, attorneys, shareholders and partners 20 years ago to work as a real estate appraiser out of our home.

I am now 62 and can honestly say I am thankful to have a career/profession. It is not work for me. This January/February were very slow. After 3 weeks of not having any real orders my wife said I could not retire and needed to find something to do as I was driving her crazy.

We have no debts and own our house and cars outright. That allows us to live on very little. I don't have a great deal saved, but also don't need much. There is something to say for having others regard what you do as important and call you for professional help.

Our last annual state meeting the average age for appraisers in our state was 57. There were as many still appraising in their mid to late 70's as there were in their 40's.

Bottom line.. .if you love what you are doing, why stop? If it is not taxing physically, and you don't have to deal with obnoxious people, the activity keep your mind sharp.

And I hate golf.

I turned 65 about a month ago. The nice thing about a university is that there is no mandatory retirement age. I'll keep at it until I no longer enjoy the daily interaction with students.

Retired at 65. Worked part-time teaching fly fishing and selling fly fishing gear. Quit when I was 75, our 50th wedding aniversary. Took the entire family on an Alaskan cruise. We have been debt free for many years. Now spend lots of time with the grandkids, take many fishing trips, backpacking trips and a couple of vacations each year. Best part of retirement, no alarm clock and no fighting traffic to work. We have been blessed.
When the boys were in school my wife worked. Other than that, she was a stay at home Mom. We lived on my income and saved most of hers.

Guess I am part retired. Up at 6:30. Pretend to workout at Planet Fitness. Then on to McDonalds with the other old guys until I need to do some work.

Tomorrow will be one year of retirement for me. It’s been great so far. I have been getting lots of things done at home. Moving in a few weeks so I’m really glad that I have this time off to do the work of moving.

thebotanyguy: "I turned 65 about a month ago. The nice thing about a university is that there is no mandatory retirement age. I'll keep at it until I no longer enjoy the daily interaction with students."

Hi. Botany Guy... I remember you from the other board. Glad you are still out there...

Gonna be 68 in July and still chase a few cows and my wife still does dogs/cat work in our practice. We turn the answering machine on and leave much more often. Got the cover off the RV today and the old beast started right up. Maybe something around the end of the month. Last year we went to Alaska and back (9200 miles of driving) Probably disappear most of August again.
still vertical in NE wi.

dr bob

I retired 6 years ago at 66. Glad I did. Liked my work but hated the company (after we got bought out by the experts from afar). The only thing I miss about it is some of the people I worked with. Finances are ok, but healthcare takes a big bite. Manage to stay busy enough most of the time. Winters not so much. All in all it's been good. 6 Saturdays and a Sunday!

I am one year in to retirement from the school system (at 52) after 36 years (started at 16) . I am loving it, but it would be better if my wife was also retired, she has 7 more years of teaching. On the other hand, it would have been impossible for me to retire if not for her covering me on her insurance plan. I will say that the lack of structure was hard to get use to, and it is unfortunate that none of my friends are anywhere close to retirement. That being said, I highly recommend it, just stay busy!

LindenTree3: "I'll let you know in three weeks.
Retiring from Wildland firefighting after 28 years, I'm 54.
"

I have been retired now for for 5 months and am really enjoying it, almost every morning I get a tingling in my stomach that tells me Yea, I don't have to go to work today.

I do not think I fully realized how stressful firefighting was until I retired.
I'm sure most all jobs are stressful, it now feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

I took the advise of many people who told me not to wait and retire as soon as possible. My advise is if you can afford it and have most of your needs taken care of (health care, ect).
Why wait? Retire.

LT3 - I’m glad you are enjoying retirement. You really deserved a break after years in your line of work. Others too like law enforcement and medical workers who see suffering often.

Take the rest of the day off. I am.

I like retirement. I’ve been retired almost 10 years. I like to create a little challenge, stress and hardship in my life to feel alive. Travel, adventure, learning new things, helping people with difficulties and creating can do that. It also really helps to get out and get social in new ways.
Also choosing to go to the fitness club daily even though I dread the thought of it and create excuses to avoid it. It’s like going to a job you really don’t like but once you get there it’s OK. The payday comes in improved health, social interaction, and feeling good when a young women looks at you a little longer than normal.

One problem has been finding other people near my age and activity level that are retired to do stuff with during the week or travel.

I hope anyone who wants to retire can. It’s pretty good.

I see too many people say they going to or want to keep working because they feel SO GOOD. Yeh,than they work to their body wears out and than retire. Than they can't do what they had on their bucket list when they planned to retire. That's why job places have a retirement age-you start wearing out. They want replacements-new parts.

Also a great plan I try to follow and also friends. After retiring my new job is to stay fit and exercise every day. You put exercising on your schedule as a must do now.

Yes I like retirement,but do miss the people and I loved my job. But it was time to move on. Been over 7 years now. Clocks ticking you better enjoy while you can.

Pinetree: "I see too many people say they going to or want to keep working because they feel SO GOOD. Yeh,than they work to their body wears out and than retire. Than they can't do what they had on their bucket list when they planned to retire. That's why job places have a retirement age-you start wearing out. They want replacements-new parts.


Also a great plan I try to follow and also friends. After retiring my new job is to stay fit and exercise every day. You put exercising on your schedule as a must do now.


Yes I like retirement,but do miss the people and I loved my job. But it was time to move on. Been over 7 years now. Clocks ticking you better enjoy while you can."

Framing staying fit as your new job is so smart.

And this is wise: " Clocks ticking you better enjoy while you can."

I have mixed feelings. I retired 3-1-2018 at 61 yr old.

I started my company in 1999 and made all my retirement from it. I was getting to hate going to work, dreading it every morning. I could not go to that office any more, so i sold the company.

I have had a strange time adjusting, even though i have lots of projects. I get up around 5am and mill around the house until daylight. It is very different having no one else around to talk to, lol,,or give orders to since i am used to running my company every day. My wife is a nurse and still working, and has already mentioned i am around too much on her days off. I tend to run her days for her,,,according to her.

I live on 40 acres. I am used to working 50-60 hours a week and still doing my hobbies at home, mixed with mowing big yard, working my land and woods. I thought retiring would be perfect since my list of projects is very long, but i find myself fidgeting around wondering what to do each day.

I am hoping this is temporary and will go away as i find my groove.

Love all the different perspectives - good thread.

I was laid off from my IT job 2 years ago, technically classified as "retired" due to age (51) and years worked (30). Initially I assumed I would work in a similar job - I was too young to access any real retirement benefits without penalties.

Then the needs of my children escalated and I had to admit that caring for them was what I need to do at this time of life. So I am "retired" and will need to return to work if and when my kids can be more independent.

I never imagined it this way, but I am rolling with it. Reminding myself that my very healthy mother died suddenly at age 71 and all her financial strategies were based on living much much longer.

I don't know how the money will work - mid-life retirement was never in the cards. But, somehow, I will have to find a way for it to work. I've begun editing and writing for pocket change, and maybe that will flourish into something more substantial that offers me the flexibility I need to care for children and earn an income at the same time. Fingers crossed.

In any case, I am shocked at how much I enjoy the less stressful life without a 40+ hour work commitment. It's a different pace that probably took me a full year to adapt to... but it's not boring and I love the autonomy.

My Dad passed away at age 82 a few years ago. He told me not to be the richest guy in the cemetary. I am 55 and my wife is 54. We have had professional jobs and are debt free. We have 2 grown boys and 3 grandsons. We started saving diligently in our 20’s. We went on a nice vacation every 5 years but most of our vacations were modest with car trips to a National Park. Many of our friends went on big vacations once or twice per year to Europe or Hawaii or Tahiti because “They deserved it”. We lived in a 3 bedroom ranch style home that we built at age 30. We still live there and it has served us well. Our friends have continually moved up in house size. We drove Chevrolets and Hondas. We did well with those. In fact today we drove our 2000 Honda Accord to visit one of our sons at his home 100 miles away. That car has 294,000 miles on it and is super reliable because we maintain it well. Our friends move to the newest and coolest Lexus or Acura every 2 to 3 years. We value our time in the outdoors hiking and paddling and biking more than impressing others. We used to get teased about being frugal. We will retire on May 31, 2018. We don’t get teased anymore!

Years ago, I was talking to our Ranger Unit Chief. He decided to run for our county board of supervisors. To do that he would retire. I ask him if he lost would he still retire? His answer stuck with me." Right know I'm at the top of my career, I don't want to work so long that I start to hate the job, so win lose I will retire. I retired at 52. I still loved the job, going on all types of emergency calls. I guess I was at the top of my career also. Right know I have been retired going on 18 years. Retirement hasn't been what I thought it would be. I thought it would take me a few years to catch up on the ranch projects. Then it would be time for more than just 3 or 4 fishing trips a year. Hasn't worked out that way. I was asked the year after I retired to teach the Cal Fire Basic Fire Academy at one of our local high schools. I have been doing that for 16 years know. The work load at home never did change. Instead of the project list getting smaller, it has stayed the same length!! I think the thing I would miss the most is working with the crews. I still stay in contact with what is going on in the fire service. Each Wednesday we have dinner at one of the local Cal Fire Stations. There is usually 8 or 9 of us each dinner. We rotate turns to cook. My turn this Wednesday!
My wife retired 8 years ago. She has a great big garden and chickens to keep her busy. I don't think either one of us would change a thing. Retirement has been great.

Wow! I just spent 30+ minutes reading every word here.

I'm 39, wife 37 with a 3 and 4.5 year old. State worker with 401 and wife is a teacher with a small pension. Have never bought a home, but have a very large down payment now. We're trying to figure out where we want to raise our kids. Longevity on my mom's side is poor. My mom died of a heart attack at 44. One thing she taught me was to have "credit life insurance" on everything. When she passed, I was 18, sister was 20 and Dad was a 46 year old disabled vet. Mom had insurance on the mortgage and two year old SUV.
That helped a ton. She did not have life insurance.

Just throwing those thoughts out there for others to ponder...

I plan to retire at 60. Still not sure what's going to happen with college finances for the children. My wife and I paid our own way and I still hear "focus on your finances, not your kids".

My head is spinning again!

I'll be 57 this month and plan on retiring at 65. I have a 20 year pension from a previous job which I took in a lump some. I also work for a major university and will have 21 years of service at retirement. The medical insurance is why I plan on staying till 65. My wife is almost 3 years my elder and said she will work as long as she feels like working. She also has a 20 year pension from a previous job. We have a decent nest egg which I hope will continue to grow. We should be debt free in 5 years but, will probably need a newer vehicle in the future. Good luck with your plans and enjoy.

I'm wrapping up my 8th year of retirement (starting at age 56) and my wife joins me this spring (62). There are 60 years of teaching service between the two of us. You're going to tell me to get ready for a major adjustment. Save your breath. We've had 40 years of June/July/August to use as practice. More fall trips, more grandkids time, more off-season outdoor adventures, Europe... Never looked back and she feels the same. We've never lived extravagantly (same starter home-become-retirement home for these 40 years) and now a decent TRA and SocSec check for each of us every month, some excellent investments that don't need to be touched for a long while... Life is good.

Loved my job right until the very end. Suddenly hit the wall after years and years of long work weeks and lots of exercise. Gave up work and kept the exercise. Best decision I made in my life. Retirement for me is awesome. Or better!
Had recurring and problematic bouts of AFIB the last several years of work.
The AFIB basically disappeared the instant I retired and has not returned. Guess I had more stress at work than I thought..............................