Happy Monday

[JoeM 7,874]

View from retirement central HQ.

Having a hot coffee and figuring out what I am not going to do today!

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

Old man coffee meets old man winter… 

[Ed Kennell 38,191]

22F and 25mph NW winds.         Make monkey bread, drink coffee, and feed the wood stove.

[ebinmaine 67,544]

Well I guess I got a little ways to go before I hit retirement.

Got up at 4:00. Had some coffee. Messed around on Red square for a while. Looked at some other stuff. Left about five. Got to work at 6:00. Out of the yard with one truck by 6:40 or so and back in the yard by 8:00 to get another one. This second truck will take me through the rest of the day....

 

Then when I get home I gotta figure out which one of the 7 million things I need to do in between doing my home based PT  and 🥋 kata forms tonight.

 

 

Should be a nice relaxing day.  

[JoeM 7,874]

22 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Should be a nice relaxing day.

Some of the guys I worked with, (and are still working), ask what is retirement like? At first I was unsure, but my best analogy now is "think what it would be like if everyday was a holiday"!

I tell them save up and do it! (you will always think you have not saved enough) but it really works out.

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

I wake up, and after a nice stretch I mutter to myself...

"Oh no!  Saturday AGAIN?"

@JoeM

[stevasaurus 22,756]

The "Secret" to being retired...Think of doing nothing as something to do.  

   I'm busy all day.  

[ebinmaine 67,544]

53 minutes ago, JoeM said:

Some of the guys I worked with, (and are still working), ask what is retirement like? At first I was unsure, but my best analogy now is "think what it would be like if everyday was a holiday"!

I tell them save up and do it! (you will always think you have not saved enough) but it really works out.

 

I'm quite well sure that once I do finally get around to retiring I'm going to wonder how I ever had enough time to work.

 

I'm 51 right now. 

Up until recently I've been planning on retiring around age 70 or 71.

We'll see how this new found pain crap keeps going and maybe I'll retire early so I can enjoy some of my life instead.

[WHX?? 48,822]

3 hours ago, JoeM said:

retirement

Right behind ya buddy.... 

 

50 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

retiring around age 70 or 71

Yer nutz! 

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Retirement is for quitters!

[ebinmaine 67,544]

15 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

 

Yer nutz! 

 

Now technically that's true. Yes.

 

 

I was basing that approximate age on the end of my mortgage paying days.

 

But enough has changed in the last few years that I understand I may need to be more flexible in that decision.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,232]

2 hours ago, AMC RULES said:

Retirement is for quitters!

For some, maybe, but also for opportunists.

[JCM 9,169]

Semi-retirement works for me. Make a little, enjoy a little.

[ebinmaine 67,544]

1 minute ago, JCM said:

Semi-retirement works for me. Make a little, enjoy a little.

 

I've been processing the thought  that in 9 or 10 years I may pull a limited social security at 62 and cut my physically worked paid hours down to part-time.

Never been one for taking something I didn't earn but at that point I will have had 43 or 44 years of working full-time under my belt...

So I figure I've earned it at that point.  

[JCM 9,169]

8 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

So I figure I've earned it at that point.  

My thoughts also after 48 years paying in, time to get a little back.  

[JoeM 7,874]

best move for me was hooking up with a retirement planner in my 40's 

I thought i knew what to to do and was partially right, but he laid it all out.

I remember the first day i visited and he said, "please never use the f word in here"  the f word to him was fixed, as in fixed income, said If you plan right there is no such thing.

Not perfect but okay for now.  

[rjg854 11,372]

I'm well into the 2nd year of retirement, I have no problem finding enough to keep me as busy as I want to be. It's nice to be able to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. No one has any demands on my time, anymore, and it's great. I started delivering newspapers, when I was 12 years old, by 14, I was flipping burgers and making pizzas. I've worked ever since. So it's time to enjoy the rest of my life.

[953 nut 55,269]

8 hours ago, JoeM said:

"think what it would be like if everyday was a holiday"!

I tell them save up and do it! (you will always think you have not saved enough) but it really works out.

I had worked in a variety of jobs over the years but without a doubt RETIREMENT is the best vocational choice I ever made. My wife and I retired on our 61st birthdays and haven't looked back. As joe said, you have to be bold enough to make a commitment to invest in your future or you will probably never be able to retire. Becoming debt free prior to retirement is a great way to ensure that your money won't run out before you do.

My brother passed away last year and one of the biggest mistakes he made was purchasing a Lifetime Annuity. It paid him a modest amount  each month and when he passed away the Annuity company pocked about $ 65 K of his money. Stay away from insurance company "retirement specialists". They are planning their retirement, not yours.

If your employer offers a 401-K you need to fund it to the maximum allowed and let the stock market make it grow. Volatility is a fact of life for investment but over time the little dips in the market will come back and continue to grow. If you are nervous about the markets just don't watch and invest in a low fee fund or ETF that is tied to a market like the S&P-500, over time it will build a nice retirement nest egg for you.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,232]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I've been processing the thought  that in 9 or 10 years I may pull a limited social security at 62 and cut my physically worked paid hours down to part-time.

Never been one for taking something I didn't earn but at that point I will have had 43 or 44 years of working full-time under my belt...

So I figure I've earned it at that point.  

One thing to keep in mind when thinking of starting at earliest eligibility is the benefits get reduced somewhat as an offset to earned income until you hit "full retirement age."

 

3 hours ago, JoeM said:

best move for me was hooking up with a retirement planner in my 40's 

I thought i knew what to to do and was partially right, but he laid it all out.

Same here. 

[Darb1964 1,042]

I was forced to retire five years ago because of health reasons, multiple sclerosis, diagnosed in1998. I worked as long as I could drag myself to work. I'm not liking being retired,  mostly because I can't do much physically, I changed the oil and greased my C-80 yesterday and that about wiped me out. My wife has to do much of what I always did, that hurts me deep. She has MS. Also, diagnosed in 2006 on the day she turned forty. That just about broke me, but we got through it. She's still able to work. I had time to build my 401-K and was able to pay my home off a few years before retirement. SS. For disability is one hundred percent, so that helps, still less than a third of what I was making. As long as we can stay in our home that's the most important thing and I think we will. I've been married thirty seven years, we both have had good jobs and we closed on the home we're still in, two weeks before our wedding. 

I guess my point is, you never know what the future will bring. I've had lots of time to think about it, I don't think I'd have done anything different,  if I knew in advance. I worked every minute I wasn't sleeping to make or save $ and I'm sure I still would be. I enjoyed working, I enjoyed working on my home and building barns and sheds. I plowed twenty driveways and had that many lawns too. I worked in a paper mill for thirty three years, the overtime was almost always available, twelve hours, sixteen if you're relief called out, seven days, weeks at a time.I worked a swing shift, so a different shift every week. When on nights and running seven days, I had to stay over Monday for day shift. I was a part time police officer for thirteen years in the town I live in. I cut eight cord of wood every year from dropping the tree, to the stove. I most years harvested three or four deer, hunting two states. I don't know how I did it, now thinking back on it, but I did and I loved it. I made the best of my health when I had it, I'm thankful for that.

Red Square is my get away and therapy now, when I start feeling sorry for myself.

I apologize for ranting my situation, sometimes it helps, enjoy life, if working is enjoyable, keep working, if not retire as soon as you can.

 

[JoeM 7,874]

20 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

I'm going to wonder how I ever had enough time to work.

Yes, and it seems like I got more people telling me what to do now then when I was working!

[JoeM 7,874]

9 hours ago, Darb1964 said:

I apologize for ranting my situation

Not necessary!

Bad things happen to good people. Life changes are not always good and nor are they fair. I tell this to my kids (now grown adults) just like you are doing. Perseverance.

 

9 hours ago, Darb1964 said:

if working is enjoyable, keep working, if not retire as soon as you can

I tell people you will know when it is time, something just clicks in your thinking. 

[rmaynard 15,491]

I turned 62 in March of 2012. That's when I started getting Social Security. However, I was still very active. Then in 2015 I needed spine surgery. That slowed me down for about a year. Since then, retirement has been almost as busy as when I was working. I am never lacking for one of my kids to need help with, or want me to do a construction project for them. Fast forward to yesterday. I spent all day correcting an out-of-plumb wall in my son's bathroom so he (we) could build a new shower. Point of my story here is that retirement is what you make of it. I am never lacking for things to do, and as long as my health permits, I will continue that trend.

 

Friday April 1 is my wife and my 50th wedding anniversary. She keeps me busy too. 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

10 hours ago, Darb1964 said:

I was forced to retire five years ago because of health reasons, multiple sclerosis, diagnosed in1998. I worked as long as I could drag myself to work. I'm not liking being retired,  mostly because I can't do much physically, I changed the oil and greased my C-80 yesterday and that about wiped me out. My wife has to do much of what I always did, that hurts me deep. She has MS. Also, diagnosed in 2006 on the day she turned forty. That just about broke me, but we got through it. She's still able to work. I had time to build my 401-K and was able to pay my home off a few years before retirement. SS. For disability is one hundred percent, so that helps, still less than a third of what I was making. As long as we can stay in our home that's the most important thing and I think we will. I've been married thirty seven years, we both have had good jobs and we closed on the home we're still in, two weeks before our wedding. 

I guess my point is, you never know what the future will bring. I've had lots of time to think about it, I don't think I'd have done anything different,  if I knew in advance. I worked every minute I wasn't sleeping to make or save $ and I'm sure I still would be. I enjoyed working, I enjoyed working on my home and building barns and sheds. I plowed twenty driveways and had that many lawns too. I worked in a paper mill for thirty three years, the overtime was almost always available, twelve hours, sixteen if you're relief called out, seven days, weeks at a time.I worked a swing shift, so a different shift every week. When on nights and running seven days, I had to stay over Monday for day shift. I was a part time police officer for thirteen years in the town I live in. I cut eight cord of wood every year from dropping the tree, to the stove. I most years harvested three or four deer, hunting two states. I don't know how I did it, now thinking back on it, but I did and I loved it. I made the best of my health when I had it, I'm thankful for that.

Red Square is my get away and therapy now, when I start feeling sorry for myself.

I apologize for ranting my situation, sometimes it helps, enjoy life, if working is enjoyable, keep working, if not retire as soon as you can.

 

Darb-

My wife has ms as well but is doing ok at this point. She was diagnosed in 2009 and she is now 51. I am in a situation that I could retire now but plan to go a few more years as that will make a significant difference in my financial situation. I have watched my father pass at 64 and a very good friend pass at 53. I want to be able to spend some quality time with the wife. Ms is tough and it is starting to effect her in terms of balance and lack of energy. 
I respect people for working until later in life but that is not gonna be me. 

[WHX?? 48,822]

9 minutes ago, stevebo said:

I respect people for working until later in life but that is not gonna be me. 

Herer Here