Retirement.

[Darth-Baiter]

gah.  i think about it all the time now.  i am 55 now, and i have a successful career.  i promoted and now i think stress levels are greater.   i want to retire young, but it isnt in the cards.  i didnt plan that well.   i want to retire, but i dont want to be old.  haha.  but dang it if i dont want to jump ship tomorrow.  

 

if it all plays out right, i have anywhere between 5 and 7 years left.  i might try to promote one more time.  i really truely believe i will have plenty to do in in retirement.  i might take piano lessons or yoga.  stay active, mentally and physically.  maaaayyybeee buy a bass boat.  at least my California home will be paid off.  which felt like an impossiblity when i bought it.  

[Jig Man]

I didn’t plan at all, but a “wise” bean counter decided that they could save money by offering early retirement to some of us.  They offered 1/2 year salary and 75% benefits.  I was 50 at the time.  I spit in the doorway and ran for my truck.  I haven’t regretted one minute.

[Choporoz]

My target was age 65.  I lowered it to 62 1/2 a few years ago.   Around 29 months from now....though a really bad recession could still take it out another year or two.

  But I admit that going to work is more of a chore each passing day

[roadwarrior]

The hardest part of being retired is trying to figure what day it is. To create a

"reference point" I have decided to take Friday off. No work other than meals, 

which mostly means no honey-dos!

 

 

                                            

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

The hardest part of being retired is trying to figure what day it is. To create a

"reference point" I have decided to take Friday off. No work other than meals, 

which mostly means no honey-dos!

Since I have a partially disabled wife who needs my help every day of the week - I always have some sort of honey-do...so I lose track of what day it is fairly frequently.

[Darth-Baiter]

sorry.  maybe this was just "Monday blues"?  i apoligize in advance if i post the same thread every monday for the next 7 years.

[Junger]

I'm 46 and think about retiring pretty often! I actually enjoy my job, but I enjoy golfing, fishing, and boating even more. I'm targeting 55 to retire.

[wdp]

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

gah.  i think about it all the time now.  i am 55 now, and i have a successful career.  i promoted and now i think stress levels are greater.   i want to retire young, but it isnt in the cards.  i didnt plan that well.   i want to retire, but i dont want to be old.  haha.  but dang it if i dont want to jump ship tomorrow.  

 

if it all plays out right, i have anywhere between 5 and 7 years left.  i might try to promote one more time.  i really truely believe i will have plenty to do in in retirement.  i might take piano lessons or yoga.  stay active, mentally and physically.  maaaayyybeee buy a bass boat.  at least my California home will be paid off.  which felt like an impossiblity when i bought it.  

We are living parallel lives. I’m also 55 and been working for 30 yrs now but prob won’t be able to retire for at least 10 more. We’re investing well now (although late), but getting married later in life with college aged kids currently, no way I can retire early. 
 

I too have a somewhat stressful job, and there are days I really dread the commute & going to work. Staying home to either go fishing or just to do yard work is so much more inviting. ?

37 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

sorry.  maybe this was just "Monday blues"?  i apoligize in advance if i post the same thread every monday for the next 7 years.

Don’t worry, I’ll be right there with you. I can be your Bass Resource pre-retirement blues support team member. ????????????

[TnRiver46]

I’ll be working til im 6 feet under 

[gim]

5 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

if it all plays out right, i have anywhere between 5 and 7 years left. 

I'd say that's pretty darn good if you are currently 55.  I recently had a long term meeting with my financial advisor and I'm on pace to retire at 61 if things go as planned (I'm 39 years old right now, so I have quite a while lol).

[Bluebasser86]

I'll have 30 years in at my job at 51 years old. I can't imagine any desire to go beyond that. 

[Team9nine]

 

After running the numbers over and over again, I decided I’d had enough and took the retirement leap in March 2020 at age 54. Turned out this was less than 2 weeks before everything locked down due to the pandemic. Don’t know if that was good or bad timing, but zero regrets so far. Now I fish through the week whenever I want and leave the weekend craziness to others. Wife just cut back to part time working mostly remote from home this year. Life is short - go fishing!

[A-Jay]

After a life in the military and at age 47, I 'retired' in 2007.

My career went by fast but definitely was not the path of least resistance.

A lot went into my decision including my wife's declining health,

but for the past almost 15 years, I've been on A-Jay time and I don't regret it for one second.

There was certainly a brief acclamation period but "Retirement" has offered me an opportunity to truly enjoy the little things in life, which IMO is something we all take for granted, until it's gone.

Took me a few years into it to realize just how lucky I was. 

My advice to anyone who will listen is, your career does not define you. 

If the opportunity is there, 'retire' while your life is still robust and you can fully enjoy it

with those you love.  You both deserve it.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. 

A-Jay

 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

I enjoyed working, my favorite day was Monday! I worker harder than any of 

competitors when I came to work after the weekend and it payed off for me. 

I also worked late on Fridays when others started the weekend early. After

fifty years, that was enough.  No regrets.

 

 

                                                         

[A-Jay]

9 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

I enjoyed working, my favorite day was Monday! I worker harder than any of 

competitors when I came to work after the weekend and it payed off for me. 

I also worked late on Fridays when others started the weekend early. After

fifty years, that was enough.  No regrets.

 

 

                                                         

You work hard right here and don't you even try to deny it ! 

But Thank You.

A-Jay

 

[steve carpenter]

Retired at age 66at the end of 2013. Have a travel trailer and boat and have enjoyed much of the time since. A couple of surgeries and wife heart attack slowed things down. I'm convinced that being in shape and working out helped me recover. There are no guarantees so take care of yourself and enjoy whatever time you have.

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ll be working til im 6 feet under 

Me too! 
 

These Monday’s where everyone forgot how to do their jobs over the weekend are driving me bonkers! My phone was at 40% by 11 o’clock from it ringing off the hook. These people are burning me out. 
 

Rant over. ?

[A-Jay]

6 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Me too! 
 

These Monday’s where everyone forgot how to do their jobs over the weekend are driving me bonkers! My phone was at 40% by 11 o’clock from it ringing off the hook. These people are burning me out. 
 

Rant over. ?

And in 25 years, (which will go by in what seems like a freaking Flash)

Trust me when I tell ya, these will be the Good Old Days.

Not because of what's going on,

but because of who you are right now.

Some how, it changes. 

A-Jay

 

[flyfisher]

Guess I am in the minority here because being 45 I am not even thinking about retirement.  I mean if i hit the lottery sure i would stop working but I truly love going to work every day and I plan on working until, well, whenever.  

Oh and by not thinking that doesn't mean not preparing.  

[slonezp]

Spare me the moose knuckle in the yoga pants...

 

I'm 52 and I like working. While I'm hoping to retire in 10 years, I'm looking for a side gig right now educating folks in the commercial/industrial hvac/r trade. Our industry is hurting for qualified techs. Silly me, I'm thinking about the future of the trade and not my future... The trade has been good to me(minus crippling myself) I'd love to see others reap the benefits.  

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

After a life in the military and at age 47, I 'retired' in 2007.

My career went by fast but definitely was not the path of least resistance.

A lot went into my decision including my wife's declining health,

but for the past almost 15 years, I've been on A-Jay time and I don't regret it for one second.

There was certainly a brief acclamation period but "Retirement" has offered me an opportunity to truly enjoy the little things in life, which IMO is something we all take for granted, until it's gone.

Took me a few years into it to realize just how lucky I was. 

My advice to anyone who will listen is, your career does not define you. 

If the opportunity is there, 'retire' while your life is still robust and you can fully enjoy it

with those you love.  You both deserve it.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. 

A-Jay

 

 

 

Robust is both a physical and mental state. I may not be so robust physically, as I once was, my mental robustness is at the top of it's game. I've realized my physical limitations post injury. I imagine you've realized your physical limitations post 55 years old, although you hide it very well. It's all about what you have going on upstairs. Keeping the brain sharp and keeping the brain positive is the key to a happy anything.   

[Bird]

I wish everyone a great retirement, it's everything I intisipated and more.

 

Was fortunate enough to retire at 58 and being married to a financial advisor certainly helped.

 

My issue was never stress but rather being married to my job. I simply wanted to work 7 days a week without any balance in life which did create regrets regarding family but thankfully that's been restored.

 

The most important factor to keep prioritized after retirement is your health....... keep moving and live a healthy lifestyle and you'll reap the benefits of years of hard labor ?

 

 

[volzfan59]

Mine was stress related so I retired at 53 and never, ever looked back. To make sure that I stayed retired, other than a brief 3 1/2 year stint working at BPS (which isn't work at all), I sold all of my law enforcement gear other than my weapons. Sold my regular duty belt, all of my handcuffs, tactical stuff... everything.  Crazy thing is, I don't know how I ever had the time to work.

[DaubsNU1]

Man, this thread is great timing! I will be 55 this fall...thinking I have 8-10 more years working. Job is good, really enjoy working with my team, assistant director, my boss, executive leadership.

 

My 51 year old brother will retire from teaching in 4 years.  Last summer purchased his dream boat (Lund Alaskan)...much to his wife's chagrin!  HA! His rationale: get the boat now, while we can still take our Dad (81) fishing. It has been GREAT!

 

My biggest concern on retirement: what the heck will I do with all my free time? Love mowing grass, keeping up on house, and have an old 1972 Chevy K-20 to restore. And of course, fishing! (and hunting). Hopefully there will be grand-kids in the future.

 

Staying healthy and fit has always been a priority...and will continue to be. I've seen way to many friends and relatives struggle with health...and not be able to enjoy retirement.

[Tennessee Boy]

I retired in April at age 59.   I’m still adjusting to the change.  It’s not exactly what I was expecting but I have no regrets.  Everything changed when I retired.  The best fishing weather used to be during the week.  Now it’s the weekend.   I think the average weekday temperature has been 120 this year. ?

[N Florida Mike]

I’ll be 62 in september if I live that long.

I have no plans to ever retire.( Until there’s no other option). I Love my job and financially won’t be able to retire anyway. S. Security bothers me because I have paid into it all my working life and feel like I deserve it but can’t use it I reckon because it just isn’t enough to live on. I have a little stock and 401k at least .

I have a very flexible schedule in sales. Some days I’m home early anyway with several hours before dark. I can fish work route ponds since Im never “ on the clock”. My wife said that I “retired to sales”. It really is a great job for me at this stage in life.