Do you dream about retirement?

I just turned 50, and I'm really starting to think about my mortality... I'm just hoping I live till I'm able to retire... I do like my job though, so I'm not thinking too hard about it.


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Interesting thread... many different lives and thoughts about living life!

I am 62, have been self employed for over half my years... and could not have asked for a better deal!
I run a small heating and AC co. most of my customers are casual friends... they are loyal. The advertising budget for 2014 was a box of business cards... as I have all the business I want from referrals.

Retirement... I will work as much or as little as I want to... until I am not physically able to work... I just enjoy fiddling with things and enjoy seeing the customers... many times I say and visit for 30 min to an hour. Getting out of the house in the mid morning and running service calls... is, for me, FUN!
When someone needs a new system in their home... I call in the Hispanic install crew... we usually get done in 7-8 hours at the customers home... they like not having to go over a nite without heat or AC.

The machine shop I am putting together... is for my hobby: Experimental aircraft. I have a FW pilots license, with a gyro-plane rating. I enjoy tinkering with aircraft, making parts, and of course flying.

For me... running calls, tinkering with a heating/AC system, tinkering with a Piper Cub or a Dominator (gyro)... is not 'work'... it is just fun.
Having said that... I was an adrenaline junkie when I was young, worked LONG hours and HARD. The lesson I learned is to work at the pace and the hours I am comfortable with, then go home and do what I want to.

IMO, a life like this is not working... it is playing and getting paid for it! I am NOT a slave to a time clock, a boss, a budget, an HR dept, etc... And my customers appreciate me!

So will I retire... probably not.
The joke I tell: One day I will either not get up, or will not come home...
Oh, and since I now have a machine ship... add to that may slump over a machine... :)
Oh, on the personal side: NO debt, clear title on my home and vehicles and aircraft, and an investment income I could live a meager existence from if I was disabled.
My Dad retired at 78 after a TIA stroke... he ran as hard as I used to up until the stroke... he lived to 87.

So I guess I do not work... so I guess I will not retire from what is not work to me... :)
 
Can't wait to retire... my job gets in the way of everything. Although it does pay well.
 
One year and 12 days @ 63yo.

NO I am not counting. Having an end date does make it easier to put up with the corporate non sense. When I hear future plans that I don't agree with, I quickly realize it don't affect me and smile. My boss looks at me and mouths "You Axx Hole" Yea.

It is a little hard to get your head around. You work your whole life to get a really good job with the most pay possible, and now you are giving it away permanently. To never work again.

Rick
 
xalky said:
I've been self employed most of my life. I enjoy working when I'm calling the shots, not so much when someone else does. I worked for a couple of small business operations and when the corporate BS started to rear its ugly head, I left both times, and went back out on my own. It's a lot easier now that I don't have hungry mouths to feed, the stress is much less. I guess where I'm going with this is that I enjoy working at things that I enjoy doing. So far I've been able to do things I enjoy and make a living doing it. So, as long as I'm physically able to work with my hands, and with machines, I'll probably work until they find me keeled over. I'm ok with that....I wouldn't have it any other way. :)
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strange, i don't remember posting this. . . . oh wait, you did, it sounds almost exactly like me.
72 and re-opened my toll repair business again, someone had to do it ::)
 
Well I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I always wanted to retire at 55, but that didn't happen I was able to so it at 54. That was 11 years ago. I was offered an early retirement and like everyone else I was tired of the politics and BS. I had 60 employees and felt more like a baby sitter, it used to wear me down. I get 75 percent of my health insurance paid for. This year I decided to start on SS, I wanted to make sure I got some $$ before something happened to me.

I have several hobby's like machining, wood working and the old mustang to keep me busy. In the summer I have a couple of acres to cut and care for. We also have a 5th wheel that we try to get out with from time to time. So yes, LG life is good. My only problem is that the days do not seem to be long enough to get what I want done. I guess that is a problem that I really should not complain about.

Paul
 
fastback said:
Well I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I always wanted to retire at 55, but that didn't happen I was able to so it at 54. That was 11 years ago. I was offered an early retirement and like everyone else I was tired of the politics and BS. I had 60 employees and felt more like a baby sitter, it used to wear me down. I get 75 percent of my health insurance paid for. This year I decided to start on SS, I wanted to make sure I got some $$ before something happened to me.

I have several hobby's like machining, wood working and the old mustang to keep me busy. In the summer I have a couple of acres to cut and care for. We also have a 5th wheel that we try to get out with from time to time. So yes, LG life is good. My only problem is that the days do not seem to be long enough to get what I want done. I guess that is a problem that I really should not complain about.

Paul
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You sound like me. Here's my story. Tried to retire at 55 but my boss wouldn't have it. I stuck around until 57 working part time. Part time, yeah right! One night I woke up in a hotel room in Manila and couldn't go back to sleep. Called my wife to catch up on what was going on at home. She filled me in on what our friends and family were doing and that she was going to our grand daughter's volleyball game that night. She'd been playing for several weeks and I hadn't been to a game yet. I decided then and there that there was more to life than collecting a paycheck so others could enjoy life without me. When I returned from my trip I told my boss I was retiring at the end of the year. Shortly thereafter I found out I had cancer and had to postpone retirement for medical insurance reasons. My boss was gracious and worked with me. As a matter of fact he drummed up an excuse that my position was being eliminated so I could get a severance. Couldn't have asked for a better deal.

Been retired now for 3-1/2 years and life is good. We have a fifth wheel tool and travel often. We also have a couple of classic cars we play with and I have my machining hobby to keep busy when home. The hobbies, traveling and yard work keep us occupied and I haven't missed one volleyball game in 3-1/2 years and I'm cancer free.

Tom S
 
We were set for me to retire at 55. Would have had well into 7 figures in the 401k and other investments, then a dip in our delivery requirements due to Pentagon budget changes in 1997. 37 months without a job and we went broke. Got recalled and had the first kid on the way and they wife becomes 100% disabled just a few months after getting back to work. Her companies HR people mess her disability paperwork up so bad that management can't get it fixed and she is out of a disability pension. 5 years later and #2 kid pops in...now retirement is pushed back further. Plan now is to retire when he is out of high school and I can get full SS...the plan is to hang in there until December 2025 and bail fast. Shedding one house now, getting the second ready to sell, then build an apartment into a shop here and one in the hangar at the other property. Got several airplanes to restore, a couple to build and will supplement my retirement with machine work for aircraft restoration. We are working hard to cash flow it all. I hope we can even build the hangar n a cash basis we it comes time. If I get the shop up and producing and the income level is good enough, then plans can and will change.
 
A lot of interesting and good answers here. I would say that anyone who retires should have an activity or hobby that is constructive and interesting for them. I don't mean gardening with the wife, unless that interests you. I mean something that interests only you, regardless of how your friends & family feel.

IMHO: Over the years, I've seen guys die shortly after retirement or become colossal alcoholics because they had nothing to do.
 
Retired at the age of 62 after working 36 years of police work. I had planned to work at my hobbies of machine shop/gunsmith/woodworking now that I have the time. I had acquired most of my tools throughout the years and had everything paid for. Now I can work in the shop, go to the grandkids games and spend time with the better half. Life has been good. My advice is to retire as soon as you can, enjoy each day that god gives us, spend time with family and friends. Lost my shift partner of 20 years due to a sever heart attack. He planned each day for his retirement but only got to enjoy retirement for a short time.
 
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