Thoughts on Retirement

[Bobbie Mayer]

I took partial retirement three years ago (I now teach only spring semester) and will go off fulltime in 1-2 more years. I'm looking forward to that mainly because the annual migration will end and I'll stay in Washington (except for trailer travels.)

The first year I was mainly in the role of caregiver, but over the next two falls off, I wrote a book.

I actively do volunteer work for a national group, CorgiAid. I also play the cello in a community orchestra and a duo.

I hope I'll live longer as a result, but if I don't, I'll have enjoyed retirement longer. My work wasn't all that stressful but as the politics worsen, it gets harder to stomach them. If I start missing teaching a lot, once I'm full-time I'll probably tutor.

I won't ever fulltime but I do plan to do an extended cross-country trip in a year or so. I have a few more things on my bucket list, too, so I don't expect to get bored.

I'm not sure this system is very good- working hard for 30 years, then relatively early and long retirement- but I'm taking advantage of it, anyway. What might be more sustainable for everyone would be being able to gradually reduce hours in later years- our partial retirement allows that spread over 5 years, but I could see doing it over 10 or more. My dad was lucky enough to be able to do that by extending longer and longer vacations (to use up accumulated time from all the hard years).

[LeonardS]

This all hits pretty close to home. My birthday a few days ago marked when I qualified for 100% of my retirement, but I'd have to kick back a bunch of that money to keep the medical insurance. So likely I'll wait until the Medicare starts.

I happen to be on the first vacation in a looong time that was engaging enough that I've actually forgotten about work. I've previously thought that I'd really miss the challenges and stimulations of my job, which I mostly like. But yesterday I realized that I hadn't thought at all about work...and haven't felt the need to log on and check corporate E-mail at all. Hmmm. Maybe I could walk away from it some day. Reading this thread is also encouraging.

[Gene Masse]

If you remember Red Skeleton, according to him the three stages of life are:
1. Youth
2. Middle age.
& you look good, you look good!!!

[honda03842]

Leonard,

We were in a similar situation to you but without any pension. We were 58 when we decided to buy an RV, stop working and hit the road. It really meant no 'free' medical insurance. For the next 7 years medical insurance became our responsibility, generally covered by a catastrophy policy.

Fortunately we never had a significant medical need during that period and actually both of us became healthier. I consider deciding to go 'on the road' one of our best decisions.

Now I know it's not for everyone but it's always good for others to know alternatives are possible. By the way this is an often discussed topic on the Escapees Forum.

Just sharing a possibility..... best to you.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

This all hits pretty close to home. My birthday a few days ago marked when I qualified for 100% of my retirement, but I'd have to kick back a bunch of that money to keep the medical insurance. So likely I'll wait until the Medicare starts.

I happen to be on the first vacation in a looong time that was engaging enough that I've actually forgotten about work. I've previously thought that I'd really miss the challenges and stimulations of my job, which I mostly like. But yesterday I realized that I hadn't thought at all about work...and haven't felt the need to log on and check corporate E-mail at all. Hmmm. Maybe I could walk away from it some day. Reading this thread is also encouraging.

Leonard,
It's funny you mention taking a vacation and not thinking of work. For most of my working years, I took vacation time off as one week at a time, occasionally two weeks off. Those short periods away from work were never really long enough for me to forget work. And stupidly enough ( for me ) I was always available by the phone if they needed something. Then about five years before I actually did retire, one summer I took the entire month of July off. And told them, "don't call, I'm not answering". It was quite a difference. Having four weeks off really did allow me to forget all about the place, and made me realize that as much as I did like my job ( I enjoyed it immensely ), I also very much enjoyed life away from work. Every summer thereafter I always took the month of July as vacation time.
When I was offered a "early buyout" from the corporation at age 57, I jumped all over it. Yes, you are right that retiring early does cost more money out of pocket for medical premiums, etc, but I just was not willing to "give away" any more years of my remaining years to working, just to save some dollars. Old age does not run in my family, so I decided it was simply time to leave the real working world.
Of course, we each have our own financial situation to consider, because it really would be irresponsible to quit a good paying job if a person did not have the means to support themself. But all I will say is if you can do it, by all means, consider bailing out early rather than later.

In a slightly more philosophical sense, I saw the following at the company, and it made me realize that it was "time" for me to go. I started working there as a teenager, and many other young people did too. We were a "young" company, and many of us stayed all those years. We did well, the company prospered. But we all aged....the company had become "older" and more, maybe stagnant. Perhaps part of that was because the workforce really was aging. So the company again began to hire a lot of youngsters, essentially reinventing itself. I looked around at all these "kids" and I said, "that was us, 30, 40 years ago". It made me admit, it's time for the old guys and gals to step aside, hand the reins to the kids, and let's see if they can make it go as well as we did. They are in fact doing pretty darn well at it, and I'd like to think that part of it is that many of us old geezers stepped aside and said, "have at it kids".

[cpaharley2008]

The issue with working past your retirement age is you are taking a pay cut. In other words, you could stay home and collect xx% of your pay doing nothing. Instead you are working and only earning the difference between your pension and regular pay. A pay cut.
I did an analysis of month by month for the last 5 years of my employment which was beyond my minimum retirement age. Once it got to where my working another month only increased my pension by $22/month, I said that is it. It was not worth coming into work for that amount. You need to sit and do the math (I'm a bean counter). Retirement means less money on gas, your insurance drops, your clothing expenses drop, , you no longer pay into your retirement, your withholding will decrease. Your gross pay will drop but your net pay will not decrease as much. It is not as bad as you may think. You also can plan your retirement and move to retirement friendly state, in some states your retirement is not taxable, that may mean up to another 10% savings over working.

[emers382]

papa-t - You are only 48 now,wow, you look a lot older in your profile pic
I was "retired" at age 50.5 from the railroad, that was way too early, so you may want to consider a second career. I did just that, after three years of little work I went back to university (seminary) got a Master of Divinity and have been a pastor for six years. I will retire for the second time the end of the year and look forward to lots of traveling, starting with heading down your way to meet our new grandchild (one of three news ones this year) living in Hole Mills.


Jim - good comments about when to pull the pin, although I had hoped to work to 65 one of the factors driving retirement now is it worth the extra $$ now when who knows how long we'll have on this earth - I had a little scare with cancer two years ago. So it's off to MB we go where the living is cheaper (hydro about 1/3 the ON price) and we're in same town as our son and soon-to-be-4 grandkids, with others not too far away.

Now if we could just sell our house in ON (listed 4 months nearly and no offers) we could buy our Escape

Adrian

[honda03842]

Adrian, The ministry is certainly a worthwhile occupation, If I had been smart enough to retire at 50, I could have completed 10 loops of North America by now.

The early death of friends pushed us to retire as early as we did. Of all the things we've done in our lives, this has been the best. As well it has been an inspiration to a number of our friends and relatives.

Sometimes when the water's rising it makes no sense to wait for the right boat. Sometimes you just need to get moving.

As my college roommate was dying he mentioned all that he and his wife had planned to do at 65. As my business partner was dying, a man who continually tried to entice me out of our RV and to work, said in his final days "You did the right thing".

Unfortunately we never know when it's going to be over. Now is all we know we'll have.

[emers382]

papa-t - Sorry my daughter and son-in-law live in HOPE Mills, not Hole mills, and I thought I had double checked what I wrote. Hopefully we'll get over to your mountain part of the state on another trip down.

Norm and Ginny - I envy your lifestyle (really enjoyed your NF saga), I don't think we can afford to travel quite as much as you, but always likely having family in the US will have lots of chances to visit and at least when with them the campground is free!

Adrian

[honda03842]

Adrian, Everyone has their own financial situations and has to make there own choices. Some need a new 21 foot Escape to travel and others can travel in a used 13 foot Scamp. The difference in price could be a year of travel.

I really don't know a lot about camping across Canada though we've been all over but in Newfoundland you can camp for free all over the place or seniors can stay in their wonderful provincial parks for $9-14 a night. (It cost me more than that to open the door of my house each day.)

In the United States their are plenty of parks where you can camp for $10 a night or less, Byron on this site averages $7.50 a night.

Just wanting you to know what's possible. Good luck selling your house.

I think the most difficult part is not the cost but rather changing one's view of life. This is hard for many if not most and certainly makes the lifestyle not for everyone... and that's OK.

Thanks for liking our Newfoundland travels, we can't wait to get back. This week we got a little taste of Newfoundland when ScouterDave stopped by for dinner. Dave arranged the Newfoundland rally this year.

[honda03842]

Papa-T,
After Adrian commented about your avatar I looked at it. Are you a 'panner'? Do you do it in the eastern USA?

[emers382]

Norm & Ginny - Great you have made such good friends with ScouterDave - When we get to NF - which we shall eventually - after PEI - we haven't even get there yet, I hope to look up ScouterDave.

Good point about about wanting a new Escape 21 vs a used 13 Scamp. We were originally thinking 19 or 5.0 Escape but now looking at the 17b, (maybe even used if one comes up at the right time) then we could get an efficient TV, since we'll be doing a lot of driving with the tow and with the price of gas going up don't need a bigger SUV or pick up. I didn't realize until you said gas in Cda over $5 a gallon - that it's that much - the litre kind of fools you. Going to look at Rick's new 2013 Escape 2.0l Ecoboost at the MB rally next month. Maybe we'll have a "double escape."

Adrian

[honda03842]

I've written about this before but... originally we bought a small trailer just for a two month trip to Labrador thinking we'd never survive in such a small space having spent the previous 7 years in a motorhome.

We used to laugh about learning syncronized rolling over in our 44" wide bed, our motorhome had a walkaround queen. The reality is it was not a problem. These days we feel lonesome in our home queen, getting together like 2 magnets in our queen when home.

The two month Labrador trip turned into a 8 additional month loop of the USA. We found that travel was not about space and things but about Ginny and I and our travels.

Maybe we're so tired at night from the fun of our travels or just feel so good, but we sleep really well in our stressless Scamp.

That's our experience. Of course not everyone would feel that way.

We hope to get back to Newfoundland next year to the Norris Pt music festival and ScouterDave.

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I retired from an engineering position on an early buy-out at age 48 at a significantly reduced annuity, of course. During my "desk years" I often dreamed about farming, big combines, etc. While that wasn't practical in my situation we were sitting on several acres of good land and had two teens still in school. So with my buy-out I bought a small Kubota with the necessary implements and began "market gardening".

The business was very successful and the kids earned their college money (and more) plus learned a healthy work ethic, but were not interested in a agricultural career. Now more than 20 years have passed and we still market garden at a reduced level and enjoy the life style. However health problems are now beginning to curtail our activities and we've downsized significantly.

When we look back at when I made the decision to accept an early retirement, it was the best choice in every way.

Even though full-time RVing was never more than a passing interest for us, we spend two to three months of the late winter/early spring most years in the sunny southwest in our Scamp. The Scamp provides facilities for sleeping, cooking, toilet lounging, etc. I've upgraded the range to a stainless steel Force 10, the porta-potty to an Airhead composting toilet and replaced the noisy furnace with a Dickenson Newport propane fireplace plus added a catalytic heater to the bathroom door.

The one area we haven't addressed is bathing. We use campground or truck stop showers with sponge baths in between often supplementing with disposable body wipes.

So retirement has opened up the ability to engage in a limited way, a dream occupation and to be free to travel inexpensively as much as we want in our Scamp. I highly recommend it!

[honda03842]

Loren,

Refreshing post.

[Donna D.]

My "Thoughts on Retirement"... after the day I had today... it can't happen SOON enough

[Murphy C.]

My wife and I both retired in Oct 2009 from 30+ years with the Postal Service. I love retirement because of all the things I can do and the things I dont have to do.

I was president of a Union and had to deal with grievances and discipline so often that now whenever someone suggests I should say get on our HOA board, I laugh and say no thanks. I like being the nice retired guy down the street that has no enemies.

It drives me crazy to hear people moan about having nothing to do after retirement. I dont have enough time to read all the books I want or do everything I want to do (although I will try)!

We feel blessed that we dont have to work until we drop.

[Thinh]

...When I was in a manufacturing plant of one corporation, there were a lot of old guys who started working there since they were +18 years old or so. During my time there, a few guys took early retirement and most stayed and worked passed 30 years...with a lot of overtimes...Years had passed, the plant was gone (outsourced to Mexico). Thru contacts, I found out those who stayed passed 30 years, most deceased, some not even collect their first pension checks...JUST A FACT.

[honda03842]

Murphy,

I agree filling time is not a problem. Life is so short compared to all there is to know and see. There is so much of interest, so much to challenge one, retirement is opportunity for extension.

One could spend a lifetime in a Yellowstone or Death Valley and learn something everyday.

Happy days Murphy.

[carlkeigley]

Originally Posted by Thinh

...When I was in a manufacturing plant of one corporation, there were a lot of old guys who started working there since they were +18 years old or so. During my time there, a few guys took early retirement and most stayed and worked passed 30 years...with a lot of overtimes...Years had passed, the plant was gone (outsourced to Mexico). Thru contacts, I found out those who stayed passed 30 years, most deceased, some not even collect their first pension checks...JUST A FACT.

That is a FACT Randy,
I've seen so many try to squeeze in every bit of time they could
towards there retirement and when the day came, they died before
they could collect. One reason I determined if it were possible I
would retire early. Circumstances in my life forced me into retirement
so it's all worked out.