Anyone not want to retire?
Most folks goal, seems to be, to retire as soon as possible. It has been my experience, that, for many folks retiring was the greatest thing they ever did. But for others it is the worst thing they ...
Forum Discussion
I had a very stressful yet successful career for close to 30 years. Given my family's health history I knew it wasn't good for me. I was fortunate to retire at age 50 after I was offered an early out. That was 12 years ago. In the next few years we did a trip to Europe, a cross country camping trip to a family reunion, I helped our kids build a house, I finished the restoration of 2 of my collector cars, lots of camping, and generally enjoyed life. My wife continued working at her job because she enjoyed it.
Then I went back to work at low paying, less stressful jobs just to stay busy. I worked part time at a car restoration business but found the owner to be an ass so I quit. I worked as a handyman for a great company until it went out of business. My wife suggested I try for a job driving school bus so I would have the same days off as she had. I was hired and I loved that job over the next 4 years. It was part time so I still had time to do other stuff and we had the entire summer to enjoy camping. At age 57 my decision to retire early was reinforced as I had a major heart attack which left me with significant damage. It also forced me to retire permanently due to health reasons. As I worked on my recovery, we still managed to get away and do lots of what we enjoy as well as be part of our 3 grandkid's lives. My wife retired from her job last fall.
I understand retirement isn't for everyone but life is what you make of it. I had lots of people tell me when I retired at age 50 that I was too young to retire. What I wanted to say to them, but never did was that retirement shouldn't be about age, it should be about money. If you can afford to retire, then why keep working? If one gets their sense of self worth from working (I understand that as well) then do what gives you pleasure. For me, life is too short to not do what I enjoy.
Then I went back to work at low paying, less stressful jobs just to stay busy. I worked part time at a car restoration business but found the owner to be an ass so I quit. I worked as a handyman for a great company until it went out of business. My wife suggested I try for a job driving school bus so I would have the same days off as she had. I was hired and I loved that job over the next 4 years. It was part time so I still had time to do other stuff and we had the entire summer to enjoy camping. At age 57 my decision to retire early was reinforced as I had a major heart attack which left me with significant damage. It also forced me to retire permanently due to health reasons. As I worked on my recovery, we still managed to get away and do lots of what we enjoy as well as be part of our 3 grandkid's lives. My wife retired from her job last fall.
I understand retirement isn't for everyone but life is what you make of it. I had lots of people tell me when I retired at age 50 that I was too young to retire. What I wanted to say to them, but never did was that retirement shouldn't be about age, it should be about money. If you can afford to retire, then why keep working? If one gets their sense of self worth from working (I understand that as well) then do what gives you pleasure. For me, life is too short to not do what I enjoy.
