I got to retire a few years early, this March at 63. I saved every penny since the kids left and the market improvement made it all possible. 39 years at commercial HVAC&R and I always thought I'd make it to 66 but that trade is way too brutal in Az.. Lots of aches and pain and trips to the chiropractor and PT. I was a dedicated workaholic and I was so afraid I'd wake up on the first morning of retirement and say... Ahhh sh!t why on earth did I retire so soon? That didn't happen, I woke up happier than I've been for a LONG time! Now, a friend wants me to come back and run new installs for him (contract work) at the same h@ll hole I retired from and I'm going to try it and see if working for a totally different mgnt. team is less brain damage. Craig
About 1/4 of my career was in a service truck dealing with the public and I enjoyed making customers happy and keeping them for many years. The rest of the years was doing large commercial/manufacturing/industrial plant work, for huge corps and dealing with stupid, clueless mngt who knew nothing about the trade. I'm soooo happy that's history! Craig