Just had enough

[kevinbti]

There was a post a few days ago about a guy who just had enough after raising kids and turned his papers in for retirement I would like to do the same, but I am 12 years removed from retirement. I would like to follow his post but can t seem to find it. Sure do relate to brutal bosses etc I would appreciate any help in locating the post

[LarryJM]

Gdetrailer wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
Seems like everyone wishes their life away. I retired at 55 and regretted it. I changed my profession the 3rd time and went back to work and retired 2 years ago at 75. I was bored after I retired at 55.

Hmm..

Not sure where you went wrong that you could be bored when retired.

I have a garage full of projects, a back yard waiting for a bunch of projects to be completed, a basement full of projects for fixing and even a upstairs bedroom with a bunch of "round to its"..

Not to mention about 6 rooms that need wood work trim to be made (500 board foot of VT pine to plane, sand and fit)..

I am trying to finish up some of these projects before I retire so I won't spend 24/7 working on them when I do retire..

As far as I am concerned, once I retire I have no care to ever go back into the work force.. I have put in too many hard years of work for not much wage and only in the last 10 yrs have been able to start really gaining a decent wage..

My Dad retired at 58, after 38 yrs of service in a refinery., worked many hard long hrs and his last 10 yrs on rotating shifts.. Those took a toll on him..

He is now 88 and still going (albeit a lot slower now days), he and my Mom snow birded to FL for nearly 15 yrs after he retired while he was able to drive with that huge 5th wheel behind him. He enjoyed those years and he earned them..

No one ever said, if only I worked a few more years..

If only I could spend more time at the office..

If only I could enjoy working for more bosses..

Life is short, no way of knowing exactly when your time is up..

Make the most of it.

If you have the means to retire early, do it, you won't regret not having to punch a time clock.. Just don't sleep your life away when you do retire.. There are many great things to do once you are no longer punching the time clock of work..

I tell folks at work, only 11 more years.. and I am out of here.

I agree and I retired earlier than probably 95% of the folks here at age 42 in the prime of my working years and have never regretted that decision. It allowed me to fully participate and enjoy many years of our sons growing up and have fully enjoyed being able to keep that "HONEY DO" jar low and be able to do things "RIGHT AND THE WAY I WANT" instead of just doing a project quickly because of lack of time to go the other route.

Larry

[2112]

rbpru wrote:
An accountant once told me that when your last child graduates college it is like you found an oil well in your back yard.

Sooo True

[Downwindtracke1]

The first lesson about retirement I learned was: It's Not the Product ,It's the Process!

[Dennis_Smith]

"retire the day you can afford to retire" that's what we did and have no regreats

[rbpru]

An accountant once told me that when your last child graduates college it is like you found an oil well in your back yard.

We have always managed travel and vacations plus numerous other interests but retirement planning allows us to do them on our schedule.

[spoon059]

I'm eligible to retire at 46 years old with 25 years on the job. My kids will be 14 and 12, so we will see what the cards hold at that time. I would love to retire and enjoy some vacations while I collect my pension, then go back to some type of work for a couple of years and have a "part time" retirement.

[jmtandem]

The thread you might be looking for is 'real cost of fulltiming'.

[fla-gypsy]

Huntindog wrote:

nohurry wrote:

BB_TX wrote:
Think it thru carefully and be honest with yourself. I retired 7 years ago at 62 and have never regretted it. Very good friend retired 6 months ago at 69 and is bored crazy. He went thru his complete long to-do list in the first 3 months.

Also consider that health insurance will be outrageous until you hit 65 and get on Medicare. And that is a long time to live off your savings unless you are very well positioned.

We are blessed in that our excellent health ins from my employer will stay with us after retirement until we are Medicare eligible.

Maybe. My company discontinued it for retirees when Obamacare started.
Much howling and gnashing of teeth had no effect on the decision. Every year, more do the same..

I don't think it is right to pull the rug out from people that have based a life decision on this benefit being available to them... But that is they way the wind is blowing.

I find myself in that same situation. Reformulating my plans to ensure I stay on track. I have no intention of working to 65.

[SoundGuy]

kevinbti wrote:
There was a post a few days ago about a guy who just had enough after raising kids and turned his papers in for retirement I would like to do the same, but I am 12 years removed from retirement. I would like to follow his post but can t seem to find it. Sure do relate to brutal bosses etc I would appreciate any help in locating the post

This discussion may not be the one you're referring to but it's in a similar vein.

[Gdetrailer]

kyle86 wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
Seems like everyone wishes their life away. I retired at 55 and regretted it. I changed my profession the 3rd time and went back to work and retired 2 years ago at 75. I was bored after I retired at 55.

Hmm..

Not sure where you went wrong that you could be bored when retired.

I have a garage full of projects, a back yard waiting for a bunch of projects to be completed, a basement full of projects for fixing and even a upstairs bedroom with a bunch of "round to its"..

Not to mention about 6 rooms that need wood work trim to be made (500 board foot of VT pine to plane, sand and fit)..

I am trying to finish up some of these projects before I retire so I won't spend 24/7 working on them when I do retire..

As far as I am concerned, once I retire I have no care to ever go back into the work force.. I have put in too many hard years of work for not much wage and only in the last 10 yrs have been able to start really gaining a decent wage..

My Dad retired at 58, after 38 yrs of service in a refinery., worked many hard long hrs and his last 10 yrs on rotating shifts.. Those took a toll on him..

He is now 88 and still going (albeit a lot slower now days), he and my Mom snow birded to FL for nearly 15 yrs after he retired while he was able to drive with that huge 5th wheel behind him. He enjoyed those years and he earned them..

No one ever said, if only I worked a few more years..

If only I could spend more time at the office..

If only I could enjoy working for more bosses..

Life is short, no way of knowing exactly when your time is up..

Make the most of it.

If you have the means to retire early, do it, you won't regret not having to punch a time clock.. Just don't sleep your life away when you do retire.. There are many great things to do once you are no longer punching the time clock of work..

I tell folks at work, only 11 more years.. and I am out of here.

Great post. What do you suggest for someone not established in the work force yet? I'm 29 and since I graduated from college I have been bouncing from not so good job to not so good job. Long hours and hard work with a questionable future for my generation. You seem like a person with a good outlook on life. Just curious if you could start over, would you stay with the same employer and work towards traditional retirement or something else?

Now days if you really want to increase your income, you are pretty much forced to move on to other jobs/companies. Just the way it is, My Dad was very fortunate to be able to work at the same place his entire work life and get a pension.

Today, Pensions are pretty much a thing of the past, you really need to start now putting money into co 401K PLUS take a small portion of your pay and toss it into a Roth. For your co 401K, take full advantage of the co match.

My first Job out of Tech School was a subcontractor with a large corp presence.. Discovered then that they had more subcontracted help than actual employees.. No benefits, no 401K, no vacation and I had to pay double the SS payments..

Second two jobs with little mom and pop consumer repair shops, got paid PER PIECE that I repaired at half the labor rate charged.. Worked that for 5 yrs and worked my behind off for next to nothing in wages.

Next job was with a real co, Didn't pay much but had co piad health, paid vac and other perks..

Current job I doubled my income, better vac, much better 401K plus even able to purchase co stock at a 15% discounted rate.. Co sold off my division and I no longer have to co stock option..

I bought a lot of co stock at good prices.. Getting in at the ground floor, now days that stock is trading well over the last purchase I made.

If you want to be successful, you NEED to set some goals, you NEED something to work to, otherwise you are simply going to get tired of it.

I have had many goals along the way.. I wanted to buy a house and pay it and still enjoy life..

DONE, bought a very low priced fixer instead of a expensive house..

Instead of buying new cars, I kept fixing my old, old car. The money I didn't spend on new car payments went to paying off the house..

15yr mortgage was paid in full in 11 yrs, this saved me thousands.. That savings then was used to buy my first new vehicle..

I pay off all of my loans early, the savings in interest are put aside and are used for the next purchase.

I only buy on a credit card WHEN I HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY IT OFF THE VERY NEXT BILL.. I don't use credit or credit cards to fill in when I run out of income.

I have achieved all of my goals so far and when I do I set another goal.. I break it down into little goals, achieve that goal and set a new goal..

This keeps me busy, not bored.

I have goals in mind when I do reach retirement, those goals do not include continuing to punch a co time clock.. Instead, I will be punching my own personal "time clock" that I control for my own personal projects.

Set a goal, set your mind to that goal, reach that goal and set a new goal. It is how life goes.

I wish you all the luck and best of all, have some fun while achieving your goals..

[jmtandem]

Great post. What do you suggest for someone not established in the work force yet? I'm 29 and since I graduated from college I have been bouncing from not so good job to not so good job. Long hours and hard work with a questionable future for my generation. You seem like a person with a good outlook on life. Just curious if you could start over, would you stay with the same employer and work towards traditional retirement or something else?

You need to figure this out for yourself. What works for others probably won't work for you.

But, since you have to work for something somewhere and for somebody even if it is yourself, you need to start somewhere. The grass typically always looks greener elsewhere. If you work for the government owning your own business looks better; if you own your own business, sometimes looking at corporate or government with regular paychecks looks better. Just dive in somewhere, you will figure it out.

I retired six years ago, it is nice!!! And I never hated my job, liked almost all the people, and the work.

[Lynnmor]

kyle86 wrote:

What do you suggest for someone not established in the work force yet? I'm 29 and since I graduated from college I have been bouncing from not so good job to not so good job. Long hours and hard work with a questionable future for my generation.

I tell folks like you to get a government job of any kind. You have little chance of a pension, lifetime medical and super benefits in the private sector. As you look thru these RV forums, you will find a large number of members that retired from government.

[bob_nestor]

kyle86 wrote:
What do you suggest for someone not established in the work force yet? I'm 29 and since I graduated from college I have been bouncing from not so good job to not so good job. Long hours and hard work with a questionable future for my generation. You seem like a person with a good outlook on life. Just curious if you could start over, would you stay with the same employer and work towards traditional retirement or something else?

I was forced into retirement a couple years ago by job cutbacks. Luckily I was only two years away from my planned retirement. My suggestions to someone just starting out in life:

Don't base your plans on promises of the future made by your employer(s) or Government. Expect the worst case and plan for that. If the promises hold true you'll just be much better off when retirement comes your way.

Don't just dream about retirement, plan for it. Make sure you know what you'll be doing in the "retirement career" and test those plans while you still have time to change them. Far to many people just dream about retirement and when they get there they're bored to tears with the lack of activities, goals, etc.

Young people just starting out do tend to jump around in jobs. First is usually the idealist job - you studied some field in college and your ideal job is shaped by that. In reality that first job isn't what you imagined. The second job is more about money. The third job is more of a balance between money, work and environment. After that the jobs tend to be about location, money, work, people, etc. Understand your job benefits and try to maximize them towards your retirement target, such as taking advantage of 401K plans, exploring different places you might want to live, expanding your work and hobby interests, etc.

Start early tracking of your finances and stick with it. Know what you have coming in and where it's going and make sure part of it is being saved for your future. Try to live below your means rather than at or above your means. As you get closer to retirement (within 10 years), start trying to live your retirement lifestyle financially and see how it works. Make adjustments as needed so that your transition into retirement isn't a financial shock.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with going into debt to get the things you want or need to live the lifestyle you'd like. But having a good financial plan to retire that debt before you retire can make for a much more stress-free retirement. Part of your retirement plan might include being debt-free and having already purchased your retirement toys beforehand. That also gives you an opportunity to test-run your retirement lifestyle before you are committed to it and make adjustments while you're still working.

[gwalter]

I retired 12 years ago at age 55 and have never looked back. I keep busy with all kinds of projects of my own and have a hard time getting my DW honey do list completed. I have remodeled and sold 2 homes since then and just finished the changes we wanted to make on our current home. We travel when we want and have time to attend the Grandkids events when we want. Life is good.

[Executive45]

I retired the first time at age 36, the second time at age 50 and finally at age 65 I was ready. Not everyone is ready to sit around a campfire every night at a young age. I completed my bucket list after 6 short months and became really really bored.

Remember, when you're retired there are no vacation days and everyday is a Saturday!...Dennis