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Should i retire??
- Thread starter 1moaoff
- Start date
Ha! I am on cocaine and hookers!
I am slowly creeping towards the dark side.
Someone has to do it.
LOL.
I had a similar view of my job. Retired the very first day I was eligible and have not regretted it for a second.
In all seriousness. If it is a source of great stress, it will destroy your health.
My BP dropped 20 points after I retired.
I retired at 51 with 31.5yrs. Had I not taken a short sabbatical in the private sector, it would have been a full 33yrs.
Best decision I ever made. Why 31.5?
I wrung my hands in fear of what ifs.
Personal chick said, "But you won't have insurance. You need to work 4 more years to have insurance."
My reply: "Dead folks don't need insurance."
I thought my job was guaranteeing my health through insurance. Boy was I wrong. I didn't truly realize it was killing me, till I did my Johnny Paycheck.
I've never been so free and enlightened.
My BP dropped 20 points after I retired.
I retired at 51 with 31.5yrs. Had I not taken a short sabbatical in the private sector, it would have been a full 33yrs.
Best decision I ever made. Why 31.5?
I wrung my hands in fear of what ifs.
Personal chick said, "But you won't have insurance. You need to work 4 more years to have insurance."
My reply: "Dead folks don't need insurance."
I thought my job was guaranteeing my health through insurance. Boy was I wrong. I didn't truly realize it was killing me, till I did my Johnny Paycheck.
I've never been so free and enlightened.
For my Dad, it was something to do. He lost his wife of 30 years to cancer, and needed to occupy his time. It took him awhile to get back into his hobbies, he was just in a lazy slump. A scheduled place to be and being forced to socialize.
The cheaper gun stuff was a bonus. He took advantage of that to the point that he can't think of anything he actually wants, much less needs.
He called me today and asked me to go look at a truck with him. Decided to trade his paid for 2013 on a used 2019. Told me when it's paid for in 3 years he's going to consider real retirement.
I retired to a life of genteel poverty, 20 years ago, at the age of 53. My wife was still working, so we had health insurance until Medicare kicked in. We live on a farm and there's always something to do. I enjoyed lots of hobby physical activities until my body gave out last year and got hit with the dreaded C. As soon as I recover I'll be back to whatever I can still do. Life's too short to work a job you hate. Enjoy yourself while you can, you never know what's around the corner.
Don't worry about the boredom, Nature abhors a vacuum, you just need to cultivate that for a couple-few months. Your whole outlook starts to evolve, and before you know it, you're into something you always wanted to do, or never even considered, or some awsome opportunity you never would have seen when you were grinding it out day after day. Embrace the freedom, and the future. Boredom is the gateway to your next mission.
I thought that too, but the people I talked to said they are so busy in retirement, the don't know how they had time to work. I found that true. Sometimes I don't know where my day went. Up and about by 8 and the next thing I know, it's 5 and the wife and I start dinner. Rarely leave the house, just putt around the house doing whatever I want to do and the next thing you know it's dinner time.
However the 4 hours I spend in the dialysis chair is a lifetime.
Stopped being gainfully employed at 57. The industry changed so as not to be recognizable. Unfortunately I didn't change, I tried. Got out as soon as I could. Best thing I have ever done. While there I saved as much as I could, wife would skin a flea for it's tallow. When you quit the rat race you will wonder how you ever had the time to hold a job. If you currently have the savings to hold out 15 years you will be fine. Things will change and your choices appear different when not polluted by a "9 to 5" view point.
Thank you,
MrSmith
Thank you,
MrSmith
I'm not retired per say but I left the full time job behind at 34 and have just worked part time since.
I took a buy out and got 2 years at tech school for leaving. After getting my associates degree in precision machining I started teaching part time at the school I graduated from and I enjoy it and helping young people get into a trade is rewarding. Always said I'd get a full time job if I went broke but ten years later still hanging on.
My suggestion would be look into teaching at a local university part time the pay for hours worked can be great and it's a great network tool if you ever want to go back to full time work. It also helps keep up my skills and keeping up with newer technology and tools as they come out. After teaching 100 credit hours I got moved up to senior adjunct and now qualify for pension credits that will ad another revenue when I retire for real.
I took a buy out and got 2 years at tech school for leaving. After getting my associates degree in precision machining I started teaching part time at the school I graduated from and I enjoy it and helping young people get into a trade is rewarding. Always said I'd get a full time job if I went broke but ten years later still hanging on.
My suggestion would be look into teaching at a local university part time the pay for hours worked can be great and it's a great network tool if you ever want to go back to full time work. It also helps keep up my skills and keeping up with newer technology and tools as they come out. After teaching 100 credit hours I got moved up to senior adjunct and now qualify for pension credits that will ad another revenue when I retire for real.
For me, I had to have something to go to, not just a job to leave. I started at a LGS a year or so before I retired at 50yrs old, worked there 1/2 to 2/3 time after I retired, then felt the draw of police work calling me back. Less than a year after retiring, I was back at it and have been doing it for 7 years at the new place.
BUT, I still love it, so it isn’t wearing me down. I might still be at the first department but for a toxic administration that got put into place and destroyed what had been a great atmosphere to work in.
Financially this is great, too. With the double income of a full retirement plus a full time paycheck I’m able to load the deferred comp plans.
So, in answer- find something you love to do, retire, do what you love and if it is a second career, enjoy banking the extra money.
BUT, I still love it, so it isn’t wearing me down. I might still be at the first department but for a toxic administration that got put into place and destroyed what had been a great atmosphere to work in.
Financially this is great, too. With the double income of a full retirement plus a full time paycheck I’m able to load the deferred comp plans.
So, in answer- find something you love to do, retire, do what you love and if it is a second career, enjoy banking the extra money.
DoD SME money + marry a unicorn = retired in my early 30s.
My story of "What not to do" :
Wake up on a Thursday morning with a "little chest pain".... See a cardiologist for a stress test on Friday.... Ready to get on the tread mill and he say's "Sit down, I'm going to do an angiogram"... I wake up and there is an ambulance ready to take me to a major hospital for open heart surgery... A day of test on Saturday... Emergency open heart surgery on Sunday morning (5 bypasses).... At 7 am Monday morning the contractor I was working for at an Intel job laid me off...... At that moment I became disabled / retired.
Bought a fixer up homestead in Montana and have enjoyed the best years of my life since the open heart surgery.
Your options are open. The one option you want to avoid is dying from stress related issues.....
The ball is in your court.
Hobo
Wake up on a Thursday morning with a "little chest pain".... See a cardiologist for a stress test on Friday.... Ready to get on the tread mill and he say's "Sit down, I'm going to do an angiogram"... I wake up and there is an ambulance ready to take me to a major hospital for open heart surgery... A day of test on Saturday... Emergency open heart surgery on Sunday morning (5 bypasses).... At 7 am Monday morning the contractor I was working for at an Intel job laid me off...... At that moment I became disabled / retired.
Bought a fixer up homestead in Montana and have enjoyed the best years of my life since the open heart surgery.
Your options are open. The one option you want to avoid is dying from stress related issues.....
The ball is in your court.
Hobo
I retired at 40 from many years of underground mining. It was fun at first doing what I wanted when I wanted. After about 5 or 6 years it got old and boring. In that time period I built a house and a couple of hot rods went fishing, hunting,shooting,hiking a lot.
Went back to work at 50 in a different field that isn’t so physically demanding. After 2 years of working I’m ready to retire again.
Went back to work at 50 in a different field that isn’t so physically demanding. After 2 years of working I’m ready to retire again.
Fortunately and unfortunately finances are not a worry... that however leds to me having a fuck you attitude quite alot... my version would probably never be fully sitting at home on the porch. Im not wired that way.
By the way I did marry a unicorn also. She can easily retire now also.
Neither of us is lazy though so we keep working.
She has actually been after me to back off or retire for a few yrs.
Today she told me to give the business to the employees if I wanted to walk today...
I just find myself being mad at everyone that asks me the same questions but wont really listen and then they whine about the same shit.
By the way I did marry a unicorn also. She can easily retire now also.
Neither of us is lazy though so we keep working.
She has actually been after me to back off or retire for a few yrs.
Today she told me to give the business to the employees if I wanted to walk today...
I just find myself being mad at everyone that asks me the same questions but wont really listen and then they whine about the same shit.
Possibly just a long vacation and clearing your mind, detach from the routine for a while?
New perspective might arise.
New perspective might arise.
Skook, I drive a garbage truck a few times a month when our drivers don’t show up for various reasons; your right about it. It’s super satisfying and very enjoyable. Odd to most. I ran class B garbage trucks for 8 years before stepping into a different role with same company. Loved every minute of it.
Maybe you just have an anger problem..... You and 5 million other Americans.... Take a number and get in line...... We are all dealing with it.
Basically I'm still working because I need the Health Care Insurance. I'm 65 in 4 weeks and setting up for Medicare and all that and the overwhelming urge to retire (quit) is hard to rationalize - they tossed me like a piece of shit when the Covid thing hit and they discovered they could get millions of $ in PPP cash if only they toss 200 people to get below the 500 person employee maximum. I was called back (not really...I got back on by telling them I was out of unemployment and was going to take a gig with their competition, which was truly offered....) but I literally despise the asshole millionaires that own/run the Company. I made them rich with my skills and when the SHTF all they want to do is toss everybody who made them filthy rich.
Once I get Medicare it'll take a huge effort not to park their Service Vehicle the following Friday and never go back. No retirement, no notice, no shit. Just stop going and give them as much heads up and consideration as they gave me.
I'm going back to recording music and shooting anytime I damn well feel like it....lots of house projects have been being put off for years and it's time to stop rolling out at 5am and doing for "The Man" and start taking care of me and mine better. I say if one can retire then one should do that.
VooDoo
Once I get Medicare it'll take a huge effort not to park their Service Vehicle the following Friday and never go back. No retirement, no notice, no shit. Just stop going and give them as much heads up and consideration as they gave me.
I'm going back to recording music and shooting anytime I damn well feel like it....lots of house projects have been being put off for years and it's time to stop rolling out at 5am and doing for "The Man" and start taking care of me and mine better. I say if one can retire then one should do that.
VooDoo
Sounds like you’re in an enviable position. Options. Not a bad thing at all.
Telling you something you already know I’m sure; people will always be a pain. Customers, employees, business partners, etc. Sounds like you need a long sabbatical. Best to not make a decision when slightly peeved.
depends on the person.
Folks I know who do the “I work to live, not live to work” thing often enjoy retirement, many of the artisans and fun job folks, I’ve seen them downsize their work but they dont do retirement.
On my days off I do more or less the same stuff I do when I work for free in my own time. But jobs are different, I know people who do metal work who will work on personal stuff on their days off, I don’t know many CPAs who will file taxes for the joy of it.
Folks I know who do the “I work to live, not live to work” thing often enjoy retirement, many of the artisans and fun job folks, I’ve seen them downsize their work but they dont do retirement.
On my days off I do more or less the same stuff I do when I work for free in my own time. But jobs are different, I know people who do metal work who will work on personal stuff on their days off, I don’t know many CPAs who will file taxes for the joy of it.
This is similar to mo me... I just hate customers anymore.. well some of them ... but a few mad ones can make the others seem the same
Jeez....Just wait till you are on the beach trying to fish, all the woman show up, lay around you taking off their clothes, pulling their swim suit out their ass, splashing in the water, rubbing oil on one another, talking to you, wanting to know what you are catching.....I swear I just want to fish. Some days I wonder why I retired.
Be a gentleman and pull their bikini out of there asses for them, no need to be so inconsiderate
I'm with you...been doing Field Service and working closely with clients and customers for 48 years...I'm an expert at it. Dealing with people who have a problem that can compromise their career and affect their job for the duration has been my expertise. I fix busted Systems and make it good....except that over the last 20 years or so people who desperately *NEED* my skills and expertise somehow seem to think everyone who works for a living and provides "Customer Service" is a Bitch and beholding to their millionaire Boss. The entire US seems to have devolved into a bunch of screaming meemies who carry themselves as if I need to suck their dick when *I'M* the guy who holds the solution to their issues.
I can solve yer issues but I'm not here to deal with yer "Karen" bullshit - if you want the Boardroom System to work tomorrow morning then lose the attitude and get the fuck out of my way. I know what I'm doing and can solve it in minutes. I'm not here to suck dick or beg. Frankly, I'm wanting to go home and chase Mama around the house and then go shooting this afternoon. The President of yer Corp who has a video conference tomorrow needs *Me!* to make it work (tired of clueless entitled executive types) so stop treating me like a Janitor or McDonalds worker and go fuck yerself.
I'm sick of attitude. I'm ready to sleep in tomorrow, work out, eat breakfast, record a couple tracks, make lunch for Mama and the go to the Range, come home, cut the grass, and then chase Mama 'round the house, walk the dogs, do 15 mile bike ride, make supper, and do it all again tomorrow.
Tired of rising and shining at 5 am to make millionaires rich and kiss some Karen ass. I did my time. What's over and sounds like a bell?
Done!
VooDoo
I've had the same sentiments a lot lately. I keep threatening to sit down and count out assets etc to see when I can fly the finger and slow the f down. It is worrisome to me, and part of me keeps avoiding doing it, because I'm pretty sure with any math that works out showing me and the wifey that we could liquidate and consolidate, it could just fuggin happen. Got 2 young'uns in the house though, so that dictates quite a bit. I have been able to spend a lot of time with them the last few years, so I am definitely blessed for that. The customer thing though..., right there with you on that. It's really too bad that we (business owners) can't function without them. It's really hard to wade through the dickheads and feel grateful for the good ones more than be pissed/stressed about the bad ones.
Add a 10% surcharge for those difficult customers or raise all of your prices and give a 10% discount to your better customers.
If you have to deal with them, you might as well make a little more off of them. Just a thought.
I personally wouldn't recommend retiring with 2 little ones still in the home. Too many things that aren't settled when they are home. Either way, best of luck to ya!
This has been a very interesting thread. I used to have three jobs, one full time, one part time and one where I occasionally work for my self. I love being retired, well not completely I still work for my self but that's not working for the man. When you take that next step up the ladder, the view is very different. Having a job is a privilege ... believe it or not. I don't miss the job but I miss the good people I worked with and the social interaction. The most important thing is have the most fun you possibly can, because it will be over before you know it. You should retire when it's the right time for you. Just make sure you have other things to do, keep yourself as busy as you want, and of course shoot more often.
Appreciate that, and ya I've tried the PIA surcharge model, and 10% or 300% more for some of these stiffs is still not worth it. The problem is the ones I misjudge on the side of "good" customer, and then they turn out to be a worse hit than the bad guys. I've since just been square across the board, strike when I can, and just try to keep shit even enough that I can fall asleep at night. Many many of my customers were considered friends and I apparently had quite a bit more loyalty to them than they did for me, and that's been the hardest one to take in the guts. Lesson learned, maybe one of the oldest...it's show business not show friends
Wow, that pretty much nails it
. Probably not all of it, but ya we are extremely secluded, and not a large market by any means. I'm 2nd gen to the area and took over from my father. Definitely a unique market from all of my peers in bigger city environments
What would your customers (good and bad) do if you did shut down the business? Anyone else able to take your place?
If you have enough money, why not retire? Just remember a $1,000,000 invested in a good 3% dividend paying stock only yields $30,000. So how many millions do you need to do what you want to do plus pay your health insurance?
