Is the grass greener? Retirement, what does it really mean?

I retired at 43.  I took 7 years off before my wife said go get another job... :lol:

I loved it.  Sleep till you're your hungry, eat till you're tired.  My Dad was worried.  He said people who retire early, die early.  He asked what would I do if money was no object...I said more of what I was doing. I loved being retired and not responsible for anything.  Do what you want, when you want.  I traveled some, remodeled my house, went backpacking with my kids.  Spent months in Glamis.  My wife pushed me to go to school..."Do something!"  I got 3 Master's degrees, went to culinary college.  

In the end, a company called me and asked if I wanted a job.  I said I would have to work from home as I was not going to an office everyday.  Been over 4 years now.  It's easy but I miss doing nothing and having more freedom.  It's just hard to turn down extra money for very little effort.

 
megadesertdiesel said:
Seems like the oldschool thinking of retiring and sitting around reading the newspaper is a thing of the past
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I was big into bicycling. I did tour rides. I rode from Newport Oregon to Bar Harbor Maine, coast from Vancouver to Cresent City, Lewis and Clark trail and north Cascades Hwy from Bellingham to Missoula. Also built my sand car and was going to dunes. We would travel for up to 3-4 months at a time. Could never fit stuff in when working and since I retired, I have NEVER held another paying job.

 
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I retired a year ago at 54, It was / is a huge adjustment for me personally. I also am an avid cyclist so we travel to do gravel, mtb, and road bike events. We also travel to fulfill "bucket list" stuff. The next few moths we have trips planned to Arizona BDR, Kauai, Scotland / Ireland / England and Mexico. I am planning on either volunteering or working to fill in in an industry that I enjoy eventually as being used to running 24/7 for 35 years at work has left its mark and idle time does not work for me. 

 
The dream is a home built to our designs, unless we can find one in a small town, semi-remote area with some land. Near mountains, rivers or a lake, desert close and have actual seasons. Is that a Farm? maybe better would be a cabin. I love the beaches, but the wife loves the mountains more...no arguments from me. I'm not afraid of snow. Where that is I have some ideas, but this is the dream situation - a true retirement where we just chill, pursue hobbies that we feel like, sightsee and enjoy the outdoors until we like sitting by the fire inside more.

Issue is that my kids are 21, 20, 18 and 17.

I don't plan on being away of their next 10 years of young adult life...while they pursue college degrees, start their careers, buy their first homes and start families. We want to be here in CA while that all occurs.

We have our dream So-CA home, have been modifying it for my daughter and very near paying it off. The 3 of us will be very comfortable, centrally located to our family (our parents and our kids) and where my daughter can get her complex medical requirements met (only occur major cities).

Being 100% financially comfortable right now, right where we are is our only goal. My wife will retire first, her in next 2 years and I'll go a few more.

We like having options, ability to stay happy and comfortable right where we are or cash out big and do anything we want.

:crusty:

 
This thread just pisses me off as the Govt takes 300-400$/week from me in “social security” and im limited to 22,500$/year contribution to my 401k. I’d be a way better steward of that money i will likely never see.

story of my life; gotta pay everyone elses way before my way

Eff the govt

 
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I'm 51, wife is 53. When my youngest goes to college next year, we'll be at least semi-retired (if I can't sell my business for what I want for it). In that scenario, I'll work 8 months out of the year.

Looking forward to traveling with the bride.

abc

 
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With this A.D.D. issue I have in my head..........I'd go crazy if I didn't have a place to go every morning. I can only hit so many golf balls a day. So, work seems to be my thing. I'm thankful I don't get paid by the hour! Peace

 
Wife retired last year.....she's bummed that she hasn't been able to spend like she wanted too....she's adjusting to a "fixed" income. The only way I get out sooner is to sell and move... I don't really care if we do, but it's the only way to survive. We don't have a great retirement, so it will be tight for us. Medical is a killer for normal people until you hit 65. 

 
Wife retired at 50, spent about 3 months at home, got bored and went back to work in a different industry. I can't sit still, always working on something whether at work or at home. Don't know how much longer I will work, I enjoy what I do. Wife and I are able to do what we want when we want, did a month in Europe and about 3 weeks in we were ready to head home. 2 weeks on the road in the RV is about our limit then we are ready to head back home. Wife can't stay away from the grand kids for more than a couple of weeks.

 
Realbadlarry said:
Wife retired last year.....she's bummed that she hasn't been able to spend like she wanted too....she's adjusting to a "fixed" income. The only way I get out sooner is to sell and move... I don't really care if we do, but it's the only way to survive. We don't have a great retirement, so it will be tight for us. Medical is a killer for normal people until you hit 65. 
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Ya medical is killer, I just sent our last payment to Kaiser (1900 a month) and as of Jan 1 we are on a new plan at 800 a month with a large deductible but luckily a HSA. Only thing that concerns me financially is hyperinflation and the devaluation of the dollar, if it's tight its only going to get tighter. 

 
Retired at 53. It’s been over 20 years now. I like to travel and have been to many places in this world before and after I retired. I spend most of my winters in Glamis and plan to continue traveling in the Moho until I can’t do it anymore. 
BTW  @Sausage450r  thank you for your Social Security payments. 

 
retirement to me is going to be in different phases.  im 15 years into the navy and plan on punching at 20 and moving on with life.  mac more smarter than me and is an officer, i stayed an enlisted deviant.  my wife and i sold our san diego house two years ago and paid cash for a house in florida and rented that out, now selling that house and will pay off our current house we have in jax.  not too shabby being 35 with a paid off house.  when i do pull the plug on my career in 5 years we are planning on staying in jax. i will utilize that time to do the things i havent been able to do because of busy work life. i will ride the tour divide, hit the florida salt water kayak trail from pensacola around the state up to georgia, explore the country with the wife and kids on an extended road trip.  my son will be 11 and my daughter will be 7.  life wont be fancy, but i want to make do while we have the time.  there is always money to be made, the only thing you cant get back is time, so im going to give that time back to my family, and my silly adventures while i can before my body poops out too hard.  hike the pct, cycle from canada to mexico via pch, you know, all the advenutres. 

after my kids are older and moving on with life we will leave florida and head out missouri way. i want land and wife wants animals.  phase two of retirement will be turn into a hobby farm type folk with enough land to live off of for the most part, supplement the groceries with some nice wild game, live in the woods away from people and enjoy the peace and solitude away from the world.  again, living a simple life with nothing fancy, but enough to be comfortable.  plans we be reevaluated as necessary, but so far things seem to be working out. 

 
SandTrap said:
I will never be able to retire and I have accepted it. I do dearly want to move to a cheaper state to live out the rest of my days but I will be forced to work till death
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me and you both, but im already in a cheaper state so i'll just keep working and grinding it out every day

 
I have been contemplating this for a few years. Several changes in life have given me a new perspective. I'd like to transition into self employment with a business that can be full time or part time so I could travel and dune more. No desire to stop working completely, just less some times during the year.A ny ideas that require less than several hundred K initial investment? Feet pictures on only fans is not panning out like I thought it would.

 
High Sierra Dad said:
Leak Detection.

Pressure Washing.
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one of my old neighbors sons did pressure washing out of high school.  picked up a bunch of Autozones and carwashes, all had to be done at night though.  Was a cheap enough to setup a trailer with some equipment.

On site soda blasting could work also. 

3D printing and anything on ETSY. 

 
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