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Retirement


Gillhunter

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Wondered how many here are retired and how you spend your day.

I retired at 62. I was burned out from years of 60+ hour weeks in senior management positions. (you were never really off work, was expected to be available 24/365). Not complaining, I was well compensated. Took a year off, sat on the computer, fished, gained 30lbs. Decided to go back to work part time. Good decision for me, work 30 hours per week Monday through Friday. Lost the 30lbs, weekends were special again. As a side note the wife works from home. We are both 71 enjoy fishing, gardening, cooking and of course our children and grand children. The other upside is we haven't spent a dime of our retirement, although we have to start taking some when we turn 72 this year.

 

Edited by Gillhunter
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Similar story, but enjoyed a retirement job after 60... fun stuff doing and teaching trade skills in the shipyard for 5 years... retired again... we'll see how long it lasts this time 🙂

My child bride still has a couple years she wants to work but then we'll see how the kids settle and make some real decisions about the "go" years.

Glad you're enjoying things!  Keep healthy as you can!

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I'm planning on retiring in 2 years, I am a teacher in a High School in Maine and online. I've taught Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Biochemistry and Electronics at various times over the last 25 years. I am at the stage where I still want to go into work in the morning but by the time Thursday comes around I want to be done with the week. My health is not the best and the last couple of years have been particularly challenging in that respect. This too has contributed to my willingness to consider retiring, the final straw as it were, was the need to jump through the recertification hoops that teachers have to do every 5 years or so. My current certification expires in two years and they can take their recert process and shove it where the sun don't shine. Teaching is a hard job and made harder by the smegheads who pass down legislation and "data driven" research for the front liners to implement. These guys wouldn't know coherent data if it smacked them in the face. I am honestly sick of being told how to teach by muppets who haven't spent any time actually teaching. If you're in the education sector you'll know that for the most part it isn't the kids that drive you away from the job it's all the other crap that does that.

 

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I'm in medical retirement, been already close to 15 years at this point. Still doing gaming, but I'm now usually skipping anything that requires faster reflexes, or a lot of quick mouse clicking. I've always had a fairly limited selection when it comes to hobbies, and for the most part I've abandoned a lot of those. However, I've always been interested in history topics and languages, and while I no longer can focus on them all that well, I try to keep a section of my brain cells on active duty list.

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Retirement... interesting and touchy topic for my generation. I've already made peace with the idea there won't be 'retirement' for me, it's basically 'march or die' these days so I'm expecting to some day die with the 'boots on'. 

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4 minutes ago, ArIskandir said:

Retirement... interesting and touchy topic for my generation. I've already made peace with the idea there won't be 'retirement' for me, it's basically 'march or die' these days so I'm expecting to some day die with the 'boots on'. 

I use to think that way too. I have reach the age of 68 and it took my brother bragging on retiring early because he is ex-military and GSA combined. He got me thinking and calculating. I then started to realized I have made the milestone for retirement. I planned on to fully retire at 70 gaining the most out of USA Social Security payments. We all want to do something to keep us busy, for me try painting, or writing. It's something to do. Of course I imagine I'll drive the MRS. crazy since being home all the time. You can always work, but don't expect to work 40+ hours over 70.

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8 minutes ago, Tpaktop2_1 NA said:

We all want to do something to keep us busy, for me try painting, or writing. It's something to do. Of course I imagine I'll drive the MRS. crazy since being home all the time. You can always work, but don't expect to work 40+ hours over 70.

More than keeping yourself busy, overhere it's a matter of 'you simply can't'. Social Security is already on 'life support' with current payments being well below the minimum required to survive, and medical assistance and services on the brink of collapse. The projection for the future is even more grim as the 'old' population increases and the 'active' population is stagnant or even shrinking (less Social Security payments), basically my generation is paying for the retirement of the previous generation but the next generation won't be able to pay for us, as simple as that. Otoh, third world inflation, politics and economics make sure any long term savings scheme and retirement plan is a folly... so, you better look to start some business you can keep running at old age and create your own enployment if you expect to have some income on the 'retirement' phase.  

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No retirement for me they just closed my savings account because I had 27 dollars in it for like the last 8 years. No activity I believe was the reason lol.

It's ok though I am almost done getting the last of 7 kids through college with much help from my former father in law. Who god bless his soul left a lot of money for my kids education when he passed.

I'm still riding my bike because I don't have a car it's going on 4 years. I must say though I am in good shape and back down to a 32 waist made me very happy.

I think hard work is good for the mind and soul I have no plans to retire anytime soon. 

I'm sure as soon as the kids are done with college they will start getting married so I will be working for a while.

I am happy though for you guys who are enjoying your retirement and even if I don't admit it I am a little jealous. 

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8 hours ago, Efros said:

I'm planning on retiring in 2 years, I am a teacher in a High School in Maine and online. I've taught Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Biochemistry and Electronics at various times over the last 25 years. I am at the stage where I still want to go into work in the morning but by the time Thursday comes around I want to be done with the week. My health is not the best and the last couple of years have been particularly challenging in that respect. This too has contributed to my willingness to consider retiring, the final straw as it were, was the need to jump through the recertification hoops that teachers have to do every 5 years or so. My current certification expires in two years and they can take their recert process and shove it where the sun don't shine. Teaching is a hard job and made harder by the smegheads who pass down legislation and "data driven" research for the front liners to implement. These guys wouldn't know coherent data if it smacked them in the face. I am honestly sick of being told how to teach by muppets who haven't spent any time actually teaching. If you're in the education sector you'll know that for the most part it isn't the kids that drive you away from the job it's all the other crap that does that.

 

I taught in Maine for several years !  Loved Maine;  and then, realized:  I can't afford to live there ! 

To answer @Gillhunter:

Let's see:  first Career was the US Army - SWC and Armor (Over two decades and I couldn't stand the current CIC back then and left something I loved !!!)

Started a second career in Aviation.  I ran Flight Test Certification program activities (FAR 91/135 aircraft and RVSM) and, built Risk Management and program/project management systems.  Retired from that in 2013.  Wife is still working in an ICU....   She's well over 29 years now;  and retired from FT weeks a little while ago and is PRN there (on call and one day a week (12 hr days)....

I have taken the time to explore, via Living History activities and experimentation, "how" our ancestors did what they did with what they had !  I focused on the Fur Trade era....  I have several close friends that build muzzle loading rifles so.........that part was easy.

Of course, I've been a competitive shooter since I am 12 and that takes a lot of my time.....  I reload for "Professional Hunters" and test ballistics for long range shooters and hunters.  So, I am quite busy:  especially,  when someone I don't know,  sends me his custom 300 PRC and says "Hey Asym !  Your Brother told me that..........."  Yes, I have a Brother that does the African/World Hunter thingy........(and, the concept of "Abby-Normal" is the rule with those guys...)  Why?  Only the Schwartz only knows why...........???  And NO, I am not going to Africa......ever.  Pock No !

And, a goal of mine and a project I am 25% into,  has been to write a book that explores some of the messyist situations which happen when something "very, very bad" happens and culture takes an extended:  "time-out"........  Exploring the "aftermath" of say ....... an EMP strike..........and, reflecting on all of the months of pure violence, death and anarchy @!  Then, what would happen when the power comes back on and civilization takes over again:   and then,  has to "deal with" what went on daily;  and,  more importantly, corporately what happened in the medical systems....  What did Hospitals do when they realized the power wasn't coming back on....?  Ever wonder what happens to the bed ridden/non mobile patients?  Let's go there !  Whew, it's been a painful, several years of research !!

The book has fictionalized characters, which, are created from real people........and, it reflects on what they'd actually do........based on where I live:  together - cause they'd never get back home because of the distances they commute.....  So, they head my way cause my wife was working when it all came apart and she knows our SHTF plans!  BTW, she works 22.4 miles from my home...... The Title is "The Long Walk Home........." 

Other than that...........nothing - cause I don't have the time !

 

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I broke my neck in 2017. Pretty ironic considering that I spent years in the Army jumping out of planes, blowing stuff up, and more years riding motorbikes ... and my first ever broken bone was the result of passing out at my desk and hitting the floor just wrong. facepalmsmiley.gif.7421e20c1771be5d073fe571468bb2bb.gif

I should be paralysed from the neck down, so I count myself lucky that I just have headaches which make it hard to do anything physical. I had to give up shooting, working on old cars and a lot of the stuff I used to do. I have to admit that I didn't give those things up easily ... but I've accepted that I just can't do them any more.

I tried semi-retirement for a while, just taking those jobs which were of interest ... but with IT management unable to see what's written on the wall in letters 10 feet tall, I've stopped doing that because I see little value in having someone panic and call me to ask me how to fix something I told them not to do in the first place. Much better to just enjoy the pandemonium from a distance Smile_trollface.gif.54fa9cced482993e9b392c91e064fbb5.gif

So now I play WoWS and a few other non-twitch games, read a lot, write a lot (be nice!) and take care of my wife. I also work with a group which is working on virtual world modeling and development which is a lot of fun. Because of that, I have odd hours as many of the people I interact with are in uncivilised time zones Horrorsmiley.gif.5b8eec2a51cc626c3fbe5f046fe0a572.gif

It keeps me amused.

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12 hours ago, SunkCostFallacy said:

I should be paralysed from the neck down, so I count myself lucky that I just have headaches which make it hard to do anything physical. I had to give up shooting, working on old cars and a lot of the stuff I used to do. I have to admit that I didn't give those things up easily ... but I've accepted that I just can't do them any more.

I'm finding myself in a similar situation, not as drastic as a messed up spine but over the last five years or so I've noticed a diminishing fine motor control, and an increase in arthritic episodes in my knees, ankles, hands, wrists and shoulders. This morning for example, I couldn't play WoWS because my hands were just not up to it, hurting like hell and swollen. All of this coupled with messed up eyesight has meant that my major leisure activities are now severely affected. Electronics and PCs, building repairing and customizing, are now pretty much history. The last machine I built was about this time last year and without my grandsons being around it would not have been a pleasant experience, it probably wouldn't have happened at all. Black components mounted on a black motherboard secured by black screws in a black case is a pain for anyone with screwed up eyes.

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3 minutes ago, Efros said:

I'm finding myself in a similar situation, not as drastic as a messed up spine but over the last five years or so I've noticed a diminishing fine motor control, and an increase in arthritic episodes in my knees, ankles, hands, wrists and shoulders. This morning for example, I couldn't play WoWS because my hands were just not up to it, hurting like hell and swollen. All of this coupled with messed up eyesight has meant that my major leisure activities are now severely affected. Electronics and PCs, building repairing and customizing, are now pretty much history. The last machine I built was about this time last year and without my grandsons being around it would not have been a pleasant experience, it probably wouldn't have happened at all. Black components mounted on a black motherboard secured by black screws in a black case is a pain for anyone with screwed up eyes.

Yeesh.
That's like when Fonzie was experiencing blindness on the Happy Days television series, and his friends took apart his motorcycle as a form of intervention therapy.

https://happydays.fandom.com/wiki/Fonzie's_Blindness
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0793875/
 

Edited by Wolfswetpaws
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  • 2 weeks later...

I just retired a couple of weeks ago. Not quite 62 yet but had saved enough money to buy a new car, found a really good used one I liked at a fraction of the price, and decided to buy it and just use the leftover money to replace my paycheck for the next few months.  My wife retired a few years back (she is older than me) and makes enough to pay for both of us but I felt like a slob not working so continued to do that. After my first heart attack, my thinking changed and realized I wanted to spend more time at home than I did at work. So now I am retired. Social Security will not quite cover what I made working of course, but in three years I will get my VA pension (Desert Storm vet) and that will be more than enough. 

Been working nights for 40+ years so I thought I would have trouble adjusting to being an actual human. First day I was in bed before 10pm and now I get up between 5-6am every morning and loving it. I can stay up late but I still get up early. It is really awesome. Working nights was hard on my body and I realize it now. I have already started to lose weight, have cut back on my heart medicine (doctor approved) because I am having zero symptoms due to better sleep schedule, no stress, and better diet. I have been working on a master "To Do" list and currently repairing & refinishing a rocking chair from my first marriage in the 1980's and have had it stored in the barn since the mid 90's.

Not really playing the game much more than I did before retiring. I have much more enjoyable things to do like cooking for my bride, working on the vehicles, yard work, playing with the new German Shepard we rescued, and just living life beyond my computer desk. I always played the game as a way to either unwind from work or as a treat prior to going to work. Now I am having fun and really don't need the distraction. 

Edited by Taylor3006
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When I was in my early 60s and my parents were both in their mid-80s, they eventually were in need of someone to come and take care of them. I was teaching half a continent away but had no family so it became my duty to do so. After they passed, and the estate was settled, I suddenly realized that I'd passed retirement age myself.

I bought my parents' house (which I helped build) from my brother and sister. The taxes on it are $5000 a year but that's still cheaper than rent and I've got a nice workshop to play around in. When I was out teaching on the West Coast and living in an apartment I missed maintaining and building things, even though I was plenty busy leading biological survey teams up on the mountain twice a week, working in the college fish hatchery, stocking fish, teaching boating safety, scuba diving, and teaching my lectures and labs. I guess we always want what we don't have. I don't think I'm going to scuba dive or hike up a mountain again at my age, especially after having caught COVID, which still is affecting my endurance, although it could just be old age too.

I do a little shooting and bit of hunting. I could do some fishing too as we have some local ponds but I never was so much into it as I just liked to fish with my grandpa, dad, and great uncle. I worked at a fish hatchery and taught fisheries management too so I sort of got fish out of my system. I got bored with WOWS but the game was only part of the enjoyment I received from it. The forums always were more important to me. I used to write a lot of song parodies, maintain a joke thread, and even wrote some fan fiction as entertainment as well. I used to do a lot of gardening but it got too dry and water got too expensive and I really only did it anyway because Dad liked to get out in the garden and putter around. Next year I think that I'm going to plant sunflowers for the birds and ground squirrels though. I need to kill off the yard weeds and plant something drought-resistant like Bermuda grass too. My yard is pretty much solid tumbleweeds now as the fescue died off and a couple of winter's ago tumbleweeds were piling up into ten to twenty foot drifts every time the wind blew. Interestingly, other than in town yards, the tumbleweeds are mostly gone now as young tumbleweeds are really good forage for cattle and wildlife and they all got eaten up in the fields.

I spend my mornings out maintaining the property (a block and a half) and my implements. This morning, I put new tubes in my pressure washer's tires. Those little tires are a bear to demount and re-mount. I then pressure-washed the mower's deck and installed new blades. I was smart with one to use my clamp-on blade block but was feeling sorry for myself having to crawl around on the wet ground so didn't get up to use it on the other blade. I thus proceeded to cut my knuckles on the newly-sharpened blade like I knew I was going to because that's why I bought the blade clamp to begin with. No problem, twenty years in military and civilian emergency medicine has given me all the band-aid applying skills I need for such occurrences.

Other than that, I do a little reading, though my eyes aren't what they used to be, and a lot of watching videos on YouTube. Mostly, I watch news, repair, historical, and science videos but I have to admit I do like those funny cat videos too.

Here's three videos I watched today.

I've got Netflix and watch a movie about once a day but have to admit it's getting harder to find sometime I'm interested in. I did watch a movie called Bone Tomahawk a couple of days ago that was interesting. If you haven't seen it, think The Searchers meets The Hills Have Eyes and you will be close. Today, I watched The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which was an enjoyable tribute to the classic TV series.

I've always built my own systems and will soon need to build another one when Win 10 reaches its end of life because my current one isn't up-gradable to Win 11. This system is almost 15 years old (with upgrades) so the next one may be the last I build. I picked up an electronics degree and a CET cert in the late 90s but have to admit that it really wasn't necessary where assembling modern computer systems was concerned, although I did build a primitive 8088-based computer from the board up in lab. I built a radio and an amplifier from scratch too.

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What a depressing topic... lol

I'm staring it in the face. It won't back down. 60 this fiscal year (mandatory retirement age in Japan, albeit 65 in some fields / places where I am not). I'll be doing something, as long as my health holds up but then my plan is to go out with a bang. Probably will be a slip in the shower but hey...

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I've been avoiding posting on this topic because I don't understand what retirement is supposed to mean.  It could mean that you no longer have to be committed to someone you don't know.  It could mean that you that everything you do is for leisure.  I guess it means something to someone else.  I started off exploring and I intend to continue exploring until I can't; there is no retirement.

However, there are crossroads and today, I found another one.  My gaming laptop died this morning. It won't power up.

This means there will be a major disruption in my daily routine as I have to re-focus my priorities according to my financial and social needs.  

I have no idea where this is going to lead.  It will be fun.

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42 minutes ago, xamdam said:

What a depressing topic... lol

I'm staring it in the face. It won't back down. 60 this fiscal year (mandatory retirement age in Japan, albeit 65 in some fields / places where I am not). I'll be doing something, as long as my health holds up but then my plan is to go out with a bang. Probably will be a slip in the shower but hey...

In America, there is no mandatory retirement age for most professions, other than being a commercial pilot or a member of the military or some such. I used to think it sort of strange that the father of the farmer I worked for in high school was still driving tractors at 75. Now, I see most of the farmers I went to school with and who are only a little older than me still working in their mid-70s. They have to, as all of their kids have taken off and gone to the cities to work. Nobody wants to farm anymore -- it's too hard work for too long hours. I just noticed that there are about 10 thousand acres of farmland newly listed for sale in my county. I'm sure that if I check I'll find it's a farmer who has just died and his kids are trying to sell off his land. In fact, I think I'll go see whose farm it is right now.

Edit:

Yep, nailed it. It's a farmer who was about ten years older than me who died so his wife is selling off the house and land. I don't remember him so much as I do his little sister, who was more my age. His kids moved out of state.

Edited by Snargfargle
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1 hour ago, xamdam said:

What a depressing topic... lol

I'm staring it in the face. It won't back down. 60 this fiscal year (mandatory retirement age in Japan, albeit 65 in some fields / places where I am not). I'll be doing something, as long as my health holds up but then my plan is to go out with a bang. Probably will be a slip in the shower but hey...

Unless I'm mistaken, you could still pick up something like gardening jobs, if having a green thumb is your thing.

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1 hour ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

I've been avoiding posting on this topic because I don't understand what retirement is supposed to mean.  It could mean that you no longer have to be committed to someone you don't know.  It could mean that you that everything you do is for leisure.  I guess it means something to someone else.  I started off exploring and I intend to continue exploring until I can't; there is no retirement.

However, there are crossroads and today, I found another one.  My gaming laptop died this morning. It won't power up.

This means there will be a major disruption in my daily routine as I have to re-focus my priorities according to my financial and social needs.  

I have no idea where this is going to lead.  It will be fun.

Retirement is different for everyone I think. I am convinced that you need to stay active doing something you enjoy. I have accepted the reality that I have fewer days ahead of me than behind and I am trying to make the most of them.

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13 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Unless I'm mistaken, you could still pick up something like gardening jobs, if having a green thumb is your thing.

This year was my first real attempt at gardening. Grew a lot of cucumbers, but failed in two plantings of sweet corn all to bugs... My tomatoes and eggplants aren't doing so great in our brutal heat. Now I've got the plot covered with weed barrier sheet waiting for it to cool off a bit and try some fall crops. 

I come from farming families on both of my parents sides but my dad left young to work in the semiconductor field. My uncles on his side of the family are still farming, one of them in his eighties and the other two not far behind.

My brother in law ran a large dairy farm but sold off his cows a couple years ago and is only doing cash crops now.

I know for sure I wouldn't want to be a farmer. Did enough of that over the summers as a kid.

  

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6 hours ago, xamdam said:

This year was my first real attempt at gardening. Grew a lot of cucumbers, but failed in two plantings of sweet corn all to bugs... My tomatoes and eggplants aren't doing so great in our brutal heat. Now I've got the plot covered with weed barrier sheet waiting for it to cool off a bit and try some fall crops. 

I come from farming families on both of my parents sides but my dad left young to work in the semiconductor field. My uncles on his side of the family are still farming, one of them in his eighties and the other two not far behind.

My brother in law ran a large dairy farm but sold off his cows a couple years ago and is only doing cash crops now.

I know for sure I wouldn't want to be a farmer. Did enough of that over the summers as a kid.

  

Perhaps trimming trees and bushes might be more your sort of thing, then.

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1 hour ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Perhaps trimming trees and bushes might be more your sort of thing, then.

Nah, not in this Japanese summer heat and humidity. Besides, they probably don't want a blonde... err, graying platinum blonde haired, blue... well sorta gray now... eyed gaijin touching their bushes (err, well.. only when I was younger...😜). There are 職人 (specialists, craftsmen) for that. And plenty of them.

I'm a better mechanic. But that doesn't thrill me either. I do get free use of neighborhood farming machines though since I return them tuned up and looking better than they did when I borrow them. So... maybe I should just charge them a bit and give up gardening myself. lol

Old motorcycle racer guy. But I don't touch bikes anymore due to injuries over the years (the worst was in the family car when I was rammed from behind by some guy daydreaming while I had a red light...).

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3 hours ago, xamdam said:

Old motorcycle racer guy. But I don't touch bikes anymore due to injuries over the years (the worst was in the family car when I was rammed from behind by some guy daydreaming while I had a red light...).

My great uncle rode motorcycles in WWII and afterwards. He and his son were quite well known on the racing circuit for a couple of decades. Then, as he was riding down a local road, a silly teenage girl who wasn't paying attention to what she was doing ran him off the road and paralyzed him. I'd put a bunch of miles on motorcycles myself but decided it was probably wise to sell my bike then too. Besides, I needed the money to pay for an electronics degree I wanted to get. I really enjoyed riding motorcycles, especially on winding mountain roads in the fall, when it was just cool enough to be comfortable in leathers but not too cold. However, I never was comfortable in traffic.

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