Easing Into Retirement

Joe

When I was single, I rode that gear merry-go-round for about ten years. Audiogon, Asylum Trader and AC's Trading Post were "my friends" to the tune of over a dozen each pairs of speakers, amps and preamps. I finally got bored with it for a while and just picked the best of what I had in house and stopped. Sold off most of the rest and just started back in a small way in the last couple of years. Still selective and "used" when possible.
 
Jack said:
Bob

I am already retired. I worked my ass off for almost 35 years and retired at 51. My wife and I, also retired, are more than comfortable with our pensions and savings. When SS kicks in we will have even more to "play" with. Growing up the oldest of a large family I learned about frugality and still operate that way now in most things even though I don't have to. I sit back and look at younger siblings who don't think that way and wonder how things will be for them. I operate my own small business out of my home office and make what I want, depending on how many clients I want to solicit. For the most part this makes up my yearly audio budget of generally used gear. In the past six month I have purchased the first "new' components in almost a decade.
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Thank you Jack. I know a lot of people (and everyone else does) who would love to be able to retired by age 50.
When you worked your butt off all your life and you have a good pension you deserve a happy retirement zone of comfort.

Me too I am the oldest from five children. ...59, 58, 57, 55, and 54. My Mom and Dad were busy at it!

I always saved a lot of money, much more than I spent (always was like that). And I've had my periods of spending; in music (software) and movies (software) and in food (software) and in girlfriends (hardware and software). The friends who know me best consider me as a generous person, and they are right; I'll give my life to protect and cherish the ones in need. But anyway that's not really important, only life is.
 
Jack said:
Bob

As to ""your apology", I walked away from that thread and never looked back. Don't know what you did or didn't do.
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I said that 'Give a little lovin' album by Shelby Lynne mostly sucks, except for one or three tunes. My own personal opinion.
And that I have great respect for both Shelby and her sister Allison.

You asked me to give you my opinion on what I based my reference from (which albums), to have a better idea on where my comment came from, I guess.

And then I quoted you (three posts) and asked if you can start there (elaborate further), and I will join you if compelled to do so.
Simply because you were much more enthusiastic about their music than I, I guess again.

That's pretty much it really.
 
Why bring that thread into this one!

NorthStar said:
I said that 'Give a little lovin' album by Shelby Lynne mostly sucks, except for one or three tunes. My own personal opinion.
And that I have great respect for both Shelby and her sister Allison.

You asked me to give you my opinion on what I based my reference from (which albums), to have a better idea on where my comment came from, I guess.

And then I quoted you (three posts) and asked if you can start there (elaborate further), and I will join you if compelled to do so.
Simply because you were much more enthusiast about their music than I, I guess again.

That's pretty much it really.
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When I was in the tech world, we had an office in Hyderabad, India. Now if you want your retirement dollars to go a long way, India would be an option. There was one young woman, married, with a Ph.D., who had come to our US offices for a time. I asked her about her time in USA, would she like to live here? She said in India she had cook, driver, maid, nanny, a wonderful home and children, and could care for her elderly parents. On about US equivalent of about $50K (or something like that, I don't remember perfectly.)

When I visited Hyderabad for a time to get a project on track, I could not believe people were bringing me coffee, driving me everywhere, I felt like a king. Granted, caste system not such a great deal. But man-o-man, I could imagine finding a little town there if USA goes to hell.
 
Bobvin said:
When I was in the tech world, we had an office in Hyderabad, India. Now if you want your retirement dollars to go a long way, India would be an option. There was one young woman, married, with a Ph.D., who had come to our US offices for a time. I asked her about her time in USA, would she like to live here? She said in India she had cook, driver, maid, nanny, a wonderful home and children, and could care for her elderly parents. On about US equivalent of about $50K (or something like that, I don't remember perfectly.)

When I visited Hyderabad for a time to get a project on track, I could not believe people were bringing me coffee, driving me everywhere, I felt like a king. Granted, caste system not such a great deal. But man-o-man, I could imagine finding a little town there if USA goes to hell.
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That society will probably erupt, and sooner before later.
 
All,

A very interesting and informative thread. My wife and I are also in the middle 50s and considering when will it be the right time to start slowing down. Florida or Texas are the two states we are considering; although, my wife would love to end up in California's Napa Valley (lovely but ridiculously expensive). We already lived in FL for 15 yrs so going back would be very easy (Mike - Sarasota is on our list of possibilities).

Interestingly, I'm probably more ready to start slowing down than my wife. We have had fairly successful careers and are blessed to be in a position to make our move at anytime. But, we really have not decided what's next. However, we are starting to talk about it.

Let's keep this conversation going!
 
I retired at 50. I was an Engineer for the BNSF railroad for 33 yrs, I started when I was 17. I was able to retire early because of my wife's very successful career. She was tired of me being gone so much and wanted me home, we were very lucky to be able to do that. She gave me the gift of 10 extra years of retirement, how can you possibly thank someone enough for that !!

We have a spot at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia that we are now starting to build our next house. It's a golf course community in Georgia's lake country area, half way between Atlanta and Augusta. We should be making the move in less then a year from now. Leaving the Dallas/Ft.Worth area is starting to sound better all the time, people are moving here in droves and it's getting way too congested for my tastes, I doubt I'll miss it at all.

One warning to all of you that are about to retire, make sure you stay busy !!!!!!!!!

I like to cook, play golf, fish, and of course, listen to music everyday. I do a little volunteer work too. My point is, it is very easy to get bored if you don't have enough stuff to occupy your time.
And if you like to drink, be careful there too, it's way too easy to overdue it. I won't have a cocktail before 5.

One thing I've learned in the last 7 years, is that if you don't have any hobbies to keep you busy, and if you really like to work, DON'T RETIRE. I've seen those types waste away and die.

But for me, it's been wonderful, and the nicest thing my sweet wife has ever given me, except for herself :heart:
 
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MDP said:
Of course it is, I was just trying to point out that you need to have many things in your life that you have a passion for.
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Maybe yes, maybe no; "need" might be a little excessive...
I doubt many (if any) members here will have trouble finding enjoyable ways to fill their time in retirement (speaking as someone who has worked "part-time" for ~25 yrs but would be happy to be fully retired ;) )
 
I was speaking from experience, my personal experience. All I was doing was giving some friendly advice. If you feel that's excessive I can't help it.
 
Mark,

You are very lucky indeed. I'd love to visit the new homestead. :)
 
MDP said:
I retired at 50. I was an Engineer for the BNSF railroad for 33 yrs, I started when I was 17. I was able to retire early because of my wife's very successful career. She was tired of me being gone so much and wanted me home, we were very lucky to be able to do that. She gave me the gift of 10 extra years of retirement, how can you possibly thank someone enough for that !!

We have a spot at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia that we are now starting to build our next house. It's a golf course community in Georgia's lake country area, half way between Atlanta and Augusta. We should be making the move in less then a year from now. Leaving the Dallas/Ft.Worth area is starting to sound better all the time, people are moving here in droves and it's getting way too congested for my tastes, I doubt I'll miss it at all.

One warning to all of you that are about to retire, make sure you stay busy !!!!!!!!!

I like to cook, play golf, fish, and of course, listen to music everyday. I do a little volunteer work too. My point is, it is very easy to get bored if you don't have enough stuff to occupy your time.
And if you like to drink, be careful there too, it's way too easy to overdue it. I won't have a cocktail before 5.

One thing I've learned in the last 7 years, is that if you don't have any hobbies to keep you busy, and if you really like to work, DON'T RETIRE. I've seen those types waste away and die.

But for me, it's been wonderful, and the nicest thing my sweet wife has ever given me, except for herself :heart:
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Mark, Your spot on about staying busy, good advise.. Our hobbies pretty much mirror and with golf you will never get bored if you really want to win a $5 Nassau from your playing partners LOL. With a lot of people that retire one bit of advice I can give, is stay healthy and keep up with your routine doctors visits. As one ages, man stuff breaks down, I never had any knee problems until I retired, had a bad tear in my meniscus from just swinging a darn golf club one year after I retired, twisted my ankle not paying attention will walking on the beach at the end of my road, crap that hurt.

It's been 4 years since I told the company, goodbye never any doubts and life has been rather good since my wide retired this Feb. And getting bored :lol:, not when the wife is home, the honey do list rains supreme. worthy.gif
 
Who had the sig... "I only do what the voices in my wife's head tell me to do?"

Generally, my wife doesn't nag me (much), but there are those times! I probably deserve it though, having a strong tendency to do what the hell I want, when I want. I have to be sure to mix in some of what she wants, for the sake of harmony!
 
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