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Almost 1 Year to Go Until I retire!!!!

gixxerjeff said:
I'll be a grandpa this coming December, so there's that too. My son's wife is from Austria. I came within a whisper of losing him to an ocean between us. The fact that The Universe changed circumstances and kept him not only here, but near, matters to me too. He bought a house 10 minutes from me. Nobody ever said from their deathbed "if only I'd worked more".
As I type this I realize I'm making this decision much harder than it needs to be.
Thank you for this thread, Lefty.
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The Austria thing gave me a chuckle. My wife's father was from Austria. I'm glad he made it here so I could meet one of his daughters :laughing

Thanks Andreas!! (An amazing man that I miss often.)
 
bmwbob51 said:
I had a friend that did all the right things headed for retirement. Already retired from national guard so medical and I'm sure some kind of retirement $ from 20 plus years in the reserves. House paid for and had a nest egg that would carry him and his wife comfortably in retirement. Then at 55 kidney cancer took him out :( Work on that bucket list while you can!
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Sounds a lot like a guy I used to work for. He was a Press man for the Santa Cruz Sentinel back when the paper was actually printed in Santa Cruz. He and his wife I owned and operated the burger joint I worked at. Scotty would run the Press at night during the week and deep clean his restaurant on the weekends. He was a hard working, fair and generally fun guy to be around, living the American dream with a business and a family and a community he enjoyed. Cancer took him about two years after he retired from the Printing press. It's always stuck in my head as rotten and unfair.

Definitely examine your priorities often. "Now" is as close as we are going to get to a promised tomorrow.

I'm glad your stoked for the next chapter lefty. Hope, anticipation and excitement are great things to feel.
 
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Abacinator said:
A friend's wife worked 911 dispatch. She had a heart attack and passed away while on the job. I can't imagine the stress you guys deal with.
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Yes, I know it can be stressful. I have a very close friend who has worked in ambulances as a paramedic. He then spent some time running a Sonoma county ambulance company. Then he worked on the sheriff’s helicopter jumping into the ocean and doing many other dangerous rescues. He then finished his career as a Sonoma county dispatcher until one day he got a phone call that triggered his PTSD. He’s now happily retired.
 
I retired about 6 years ago. It was a gradual process, beginning with starting my engineering consulting business. About that time my wife was diagnosed with Alzheimers. My daily work gradually changed from my business to taking care of my wife as her Alzheimers progressed. When she finally died, I realized that I was now fully retired. Then, seven months later, I had my stroke.

Just when you think you’ve got your life figured out and back on track, it throws you a massive curve ball. And all you can do is go with the flow.
 
Rtmac said:
I'm very lucky in that my wife likes the non-stressed out, happy-go-lucky version of me much better. :smoking
On the rare occasions I mention maybe going back to work, she says "No! No, you're not!" :laughing
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I like your Wife!!!!! That is awesome. I think that my Wife would be the same way.
 
I really LOVE reading your posts. My Wife is a couple of years younger than me, so she said that she will retire two years after I do. That may be hard for me because she and I hike together (with the dogs) every weekend). I'm going to miss not having her to hike with on the weekdays too. I may have to get a "weekday Wife" to fill in for her, until she retires!!!!!!:)

Ant, to the White Courtesy phone.
 
Congrats lefty. One year is countdown time. Took me 6 months to not feel I was on vacation, that was 16 years ago.

Had this on my desk my last year
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Retired last year at age 42 and am loving it. Caddying at Pebble Beach as a fun part-time job to stay active and social. I'm surprised more people in the bay area don't hang up their hat early due to all the high paying tech jobs. I guess it's a case of golden handcuffs for many.
 
CRUZer said:
Retired last year at age 42 and am loving it. Caddying at Pebble Beach as a fun part-time job to stay active and social. I'm surprised more people in the bay area don't hang up their hat early due to all the high paying tech jobs. I guess it's a case of golden handcuffs for many.
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Can you get me on?

I suck at golf though.
 
lefty said:
I really LOVE reading your posts. My Wife is a couple of years younger than me, so she said that she will retire two years after I do. That may be hard for me because she and I hike together (with the dogs) every weekend). I'm going to miss not having her to hike with on the weekdays too. I may have to get a "weekday Wife" to fill in for her, until she retires!!!!!!:)

Ant, to the White Courtesy phone.
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Sounds like she is giving you a 2 year head start to get shit ready to be retired together.
That is going to be a hell of a honeydo list.
 
One suggestion to everybody who are retiring soon to remember.
When you're in your 20's, 30's and 40's, just sitting around is sometimes needed to recover from burnout and doesn't have any big downside. But, if you do it in your 60's or later, your body starts declining and it's a dive that's much less recoverable.
I recommend that you transition into exercising on a regular basis to replace the activity that kept you moving or at least sitting up for 8 hours a day. Exercise will help maintain your body's functions and slow down the natural decline that comes with age. Sit around for 6 months and you may never get back up to where you were again.
Just a thought. I ride my bike 4 times a week and go to the gym the other 3 to help keep my body fit enough to not injure myself doing things I've done my whole life.
 
Wrap your head around the concept, in retirement, they PAY you Not to go to work.
All so the younger guys have a job, to pay into their retirement. A union thing.
None of the glass ceiling, sexist jobs, all are equal, weekly job rotation, preventing burnouts.
There was one guy that didn't want to job rotate, stayed as a chip washer, every week until he had to retire.
He lived only couple of weeks longer.

I hit the road, RV full time looking for my retirement spot, found it, sorting out my health, lookin' for a home here in Verde Valley,
And, the housing market just hit a reset from the flooding.
 
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CRUZer said:
Retired last year at age 42 and am loving it. Caddying at Pebble Beach as a fun part-time job to stay active and social. I'm surprised more people in the bay area don't hang up their hat early due to all the high paying tech jobs. I guess it's a case of golden handcuffs for many.
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That's my Wife's' dilemma - she says that the $$ is too good for her to want to retire early.

Congrats for being able to retire at 42!!!!!
 
ucmgrad said:
More solo/group backpacking trips? @lefty
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MAN!!! I am sooo out of shape. I hike with a backpack, weighted with Water Bottles, to give myself some resistance, but it is not super heavy. The last time I went backpacking, with a buddy to Henry Coe, my pack was around 55 lbs, I almost died!!!! I am somewhat afraid to go on a solo trip, like I used to do, when I was a few years younger.

Are you interested in some backpacking? I could use the company.
 
My sister
lefty said:
That's my Wife's' dilemma - she says that the $$ is too good for her to want to retire early.

Congrats for being able to retire at 42!!!!!
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My sister just retired just before her 60th birthday after 30 years or more with the same elementary school as a teacher

She said with her New York State teacher's pension she is making $20 less a day than she was going to work.
 
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