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

I look forward to the possibility of retirement so I no longer have to interact with "the public" :rofl
 
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.
 
Indeed sweet for her.
 
NY loves big pensions for teachers, fire and cops.

It's why any other retirees can't afford to live there anymore and move to florida, due to the constantly increasing property taxes to fund said fat pensions forcing people out of the homes they own unless they did way better than average at saving and investing.

Anywhoooo

Yeah, sis is stoked. She had this drawn out in detail when still in college. She explained in detail what to do to max out her pension way back when she started:
- masters degree
- xx amount of CE credits
- teach summer school
- never get into administration, stay a teacher
- ride out to tenure
- profit
 
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@lefty - Lets do it! It's been a year since I've gone backpacking.

Retirement for educators isn't tooooo bad. That's why I'm a School Counselor, been in PERS for almost fourteen years now, were part of the union (job security) as well as tenure, also invested in a Roth and 403b as supplemental that when I finally hit retirement age I'll be able to live comfortably here in CA (Granted it's Turlock) but still comfortably. :)
 
ucmgrad said:
@lefty - Lets do it! It's been a year since I've gone backpacking.

Retirement for educators isn't tooooo bad. That's why I'm a School Counselor, been in PERS for almost fourteen years now, were part of the union (job security) as well as tenure, also invested in a Roth and 403b as supplemental that when I finally hit retirement age I'll be able to live comfortably here in CA (Granted it's Turlock) but still comfortably. :)
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I'm done. Actually, Fall/Winter are my favorite times to backpack. I cannot handle the heat.
 
lefty said:
I'm done. Actually, Fall/Winter are my favorite times to backpack. I cannot handle the heat.
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Have you tried cooling towels?
In CA's dry heat, they are game changers. My wife also added a personal cooling fan around her neck.
 
Not practical for backpacking. You’d have to carry a lot of water unless you have easy access to water on the trip.
 
It doesn't take that much water. Up to 110 degrees, one squeezed out cooling towel gets me through a 38 minute 10 mile ride.
 
If you have plentiful access to water, a cooling vest is even better.
 
I'm taking a cue from @N4teTheGreat's playbook as I really respected how he navigated his layoff while I was angry and frustrated with my own job. Fast-forward a year I was ready to quit on a Friday in March and got laid off on the Wednesday. Talk about a stroke of good luck. Link: https://dashedyellowline.com/2026/03/16/impacted/.

I'm committing to doing five longer motorcycle rides, connecting with people in places I hold dear, doing a bit of resting my own soul, and figuring out what comes "Next." I don't think this is full retirement, maybe just the opening act. My mom is also having some health challenges back east, so time is of some essence. I purchased a motorcycle to leave over there to give me access to some rides in that area. I'm also trying to focus on better photography and motorcycle storytelling as this journey unfolds:

May: Life at the pace of Sweet Tea across Georgia and Alabama: https://dashedyellowline.com/series/series-life-at-the-pace-of-sweet-tea/
July: Recalculating across the PNW: https://dashedyellowline.com/series/series-recalculating/
October: Postcards to Dad across the Appliachian Trail: https://dashedyellowline.com/series/series-postcards-to-dad/
Winter: Key West
Spring: Riding back to CA

I find that retirement is busier than working in some ways, but I find it waxes and wanes ways that aren't always comfortable or in line with how I expect time should flow. I'm also working on building an app to make my experience with Samsung's frame TV better and supporting a diabetes nonprofit.

I want to find a way to ride the million dollar highway, glacier national Park, and Arizona in 2027. Not sure if I have it in me for Alaska, yet.

I'm sure I could get used to this and navigating a day at a time.
 
We have my wife’s 85 year old parents living with us. They don’t cost us anything in terms of money but due to increasing health issues we can’t leave them alone for more than a day or two.
I’m hoping they go back to the Philippines in a year or so and let other family members take over their care.

Plus our two adult children live with us while they are figuring out their lives.

So downsizing or selling the house is not an option.

Then there’s the issue of health insurance. I’m on Medicare but my wife is self-employed and is on Covered CA along with the kids.
Wasn’t that called the Affordable Care Act” when it first rolled out?

So….Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off the work I go.
 
So I have a friend who has brain cancer. He just had a surgery two days ago. He's been dealing with this for a few years. I say that to give some background to a concept we came up with called "The Protocol." It goes something like this (He remembers the exact terminology we came up with, I always fuck it up, but anyways...)

Work as little as possible
To make enough money
So that you can enjoy every day as much as possible

I think we should do it this way: 18 to 22 years of school, 30 years of working and then enjoy the rest of your time. So we should all have a right to retire at 52. If we had the will to make this happen it is totally feasible IMO. But that shit aint happening.
 
What's Your Retirement Side Hustle?
I've been retired for about a year and a half and recently found myself kicking around ideas for earning a little extra income while staying active. One idea was dog walking. ( $30.00 an hour for one dog ) Seems like a good way to help people, get some exercise, and make a few bucks at the same time.
I'm also considering returning to some form of part-time employment, which got me wondering:
What are my fellow retirees doing these days?
Have you gone back to work part-time, started a small business, turned a hobby or skill into income, or found something else that's rewarding?
One thing I've learned in retirement is that not everything needs to be monetized. Some of the most satisfying things I've done have simply been helping people out because I could. Still, I'm curious how others balance extra income, staying active, helping others, and enjoying retirement.

PaulR🤪
 
PaulR said:
What are my fellow retirees doing these days?
Have you gone back to work part-time, started a small business, turned a hobby or skill into income, or found something else that's rewarding?
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I have enough saved up and invested that earning a few bucks doing anything at all is meaningless. But money has never been my prime motivation for anything and I want to spend as little time as possible thinking about money. I review my finances once a month then mostly ignore it.

My motto: I am seriously committed to never working again.

There are plenty of things to keep busy with.
 
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