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Retired life, not how it was described to me..

Started by weimedog, October 18, 2021, 09:02:33 AM

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weimedog

Typical week, some variation of tasks from Boats to Hay...retired life?? Not what I expected I guess.

Red Pine Harvest With John Deere 2750 & International Harvester 1066 - YouTube
Husqvarna 365sp/372xpw Blend, Jonsered 2171 51.4mm XPW build,562xp HTSS, 560 HTSS, 272XP, 61/272XP, 555, 257, 242, 238, Homelite S-XL 925, XP-1020A, Super XL (Dad's saw); Jonsered 2094, Three 920's, CS-2172, Solo 603; 3 Huztl MS660's (2 54mm and 1 56mm)

maple flats

Yea, not what I expected either. I didn't retire until I was 69, I'd always been told it was the golden years, well this gold isn't all glitter. The aches get more, but I still think it beats  working for others, and I don't really want this to all end anytime soon.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

Stephen1

I retired at 57, sawed a little wood, travelled a bit. 8 years later, now I saw a lot , dry a lot, building a new home. My GF says I failed at retirement. :D
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

SawyerTed

I retired at 53, stayed around home 6 months and did the honeydo's.  Did some traveling then needed something to keep me from going down hill.  Started work at a small manufacturing company three days a week.  Got bored with that after a couple of years. Remodeled a couple of houses for hire.  Bought a sawmill and have stayed as busy as I want to be since.  Now I'm working 4 or 5 days a week starting up a new wood products business with a long time friend.  No two days are the same.

I pretty much do what I want to do.  Thankfully I am not in any kind of monetary hardship so I don't have to work.  My wife retired in 2018, she's back working at a local elementary school four days per week and teaching college courses two days a week.  She gets bored easily and wants to stay active as well.  I still hunt and fish when I like (if I'm not nursing a bad knee) and we still travel a good bit.

Retirement is what you make it as long as you are blessed with good health, family is healthy and you aren't in a money crunch.  
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

Tom the Sawyer

My dad was an exec at his company and 'retired' after 40 yrs.  They had him back the next week at a higher salary, only 3 half days a week as a consultant.  He was still with them when he passed at 78 three years later.  Never enjoyed retirement, not for me.

My plan was to max out the police/fire retirement system (32 yrs at that time) and retire at 63, then cancer hit at 55.  I worked 2 more years and announced my retirement a year early (2008), persuaded by a desirable second career waiting for me with state police/DOT.  Well, recession hit and by '09 those jobs vaporized. Change of plans.

Went ahead and retired in April '09, comfortable and not really needing to do anything.  Found my mill that summer, started milling for others in early 2010 and still at it, but on my own terms.

Certainly not what I had planned but it has worked out for me.
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

TroyC

Exactly what I figured on. Retired at 55, never for a moment thought about going back to work. Between doing what I want when I want I stay pretty busy. Did I mention deer season is open?
8)

moodnacreek

I never really retired but I say I am. Started s.s. at 66 and wife gets hers now plus a little retirement$. This has made me cockier than ever. Very picky about who I sell to or saw for.  What a difference when you don't care, never had it so good. Now if I was only young.

hedgerow

Retired life here is not been what I thought it would be either. I had heart failure at age 44 made it threw that. Changed our farming operation sold the cows and kept working in town. At 57 more heart issues and some other health things. Retired for my town job and the last four years working around the farm and trying to get my health back under me. Sure don't miss the town job and all the problems with it. Lucky for me over the years we had bought a fair amount of land so our income from it has been good. Wife still is working. She says she is going to retire next June will see. She loves her job. So will see next year if I need to start drawing any from my town job retirement or my 401 K money to buy me some heath insurance. Its nice to just be working around my farms. 

Sedgehammer

Retired at 49. Didn't know I was retired at 49 until later, as my accident was when i was 49. Thoughts i'd make it back, but that thought was greatly exaggerated. Sold trucking company after the accident. Don't think I'll ever be able to work again. Pain is just to over bearing at times. I'm 55 now. Have 2 youngen's 8 & 9. Have a nice 5 acres that i'm slowly improving. Building a barndominium currently. Not fast enough for the wife though. My full time help is leaving till spring, so it'll go slower I expect or I'll just need to hire more. Retirement isn't what i thought it'd be when I was younger and full of dreams, but a good wife by your side makes a worlds worth of difference.

Plus I have this in the evenings. Here's our back yard at night.


Necessity is the engine of drive

Ljohnsaw

Planned to retire at 55 but the workplace environment was going downhill so I bailed at 53-¾ with about 90% of my take home pay.  So comfortable.  Did a part time job listing military surplus on eBay for about a year but then got into full swing working on my cabin.  Been working on it for the last 8 years or so...  I have less free time then when I was working :D   Its nice going to bed thinking, "what should I do tomorrow?"
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

21incher

I was called into my managers office 2 days before I turned 50 and fired. He had a bonus check in one hand and a paper in the other I had to sign to get the bonus. It said I wouldn't sue them because I would be over 50 on my last day. Turns out several of of us over 50 were being replaced by H1B visa workers. To start selling product in India the company had to meet a number of Indian workers that was determined in negotiations with the government. After that I decided I would never work for anyone again and dropped out of the workforce. Was unemployed for 12 years and then retired at 62. I had many good job offers but told them all no. At first it was scary because I had zero income and lived 12 years off savings but I soon realized how much I saved by not working and how great it felt to not have to deal with asxxxles. Turned out being the best thing that ever happened to me. I now had time to try things I had always wanted to do. Bought a new house up by the kids and moved away from an overcrowded area caused after 911. I wake up when I want and everyday is open to a new adventure. A couple years ago a friend told me to try a YouTube channel and that has been a fun adventure. It is almost like having a new family all around the world. Thankfully I had saved enough when younger to survive the time without any problems and now I can do what I want when I want and learn something new everyday. I am so glad I got fired that day now that I look back.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Larry

Similar to my story.  I retired by choice from the telephone company in Missouri at age 50.  Continued to farm, sold walnut lumber wholesale, day traded, restored machinery, and sold stuff on ebay.  Sold my farm and bought ground in Arkansas.  Built a new house and shop.  Continued to do woodworking, sawmill stuff, and expanded with a metal shop. 

I'm in negotiations to buy more ground.  If I get it, I plan to build a new house 1/3 the size of the one I have now and a shop at least 3 times bigger.  Finally got my priorities straight!

Retiring early at the peak of my earning years cost me lots of $$$$'s but the freedom!!!!!!  Well worth the sacrifice.

And yes their are never enough hours in the day to get what I had planned completed.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

farmfromkansas

I had a building business and farmed on the side.  When I was 50 my back was hurting so much I gave up the building business, and called myself retired.  Never gave up the farm.  Have expanded some, bought a quarter 4 1/2 miles away for hay ground and kept more heifers. Lately been helping my neighbors with harvest instead of buying a newer combine.  Alternator went out today cutting my beans.  Have to get to town early tomorrow to get the alternator in line to get fixed.  Have a few loads of manure left to haul, spreading it on my new grass. Working with my neighbors is more fun than working by myself, having a good time. Funny thing about getting old, having more fun working than ever.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

Downstream

I semi-retired at 55 from a career of corporate management jobs right after making the last college payment for our youngest.  Got tired of family politics at a private business I had been at for almost 10 years.  God had been giving me plenty of signs it was time to leave but it was too comfortable.  One particular day full of frustration I walked thru the plant and it just became obvious to me it was time to leave.  I remember saying a little prayer and basically saying that I was going to walk thru the door that was being opened for me and just follow the path I found on the other side.  WOW what a ride it has been.  I was able to do full time sawmill/woodworking for awhile.  Then out of nowhere(story for another day) the only job I had always wanted but never had gotten a chance fell into my lap and I spent 4 months as President of a small local company in a turn around situation to get them back on track for the future.  Spent 4 months staying with my Mom as she dealt with terminal cancer.  Then sold most everything in Illinois and headed to Missouri for 5 months working for major boat mfg company and then back to Illinois to help mother in law after her husband of 60+yrs passed away suddenly.  Started visiting middle TN during covid just to get out of Illinois and enjoy some freedom.  Decided to move there and took a job in the Cookeville area for the winter of 20-21.  We were 48 hrs away from closing on a house in TN when the private company I worked for was sold to a large public firm and they decided to change direction and eliminated my job after offering a promotion earlier the same week.  My wife and I were already loaded to move into our new house in TN so we just turned around and headed back to Illinois.  Now after many months of searching we have just bought a new(old) house in Illinois about 20 minutes from where we first left from on the beginning of this faith journey following the same rules.  We walk through what ever door God opens and find out what is on the other side.  Our constant phrase along this "retirement" journey is that we don't always get what we want, but we ALWAYS get what we need!    We are just beginning to settle in here and we will see what this phase brings forward. God is Great!  I even have an actual "manna from heaven" story that I can share sometime in the future.  So certainly this retirement is not at all what I expected, but certainly it has been enlightening, fun, exhausting every step.  I have fished, golfed, milled logs, spent time with wife/family,hiked countless waterfalls in TN/WI/CO, met some of the nicest people along the way and was able to work enough to pay for it all.  Would not trade the past 5 years for anything.
EZ Boardwalk Jr,  Split Second Kinetic logsplitter, Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, Stihl 660 and 211, Logrite 60" cant hook, Dixie 32 Tongs

Gere Flewelling

These are very inspiring stories.  My wife and I are still working, but dreaming of retirement.  We have always worked for someone else to make life happen.  I guess we are stuck in our comfort zone.  This post is certainly making me and hopefully us think outside of "comfort" the box.  Thanks and keep them coming. ???
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

Sedgehammer

I've always said I'd work for myself twice as hard for half as much vs working for someone else. Besides my time in the military and a short stint in the oilfield, I've done that. There just something in being able to do what you want, when you want. Now of course if you work for yourself, you're still working for someone else or if farming, something else, but you still have that freedom if you want
Necessity is the engine of drive

WDH

I retired at 57 from the largest Forest Products company in the world to start up my own hardwood lumber business and it has been the best thing that ever happened to me.  Remember, you work to reap the rewards, so you better do some reaping before you cannot reap because you cannot take any unreaped rewards with you.  
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Resonator

Sounds like what I've learned, you can always make more money, but you cannot make more time. Make the most of the time you have, it goes by fast.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

stanmillnc

Enjoying this thread and it's making me think harder on my situation. Plan was to retire from the day job at 50 and run my wood / sawmill business full-time then. Not sure I can hold out that long though (43 now), but it would be a big jump for me as I've got what most would consider a very good day job. My conundrum is that working in manufacturing I've got little personal time or flexibility while trying to run my wood business on weekends, plus raise two young kids. Anyway, thanks to those who have shared their experiences.

Ljohnsaw

So there seems to be a lot of you looking to retire but still relatively young.  Here is some free financial advice (you get what you pay for :)) to help you achieve your goal.  This works best if you have a 457 (deferred income) plan available, but a saving account will do.  A 457 not only allows you to sock away some money but you also don't pay taxes on it.  Start small, say $100/paycheck if you are in your 30's, shoot for $200 in your 40's, etc. This is assuming you have no revolving debt on credit cards.  I did (a LOT) but paid that off first.

Live with that a couple of months.  If no heartache over that amount, bump it up a little (say another $50).  Keep reassessing what you spend and how much you can save.  When/if you get a raise, put most of that into savings.  And keep bumping it up.  You'll learn to live with less while building up a safety net.  When I was working, the 457 was limited to something like $10-15k/year.  When I turned 50, there was a makeup provision where you could do double the annual amount to make up for what you could have done ever since the plan was adopted by your company. 

So in the last 3.5 years I was working, I did just that.  I also accelerated my mortgage payments.  I was living on less than 75% of my normal take home pay.  It was rough but worth it.  Also, don't forget to take into account that you will no longer be paying into SSI, SUI and possibly some other withholding amounts that are on your paycheck if you will be drawing on a pension.  My pension gross amount is a bit smaller than my working gross (68%), but the withholding amounts are much less, both in the normal FED and State but the other incidentals that went away.  I was paying for after school child care after my wife passed away.  Always look at the net amount, not the gross.

When things started to not be fun at work, I opted to leave before maximizing my pension.  My quality of life (as well as my young son's) was worth more than a couple extra hundred a month.  I was able to back off on the accelerated mortgage payments (from triple to double) to make up for the lower income.  Then, a few couple years later, my house was paid off and I have "extra" income (now delegated to paying off my cabin property).

Maybe not all of this applies to all but the thing to concentrate on while working is reducing your debt.  I don't have car payments and carry no credit card balance.  But, I do use my credit card for EVERYTHING I can since I get a cash rebate every month of $30-60.  Not a lot, but its free.

I converted a few at work that were on the fence about retirement.  Once they saw the big picture, they put a similar plan in motion and retired within a few years - earlier than they thought they could because they were previously focused on the gross income amounts.  Oh, yeah - the first year is scary until you do your taxes...

Enough rambling...
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

mike_belben

i got stop lossed for the war in iraq, when your date to get out turns to a row of zeros.  being a POW of your own military gives you a new perspective on the value of comfort verse freedom. when i finally could get out (at 23) i said im never gonna work for anyone again and went into business. i was very good at my craft but the Lord has never wanted me to amass much money and i understand why now. 

debt and relationships forced me to take a j-o-b lifeline for 9 years longer than i planned, ten total.  walking out of the fur lined factory handcuffs at 36 was a little scary, everyone said i was crazy to leave but i kept my mind on that stoploss and stuck to the plan, get away from this wicked society and its dependance on a decaying dollar. i routinely get rid of dollars as quickly as i can any time they come in.  every real thing i own continually climbs in replacement cost and i have abundance.  i rarely leave home for anything.  even in rough times my cup runneth over.  

my plan is to do whatever the Lord wills one day at a time until my days are up, and i dont particularly care when that is.  its very liberating.  i hope to live and die gracefully. 


Praise The Lord

SawyerTed

Having a retired life better than working life takes planning and commitment for sure.  Being able to retire at nearly equal or greater net income than working net income ensures that your lifestyle won't have to take a hit at retirement.  My pension net income is within $100 dollars of my working income net.  It was worth $100 to get rid of the work expenses, commuting expenses, clothing expenses, BS etc.  I came out ahead.  My wife's net pension is within $200 of her working net.  We more than make up the monthly difference with little time and effort. 

Learning to say no to things that I don't want to do was hard.  It comes easier after a while.

Making plans and sticking to them is important too.  It is easy to say, "We are retired we can go to (fill in the blank) later, let's stay here for so and so's birthday.  The danger is you never get back around to planning the trip.
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

Downstream

This is an excellent running commentary.  More real life info and comments vs canned retirement commentary from somebody trying to sell you investments/etc.  One of my follow-up comments supports these last few posts about the financial side of things.  My life changed back in the early 90's when I read a book called the "Millionaire Next Door"  Basic concept is focus on your growing net worth not your income.  Too many high income professions like Dr/Lawyer also come with a high consumption, keeping up with the Jones side to it that actually prevents many from significantly increasing their net worth.  I was on that path becoming a director in my company at the age of 30 making very good money, but also living in a McMansion, driving a Porsche 911, eating out and traveling with my wife.  Came across a business issue where it was either go along and get along or do the right thing and probably lose it all.  Did the right thing and lost most of it, but realized we do not ever want to be in that position again.  Sold the house, cars and re-booted the career at half the salary.  So for over 25 years we have operated debt free with no car payments, boat payments, no credit card payments, very small mortgage, rarely ate out, put in a garden. etc.   Pretty much the same game plan that Dave Ramsey came along a decade or so later talking about.  We lived like no one so that later we could live like no one else.  As I climbed back up the corporate ladder  we stayed in the cash only game saving and investing so that we would always maintain the freedom to walk away on our terms.  No debt is the key to personal freedom.  Part of the reason we ended up back in Illinois after spending the winter in TN is that real estate has gotten so crazy expensive down there that we found that we could not live debt free in that market so we headed back north although we plan to visit often and maybe keep an eye out for some remote land for later.  Can't stress it enough that do everything you can to stay out of debt, save ahead, and pay cash. 
EZ Boardwalk Jr,  Split Second Kinetic logsplitter, Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, Stihl 660 and 211, Logrite 60" cant hook, Dixie 32 Tongs

Magicman

I was 'downsized' out from BellSouth after working 32+ years when I was 51 years old.  They then penalized my buyout by 24% because I was less than 55 years old.??  Why/how?  It was their house and their rules.  Next I was offered to contract back to my job, same office & more pay.  I told them to "stick it".

During the next 3 years we drove/ferried to 49 states and all of the Canadian Provinces.  That plus I built the Cabin.  After completing the Cabin I continued with my carpenter work and started having beetle killed SYP logs milled to help with my material expenses.  Then it dawned on me that the sawmill guy was making many more $$ sawing than I was building.  

I told PatD that I was gonna buy a sawmill.  She asked with what and I said I donno.  You have never even seen a sawmill operate so how will you know what to do?  I donno.  How you gonna pay for it?  I donno.  Who you gonna saw for?  I donno.  Where are the logs coming from?  I donno.  

I had no computer so the Forestry Forum was unavailable to me so all of my 'learning' was by the 'seat of my pants'.  When something went wrong or I messed up, there was no one to call so I had to figure it out for myself, by myself.  Yup, I made mistakes but I was developing the log reading and sawing techniques that I use today.

The sawmill paid for itself that first year and I am completing my 21st year of sawing with well over 2 Million bf of lumber sawn.  So what is next?  LINK  I donno.  Yes I have drastically cut back and reduced my sawing, but jobs are there and the phone is ringing.  My vision is to saw 2-3 days every 2-3 weeks.  The problem is that I love sawing.

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

mike_belben

Millionaire next door was a great underdog profile.   The big takeaway i recall was to be honest. 

And dont spend it before you earn it! Wish my wife would get on board and stop drooling through the glass at the yolo culture.  

Im surprised Visa hasnt come out with the YOLO card yet.
Praise The Lord

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