Retired !! ??

[Ianab]

I've basically had the same job for the last ~30 years. The companies I've worked for have gone broke several times, been taken over and I'm still here. Last "takeover" was my current business partner and me buying out the previous incarnation, and just carrying on with our work. 

We have clients that started out with an 8 bit Commodore computers to run their business. Now they run 3 servers and 20+ workstations. Couple of business owners have died, and their family have taken over the company, we are still doing their IT work. I'm part time, but if the cell phone rings, I answer. 

I'd like to "retire" but I suspect that I'd still be on call for those guys, and people would chase me for with job offers. Said no to an offer to manage the local Movie Theatre last week :-\ I don't know anything about that, and I don't have the free time to learn. 

Oh, and marrying a younger lady that has a full time professional career and starting a new family makes "stay at home Dad" a career option. I'm 57 and looking after a 7 year old. But as we basically own the house, one "decent" income gets us by. My various part time work pays some bills and gives me some pocket money. We can update our cars, and afford a holiday occasionally. (Cook Islands again next year) 

NZ also has those dreaded universal health care and pension things. It's a safety net. You don't really want that as your ONLY option, but if you need it, it will keep a roof over your head and food on the table.  

[Chuck White]

@Chuck White you mentioned bus driving....that may be an option for me.  The school district out here is always looking for bus drivers and they pay full health for the bus drivers.  I don't know what they pay, but it's probably worth it for the ins.

Driving school bus can have it's moments, but it IS a good job!
I actually drove for just over 17 years, and the STATE retirement system allowed me 3 years credit for my military service, and I have credit for 20 years service driving bus!
The health insurance offered with the job is great, and after 3 years driving, I didn't have to pay anything into the system for the health insurance and I keep the insurance at an "annual" cost of $350.00!
SO...... after all that time, Military and Driving bus, I'm making more than I EVER was while working and I'm absolutely DEBT FREE!  8)

[SawyerTed]

I retired September 30, 2015 at 53. Thirty years in the education business led me to realize I don't like the "business" of education.  There are too many agendas and too much politics.

I tried to "do nothing" for six months like some of my retired friends advised. That was making me nuts!  So in March 2016 I took a job as a facilities manager at a company about 15 miles from home. I worked that job for over two years.  

In December of 2017 my suppressed dream of owning a sawmill couldn't be held down anymore.  I was chainsaw milling and decided it was not nearly as much fun as it looked.

In February 2018 I bought my LT35. Now I'm working as much as I want to, setting my own schedule and loving this sawmill life!

[Al_Smith]

Well for me it was four years US navy submarine service .Then nearly  20 years IBEW construction electrician .Then 29 years  electrician Ford Motor Co .
Hung it up a year ago August at 70 1/2 years old .I saved my money .lost it all from a divorce and got it back 5 fold over a 20 year period .
So being stingy with my cash and making good investments at this stage of life I can do just about anything I want .
I've never ran out of things to do .I like wood working ,mechanical things etc .Life is pretty good ,can't complain .
My second wife passed on almost 6 years ago ,RIP darlin .Became reacquainted with a lady I went to school with .Widow of one of my best buds .Years ago a cute little blonde HS cheerleader .Now a classy older grandmother and still a cutie and still blonde ,lighter of course .She's a keeper .
I can do anything I want,when I want as many times as I want .I'm my own boss ,answer to nobody .If I wanted to go out and buy a brand new Wood Mizer LT 40 I could  .Strange  as it might seem I'd rather build a mill but I've been strange all my life . :D
At nearly 72 years old you have more behind you than you do ahead of you .Whatever there is I'll take it and I'm going to live it .I'll never rust up,might burn out though .Time will tell . 8)

[WDH]

I walked out of Corporate at age 57 and started up my hardwood lumber business.

[dougtrr2]

I "retired" from the Air Force with 20 years in 1992.  I worked a couple different jobs and then made a job switch in 2010 that did not pan out. At 59 it is tough to find a job, especially when your arm is in a sling from rotator cuff surgery.  The wife was working so we were doing okay.  I was working as a greeter at a hospital.  I called it my semi-retirement job.  At one point I thought I would keep working indefinitely and maybe cut back to part time as I got older.  But in my department there was a rash of health issues that made me rethink that plan.  We had one person that got sick and was gone in less than a year.   I decided to retire at 65 while my health was still good.  I have 8 acres of forest that I like to play in and a full workshop to keep me busy.  For me life is too short to keep working when there are other things I would rather do.

Doug in SW IA

[wisconsitom]

Gettin close...gettin close.  Plan is to retire in early 2021.  That will be just 40+ years with the same city, first bunch of years as an arborist/horticulturist, and the last ten or twelve as still the horticulturist, but now associated with the stormwater utility, so I get to manage big landscapes.  We do "native restoration" which can be a lot of fun and challenge.  My final project will also be my best one and involves a stormwater pond with associated afforestation.  Great stuff....I get to design a forest!

Still, as much as I enjoy that business, it will be good to be able to concentrate as much time as needed on managing my woods and associated plantation.  There, back in 2008, we took a chunk of alfalfa field with a cedar swamp next to it and turned it into a much larger woods.  We intend for legacy trees but there are many opportunities ahead to do thinning and TSI work.  I was always interested in larch, and now I've got thousands of the hybrid variety, along with other softwood species, growing there alongside the woods.  Plantation is on gently sloping upland, with relatively deep sandy loam-good stuff for trees!  I am also associated with a group working to develop aspen hybrids of high quality that can be propagated from cuttings. One way or another, will be involved with the forests of the Great Lakes states.

May develop a small post and pole business from thinnings from that plantation in next few years.  See what I can get out of it in a case where thinning is desirable.  May also work with Amish loggers in area when stock becomes mature.  Goal is to manage plantation for maximum life and quality of trees.  And to pass property along to sons.

[WV Sawmiller]

   About 7-8 years ago my wife had her HS band at a ratings concert in the next county. After 20+ years she had finally built her little band into a very respectable team that various state colleges typically offered scholarships, often full rides at Marshall and such, to recruit her grads. Her band did real well and a former band director from another local school she knew came over to congratulate her and he casually asked her what she planned to do. She said she had just turned 55 and was tired of the local politics and considering retiring. He told her if she did they wanted her to direct their band at the local college. That was enough to push her over the edge and she retired the next month then taught band and photography at the local college till they folded their tent and merged with WVU and her position ended. She now does her free lance work and started a local community photo club and stays busy quilting and sewing various projects.

[DR Buck]

I'm having trouble understanding the definition of "retire".   From reading these posts and my own experience it just another word that means changing jobs.    Or, maybe it means getting promoted, as most of you are now your own boss.   ;D   

So far for me being retired means I don't have the 38 mile each-way commute 5 days a week.  When I now most of the time its for myself for free doing things I like to do.    And., since I'm the boss I work for $$$ with the sawmill when I want to on my terms.      I find sawmilling still enjoyable and it pays for all the free things I do for myself.  

[pineywoods]

Retirement is a myth... At some age, you will do one of 2 things  1 Leave the job, retire (change jobs to doing what you like) and work harder and longer than you ever did.  Or become a couch potato and the grim reaper slips in and gets you.
I bailed out of a 40 year IT career at age 60, just burned out. moved back to the wife's old family farm, acquired a woodmizer lt40, and haven't looked back since. Been at it ever since and don't ever remember being caught up. I will admit to slowing down a bit at 83 years, but I do what I want, when I want to. Well other than being a full-time caregiver for my dis-abled wife. I have more fine friends and neighbors than any man has a right to. Life is good.

[Al_Smith]

I might add I have an odd way of looking at things based on two sayings .A penny saved is a penny earned and if you're worth a dollar to somebody else you're worth two to yourself .
I've always been handy at repairing things, building things etc .It takes a lot more than a dollar  to hire somebody because my dollar outbound would equate to about another 40 cents once you figure income tax on both the federal and state level plus sales tax .I like it much better in my bank account than in somebody elses or the coffers of some division of some form of government .So far,knock on wood they haven't found a way to tax you on your own labor or creativity with the exception of property tax on some occasions .

[firefighter ontheside]

Yeah, being my own boss is what I'm after.  I'm tired of answering to someone who is no more responsible than I am.  My wife has been her own boss for 9 years and I'm jealous.

[SawyerTed]

For some "retire" is the unfortunate beginning of start dying.  For some "retire" is the beginning of start living.  It is a choice.   

For many of us, "retire" means meeting new people, doing challenging work and engaging with new people every time we go out. It means freedom to "put things down" and take off on new adventures.  

Retirement means the end of somethings and the beginning of others, you choose.....

[thecfarm]

Retirement to me means,I can do what I want,when I want. ;D   Get up at 9am,no big deal. Start a project,get sick of it, and sit on a stump all day and watch the world go by.Than do all of the above all over again,day after day,week after week and so on with the months and years. I am looking forward to it.

[EOTE]

Retirement is a myth... At some age, you will do one of 2 things  1 Leave the job, retire (change jobs to doing what you like) and work harder and longer than you ever did.  Or become a couch potato and the grim reaper slips in and gets you.

I'm in full agreement Pineywoods...I may be a generation younger than you but I was force retired by the corporation I worked for.  I think retirement is a word for giving up on life and inviting the grim reaper to visit.  I love working with my hands and the "retirement" I am enjoying is working my a.. off, waking up with pain and soreness which is just a reminder of all the fun I've had, and looking to do more of the same for years to come.  I figure people will know I am dead about two weeks after it happens because I will finally stop moving and building stuff.  You can see more of what I am doing with my "retirement" in the thread at "Building our Dream Home a.k.a. Delusions of Retirement".  They will probably have to bury my table saw with me.  :D

[Al_Smith]

For all intents my dad retired just before he was 60 and passed at 86 .However he really didn't retire and sit on the porch in a rocking chair .He got into computers decades ago when a Tandy trs 80 was top of the line ,self taught .He used it as a tool with his investments which he was very savvy about and did very well at it .He also took the time to travel ,restore about 1 dozen CJ model Jeeps do wood working and cut fire wood and BTW soup up chainsaws .So i guess I inherited some of that stuff genetically .Just not as good at the investment part .
I've seen people do the rocking chair bit and they don't last very long .It boils down to the old adage,use it or loose it .

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 It looks like I'm going out in the latter part of 2020. I'll be 60 so I have to worry about health insurance.
 
 I have been a traveling field service technician since 1984 and the spark has definitely gone out of it.
I still like the folks I work for and with but I am really burned out on air travel. I have been in quite a variety of aircraft. I have been to some great places and some not very nice places. It was what I wanted to do and I'm glad I did it but I'm really ready for my next chapter.

 For those that don't know I'm building my retirement timber frame on my tree farm in WV. A life long wish come true. Here's the thread on that; Building my Retirement Home or "My First 5 Year Plan" in Timber Framing/Log construction I can sit and watch the trees grow and listen to the sounds of nature. Currently I live smack dab between Baltimore, Washington and Annapolis, Maryland. All you hear are engines, tires squealing and sirens. I'm really ready to head to the woods.

Jon

[Poquo]

I retired my first career after 39 years in Machine Shops 17 in shipbuilding then 22 in a Physics Lab . The last 3 years I wore a powered respirator because something in the shop was making me sick , so when they offered an early retirement package I was ready to go . I started a woodshop in my garage , then in August I bought a used Woodmizer LT40 . I like cutting wood better than cutting metal it has a lot more character .

[Dakota]

After about 3.5 million miles down the road as a truck driver, I'm just going to stay home and manage the tree farm.

[Mossy Chariot]

After 45 years working for "someone else," I officially retired in February this year. Now, instead of working one job I'm working several jobs. I bought my sawmill about 4 months before I retired with the intention of becoming a sawyer. I think my finding this forum may have helped to steer me in that direction. I sawed some for myself and some for others, quickly realizing, as has been discussed here many times, I needed more equipment, I needed more space, I needed more buildings, I needed more equipment.....I needed more money.  I'd been a consulting engineer those 45 years, so I hung out my own shingle.  Now I'm a consulting engineer/sawyer.  I'm working about halftime at each and loving every minute of it. Should have started working for myself years ago. I do hope to move more toward full time sawyer/woodworker as I get more equipment, more space, more buildings, and more equipment!!!!

[BradMarks]

For me "retirement" is an age associated with social security, in my case 66. Coming soon!  At that age I don't receive my max benefit I would at 70, but am allowed to make a reasonable supplemental income without deducting from ss benefit. I will be stepping back some from the business, enjoying more time with my wife (retired 6 yrs), "stealing" the grandkid, choosing when to do things, or do nothing. Work never goes away but is it more rewarding when it is for yourself.  We own some forestland, built a small cabin there these past two years and have lots of "work" to do on the property. Or we can just sit on the porch and smile. Retirement packages have all kinds of options to choose from

[Southside]

After 45 years working for "someone else,"

Mossy - I read that and after meeting you at Jakes thought to my self, "What did he start working at age 2?"  Had no ideal you were 65 - you have aged well!!  Personally, although at the moment I didn't realize it, my career ended just before midnight, at the bottom of a cliff, on July 31, 2001. After fighting a battle that could not be won to get my job back the life road led me to where I am today.  Now I work more and harder than ever before but I am finally seeing progress.  Long way to go yet, but I am my own boss and not restrained by someone else.  I doubt I will ever actually retire - if I have more than one day when the weather just shuts me down I about go stir crazy.  Oh well - just plant me in the pasture when the time comes, this way I can still keep working for the cows.  

[Al_Smith]

It's kind of funny how SS approaches things .I started taking my SS at 66 and worked until 70 1/2 .The agent told me if I waited until 70 it would be like 300 more a month ,that's $3600 a year .I had it figured out before hand and replied in that period of time I would have over 128 grand in the bank doing it my way. Give me a break $ 14,000 as opposed  to over 120 grand. I'm some dumb just not plumb dumb . ;D

[YellowHammer]

I'm retired after 32 years working design, analysis, engineering and fabrication in a stressful and sometimes dangerous job, and always required a very heavy hobby as a sideline because I was something of a workaholic and also played college level ball so was full of energy.  

So we also built houses for a sideline.  We would buy a cattle pasture, build a big "Kennedy Compound" with the big house, pond, riding trails, fountain, custom woodwork, and live there for a couple years and flip them.  That's how I got into woodworking, by building all the high end furniture and other wood pieces in the house.  It was also a natural for me, as I always liked fabrication and building big projects.  So we stopped building houses a few years ago when we built our last place in a plot of land we didn't want to sell, and instead, just started selling the wood we used, instead of doing it ourselves.  So when I had a chance to retire early, I did, at 52, and just focused on one job, our sawmill and wood making business.  

So retirement to me is just having one job, not two, and this one is a whole lot safer and quieter.  

[Mossy Chariot]

Thank you for the kind words @Southside .  65 is the new 45. I remember when I was a kid and my dad turned 45 ....  I thought he was as old as dirt. I have grown wiser with age  ;D.  I look forward to another Sawing Project this year, I hope!  See you there?

In my case, if I take SS at 66 vs. 70, the amount paid (back) to me is equal at age 82 and 3 months (assuming it stays as is and congress doesn't continue to screw it up).  Planning is important with many variables but it's a guess, at this point, which will ultimately provide the most benefit.