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When my son was 8-10 years old, he'd spend a couple of weeks in the summer with his grandparents in Fla at an over 55 community. He came back one summer saying that he couldn't wait to retire.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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IMHO... YMMV
Best to retire when your kids are living at home.
You can always go back to work when they leave the nest.
If you are a farmer... you HAVE to go back to work when the kids leave home !!! (BTDT for 4 generations)
Retire with kids would be relatively EZ for frugal families that have access to double income for 5 yrs BEFORE the kids arrive.
Several of our homeschool friends had family businesses that floated the boat. Usually the kids ran the business, instead of them wasting time sitting in a classroom pretending to learn to run a pretend business.
These businesses would get passed on to other kids / families as the family grew to other interests / passions / stages in life.
My FIRST retirement was the day I walked away from "Dairy Farm Boarding School".. long before age 20.
Retirement can be very productive and beneficial to society and other personal contributions. (Often far more benefit to you and others than a career, certainly more than a j-o-b)
I encourage all to give it a try! Regardless of age.
Practice makes perfect.
I feel that way right now and I'm 32. I cannot wait to retire. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should downsize our house so that one or both of us can retire or go down to part time work. Work sucks. Consumerism sucks. I've consumed enough crap, I just want my time back.
32 and already wanting to retire? I'm only a year younger than you, but don't plan to ever retire. I do contracting work from home, and rarely work more than 40 hours a week. It pays well (although not enough to live in a huge house and drive nice cars - I agree, consumerism sucks, I prefer the simple life), I love it, and I can't see myself ever getting burned out from it. I plan on doing this until the day I die, and never retiring.
If you can get a job that you love, is low stress, and has good hours, working isn't so bad. I'd do my job for free, if money weren't an issue. Guess I'm pretty lucky to have a job that I really enjoy, though.
the only people that benefit from tragedies, is the media,,
news and politics will depress anyone - one big ball of verbal puke...that infects everyone
control your daily intake of medias,,,I've replaced a lot of negative media crap with youtube- youtube is the most amazing website their is- this has all your old favorite songs,,movies,,,tv shows,,,and shows inspirational clips,,and unlimited documentaries- one of my favorite shows as a kid was TAXI in the 70's I rewatch these clips when I need a laugh, and it works
so, instead of listening to news crap , im listening to old tv favs- and music- and my mood is so much better-
When my son was 8-10 years old, he'd spend a couple of weeks in the summer with his grandparents in Fla at an over 55 community. He came back one summer saying that he couldn't wait to retire.
The wife and I put her mother into a retirement village about 15 years ago. She had a small efficiency one bedroom apartment. The apartment overlooked a lake and gardens maintained by the village. The village had 24 hour service, just like living in a 5 star hotel. You could order a meal at midnight or not. There was shopping within walking distance. She parked her car in a heated garage located in the basement of her building.
At the time I was working 60-80 hours a week and had very little time to myself. When I saw this retirement village, I was very jealous of my MIL's life style.
32 and already wanting to retire? I'm only a year younger than you, but don't plan to ever retire. I do contracting work from home, and rarely work more than 40 hours a week. It pays well (although not enough to live in a huge house and drive nice cars - I agree, consumerism sucks, I prefer the simple life), I love it, and I can't see myself ever getting burned out from it. I plan on doing this until the day I die, and never retiring.
If you can get a job that you love, is low stress, and has good hours, working isn't so bad. I'd do my job for free, if money weren't an issue. Guess I'm pretty lucky to have a job that I really enjoy, though.
Well, that's the thing, any job I would enjoy pays so badly that I would consider myself retired if that is what I was doing. As an example, I was recently offered a bench jeweler position, which is a job I would like, but the pay is basically minimum wage. I am making six figures at my current job. A minimum wage job would be retirement for me because at that point I would only be working for enjoyment. That is how I define retirement, I guess. I want to do that now, but I can't sell our house and move unless my husband is on board with that too.
If I was working in a job even remotely suited to my personality I probably would not be so eager to retire but my work is meaningless to anyone with a soul, unfortunately.
DH recently took a part-time, minimum wage job working for our county parks. The work is almost all physical (groundskeeping, etc.) Now when he gets together with his buddies and they all rag on him because they're all into going to the gym and working out, he shuts them up by reminding them that he *is* working out - and *he* is getting paid for it!
Burned out? BTDT. You MUST get to Library and grab a copy of 'Dying Broke' and read the chapters about taking control of your employment destiny. 10 second version.. "YOU decide if you are gonna put up with employment / managers anymore (and stay), or YOU execute plan B!" Leave on Your terms, or Plan C... Quit, but don't tell your boss (I.e. stay at work, but emotionally detach and do just what they ask / pay you for NO MORE, and realize YOU have a choice everyday you show up. Ironically I had 2 co-workers do Plan C, and it was the final best yrs of their employment. The boss loved them cuz they quit causing trouble, and did ONLY what was expected and were not concerned about over achieving or career path. Quite honestly, I think the boss was relieved that they were not at all interested in taking HIS J-O-B. (He had falsely surmised this.)
Always appreciate you advice and insight!
I'm closer to plan C at this point... lots of upheaval on the job and it got to the point where I said I'm no longer going to worry about it...
Funny thing is the last CEO couldn't say enough good things about me... where as before I seemed to find myself in the thick of things "Saving" the company... literally a few times.
Top management changes and history, accomplishments and loyalty are often out the window...
On the flip side, I was self employed before and have invested in income property over the years so I do have a viable plan B.
Just one comment...
It almost never fails when I'm working at one of the rentals that someone will come up and have a job for me... they don't have a clue that I own the property.
One day I had the truck and trailer with a helper taking out a few trees and on putting in a irrigation system... several asked if I would give a price to do the same at their homes.
A few weeks ago I was using my Spartan Sewer Cable machine to clear some sewer tree roots... a guy stops and comes running over and said he has a plumbing emergency...
My point is getting out and being visible can be half the battle... I'm not looking for work... yet work finds me.
Yes...make a decision and hopefully you'll sleep well. As John Wayne said, 'Sometimes a man's got to do what he's got to do!' I did and I'm off. All in all I did not want under any circumstances to look back and say you didn't do a damn thing to change the situation. I jumped, the water's refreshing. But I'll say it can be 'cold' until you get used to it. Things are 'under construction' as i look to the future. Good luck! And also one can surprised as to what one is capable of....;-)...
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!!! (BTDT for 4 generations)
