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my little job paid for our health insurance since i had to pay it on our own . whatever i made went for insurance and a trip to cuba . so it required us to not lay out a penny for it from our own money .
There re many opportunities and plenty with no stress.
Even going back to Corp America is so much less stress after you have retired.
You really don't CARE about the many hoops you previously jumped through.
Annual evaluation? What's that ? Means nothing on your second lap. (nor do the weasel managers)
A person's thoughts and experiences obviously are individual.
If someone retired at 40 and had reached financial critical mass -- and so therefore didn't need to work...then that person may tend to have different thoughts on working after "retirement" -- than the person who worked continuously from 16 to 66 -- to get to the point of being able to retire. (And I know a former co-worker who at 75 STILL doesn't want to retire.)
Not saying this is you but in general --
If a person retires at 40 takes a break for 10 years -- they've HAD the freedom of their time being their own -- and the mental and physical break from the workplace that others wish they could take to get a respite from the daily grind of the hamster wheel we call working for a living -- which can chew you up, spit you out and leave emotionally and physically drained.
Give me 10 years off to unwind, rejuvenate and reinvigorate -- I might be open to coming back to work, also.
But in my case, like so many others -- because I will have worked straight through from 16 to 66 -- and dealt with the BS and stress of a NON IDEAL work place.....I already know that when I get to retirement I will have no real interest or desire to work AT ALL.
Heck. I don't want to work NOW -- but I have to. If I could I'd retire tomorrow.
Most people I've seen who go back to corporate America were at least 2nd level managers...they had all the connections and ended up getting hired back as consultants at likely twice their salary - part of a sweet golden parachute deal.
As a technical analyst my options likely would start as a Walmart greeter. But I have no desire to work a day or two a week - that ties me waaaaay down to no travel of any real length though a week a month could work or short term projects of no more than a couple months - few of those options exist in the real world.
the big mistake so many make is they retire from good jobs with good benefits and hours and while the jobs can be stressful they basically are off the radar . no one evaluates them or watches them .
they then take what they think are low end stress free jobs only to find now they are under the microscope of some grunt supervisor watching everything they do and evaluating their every move . now they have all this new stress and crappy pay , no benefits and the worst hours . all while being put under the microscope .
they still are stressed only now they do not get compensated for it . i watched my buddy who works for the nyc fire dept go through this .
I agree 100%. Just because a job is lower pay does not somehow make it easy. The worst job I ever had was as a busboy.
If I have to commit to working two or three days a week I'm just like a regular employee who has to be there every week.
So unless the job can let me go for a month at a time (which if that's the case they wouldn't need me at all and wouldn't have hired me in the first place) -- then I can't do the travel I really would prefer to do.
I have a friend who's husband retired and she left her job to move with him. She wants to work (sort of) but they're starting to enjoy HIS retirement -- and they have all these trips already planned for 2018. They'll be gone FIVE weeks next year, one week each in March, May, June, July, August, and October. I asked, what job is going to give you time off like that? I wonder why she's even looking for a job, with all those travel commitments. She's looking at substitute teaching. But doesn't really want to do that. But it's the only thing so far that she's thought of where SHE can say whether she wants to work or not.
I'm going to suggest a temp agency maybe, since she's looking for admin/office work.
Would that work for her you think?
So yes, reneeh63, I'm with you....when I retire, any work or job I get will have to work around what I want to do.
Some ideas:
-- seasonal work: accountant, florist shop, amusement parks, ski resorts, holiday retail, national park, plant nursery.
-- maybe health insurance companies might want more workers around open enrollment season.
I retired about 3 times but "mature" engineers who can do CAD work and understand how industry works are rare. I usually just ignored the financial consequences of the mix of SS and earned income and did the work I wanted to continue.
I agree. It seems a bit insulting to me that after working an entire career some seem to think there's nothing outside of work to keep you mentally active EXCEPT work! The Protestant work ethic just never lets go of some people - but I don't think I'll have trouble shaking it loose!
Yeah, I somehow find plenty to do—unpaid—around the homestead, especially now that we are building a place with a decently large hunk of land. There is always something to do. Even after the minimum requirements are met, I know I will keep seeing things to improve or personalize. Plants, and nature generally, do not stagnate!
And then there is the satisfaction of sitting back and relaxing among something I have worked on. When things settle down more, that same feeling will come from doing volunteer work...but not on a rigid schedule, that’s for sure.
On a related tangent, my mother recently kept asking me, “What do you do all day?” As if she had not noticed the last time I was bored was when I was a young child without freedom. As if she still did not understand that some of us are happy without multitudes of “entertainment venues” or malls or human hordes around. As if she totally forgot how much of a bookworm I was!
I can retire next year, early - the option is there. Unfortunately, my pension wont meet my needs and I wont get social security for at least 5 more years. I have a TDA, that will give me an additional $300 a month that I can draw on early, but I cant have any other income or I pay a heavy tax penalty, so, I still cant touch it until I'm 59 & a 1/2. Because the pension and TDA together will only equal half of my current salary, one could say I cant really retire early unless I happen to win lotto or something. On the plus side, I am vested for my health insurance, but it only covers me in the state I currently reside in.
I have a 3 family home that happens to be worth a lot of money (as is) and costs a lot of money in upkeep and taxes. I inherited it in somewhat run down condition, and only 1 apartment is rentable. The other needs costly work (a new/updated kitchen and bathroom all new windows, etc.) that I would need to take out a small mortgage/loan of somewhere from 50K to 100K to cover the cost of renovation, and I'm not motivated to do that, although I may eventually have to. I live in 1 apartment myself.
I could sell it, and live modestly but comfortably for the rest of my life (provided I don't live to be over 100)in a cheaper state like West Virginia or something, but this has been my home for 35 years, the death's in my family are still emotionally 'fresh', and I cant see myself getting up tomorrow and leaving. This has been my home for 35 years, and each day, although no living family is still there, I look forward to returning to it after work.
I also have a family friend renting the good apartment. She is in her late 70's and pays a reduced rent in comparison to the going rate. I feel obligated to her to stay. It is iffy to say that the second rent would make it more feasible to retire on just my pension alone. I cant retire early and start drawing on my TDA because of rent as income.
Even if I forgo the TDA draw until the proper age requirement, the pension and current rent is not enough. I would still need a part-time position somewhere to make ends meet, even if I sold the home, left my friend swinging in the wind in a competitive and costly rental market, and became a renter myself in the same area.
My best option, unfortunately, is to get the rent from the second apartment going, AND stay at my current job. I too cant wait to retire for good, and when I am ready to sell out and move on (which includes figuring out where the heck to relocate to), I HOPE and PRAY I never have to work again.
I've had enough now, been working steady since I can remember in one way or another, and would like to get some joy out of life before I die.
ComeCloser, I certainly hope you are already finding little -- and great -- joys in life on a daily basis. And I wish that for us all.
But I can certainly relate.
No, I'm not putting off enjoying life -- but I sure can't wait to not to have to work for a living.
Just think of all the work related aggravations we won't have to deal with.
Might they be replaced by other annoyances? Sure. But all least they won't be work, boss, manager, or coworker related.
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retirement -- and they have all these trips already planned for 2018. They'll be gone FIVE weeks next year, one week each in March, May, June, July, August, and October. I asked, what job is going to give you time off like that? I wonder why she's even looking for a job, with all those travel commitments. She's looking at substitute teaching. But doesn't really want to do that. But it's the only thing so far that she's thought of where SHE can say whether she wants to work or not.
