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I did downsize, and, I over did it. Do not work, although I do buy forclosures, fix them up, and rent them out. Pets? Well, I still have 2 dogs and an inherited cat, when the cat dies, I will be back to two dogs and eventually one. Still have two vehicles, I did get rid of my motor home...one less expense.
What type of lifestyle choices did you make as part of your plan?
My plan includes down sizing to cut housing costs. I will stay in NJ.
Part time work
Decrease in number of pets- vet bills are expensive
Life style choices are varied and go in different directions. Discussing some lifestyles can be done with peril in this forum even if just answering your question.
I like a big house. And I'm looking forward to a big CLEAN house. So at least initially I don't plan to downsize, as long as we can keep up with the maintenance. When it becomes too much, we'll let it go and downsize to something where we can still entertain our children/grandchildren if they wish to spend time with us (we HOPE!).
I will let most of the critters go, though. Wind down the last set of barn cats, sell the horses. Downsize the dog breeds, most likely, but we're unlikely to ever live without one or two dogs in our home.
Then we will be snowbirds, most likely, and do quite a bit of traveling in early retirement while we can still enjoy it and before our (we HOPE!) grandchildren arrive. We are really hoping to be surrounded by family in retirement, but if not we will have plenty of interests to keep us busy, and we enjoy one another's company.
And I'm hoping to have the time and resources to devote to real estate investments, rehabbing homes. Which I love.
Even though I'm retired (SS Early), my wife still works a full-time job, but is of retirement age, we started downsizing a number of years ago (in 2005). Thru Community Garage Sales and sending numerous items to the Goodwill and Salvation Army, we done a descent job in the "getting rid of it" category. My wife was a pretty big "pack rat" back then, but she sure has changed since........with my help, of course.
Have two vehicles and that will continue until she does retire. She hopes to do that when she hits 70. Will get $7k more a year on SS for Late Retirement, as long as her good-to-great health holds out.
Only pet we have is a beta, but later on will be getting a Shih Tzu puppy.
Our full retirement plan doesn't call for living here in northeastern Florida. Could possibly move back to south/metro Denver, CO. Being retired means NOT having to travel in the snow that much. Lived there (south/metro Denver) for 5 1/2 years and loved the area, especially in the summer.
We didn't have much of a plan. Sh1te happened. DH has a bum hip which coincided nicely at his 62 reitrement in 2011. Two story house and hard winters made it clear we would have to do something as we age and taking care of the place gets harder.
2012 stepdad dies unexpectedly. Mom sells rental and buys a house in FL. We move this summer.
My lifestyle choices are probably not going to change too much.
I will stay in my house because it's small and while it has a second floor, I don't have to use it if I don't wish to do so. It has a large yard, and I love to garden, so that's a big plus. I have a camp at what was once our family farm that I plan to fix up so that I can stay overnight during the summer.
I'm considering traveling, the big trip would to Italy to see the town where my grandparents originally came from. I have lots of friends and relatives down south that I can visit during the worst of the winter, too. I might consider renting a place for a month in March or April around Myrtle Beach if I can find a house sitter who deals well with my cats.
I also plan to volunteer. I feel that I've been blessed with a solid retirement income and decent health, and that I should give back to my community.
We didn't have much of a plan. Sh1te happened. DH has a bum hip which coincided nicely at his 62 reitrement in 2011. Two story house and hard winters made it clear we would have to do something as we age and taking care of the place gets harder.
2012 stepdad dies unexpectedly. Mom sells rental and buys a house in FL. We move this summer.
Well, this is the truth. All our retirement "plans" are prefaced with "IF all goes as planned." We do have our worst-case scenario plan, and figure that realistically we'll end up somewhere between that doomsday scenario and our "dream" retirement.
Our main project right now is just getting into the mindset of being flexible and taking life as it comes, while maintaining our top priorities which are, for me, 1. Family, and 2. Not being cold anymore. Everything else will be gravy.
What type of lifestyle choices did you make as part of your plan?
My plan includes down sizing to cut housing costs. I will stay in NJ.
Part time work
Decrease in number of pets- vet bills are expensive
What will you do with your pets????
I will let my cats live out their lives, and hopefully my daughter will return to the US eventually and take back the last cat she stuck me with, but I won't get more pets that quickly once they are gone.
I bought a condo at 52 with paying a mortgage in retirement in mind. The mortgage people kept pushing for me to buy something more expensive (You have a good salary! You can afford it!) but I knew approximately what I'd be able to afford on my pension, and I stuck to my guns. So, no downsizing necessary.
I will have to work for a while to pay down some debt. Part-time would be nice. I'll stay in New Jersey for now because I have an elderly mother. This winter has felt horrible to me, though, so I might consider a little bit further south someday. Maybe northern Virginia. I have a friend there. However, not having to schlep outside to embark on a 90-minute commute every day might make the winters more bearable.
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