article on retiring

[JustMike77]

I always click on these sorts of threads mostly because I am ambivalent about retiring. I am definitely not in the group of people who think OTHERS shouldn't retire, that's their business and I wish them (you) all well. My sister just retired from her teaching career at 68, so the topic comes up a lot lately. I'm 64 and have owned my own 1 man real estate appraisal business for 25 years. Unlike my sister, who had to be at work every day by 7 AM, I work when I want. I make my own hours, only take the orders I want to do and have no one to answer to. My house, boat and cars are all paid off and I have plenty of money to retire. Yet, I don't. The "why" of this makes me a little crazy. After all, 30 years ago I was living on a boat and was REALLY GOOD at not working. Then came the wife, the kid, the house payment and I became "the worker bee"........ and I guess I never stopped. It might have something to do with having my name on the door. Closing your own business somehow feels different from just not showing up at the office anymore. I do take a lot of time for myself. I go sailing and hang out at the boat a lot. I go shooting at the range, play with my motorcycles and see friends from time to time. I don't travel much, I suffer from a profound lack of curiosity about other places and always have. I guess I just don't know what I would DO all day. I'm so used to being focused and staying on top of my business. I worry that I can't change after all these years. Naturally, I clicked on a few of the anti-retirement articles cited in the OP's article and I found this one statement which seemed to sum me up.

"Just as fish have to swim and birds have to fly, entrepreneurs have to build, improve and build again. Without that process, they–quite literally–die inside a little every day."

So, is this what I have become? Sometimes I wonder how it will all turn out.

But, Congratulations to all of you happily retired folks.

[Perryinva]

Well, IMHO, and I've said this before...you ARE retired. You can collect SS ANYTIME you want, you don't HAVE to work, you can do anything and buy anything you may want or need. And not worry about how it will affect your future or your loved ones future. There literally is NO difference between you and a "retired" man your age that plays golf, reads or watches TV, or putters in the garden,... you are both doing exactly what you want, except your "hobby" pays you well.

It is the same situation I will likely find myself in. My experience and expertise are always in demand. In one year I will have access to any of my retirement funds. At that point it becomes a matter of how much fixed income do I want to have vs how much more free time I want. Like another poster said, I will also double my income by staying 5 more years. My biggest "dilemma", is that by officially retiring, my pension no longer grows roughly $4500/yr, and I lose the $10k a year free company match/HSA, PLUS the ability to add $6k/yr to a Super Medical Roth. When you're the type that has worked hard to get where you are and are really reaping significant fruits for your labors, it's hard to stop at the top of your game. I may just take 3 or 4 months off without pay at 62 during our slow season, and see how I feel after that.

Another way to look at it is as if you were starting a new job from a fresh slate. My staying past 62 is like some one offering me a short term contract that I can end anytime I want. The terms are: for each year of service, besides paying you more than you currently get, (the raise) and get excellent healthcare benefits, for each year you work for us we will give you a $10k bonus, of which $1k is totally completely tax free, including anything it earns, $4500 a year for life, and you can pretty much come and go as you please, as long as you make these thins work.

It's a hard thing to pass on when you really like what you do...

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by golfingduo

You have hit that nail on the head. Many boomers lost access to pensions and didn't put anything or very little into retirement accounts like IRA's 401k's came late and many didn't have access to them either. A lot of people barely made ends meet during the Carter administration. They started making headway in the Reagan years and life just happens.


Where I worked I was given thanks and a going away party. Many of my colleagues were jealous of my step into retirement. I know I am part of the few that have pension and resources. As I said above and GeoffD alluded to as well most folks won't have the resources to retire until much later or else they will live in poverty. Also many will leave jobs only to have to take up part time jobs to make ends meet.

Where I worked I was given thanks and a going away party. Many of my colleagues were jealous of my step into retirement. I know I am part of the few that have pension and resources. As I said above and GeoffD alluded to as well most folks won't have the resources to retire until much later or else they will live in poverty. Also many will leave jobs only to have to take up part time jobs to make ends meet.

Most people seemed surprised and disappointed that I no longer wanted to work. Why leave the workforce? Aren't you going to miss it? What are you going to do all day? It was almost as if I became less worthy in their eyes, somehow flawed for wanting to call it quits.

What's going on here? What am I missing? I actually started to feel a little guilty.

Yes, part of the anti-retirement rhetoric was the financial aspect but they gladly gave many other reasons why I should continue to work. Work defines who you are they told me, it gives a sense of purpose, belonging and direction. It provides mental stimulation and self-esteem, is better for your health and adds meaning to your life.[/quote]

Reread the bolded portion taken out of the article. The author is not addressing those who might be envious of his ability to retire for financial security. He clearly states that was part of it but the main point was the comments regarding his attitude for leaving the workplace. He is talking about his colleagues not understanding how people can spend their time not working. That was the whole point of the article.

I did not have the resources to retire by today's standards. $1900 a month and a savings nowhere near enough we are told are needed on which to retire would not do it for most people but I had to leave work due to medical reasons and I did just fine. Had I been able to continue on with work I would have done so only for the money and not for the thrill of it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't wrap my life around it either and that's what the article is about. Not about money.

And that's his point. A person can be happy away from the workplace whatever the circumstances.

[fluffythewondercat]

On one level it's a clickbait article that references other clickbait articles. So cynical me says it was done primarily to attract eyeballs.

If you found something worthwhile within, all the better.

I think the economy is such that some people are truly convinced it is better to keep working. All I know is that however many articles are written to gin up some faux outrage, we'll make the decision that works for us.

[Perryinva]

One of the real problems with knowing if your specific retirement is successful is or not, is that you will not know it until shortly before your death.

If you are even 80 and "fine so far", how can you possibly know if you are all set should you live to 90 or 100, unless you have such a large guaranteed fixed income and back up savings for all reasonably possible situatons? One can't. My mother "retired" (she never actually worked after the kids were all gone after age 46) when they sold their house and moved to Florida at age 50. There was no financially planning beyond "What ever we would have done to live in Connecticut, we will do in Florida." I always said they just "moved". But my mother loved to say "We're retired". She died of complications from COPD at age 68, and told me weeks before she died, that she was so glad she retired early, because "See, you never know."

Now, besides the many obviously wrong conclusions she made, based on stupid decisions she chose, she started collecting SS as soon as she could, and had she NOT died at 68, by 70 she would have been dead broke, assuming there were no increased medical costs or catastrophic events.

So right up until the year before she died, when she finally acknowledged her too soon early demise, she would have also said her retirement was successful. My father, now 77, can't believe he is still alive. He's said he thought 77 was ANCIENT, and he would be dead long before that. He basically has nothing wrong with him besides some arthritis. If There is a catastrophic financial event, that he cannot afford, I will have to be the one responding.

So a successful retirement is often a moving target and covers a lot more than "enough to live on".

[matisse12]

JustMike77, there seems absolutely NO reason why you should retire! You have an ideal and idyllic life. Why change it?

It seems the only reason you might retire in the future would be health reasons if that occurs or reaching an age where you cannot easily do your current real estate appraising.

Since you enjoy your work and you can work whenever you feel like it and make your own hours - why would retirement even be a consideration? Especially since you have plenty of time to use your sailboat & enjoy sailing & motorcycles.

There is nothing wrong with being a 'worker bee' as you describe it.