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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I like to work hard and play hard, so doing a 'reverse sabbatical" has been ideal... Off 6 yrs, then work 1 yr. In my free yrs I will travel for a few and stay home for a few yrs. When home, I usually do a bit of Real Estate deals / building. (Work for some, play for me, as I thrive on creating new ideas). Today Habitat ReStore was having a window sale and had a large shipment of triple pane large combo windows with solar glass and triple pane.... So I bought a lot of them. Tonight I'm designing my next home to fit my new windows! Have done this many times before. I keep large shops that I can fill up with supplies, then design homes to match supplies. My kids each made $80k building their custom 'chalets' in mtns. (During Jr High Homeschool). We had just returned from a LT work assignment in Spain, France, and Switzerland.... So they had a lot of ideas. We shipped home tile from Italy for building our own home. Nice and creative things to do are possible during Retirement if you are not stuck in a rut. (And not afraid of something that may be considered WORK to some.)
Extra money from RE deals just funds more RE deals. I keep that windfall
separate.
Someone called today wanting to swap one of my view Properties for a very nice river overlook home and acreage. I'll run the numbers to see which is better LT equity and income gain.
Nice and creative things to do are possible during Retirement if you are not stuck in a rut. (And not afraid of something that may be considered WORK to some.)
I don't recall anyone being against WORK or WORKING. The question is can one create work without needing an external employer?
Nice and creative things to do are possible during Retirement if you are not stuck in a rut. (And not afraid of something that may be considered WORK to some.)
I don't recall anyone being against WORK or WORKING. The question is can one create work without needing an external employer?
If I was a retiree and I designed a new app and set up a small business to sell it, that's work. It's self created and self directed.
"The question is can one create work without needing an external employer?"
The fact that one CHOOSES to work after retirement is not evidence that one NEEDS an external employer; again, one may CHOOSE an external employer for whatever reason. This is where you continually err.
At 62, I retired from my government job because I was BORED with nothing to do. I turned around and started working in the private sector. Now I experienced the "pressure" (not stress) of getting up at 5am and coming home at 6pm but I like the work and money is not bad neither. I guess in a sport analogy, I much prefer to be a player in the field rather than on the sideline as a spectator. It keeps me busy, force me to think what I need to accomplish today, and it gives me a sense of satisfaction mentoring young engineers. I have 6 weeks a year of "personal time off" so that gives us plenty of time to plan for vacations and figure out where to go.
I guess I will continue until my body breaks down and can not handle the day-to-day grind, or when my life situations change. Engineering is a field where the older you are, the more valuable you can be, so that gives me an "old fart" authority over young engineers. Hey, you maybe a whiz kid but you lack "experience" so listen to this old fart Going to conferences is more like a reunion with old colleagues, trading rumors, rather than present technical papers so that takes the pressure off as well.
Oh in case you're wondering about getting back in the workforce, the economy must be great right now as I am getting head hunter inquiries every other week.
I am not an engineer but have worked in the engineering industry my entire life (public sector, contract admin and then procurement before retirement, proposal prep and business development for a private firm after) and you are correct. Older engineers with experience command bucks. It's no surprise that you're getting those inquiries. I have had part-time work since I retired four years ago, and I have never looked for a job. They came to me, and my value to them is what and who I know. I could work full-time if I wanted to, but other things came up in my life that take precedence.
There is a shortage of engineers right now in the NYC area with all the big public projects on the horizon. Firms like the one I work for are vying to hire people. They're sitting like spiders waiting for the public sector engineers to retire from the agencies so that they can grab them.
I retired at 55 and then went back to work "part-time" last fall after 15 months. My wife is 6 years younger and all my friends are still working. I did a lot of skiing, projects, reading, and walking the dog last year. I am an active and social person. It was very difficult to find people around my age that were available to do the activities I enjoy. I found that I was spending far too much time alone and did not want to enter another winter with that much downtime.
I am enjoying my new job. My part-time job has now turned into full-time hours. The days fly by. I am now trying to make arrangements in my absence for a planned 1 week ski vacation. It's feast or famine. Lol!
I have a small pension in place. This makes a big difference. I don't feel the same dependency on my job knowing that I could leave whenever I want to. My previous job was very stressful and many people did not make it to an age when they were eligible for a pension. Because of the way the pension is structured, those who were not eligible to receive a pension often re-entered the workforce finding that their retirement horizon was significantly increased. This is because they did not pay into SS during the time they paid into the pension plan and now they needed to work longer to be eligible for SS benefits.
Last edited by Lincolnian; 02-19-2020 at 04:48 AM..
I am retiring in April at 64. I have worked my whole life. I hope to God I am not 'bored,' but have planned out some things for the spring/summer and picked April because I could start being outside then (living in the NE, winter starts to wane in April, and if I'm lucky, earlier!!). I want to give it one year and see how I feel about being 'bored,' or 'need money' then.
"I don't feel the same dependency on my job knowing that I could leave whenever I want to."
Exactly. Working because you want to rather than have to makes a huge difference. That's something people who are still working because they have to can't really fathom. The grass is always greener!
You are entitled to state your opinion as subjectively erroneous as it is.
Simply stated, you are stating your perception but it is incorrect as a universal observation.
I am designing and structuring my life and that plan includes a creative and worth while( to me) PT job which has intrinsic and extrinsic value. The fact that I receive a salary is irrelevant.
Absolutely correct. Except that if you recall, the OP was about someone who went back to work because he has bored in retirement. That's completely different from "designing and structuring (your) life and that plan includes a creative and worthwhile PT job which has intrinsic and extrinsic value." And I think that's from where the criticism derives.
People who have a plan for their retirement which includes a PT job ≠People who need a PT job in order not to be bored.
Now please don't misunderstand; I'm not criticizing the OP for deciding to go back to work; I'm not even criticizing him for going back to work because he is bored. In fact, I'm not criticizing him at all. I'm just attempting to explain that the criticism he and others have received is because they've specifically stated that they've gone back to work simply because they are bored.
What I've written may be a bit convoluted, but I hope that makes sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by augiedogie
Well, my retirement may be put on hold for some time. I'm going back to work, for how long I dont know, but my feeling is its going to be quite awhile. I'm looking forward to it. After three years, an I'm actually kinda bored. Anyone else get bored and gone back to work?
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Going to conferences is more like a reunion with old colleagues, trading rumors, rather than present technical papers so that takes the pressure off as well. 
