Retirement - when to take that step (leap?)

[aargee]

I never thought about retirement too much but it seems suddenly in front of me, which I guess is a result of the job turning to corporate crap.
The money thing keeps me here but is getting less and less crucial and I can see the time where I just go and say enough is enough. A lot of anecdotal stories go something like "... I wish I'd done this ages ago".
Retirement seems like a dirty word but I'd consider the move to be more like a change in direction, maybe. I'm not necessarily the one to take up the recliner to set up in front of the TV, decline into an aged stupor, and then 'shuffle off this mortal coil'.

Just wondering how others have handled this and the transition to a better (or worse?) life.

[jmh]

I used to hear people say 'best thing I ever did' and 'dunno how I found the time for work'... and both turned out exactly true. I retired at 58 after going through yet another change of management / direction / ethos in IT where I worked. Got fed up and jumped.

YMMV but I checked carefully that I could actually afford to quit my job and end up with 50% of my original take home pay. But going from the daily struggle through traffic and having to cope with endless useless meetings and management reversals the choice was made for me. I ended up going two years sooner than I had planned - I always thought 60 was a good time to go.

Once I retired I started doing all the things I never really had time for. Passed all 3 of our amateur radio exams, started on a shelf full of electronics projects which were waiting, started to volunteer at a steam railway, finally tidied the workshop up (which lasted a whole week)...

One downside is I can never remember what day of the week it is. One upside is I no longer care when Monday comes.

[AntiProtonBoy]

One thing to keep in mind when retiring is to make sure you have something to do. Not necessarily like a job, but some occupation that's not only relaxing, but also keeps you from idling around and waste away in front of the TV. Some people find retiring difficult (like my old man); they suddenly feel useless and one of the things that made their existence meaningful is now suddenly gone.

Some interesting info about retirement, especially early retirement:
https://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/

[retiredfeline]

Your super fund probably offers (online) seminars and materials on various aspects of the process of retirement. Check them out.

[daqq]

Not necessarily like a job, but some occupation that's not only relaxing, but also keeps you from idling around and waste away in front of the TV. Some people find retiring difficult (like my old man); they suddenly feel useless and one of the things that made their existence meaningful is now suddenly gone.

Had an old colleague who retired - he was that age. He managed to endure a whole month of it, then went back to work.

[jpanhalt]

I can echo all of the earlier comments:
1) Be sure you have enough investments/money;
2) Be sure you have something to do (I volunteered at a local  college to teach for a few years, then bought a "hobby farm");
3) Of course, hobbies fill some of the void but for me quickly get boring; and
4) Do it while you are still healthy (Early 60's was the number for me).

There is nothing worse than having nothing to do.   When I see stories about lavish vacations by the wealthy retired, I am thankful I have something else to do.  I never went on a "real" vacation and enjoyed it.

[nctnico]

Retirement seems like a dirty word but I'd consider the move to be more like a change in direction, maybe. I'm not necessarily the one to take up the recliner to set up in front of the TV, decline into an aged stupor, and then 'shuffle off this mortal coil'.

Just wondering how others have handled this and the transition to a better (or worse?) life.

Become a self employed consultant. That is also kind of being retired. Personally I don't think I'll ever retire - retire.

[PaulAm]

Assuming you have sufficient financial resources, retirement can be the best part of your life

A couple of things you need to do:

A top priority is to maintain physical well being.  So spend an hour a day (you can now afford it!) to walking, working out or whatever physical activity you more or less enjoy.

A second priority is to do things that keep your brain active and engaged.  Learn a new language, continue to do consulting, do the design projects you never had time for, volunteer, etc.  Activities that keep you socially connected are also good.

In the US early retirement is difficult if you're not filthy rich because non-employer medical insurance can easily run you $30K USD per year so I had to wait until I was eligible for retirement health benefits.  I ran my own company so I didn't have management issues, but I still enjoyed closing the books on the last client.  I was planning on continuing working at some level until my financial guy said I didn't have to.  Now I just do the stuff I'm interested in.

I had an appt with my dentist the other day.  He's well into retirement age but keeps working at a  pace that he finds enjoyable.   He schedules enough patients to keep him busy without interfering with the rest of his life, so he has time for grandkids, etc.

So figure out what would work for you, everyone's different.   Some people need more structure than others, just don't sit around glued to Netflix all day.  That's about the worst thing you can do.

[Gregg]

I knew it was time to retire when the corporate management was piling on more work than I could handle with my usual diligence. It seemed to be a long standing tradition to force older employees to go away.  I had known others that handled the deluge of work by reducing the quality of their work and cutting corners to the point where they were forced out with bad reviews or other disciplinary action.
I had never been employed long enough in a single company to qualify for a pension; either from company bankruptcy or I had jumped ship for better positions.  But I had carefully utilized all opportunities to put maximum into retire accounts and take full advantage of all cases where matching funds were paid by the employer at the time.  In addition I put at least 25% of any pay raises into investment funds.  Right after I retired, I found a way to roll multiple retirement funds into a couple of accounts just to keep them all together.
When I was working, I kept backups of my company computer on thumb drives and portable hard drives – they didn’t say I couldn’t and the corporate IT department would push downloads on a regular basis that bricked the PC such that it needed a clean install of their less than stellar corporate image.  But at least I had my data, contacts and backed up emails. It got to the point where I had no data on the PC at all; I just kept it on a thumb drive that I backed up daily. Backed up emails were especially important when the management finger pointing started to look for scapegoats and had saved my reputation on several occasions.
Keeping a list of contacts proved a great asset; I kept in touch with a few people and got a few great consulting jobs after retirement. 
As far as keeping busy, my wife and I have a house that is 120 years old and there is always something to fix or gardening to do.  Keeping active and having some time away from my spouse is a necessity for my sanity; full time playing with electronics isn’t distant enough.

[Jester]

My 2c.
About 10+ years ago, age 50, I had had enough of the short term mentality of the place I was working at. I really didn’t need to work for financial reasons, however I still really enjoy doing electronic design. So I started my own gig basically work when I want to (not summers). I love it and I would never go back. I’m doing less and less these days, just take the interesting low hanging fruit type jobs from good clients and turn away anyone and everything else. My dad was self made, fully retired at 47 and never regretted it for a second. IMO too many people work too long and don’t have enough time to smell the roses.

[Oldtestgear]

Planning for retirement is wise. Sometimes nature intervenes & the best plans go wrong. A very good friend of mine had planned his early retiremt (at 63) with meticulous detail.  Nature had other ideas & he died suddenly 3 months into retirement.  In my case I had plans to quite my job at 55, then become a consultant to the customers I hade been working with. Solid plan that made financial sense if I had been able to implement it. At 47 (in 2005) I became seriously ill & have never been able to do a proper job since. Eventually medical advice was to accept that I would never work again & try to enjoy life.

To be honest I have never been happier as work got in the way of my interests & hobbies.  The best advice anyone can offer is " do what is right for you today"  The future will happen and we cannot control what fate has in store for us.  We may be able to have a marginal effect but the big things in life will juat happen.  Keeping as active as possible is wise but not all of us have that luxury.

Just my thoughts.

Phil

[aargee]

Thanks for all your replies and insights!

[Red Squirrel]

With the constant rising costs of living it made me realize that retirement is probably not realisticly in my future unless I find a way to somehow reduce all those costs.  Been starting to plan more for my future as I really want to retire at a decent age and not have to work through my 60's and beyond and at the current rate of costs of living not only will I still need to work at that age I will probably need a second job too.   I really don't want to work my whole life only to die.

So my goal is to move off grid where I will be able to eliminate most of my bills, especially property taxes.  That goes up by 10% every year and takes up about 1/4 of my pay cheque at this point and will continue to take up more. 

Recently bought 40 acres in an unorganized township where taxes are $100/year instead of like $400/month so I will start to slowly build as time and money allows.  Once I have it setup where I can live there year round I will then start looking at a source of income that does not require to be at a certain place for a certain time, as I'm like an hour out of town.  Since I won't have as many bills I will also won't need to be making as much money so I can take even a part time job or a job where you make your own hours. Basically as long as I can do it remotely I will be able to be very flexible.   Ideally I will want a passive source of income though.

I'm 35, wish I had looked into this plan 10 years ago since I feel I'm getting started late.  Will probably take like 5-10 years before I have the homestead ready and I'll be in my 40's.   10 years ago my finances were not as tight as they are now though, I only started to realize in past few years how much costs of living keep going up and how I'm heading towards a point where my costs will exceed my income.  I make good money too so not like jumping to another ship will help much.   If anything it would set me back more as I would need to build up seniority again.   So reducing my costs of living while living a more laid back life style seems like a win win to me. I miss the days where I didn't work and used to go camping a lot.   Being off grid is basically going to be 24/7 camping, but with the amenities of home.

[Bud]

"Camping a lot" made you feel great but that did Not hep build your assets, it was a liability and you were just burning your life.  What you are trying to do now makes much more sense, however I'd carefully explore local Regulations / Laws applicable to it. The $100/ year may well turn to something different once you build a permanent place of living on the land as it will be classified differently. It is likely all sort of licenses and permissions will be required for construction. And by the time you hit 60 the town may move closer and be at your doorsteps. The Taxman knows his shit 

[Red Squirrel]

Not sure what you mean about camping being a liability, it was just something I did for fun and was a kid back then hence not needing to work.   Used to go with my grandparents.  My parents never been into it so once I started to work and my grandparents stopped going regularly I basically had no place to go which was one motive for buying this land. But may as well do more than just  a campground.

Thankfully in unorganized township there's no permits or any of that BS needed to build so it's probably the closest thing to freedom that you can get in this ridiculous society.  I did hear that they sometimes still send assessors in cottage areas though but I'm not lake front or in cottage country so will hopefully be safe from that.   But either way it's still better than being in the city.

Though I do worry that they could eventually amalgamate with the town and no longer be unorganized but no sense in worrying about that now.  I just pray it does not happen.  But if it does hopefully there will still be unorganized land available at that point.  I will probably want to buy something higher north like James or Hudson Bay area if ever I see land become for sale in those areas, just so I have a backup plan.   With climate change I think we're going to see changes for the worse society and weather wise but maybe up there will basically be the same as what it's like here now.

[james_s]

"Camping a lot" made you feel great but that did Not hep build your assets, it was a liability and you were just burning your life.  What you are trying to do now makes much more sense, however I'd carefully explore local Regulations / Laws applicable to it. The $100/ year may well turn to something different once you build a permanent place of living on the land as it will be classified differently. It is likely all sort of licenses and permissions will be required for construction. And by the time you hit 60 the town may move closer and be at your doorsteps. The Taxman knows his shit 

Personally I wish I had spent more time camping and doing other enjoyable things in my youth when I had the time, the social circle and the youthful health to make it more enjoyable. The older you get the harder it is to do that stuff, assets aren't everything.

[victorb]

Retirement definitely snuck up on me too. I was in a similar boat, feeling burnt out and realizing I didn't want to wait until I was too old to enjoy life. So, I started planning my exit strategy early, focusing on what truly made me happy. This was going on trips with my family.

[Smokey]

Retirement seems like a dirty word but I'd consider the move to be more like a change in direction, maybe. I'm not necessarily the one to take up the recliner to set up in front of the TV, decline into an aged stupor, and then 'shuffle off this mortal coil'.

Just wondering how others have handled this and the transition to a better (or worse?) life.

Become a self employed consultant. That is also kind of being retired. Personally I don't think I'll ever retire - retire.

This one.  Assuming you actually have a truly marketable skill and have spent at least a little time thinking about how to personally market that skill.  If you have only been a company man your entire carrier and just show up to work and stay in your corner, it may be a shock actually needing to convince someone you don't already know that they should pay you real money for something.  The nature of the work also needs to be that you can do it mostly independently and don't rely on equipment or outside expertise you won't necessarily have. 

Note:  This is sort of good advice for anyone, not just the retired-curious.  At least something to consider.

[tom66]

Consider a 3-4 day week, with reduced salary, before you retire.

See how you enjoy the extra time off traded against the pay reduction.

As nctnico points out, it may be possible to work as a contractor while retired, though in some cases that may impact your pension access.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

I've done the math... I can probably retire when I after I turn 137.  Anytime before that and I'll just have to live under a bridge and eat squirrel.

- Wil

[CatalinaWOW]

Most of the advice here is good, but actually impossible to follow.  For example:  Make sure you have enough money/income.  But no one knows how long they will live, nor how their expenses will be over decades.  Since it is impossible to do an accurate assessment the secret is to be comfortable with the decision without having hard facts. 

The decision is personal and will be different for everyone. My decision which was based on a combination of factors (not being able to perform at the bleeding edge all the time, family history indicating I might not live all that long, and a regrettable work experience, among others).  Life since retirement has taken a couple of unexpected and unplanned turns, but as with others who have commented I am completely happy with decision.  A few more years could have dramatically increased the nest egg, but even looking back I wouldn't trade the experiences for the money.  That could change somewhere down the line as a result of further life events or in the world around me, but that is one of those unpredictable situations.

[thermistor-guy]

...
Just wondering how others have handled this and the transition to a better (or worse?) life.

I am looking at retirement but can't quite afford it yet. So, similar to what others have advised:

* Make sure you can afford retirement. Do you have a financial plan that shows it's feasible?

* Watch out for retirement homes. If you think you will end up in one, be prepared. The decent ones
are very expensive, with large bonds upfront (roughly AUD 600k per person). Most are not fit to house
livestock.

* Put the effort into staying healthy and active, so your mind and and body function well, and you can
enjoy life. Nothing worse than being trapped in a weak body that hurts, unable to think clearly, taking
medication that depresses you, suffering at the hands of incompetent doctors, all the while leaking
money through medical bills.

 * Think about how you will spend your time. Some people feel lost when they retire.
(I have so many things lined up that I want to do. As soon as I can afford it, I'm out.)

[5U4GB]

Not necessarily like a job, but some occupation that's not only relaxing, but also keeps you from idling around and waste away in front of the TV. Some people find retiring difficult (like my old man); they suddenly feel useless and one of the things that made their existence meaningful is now suddenly gone.

Had an old colleague who retired - he was that age. He managed to endure a whole month of it, then went back to work.

Was going to say the same thing, there's several not-really-retired neighbours close to me, all of whom kept doing what they'd done while fully employed, just on a part-time basis: Two teachers who still teach part-time, an EE who still works 1-2 days a week to keep his hand in, a carpenter who spends most of the day in his workshop... all of these guys are in their 70s and still doing what they enjoyed and/or were used to.

I suspect their wives aren't complaining about having them out of the way a good chunk of the time either.

[nctnico]

Most of the advice here is good, but actually impossible to follow.  For example:  Make sure you have enough money/income.

Over here you can buy/save for a fixed monthly pension from an insurance company. That way the person who dies at 60 pays for the income for the person who lives to be 100.

[guenthert]

Re: finances

Many years ago, when the social security administration still sent out letters in snail mail stating (paraphrasing) "if you continue to earn this much, you will have so much in retirement".  I thought then, well, shit, that isn't even paying the rent.

Not too long ago, I got squeezed out of work (they wanted us to do 60h weeks with no reason given and no outlook of improvement  -- when that company already lost half their support staff a year earlier; I presume in a similar stunt) and found it difficult to get hired again (IT in the S.F. Bay area undergoes some transformation).  I counted my coins and figured I should be ok (assuming no major turmoil in the financial market, but if something like the Great Depression reoccurs in our lifetime, we're screwed in any case).  Funny enough though, I had an advisor at Fidelity walk me through a retirement plan and his Monte Carlo simulations suggested that I need to work til I'm 70.  He however didn't take into consideration (even though I explicitly stated as much) that I do expect to receive social security (which ain't all that much, but more than the average retiree gets in Germany) and that I'm free to move to an area of cheaper cost of living (which I did meanwhile).

I have now doubts, that those financial advisors really have my best interest in mind. ;-}

[nali]

As with a few others here I "retired" a couple of years ago but also went self employed and work on an ad-hoc basis, mostly for a previous employer. It stops me from stagnating and of course helps pay the bills.

Oddly enough there was an article on BBC News yesterday saying that >20% of UK adults aged 16-64 are neither working nor looking for work https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68534537 Sounds a bit alarmist but I suppose if you count unemployed, maternity/paternity, comfortable pre-retirement and wealthy it could be credible.

[tom66]

Most of the advice here is good, but actually impossible to follow.  For example:  Make sure you have enough money/income.

Over here you can buy/save for a fixed monthly pension from an insurance company. That way the person who dies at 60 pays for the income for the person who lives to be 100.

An annuity.  Typically the rates aren't particularly good, for instance from an annuity I would probably be able to get £10k per year, whereas even maintaining the safe-withdrawal-rate (~4%) would get close to £15k per year.  (Figures based on the projections from the current pot, I intend to increase it aggressively!)

One amusing thing about annuities is they tend to give you more if you're unhealthy, such as if you smoke... which begs the question as to how exactly they definitively prove that you do smoke regularly.

[hneve]

Felt the same about retirement creeping up on me. Got fed up with the corporate grind and decided I didn't want to wait around until I couldn't enjoy life anymore. Started looking into what makes me happy and how I could shift gears without ending up broke. Ended up launching a small venture that's more passion than work.

To get my finances straight, I used a Coast FIRE calculator. It was a real eye-opener, showing me I had enough stashed away to just cover living expenses without needing to add more to the pot. Made the leap way less scary and let me focus on what I actually want to do, not just what pays the bills.

[dobsonr741]

And there is health span. I started listen to this guy, decided to get my measureables in order, to get the best out of retirement, whenever I’ll get there. https://peterattiamd.com/

[pqass]

PSA: Life is meaningless and we're all going to die.

[dietert1]

When getting older, we need more time to recover. At 45 i used to run 10 km each and every day, while at 55 it was every second day. Also there seems to be a tendency to increase weight and become lazy, while the human body needs physical activity to stay healthy (sweat!).
When those requirements no longer combine with your job, it's time to retire. The average forum member should have enough ideas for projects. No need to be afraid. I recently built a 10 m² roof to cover the entrance of our house, including two concrete columns. Took four weeks and saved some money. I can still contribute something useful.

Regards, Dieter

[coppice]

One amusing thing about annuities is they tend to give you more if you're unhealthy, such as if you smoke... which begs the question as to how exactly they definitively prove that you do smoke regularly.

I was amused by those things, too. Can you just claim to engage in dangerous habits and extreme sports, or do they check regularly to ensure you are doing your best to kill yourself?

[bdunham7]

I have now doubts, that those financial advisors really have my best interest in mind. ;-}

It has been said that until proven otherwise you should consider any financial adviser, insurance salesman or real estate agent you meet to be a hardened criminal who is going to try and steal from you and has experience doing so.

[coppice]

Its nice if you can choose when to retire. Huge numbers of people are given little or no choice. Some are happy with that. Some are not. I wonder what the overall figures are for people's feelings about the reality of their retirement? Few people have a really good transition from work to retirement. After 40 years of working 5 days a week its quite a shock to the system if it happens suddenly, however it works out. Some people are able to phase out work gradually, and adapt, but most aren't. Civil servants in many places seem to have good provision for this. Some people look forward to retirement, end work happily while still fit, then fade away in just a couple of years and die. That's really sad to watch.

[coppice]

I have now doubts, that those financial advisors really have my best interest in mind. ;-}

It has been said that until proven otherwise you should consider any financial adviser, insurance salesman or real estate agent you meet to be a hardened criminal who is going to try and steal from you and has experience doing so.

I think it can be worse than that. I've seen financial advisers willing and able to give good advice, but constrained by the regulations they work under to give very poor advice. The whole system sucks in ways that seem unfixable.

[thermistor-guy]

And there is health span. I started listen to this guy, decided to get my measureables in order, to get the best out of retirement, whenever I’ll get there. https://peterattiamd.com/

Peter Attia's YT channel is good value: https://www.youtube.com/@PeterAttiaMD/videos

For physical training topics, I listen most often to Jeff Cavallier: https://www.youtube.com/@athleanx/videos
My physiotherapist has been following Jeff for 10 years.

[watchmaker]

Our take on retirement is that it improved our health and well being.  I am now 71 and lost 40 pounds in the last 3 years.  My wife is firmly entrenched in the community and has forgotten her past life. We still do restorations, but on OUR schedule (only during snow months).  We both are active in trail work.

I am in the USA.

You are just unaware of the effects of all the swirl  (commuting for example, or the general cultural anxiousness) on your state of mind.

We did make the decision in the 1980s that we would ensure our ass end was covered and would forego trips to Cancun paid for from home equity loans.  Our vacations were centered around national parks and such, which also kept us in shape.

I grew up in the lower 5% and talked a lot with a very frugal great aunt (1st generation USA Soct) who in her later years had to give up a very nice upper middle class apartment to live in senior housing.  She told me about outliving your resources.  Lessons all taken to heart.

To me, forty years in any occupation is enough.  At 65/70, if you are in the right position, there is still time left to enjoy new endeavors.   I believe you CAN make this happen even as late as your early 50s.  But the longer you have waited, the more discipline it will take.

Also, the adage that physical change is exponential after 60 is pretty close to truth.  I sat on my ass this winter and I went for a hike last week that was the most unenjoyable thing I ever did (only 4.5 miles and close to 4 hours).    It was solely an exercise of perseverance.  Last summer I outhiked my kid in the White Mtns.  Wake up call!!

My exit plan is to have a drop dead heart attack in the woods.  I have made it clear that when I get hit with a serious physical or cognitive impairment I do not want resources wasted on me.  If a treatment will not return me to function, what is the point?

[cosmicray]

I will attempt to answer this question with an anecdotal (true) story ...

I've lived here for slightly more than a quarter century. I have known my neighbors across the road, since their children were entering secondary school, a very long time ago. Two years ago, on a Saturday, I was over there standing at the front fence chatting with the wife of the couple. She had been a local heath care provider for ~43 years (wearing various hats) and had retired 2 months previously as an APRN. She was in absolutely tip-top medical shape, worked out regularly, had two adult children (both retired from different branches of the US military), and two grandkids (that visited occasionally). The following day she was being wheeled out to an EMS unit with a stroke. No prior warning of any kind. Of any person I know, who cared for their health as much as she did, she was the last person I would have expected that would happen to. Because of the type of stroke, she had no ability to communicate, nor consciousness. She was effectively on life support. Several days later, once the entire family had gathered, and based on her explicit advanced directive, there was full agreement to terminate life support. All organs were donated. Several months later there was a memorial service, with a wake the following day.

At the time that happened, she was 5 months older than I was. That experience made me laser focused on both managing my health, and on making sure that I am doing things I want to do. Not sure what else to say, other than enjoy your life while you have it. Life is precious.

[jmelson]

In June 2021 I woke up one morning and my right hand was partly numb.  I had felt this before, from sleeping on my arm wrong.  It usually came back within minutes.  But, this time it DIDN'T come back.  It took me 10+ minutes to button my shirt.  I needed to get on a Zoom call and had to write down the password, and could NOT write anything but jerky lines.  That's about when I realized I was having a stroke.

Well, after a few weeks the mental fog cleared, I went for some therapy, and they put me on anti coagulants and statins.  This was an occlusive, not hemhoragic stroke, and it did fairly minimal damage - I was LUCKY!  I still have a bit of an issue typing, and if I have to write out a paper check, woe be to the bank employee who has to read it!
Hopefully, the stuff I am taking will prevent another stroke.
Jon

[nctnico]

I don't think there are ways to prevent a stroke but being fit sure helps to get through it better. One of my family members was found after a couple of days because the neighbours had not seen him going out of the door for a while. The fire brigade had to break in the door in order to resque him. As he is (yes, present tense!) a very active and thus fit person, he had no problems going through the physical revalidation process (except being slightly bored by the exercises). OTOH, I've seen other people having big problems doing the exercises due to lack of being fit. Those are likely to not reaching the full potential of recovery.

[ebastler]

I find the turn this thread took a bit depressing. It seems to tell me that once you are done thinking about retirement plans, you start thinking about your impending death.

[BILLPOD]

     I retired 17 years ago, at age 59.  I was in HEAVEN!  I did whatever I felt like doing.   I went golfing, or fishing, or shooting at the range.   I would stop at the pub for a pint whenever I got thirsty.   And I still found the time to prepare dinner for 'Mother', as she was still working, (like Ex-vice President Mike Pence, I have always referred to my wife as Mother).   Then she retired and my 'unsupervised relaxation' came to an end.   Then my days were spent working on the 'Honey Do' list, but I occasionally escaped to enjoy a few hours of freedom.  I am now 76 and health issues pretty much keep me home-bound, but I enjoyed my life for a few years, and even though I never disliked my job, I have NEVER missed it.   

[watchmaker]

I find the turn this thread took a bit depressing. It seems to tell me that once you are done thinking about retirement plans, you start thinking about your impending death.

I actually have measured my life against my death for many years.  It enabled me to focus on the things that matter and to be measured in the way I am with others.  It was only a generation or so ago that death and dying were part of family life.

And FWIW, I am very comfortable with simply becoming recycled atomic matter.  But my son in law had the balls to ask me to not talk about this stuff in front of my daughter. Good man.

[SiliconWizard]

I find the turn this thread took a bit depressing. It seems to tell me that once you are done thinking about retirement plans, you start thinking about your impending death.

Maybe that should be motivation to make retirement plans before you're old.

[dietert1]

Regards, Dieter

[coppice]

I find the turn this thread took a bit depressing. It seems to tell me that once you are done thinking about retirement plans, you start thinking about your impending death.

Maybe that should be motivation to make retirement plans before you're old.

Some things you can plan for, like finances. However, the biggest changes in your life at retirement are things you can't really plan for, as they are outside the experience of most of us. If you have never had an extended period with nothing being demanded of you, how can you have any real idea how you will react when that happens? My father was an engineer with local government. They had a phase out scheme, where he worked on and off over his last year, with increasing amounts of off. That gave him a real taste of what retirement was going to be like. Most of us are unlikely to have such an option.

[RAPo]

Indeed. In the Netherlands there are even courses for the partner: how to handle the situation of a person always around you ;-)

I find the turn this thread took a bit depressing. It seems to tell me that once you are done thinking about retirement plans, you start thinking about your impending death.

Maybe that should be motivation to make retirement plans before you're old.

Some things you can plan for, like finances. However, the biggest changes in your life at retirement are things you can't really plan for, as they are outside the experience of most of us. If you have never had an extended period with nothing being demanded of you, how can you have any real idea how you will react when that happens? My father was an engineer with local government. They had a phase out scheme, where he worked on and off over his last year, with increasing amounts of off. That gave him a real taste of what retirement was going to be like. Most of us are unlikely to have such an option.

[jmelson]

They had a phase out scheme, where he worked on and off over his last year, with increasing amounts of off. That gave him a real taste of what retirement was going to be like. Most of us are unlikely to have such an option.

After covid, I have been working from home a LOT, which seems to work OK for my employer, as I do a lot of design work.  I am LOVING it, and find it harder and harder to drag myself in to work.
Jon

[coppice]

They had a phase out scheme, where he worked on and off over his last year, with increasing amounts of off. That gave him a real taste of what retirement was going to be like. Most of us are unlikely to have such an option.

After covid, I have been working from home a LOT, which seems to work OK for my employer, as I do a lot of design work.  I am LOVING it, and find it harder and harder to drag myself in to work.
Jon

That has very little in common with retirement. You are still expected to show up and get things done, whether that is in an office or at home. I had periods where I worked almost entirely at home 30 years ago. You are typically under greater pressure like that than in the office every day. When people are not able to directly monitor the time you put in, you really need to ensure there is no question you are pulling your weight. Retirement makes all those expectation go away. Some people react to this extremely well, finding it a wonderful relief. For others its only the expectations placed upon them that drove them forwards, and things go badly for them without that. One size most definitely does not fit all.

[BILLPOD]

I REALLY wanted to see the video in Reply #44 by Deiter.  Is there anyplace else I can go to see it

[ebastler]

What problems do you experience with that Youtube video? It is really just an audio track with a still image, but playing that works fine here.

[thermistor-guy]

I don't think there are ways to prevent a stroke but being fit sure helps to get through it better ...

Some of us hold winning tickets in the genetic lottery. Some of us don't. Either way, your way of life can increase your healthspan
(Peter Attia's term).

One of the benefits of heavy exercise - exercise that pushes your body and metabolism to adapt to it - is that it is anti-inflammatory.
Exercise has a long-term effect of lowering inflammation. One mechanism is via inteleukin-6 (IL-6), emitted by muscle cells. The literature
on this is recent. Older IL-6 literature focuses on IL-6 emitted by immune cells, which has a completely different, pro-inflammatory effect.
Recent example: https://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinology-metabolism/fulltext/S1043-2760(23)00154-6

So in my retirement spreadsheet, on my "medical expenses" tab, I include gym membership, personal trainer sessions, and similar costs.
thermistor-gal and I want to be as fit/strong/healthy as possible for as long as possible, so we don't need hospitals and doctors. My
spreadsheet has relatively large expense items for good home-cooked food, for the same reasons. Good food costs money.

[aargee]

OP here.

Well, I did it. Nearly one year ago to the day.
I never think about the old job and the MBA-driven admin KPIs associated with it. I do miss the workplace colleagues from time to time, that technical interaction with other humans, the 'Mens Shed' doesn't quite cut it with me - yet.
I never realised (OK, yes I did) that there were so many outstanding jobs to do around the house or things I wanted to get to on the workbench!
I have tried my hand at volunteering, Repair Cafes, etc and enjoyed it.
I have not felt the need to scramble back to the regular workplace.
As pointed out back in the thread, you don't know what life will throw at you to shorten 'quality' time.

From my point of view, I recommend the move.

- Rob.

[EPAIII]

I was 66 or 67 and was called into a small room with the CEO, the personnel person, and my boss. I knew what was going to happen before a single word was spoken. I didn't "take the leap", they tossed me out.

OK, to be fair, I knew it was coming and they were as nice as they could be about it. And I got a nice severance payment. So I really can't complain.

My first thoughts were how I was going to pay all the bills. I wasn't at all sure I was financially ready for it. The company had no pension plan so my own savings and SS were what I had to work with. But, it has been about 13 or 14 years now and everything worked out. Still in the same house and haven't missed a single mortgage or tax payment. No credit card dept other than this month's bills. All in all, I am doing OK. So, do I wish I had done it sooner. Well, I don't know. I could answer both ways. I liked working too.

As for keeping busy, that is the only way. I now have time for my personal projects and can't keep up with them. I occasionally earn some extra money by writing about my projects and getting it published. That's nice, but I don't really need it. So, retirement has been OK. And if I can do it, anybody can. Well, almost anybody.

[wofritz]

When I decided to retire at 60, my HR boss said "If you did your math and it works out for you, do it. We had people leave at 65 [standard retirement age] and sent flowers to their funeral six months later." I'm 65 now and not dead yet, but in cancer treatment.

So if you have post retirement plans, start as early as you can. Things might go downhill faster than you expect.
 

[coppice]

I was 66 or 67 and was called into a small room with the CEO, the personnel person, and my boss. I knew what was going to happen before a single word was spoken. I didn't "take the leap", they tossed me out.

OK, to be fair, I knew it was coming and they were as nice as they could be about it. And I got a nice severance payment. So I really can't complain.

Well, that should have been basically OK. You were at the normal retirement age anyway. I don't know that many people who were able to work to 65 or so before a major market downturn lead to them being tossed out, a few years before they were financially prepared. Governments are starting to push up the standard retirement age, for very good reasons, but how many people get to continue to work in their career until that date?

[BILLPOD]

What problems do you experience with that Youtube video? It is really just an audio track with a still image, but playing that works fine here.

The sign on the square where the video says:  Video unavailable.

[dietert1]

The song "Mr. Bones" is by the artist Steve Strauss and i have it on the CD "Closer to the music" by Stockfish Records. It's easy to find on youtube. Sometimes arts can provide new insights.
In the Leipzig book fair a book about "Radical Universalism" by Omri Boehm won a price last week. I think universalism also means that we should retire in respect for the next generation - in an orderly fashion as far as possible.

Regards, Dieter