Retirement

   / Retirement #41  
reading all these posts on retiring,what are you guys gonna do with all that free time on your hands?

i am 60 yrs old and me and my wife own a sizable ranch that i manage all by my lonesome.
I thought about selling the place and retiring a couple yrs ago allready,but i can't for the life of me not figure out what i should do to keep me busy.
i allways felt ranching was my hobby instead of work but some days i feel burned out,altough i'm healthy as a fish.

But to swap that for a job in town for a few day's!..I don't think so Bob!

I also think one has to have a reason to get up in the morning
I think i would get stark raving mad if i had nothing meaningfull to do. :confused:

It has also proved hard to find a trusty knowledgable fellow to look after the place for a few weeks so the wife and i could go places.

As a result we dont leave the ranch much more than a couple days at the time to visit our daughters who don't live close by.

Retiring!,i can't see it happen.

What's your collective vision on that folks?
 
   / Retirement #42  
I know that story. Just create your own job when you can't find one. It works better that way anyway. Never have to worry about layoffs, just income.
 
   / Retirement #43  
Congratulations on your decision.

The fact that you worked at a stressful job for over 30 years, that you've survived and not divorced (you're right, it's not the best path to financial freedom)...nows the time to enjoy your life.

Make your own job. My wife actually read an article today that suggested 'boomers' are becoming employable again due simply to the fact that they have superior work ethic compared to the young people coming on line. PLUS, they have skill sets that cannot be taught in school but must be learned in the real world.

After 5+ years of retirement, I can guarantee you're gonna love it...
 
   / Retirement
  • Thread Starter
#44  
Thinking about retirement has me thinking about my extended family and how long they lived or are still living.

What is he rambling about now you ask?

Family history means I must plan for a longer retirement.

I have a friend who is 70. He has lived 10 years longer than any male relative (father, grandfathers, uncles) that he had. If I were him I would spend like crazy doing everything I ever wanted to do and not worry about what happens after age 80. I work with a man that is 5' 10" tall and weighs four hundred pounds. What is his life expectancy.

In my family women (grandmothers, aunts) on both my mother's and father's side live to be from 82 to 102 years old with the average death age about 89. All have died natural, non accidental, deaths. Two, my maternal grandmother and a paternal aunt, lived over 100 years. Men, however, on both sides tend to be killed and not die naturally. My father was healthy as a horse, or so it seemed, up to about six months before his death. He worked in abestos one winter in 1966 and it killed him in 1982. His brothers were killed in wars, or by industrial posioning as he was. The one exception lived to be 95. Mom's brother lived to be in his late 80s and had cancer which I believe was caused by industrial exposure. My mother is the last on both sides. She is 87 and still active, bush-hogged her 69 acre farm by herself and helped me mow the 80 acre one.

My wife's family is not quite as long lived but women tend to live longer anyway. Her dad is 83 and still very healthy and very active. So it looks as if she has at least an equal chance to make it to her 90s.

So we must plan for our needs to at least 90. After that my daughters can take care of us.

Now about the money that we have stashed away. Should we hoard it, keep it safe for worse times. Or should we spend it while we are able to.

I would hate to live on white beans and rice for the last twenty years of my life because I did not save enough.

But even worse would be to turn eighty, be in bad health, and think "****, wish we had gone to Aruba scuba diving when we were younger", as I sit in my wheelchair and count my money.

So when I do retire I will live as frugal as possible but not hesitate to do the 'big things' when opportunity presents itself.

Any thoughts on this depressing topic?
 
Last edited:
   / Retirement #45  
Thinking about retirement has me thinking about my extended family and how long they lived or are still living.

What is he rambling about now you ask?

Family history means I must plan for a longer retirement.

I have a friend who is 70. He has lived 10 years longer than any male relative (father, grandfathers, uncles) that he had. If I were him I would spend like crazy doing everything I ever wanted to do and not worry about what happens after age 80. I work with a man that is 5' 10" tall and weighs four hundred pounds. What is his life expectancy.

In my family women (grandmothers, aunts) on both my mother's and father's side live to be from 82 to 102 years old with the average death age about 89. All have died natural, non accidental, deaths. Two, maternal grandmother and paternal aunt, lived over 100 years. Men, however, on both sides tend to be killed and not die naturally. My father was healthy as a horse, or so it seemed, up to about six months before his death. He worked in abestos one winter in 1966 and it killed him in 1982. His brothers were killed in wars, or by industrial posioning as he was. The one exception lived to be 95. Mom's brother lived to be in his late 80s and had cancer which I believe was caused by industrial exposure. My mother is the last on both sides. She is 87 and still active, bush-hogged her 69 acre farm by herself and helped me mow the 80 acre one.

My wife's family is not quite as long lived but women tend to live longer anyway. Her dad is 83 and still very healthy and very active. So it looks as if she has at least an equal chance to make it to her 90s.

So we must plan for our needs to at least 90. After that my daughters can take care of us.

Now about the money that we have stashed away. Should we hoard it, keep it safe for worse times. Or should we spend it while we are able to.

I would hate to live on white beans and rice for the last twenty years of my life because I did not save enough.

But even worse would be to turn eighty, be in bad health, and think "****, wish we had gone to Aruba scuba diving when we were younger", as I sit in my wheelchair and count my money.

So when I do retire I will live as frugal as possible but not hesitate to do the 'big things' when opportunity presents itself.

Any thoughts on this depressing topic?

Worked with a man who would wipe the face off George Washington before spending.
Would spend hours at Salvation before deciding on pair of shoes.
money money was the only conversation he had. Is now in nursing home and can't tell the left hand from his right. It is sad he never enjoyed the Roses.
 
   / Retirement #46  
Now about the money that we have stashed away. Should we hoard it, keep it safe for worse times. Or should we spend it while we are able to.

I would hate to live on white beans and rice for the last twenty years of my life because I did not save enough.

But even worse would be to turn eighty, be in bad health, and think "****, wish we had gone to Aruba scuba diving when we were younger", as I sit in my wheelchair and count my money.


Any thoughts on this depressing topic?

The problem is to determine the safe withdrawal rate from your investment portfolio. A lot has been written about this problem. Here's a link that summarizes the issue and some of the literature on the topic.

Safe Withdrawal Rates - Bogleheads

Steve
 
   / Retirement
  • Thread Starter
#47  
Another thought on retirement.

When discussing this with some 'others' who are considering the same thing, that is retiring early, it came up that people with long marriages tend to have happier retirements.

Mrs. RSKY and I plan to travel some. Putter around the house and yard some. Spoil our granddaughter and hopefully future grands. Help our kids. And take care of our parents and other elderly relatives.

Whatever we are planning we plan on doing together.

Except of course, a tractor only seats one!
 
   / Retirement #48  
If I knew the date of my demise, I assure you the check to the undertaker would bounce.

But the reality is the nieces and nephews will get some $$s. How you lived and what you did are all that matter, so the size of your bank account at the end is irrelevant.

RSKY, I agree you look at family longevity to help guide you. Also agree you should do some things while you can. We did the scuba dive thing, glad we did, it would be hard to do it now. I would say live as frugal as possible, but do some fun big things along the way. If you don't have any drastic changes as you slide into retirement, that to me means you've been doing OK during your life. Your finances in retirement are probably like they were in life- always changing and always adjusting.

As for the tractor only seats one, sounds like you need a cab with a buddy seat! (or not- sometimes I think a little time apart is more important than a lot of time together ;)).

Pete
 
   / Retirement #49  
reading all these posts on retiring,what are you guys gonna do with all that free time on your hands?

i am 60 yrs old and me and my wife own a sizable ranch that i manage all by my lonesome.
I thought about selling the place and retiring a couple yrs ago allready,but i can't for the life of me not figure out what i should do to keep me busy.
i allways felt ranching was my hobby instead of work but some days i feel burned out,altough i'm healthy as a fish.

But to swap that for a job in town for a few day's!..I don't think so Bob!

I also think one has to have a reason to get up in the morning
I think i would get stark raving mad if i had nothing meaningfull to do. :confused:

It has also proved hard to find a trusty knowledgable fellow to look after the place for a few weeks so the wife and i could go places.

As a result we dont leave the ranch much more than a couple days at the time to visit our daughters who don't live close by.

Retiring!,i can't see it happen.

What's your collective vision on that folks?

The problems we had as we aged was lack of good help around the farm. All our local help was off to college or unwilling to work more than a few hours a week. Handling livestock is a dayly chore that ties you to the farm. We ended up selling the livestock. This freeded us up to begin traveling more. We also volunteer much more than we did when we were younger. I expect that travel and volunteerism will also increase in retirement.
 
   / Retirement #50  
Well this did not clear up the subject of retirement ages... personally I have not found something better to do right now. Insurance is the best topic here...I really want to travel around the USA. We probably have enough money to be independant into our 90's.
 
 
Top