riptides
Super Member
That's amazing.
How to retire at 55 instead of 65 or 70.
- Thread starter RSKY
- Start date
- Views: 19413
That's amazing.
Amen, Brother! The other sad/bad move is when DOT opted out of Social Security.
KennyG
Elite Member
Health insurance after retirement - I went on Medicare but my wife is too young. 1 year on COBRA - very expensive. After that we just went into the "marketplace". Because we had everything set up on Blue Cross/Blue Shield, I just went with them. The cost is the same for all companies now since the Feds set the prices. With no current income we will qualify for the subsidy for a few years but I have to be very careful about realizing capital gains from my investments. It's quite expensive without the subsidy - over 10K per year for one adult.
Steppenwolfe
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2012
- Messages
- 6,374
- Location
- The Blue Ridge Mountains
- Tractor
- Kubota MX5400, 1140 RTV
Retired... Never have thought about it. I'm 59, been working since I was 15. Wifey and I have been together since we were 19, and have worked very hard to raise kids and build a business. I love my work, love my life; so I'm not sure what I would retire from. I feel I am at the most productive time of my career, and not ready to just set it aside. Call me crazy, but I don't see retirement as a goal for me to reach...:cheerful:
Don't shoot me, yet, but I went with Morgan Stanley to manage my IRA and now my single payment annuities. That's what I now live off of comfortably. I chose to fill 3 buckets: 1 for no gambling, 1 for a little gambling, and 1 for balls to the wall, guvnor! 2 and 3 were the best. Quite a few of my friends thought they could choose investments without any help. Not a good idea. They are back to work in menial jobs to get buy.
I have no pension, GM went belly up and I took a buyout. MS took that money and doubled it in a few years in spite of my 4% cost of living withdrawal. I get 25% of my income from S.S. and selling baled weeds to horse lovers, buying and selling on Craigslist and ebay. That's all cash. Life is good. So what if I pay a little to have a safe and comfortable future. My capital gains last month alone was greater than my GM salary for a whole year.
I have no pension, GM went belly up and I took a buyout. MS took that money and doubled it in a few years in spite of my 4% cost of living withdrawal. I get 25% of my income from S.S. and selling baled weeds to horse lovers, buying and selling on Craigslist and ebay. That's all cash. Life is good. So what if I pay a little to have a safe and comfortable future. My capital gains last month alone was greater than my GM salary for a whole year.
KUDOS! Being happy and fulfilled is all that matters.
Old Red
Platinum Member
No, but you should still be prepared for it. The way things are now in my career is great. I have a great staff, we have lots of patients, our bottom line is very healthy. We have given raises each year and have not had to deny any requests for time off from employees. I have not had to crack a whip nor lay anyone off. Life is good and the organization is financially healthy and it is fun to run one this way. However if times get tough at work and it is not enjoyable anymore, or if I fall in poor health, or any circumstance....I need to be prepared as soon as I can for the ability to walk away form my job. But just because I get lucky and hit 3 million in the bank doesn't mean I'm going to walk away. Shoot, it might actually make me enjoy the job even more.
BrokenTrack
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2018
- Messages
- 1,422
- Location
- Maine
- Tractor
- Tractors, Skidders, Bulldozers, Forestry Equipment
I retired early and a lot of it was due to just plain planning ahead.
I built my home using resources off my farm, and while it took 20 years, people laughed when I was 20 and lived in a Tiny House long before they were considered trendy. In my case it was a 24 x 24 garage. Today my house is larger than average, and paid for because I used gravel, trees, and slate all taken off the farm from raw materials. Only a person who has felled, limbed, bucked, hauled out, sawed on a sawmill, and planned a board to get where a normal carpenter would just buy one, appreciates how much work goes into self-made lumber. Quarrying slate and making concrete from gravel is equally laborious.
Using only cash, having blue-collar, but well-paying jobs helped, and ultimately I decided retirement at age 42 was better than waiting.
Was I ever right.
I did not account for getting cancer at age 42, but who can plan for that? Still, I am very happy where I am, and kind of laugh at those that say "I would be bored" if I was retired. Heck I was bored at work; now that I am retired, I am FAR MORE BUSY. I am always doing something and really making improvements to my farm, and looking for opportunities off this farm. I am not sure who will benefit from a better farm, but it does not matter; I have always tried to be a good steward of all that God has allowed me to have, and he has chosen to bless that...as he promised in the bible.
The greatest blessing is now time...and I hope to do all that I can for his Kingdom. With so many missions that need a 43 year old with the time of a retired person, my only regret is having cancer that has really slowed me down through incredible fatigue.
I built my home using resources off my farm, and while it took 20 years, people laughed when I was 20 and lived in a Tiny House long before they were considered trendy. In my case it was a 24 x 24 garage. Today my house is larger than average, and paid for because I used gravel, trees, and slate all taken off the farm from raw materials. Only a person who has felled, limbed, bucked, hauled out, sawed on a sawmill, and planned a board to get where a normal carpenter would just buy one, appreciates how much work goes into self-made lumber. Quarrying slate and making concrete from gravel is equally laborious.
Using only cash, having blue-collar, but well-paying jobs helped, and ultimately I decided retirement at age 42 was better than waiting.
Was I ever right.
I did not account for getting cancer at age 42, but who can plan for that? Still, I am very happy where I am, and kind of laugh at those that say "I would be bored" if I was retired. Heck I was bored at work; now that I am retired, I am FAR MORE BUSY. I am always doing something and really making improvements to my farm, and looking for opportunities off this farm. I am not sure who will benefit from a better farm, but it does not matter; I have always tried to be a good steward of all that God has allowed me to have, and he has chosen to bless that...as he promised in the bible.
The greatest blessing is now time...and I hope to do all that I can for his Kingdom. With so many missions that need a 43 year old with the time of a retired person, my only regret is having cancer that has really slowed me down through incredible fatigue.
Old Red
Platinum Member
So you retired last year at 42? You are 43 now? Awesome. Hopefully you can beat the cancer! I have seen it happen more than once!
3Ts
Elite Member
My wife and I will be heading out on our first mission trip in about a month. We're retired so we decided to spend two months helping out with a few days set aside for our anniversary at a resort. We didn't know it at the time we booked the resort, but all the profit goes to a local mission we didn't know about. After checking them out, we'll be spending some of our anniversary time at the mission. It is truly a blessing to be retired and in a position where we can help others.
