For the other retired guys::

[300UGUY]

I retired in 2012. For the first 3 1/2 years I took care of my Dad who needed health care every day as well as helping my wife care for her father who has lived with us for over 5 1/2 years. My granddaughter also lived with us. Never had time to really be retired. Was busy every minute of every day. I have no debt.

My Dad died a year ago last Nov, but with my FIL requiring 24/7 care, my wife and I still never got away or had time to be retired. My granddaughter moved out over the summer. Just before this past Thanksgiving, my wife of 48 1/2 years, suddenly and unexpectedly died in her sleep. I'm still waiting to find out why. Yesterday, my FIL died. I went from 4 people in my house to me alone pretty quickly.

Now I have time to be retired but no one to be retired with..

Things can change quickly when you're retired.

Sorry for your loss, brother. We have been married 31 years. I cannot imagine being without my Joanie.

Good luck in your journey.

 

[Big Barn]

I retired in 2012. For the first 3 1/2 years I took care of my Dad who needed health care every day as well as helping my wife care for her father who has lived with us for over 5 1/2 years. My granddaughter also lived with us. Never had time to really be retired. Was busy every minute of every day. I have no debt.

My Dad died a year ago last Nov, but with my FIL requiring 24/7 care, my wife and I still never got away or had time to be retired. My granddaughter moved out over the summer. Just before this past Thanksgiving, my wife of 48 1/2 years, suddenly and unexpectedly died in her sleep. I'm still waiting to find out why. Yesterday, my FIL died. I went from 4 people in my house to me alone pretty quickly.

Now I have time to be retired but no one to be retired with..

Things can change quickly when you're retired.

So sorry to hear of your loss(es).

Now it's more important than ever to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

Terry

 

[kenmac]

Now I have another question for all you much more educated and experienced guys and gals out there.

I'm 26 and don't plan to retire BUT I always have redundant back up plans just in case, I don't like to get caught off guard or find myself unprepared so what's the best gain for retirement?

What and where should I invest ext.

I basically know nothing about any of it, I have a 401k which I just match what the company will pay out which is 6% of my wages.

I have gotten into a bit of debt last few years and should have most of everything except the house paid off by the age of 30 (tractor, misc loans ext) the house I have another 17 years on and I pay $100 extra a month on that so in reality I'm looking at more like 15 years.

One question I have always had is: is it better to pay things off ASAP or pay it off slower and invest more earlier on?

As of now I plan to aggressively pay stuff off and at around 30 start aggressively putting into retirement, is that too late?

Also when my elderly neighbor is done with there house in less than 10 years I plan to buy there house, fix it up a little and rent it out, when I get older I want to transition to rentals and making my own schedule vs what I'm doing now which is work in a 24-7 building, getting thrown around shifts. holidays and 2 day consecutive days off don't mean anything around here but it's good money and more than pays the bills.

Visit Dave's Ramsey site. Dave Ramsey Homepage - daveramsey.com .... He has a lot of good information about paying off your debts, and why you should knock out your smallest debt first. He will also give you some good investing advise .
He also will list people in your area that can help you with investing. They teach you the whys and the why nots. Had I not invested in IRA's And bought and held other stocks. I would have never been able to retire at 57

 

[jerrybob]

I retired in 2012. For the first 3 1/2 years I took care of my Dad who needed health care every day as well as helping my wife care for her father who has lived with us for over 5 1/2 years. My granddaughter also lived with us. Never had time to really be retired. Was busy every minute of every day. I have no debt.

My Dad died a year ago last Nov, but with my FIL requiring 24/7 care, my wife and I still never got away or had time to be retired. My granddaughter moved out over the summer. Just before this past Thanksgiving, my wife of 48 1/2 years, suddenly and unexpectedly died in her sleep. I'm still waiting to find out why. Yesterday, my FIL died. I went from 4 people in my house to me alone pretty quickly.

Now I have time to be retired but no one to be retired with..

Things can change quickly when you're retired.

Oldpilgrim........so sorry to hear of your losses........you are so right......things change very quickly. Another reason to enjoy what you have today....who knows what tomorrow brings. You hang in there......thoughts are with you.

 

[Looking4new]

Having taken SS at 62, I picked up driving a school bus for the medical. Now on Medicare and a supplement, I am still driving the bus. (It would be a geat job if not for the parents, lol) For not taking the school district's insurance, I get 175/month for eye or dental care for which I do not carry insurance so that has paid for recently having the last of my teeth removed and for dentures. It is now going to pay for lower implants to better secure my lower plate.

There are issues which many of my fellow drivers do not say anything about due to needing the work but I have no fears so I will readily speak my mind.

The time in between my morning and afternoon runs allows time to make doctor's appointments. Dang it! There seems to be more and more of that.

Once the quacks get their hooks into you, there is no turning back.

 

[dragoneggs]

Dear OP, in this case... oldpilgrim.

Thank you for sharing. We all can be flippant here on TBN... learning, joking, mentoring, teasing, teaching, but all the while never really knowing what others here are going through. Very sorry for your loss. Very thankful of your service to our country. Please keep sharing your thoughts and wisdom. Wishing you and your family the best.

 

[Shaneard]

I worked in the trades industry from 1970-2002 and retired from the same, along with working part time for myself from 1974-2006. Never thought of asking someone else to do something for me UNLESS I PAID FOR IT. I see your point 100%....us retired guys may tend to think because they have all day, others also do...and I sincerely appreciate your input here. You make an excellent point. :thumbsup:

Don't get me wrong, the people who ask me to do things for them in the machine shop pay me for them. They don't understand I don't own it and I work for someone else. If they want to walk through the front door and ask the boss man about getting it done it may be quicker but won't be as cheap. I'm not saying retired people have nothing to do, sorry if it sounded that way. My parents are retired and always have something to do. All I was saying is people bring me something to do and say their in no hurry then ask me about it the next day cause in reality they want it now.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Now I have another question for all you much more educated and experienced guys and gals out there.

I'm 26 and don't plan to retire BUT I always have redundant back up plans just in case, I don't like to get caught off guard or find myself unprepared so what's the best gain for retirement?

What and where should I invest ext.

I basically know nothing about any of it, I have a 401k which I just match what the company will pay out which is 6% of my wages.

I have gotten into a bit of debt last few years and should have most of everything except the house paid off by the age of 30 (tractor, misc loans ext) the house I have another 17 years on and I pay $100 extra a month on that so in reality I'm looking at more like 15 years.

One question I have always had is: is it better to pay things off ASAP or pay it off slower and invest more earlier on?

As of now I plan to aggressively pay stuff off and at around 30 start aggressively putting into retirement, is that too late?

Also when my elderly neighbor is done with there house in less than 10 years I plan to buy there house, fix it up a little and rent it out, when I get older I want to transition to rentals and making my own schedule vs what I'm doing now which is work in a 24-7 building, getting thrown around shifts. holidays and 2 day consecutive days off don't mean anything around here but it's good money and more than pays the bills.

30 is much better than 40 or 50 or never as some do. I started putting in my 401K at 21 but had to draw some of it out to pay some debt once so really I guess I started about 35 in earnest putting in 10% of my gross wages. I kept this up till 55 at which point I started paying off all my debt, built my house debt free and all my tractors and equipment. Since my 401K at the time was just about doing nothing, ridding myself of debt was more important for my long term retirement benefit. I retired at 62.5 years of age, but took some 3-4 month overseas assignments from my company for the next 2 years then at 64 I said no more and hung it up. With all my cars, home and toys paid for I get by well on my SS and a small allowance from my 401K. It is very important to go into retirement debt free and a new car in the driveway. All that is left to pay is food, utilities, insurance and taxes which amounts to quite a bit but thankfully no house or car note to pay.

In order to live comfortably today, a retirement fund needs to be in the 7 figure range to be useful, retirement 20-30 years from now, who knows what you will need but for sure don't count on any SS benefits.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I retired in 2012. For the first 3 1/2 years I took care of my Dad who needed health care every day as well as helping my wife care for her father who has lived with us for over 5 1/2 years. My granddaughter also lived with us. Never had time to really be retired. Was busy every minute of every day. I have no debt.

My Dad died a year ago last Nov, but with my FIL requiring 24/7 care, my wife and I still never got away or had time to be retired. My granddaughter moved out over the summer. Just before this past Thanksgiving, my wife of 48 1/2 years, suddenly and unexpectedly died in her sleep. I'm still waiting to find out why. Yesterday, my FIL died. I went from 4 people in my house to me alone pretty quickly.

Now I have time to be retired but no one to be retired with..

Things can change quickly when you're retired.

Sorry for your loss for sure, but at our ages, loss is something that we should expect to come at any time. Please go out and do something that you always wanted to do but didn't have the time.
My neighbor who is also retired is always telling me to do what you can and want to do now because you can never tell what tomorrow will bring.

 

[rekees4300]

What endears you most about not having to work for a living?

The answer can be summarized in one word: