For those retired....what do you enjoy most?

[brin]

I retired from the Army in 1994 after 26 years of service. Now working on finalizing my second career/second retirement. 5 years ago I took a position with the company where I work from home 100%, no travel, only conference calls and email to deal with. Money is outstanding, business casual has taken on new meaning, stress level is very low and really only fully engaged about 4 hours a day. Planning to work 2 or maybe 3 more years if health continue to be good and job does not change. Purchased land two years ago and now working on finalizing plans for a new home on that property to be completed early next spring. Will have two retirements, SS and savings to support us, so we should be fine since we don't owe anything now except a very small monthly land payment. Even with all of the freedom I have still working, can't wait until I do not have thoughts of a job on my mind when I wake up each day.

I have a small hobby farm now, completing my woodworking shop this fall, love to garden and sell my produce, growing and selling hay and want to learn to weld very soon. So, I think I will have plenty to do to hopefully keep my mind and body busy which might help me to live a little longer because when I am doing those things I am smiling ear to ear. 63 now and do not want to work beyond 66.

Great contributions from many on this topic, glad to see so many are happy and very much enjoying their journey down the other side of the hill they spent much of their lives climbing. It should be easier to walk down than up and I hope and pray it is for all of us.

Good Health, Great Family and Friends to Share Good Times With every Day, Comfortable Financially, Things to do to Stay Busy and Happy and God in Our Lives; What else do we need!

What a nice , gracious post...Only the best wishes to you that all of your dreams come true in retirement...God bless you and us all...:thumbsup:

 

[QRTRHRS]

I guess you could say that I am half way there because I am working about four hours a day. I took my SS about a year ago March at 62 then started painting the interior of our house in order to sell it and downsize to a smaller home. I figured six months, yeah right. Still painting, lol! Seems there is always some mowing or something going on with the horses that interfers with the painting.

The four hours is for my morning and afternoon school bus run. I actually enjoy it. My wife and I have only lived where we are at since 2008 so I have met more people due to the bus gig. I could care less about traveling anymore and the people where I live wave and stop to talk to strangers. I still have 15 months until I can pick up Medicare so the 48 bucks per month for medical through the school district is not so bad either.

 

[riptides]

... I still have 15 months until I can pick up Medicare so the 48 bucks per month for medical through the school district is not so bad either.

Good for you.

The problem I have found with early retirement is medical insurance until Medicare kicks in. My previous employer offered up a pretty extensive package helping me out in this area, but it will run out shortly.

Thusly, open market alternatives seem now to be my only option, and they are shall we say, really expensive.

I had thought of medical coverage when I exited the work force, I obviously did not think hard enough. Hence, my semi-retirement, merc-mode work life.

It's all about medical coverage these days.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My good friends and neighbors just retired from federal employment. I can tell you this, with no job at all to got to they accomplish less around the house than they did when they had to go somewhere +- 5 days a week. I always thought I couldn't wait to retire but with them as an example I am thinking some kind of semi retirement might be a better way to go.

Well they likely are about as productive as they were when working. Not a whole lot is ever accomplished by most federal workers prior to retirement and afterward, nothing at all. 90% of state and federal jobs could be eliminated without any one noticing a delay in services, especially if the red tape associated with their primary function was also eliminated.

 

[Spindifferent]

It's all about medical coverage these days.

Sadly, this is very true.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

My pension provides a $100 per month subsidy on health insurance. Yeah, not much - but certainly better than nothing. I wind up paying $400 for my share and get a pretty decent 80/20 plan that lets me go anywhere I want. I am also on the Indian role, because of my .00000000000000000000000000000001 percent Indian blood . This provides me with their version of healthcare. I have never used it because government giveaways just make me want to shove scissors through my brain.

 

[MacLawn]

Amen, bobn, brin, and others! Y'all boys got it right! Kioti, I'm 1/8th Indian, but none of those so called benefits. I'm not on nary role. Being from Georgia where my great grandmother Indian was one of the ones who wasn't kicked out during the Great Indian Kickout, she kept a low profile. Of course she was too young, but her grandparents weren't kicked up to Oklahoma during that terrible time. Done got sidetracked.

Well, I'm not retired yet (somebody earlier thought I am), still doing my low stress self employment, but still work. Been on Medicare a few months now. $104 per month for that wha' is it? Doctor pay part? Reckon I'll get a Medicare supplement of some kind when I do hang up the old throat (I speak for a living). I plan to start SS as soon as I turn 66 in couple of months so I don't get docked. Oh me, sidetracked again!

I'm going to enjoy cutting and splitting wood, a garden, fishing, hunting, fishing some more... Then, when my piddling gets me caught up in the vortex of sequences, I'll just go fishing again.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Well they likely are about as productive as they were when working. Not a whole lot is ever accomplished by most federal workers prior to retirement .

That is worse than the quote "Not all managers are good managers".

How many public sector workers do you personally know well enough to know what they do during their stint at work? Similarly how many private sector to the same degree? How did you find the time to watch them all for at least a day?

 

[KiotiKowboy]

How many public sector workers do you personally know well enough to know what they do during their stint at work? Similarly how many private sector to the same degree? How did you find the time to watch them all for at least a day?

Walking out onto the ice ...........

I think it is safe to say - not much is expected of public sector employees. Abuse of power, corruption and laziness are necessarily associated with them on wide scale. The EPA & IRS are blatant examples of abusive use of power and incompetence. The local Post Office is generally seen as indescribably inefficient and uncaring. The DHS routinely makes news through their disasters. Ever spend time in your local Social Security office .... enough said. This list could grow by leaps and bounds with amazingly little effort.

In the "real" world - the world of making a profit - a lot of these folks would be shown the door. In the public sector, they are expected, accepted and allowed to draw salaries for decades. None of this comes as a surprise - at least to most of us.

 

[jaotguy]

I'll also slide along beside you ( but on skis to spread the weight out ) ...

we've all seen the lack of interest by public workers ... (yes not all are bad but all we see is the front line workers ) most just reiterate the "rules and regulations" without a clue as to what it was meant to do...
sadly , the ones that do "care" soon lose their enthusiasm ....

a lot were brought in under nepotism , some through the incompetent management staff , others could quote line and verse but don't have enough brains to drive chickens out of the yard .... things they do would get them fired in the real world ...

hiring a "a blind and deaf single mom in a wheel chair" counts for more than "working knowledge" because of funding requirements....
in highly technical areas , they hire a dumber than a bag of rocks person that can speak the 2 official languages over the brightest person in the class ...

( yah it's marked URGENT but leave it on my desk, I'll be back from vacation in 3 weeks ... or ... no I won't answer the phone , I'm almost finished my book chapter, if it's important they'll call back ) these were overheard while walking the halls in a government building....

are there competent civil servants? ... absolutely, but they are few and far between ...
this is like all those funny "mother in-law" jokes you heard .. till you actually have one and it ain't so funny anymore, most are true.