General question : Retired or not?

[CurlyDave]

In my last job, I met a lot of guys who were in their late 60s or early 70s without a chance of retiring due to debt and demands of their families.

Amen to that.

In my last job, the company had two locations about 5 miles apart. One of the guys who worked on the loading dock was foolish enough to let not one, but two of his grown kids with families move back in with him.

The poor guy was over 70 and working to support his kids, their spouses and their children. Part of his job was driving a medium sized box-truck back & forth between the two locations. The company kept him doing this until he had his second heart attack, and then decided their liability was too high. So then he drove a little electric golf cart type vehicle around one location, making deliveries.

After his third heart attack, when he passed out in the golf cart in some obscure place and wasn't found for hours, they made him retire. He didn't last another two weeks.

 

[MikeD74T]

A friend & coworker of twenty years reached 100% retirement eligibility in early 2008. He told the company for the previous 6 months that he'd stay on long enough to train his replacement. Company was very slow at hiring & he kept working. In May,at age 61, on the first day of his vacation he died in his sleep 4 hours before boarding a plane to Las Vegas. I don't know if you can retire too early but you can surely retire too late. MikeD74T

 

[rfk]

As time goes by you will wonder where did you get the time to work a job.

 

[GreenWannabe]

I started claiming that I had reached "OOF-hood" several years before I retired, and with my financial situation didn't expect to retire before age 73. I finally saw my way clear, if I sold my RV, to be able to retire last year at age 65 years 10 months (full SS, ya know!). So nowthat I could really use the RV to travel in instead of just living in, I don't have it! But, that doesn't keep me from leaving later today finally on my long-planned three month trip to the northern states and west coast. So much travelling to do, so little time....

 

[radioman]

I have worked ever since I was old enough to ride a bike and then finally after working in the computer industry for 15 years I finally stepped down to part time work due to economy not being there for me. I am currently on SS due to disability and always looking for temp jobs near me. I am not even 50 yet but not considering to retire. I am one of those people who love to work and may do so late into 60's, 70. All the 401k's I had and other investment are worthless now due to tanked economy. Looks like I'll be working forever to survive. If the employers would step up and become loyal to their workers and start hiring again- I definitely would be working full time again.

 

[Foton404]

I retired and am not one to sit around waiting to die. I couldn't stand facing the boredom and started a mowing business. 4th year and it still does seem like entertainment rather than a job. It is satisfying, I decide when to get up and when to go to bed. No stress of comuting. I find it much better to please a customer than to please a boss. When you leave a mowing, look back and see a manicured lawn, now that's pleasing. We get about 40" of rain per year so I keep pretty busy with several lawns, several acreages, commercial lots and a cemetery. When I want to slow down I will cut back the number of customers/jobs. Of course it is not for everyone.

 

[greggh]

I have always dreamed about retiring, but fate has a way of putting obsticals in the way. Some of them were of my own doing. I depended too much on mutual funds that everyone said keep for the long haul. Everything was going well untill 2001, then things got better and I almost had the funds recoup what I had in 2001 when 2007-08 hit and not paying enough attention left the funds thinking that they couldn't retract that much again. Well.....as everyone knows that was a poor decision. By the time I woke up it was too late.

The other was fate, It seemed that all the companies I worked for were sold to others before I could gather enough time for retirement. The one I am working for at the present needs ten years for retirement eligibility. I have one and a half left to go. So I am real close again and keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep this one at least until the day of eligibility. I don't plan on retiring at that time because of the economic situation of today. All in all I have been very fortunate to still have a job when so many have lost theirs. I will be 66 in July and I will start drawing SS, but a person cannot plan retirement on that income.

I am slowly working my property into shape on weekends and hopefully I will have orchards in place and a good building spot finished for the day I do retire. Right now I really enjoy working on the property on the weekends and look forward every week to those weekends. As long as I have my weekends I don't mind not being retired, working allows me to be able to buy more toys..er.. implements for the tractor and the property.

Slow and steady is the course. Sorry for the long post, it seems like my fingers keep moving like my mouth sometimes.

 

[skent]

Hoping to make it happen in May of 2011. Will be 55 and have enough time (31 years) to take early retirement. We'll most likely have to sell property and move to another state, since Maryland is very high - both for income taxes and property taxes. But three of the four kids are off on their own and the insurge of development around me have changed the equation.

 

[Lil_FarmerJim]

Not even close to retiring, way to much time in front of me to even tink about it. I just keep doing what I love and that keeps me happy and busy. As my tag line says, there just isn't enough time in the day to do it all.

 

[Mace Canute]

I retired on the first of June this year after 35 years as a lineman for the provincial electrical utility. I grew up on a mixed farm and worked outside of school hours since I was 12-13 and many times I did the same work the men would do, nothing out of the ordinary there...that was the way of it for farm kids back then. All in all I have been working for a good 45 years, 40 of them out on my own. May 25, I had trouble peeing...and there was blood in the small amount of urine that did pass. A trip to the ER and they catheterized me, and did some tests while I was in. They found a good sized tumour on my right kidney and on June 10, I had the kidney removed. Now I will spend about 6 weeks recovering from the surgery. Summer is shot! They also diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes combined with high blood pressure. A fine way of entering retirement, eh? I can't understand the people who say "I might as well keep working because I still have my health." What are they waiting for? Are they waiting until they are so old and decrepit that they can't work anymore? By that time you can't do anything anymore! And yes, I fully understand that many people cannot afford to retire and I truly feel for them...I am fortunate in that respect, but for those who can and haven't, give your head(s) a shake! Make your remaining time 100% YOUR time, not an employers. Remember, retirement doesn't mean you aren't useful anymore or that you are going to be bored out of your mind with nothing to do..it is what you make of it! Make it the best years of your life!