Perils of retirement

[japody]

But how much more of the "green stuff"?

It greatly depends on your retirement "system" but mine is CSRS.

I always compared my potential retirement "salary" against the "salary" I was making at the time.
But not working greatly lessened my clothing expenses
My commuting expenses dropped to zero, and if you commute to work you should add those hours into your annual working hours.
My spending on office lunches etc. dropped to zero.
My federal taxes were GREATLY reduced. Taxes on $120K were a lot more than on $80K
My state taxes were greatly reduced and if I finish moving to Mississippi they will be zero.
The 7% being taken off the top for retirement benefits dropped to zero. That was almost $10k/year.

When I did retire (with 37 years) in 2011 my pay rate loss was about $3 or $4 an hour based on a 2,000 hour work year.

Some of my older cohorts had 40 or more years in. When I helped them figure the difference between what they earned salaried vs retired most of them retired. Some of them had actually basically been PAYING to work.

Commuting was a big point for many. Some of them were commuting 2 hours a day (round trip) thus effectively committing a total of 2,500 hours to work. And spending almost $100/week for transportation, 50 weeks a year. Thus those that had a salary of $150,000 before taxes for a 2,000 hour work year had thought they were effectively payed $75/hr., but when you figure in commuting time and cost it was more like $58/hour.

So if you are thinking of retiring compare costs now versus future, you might be surprised.

I did an analysis similar to the one you describe using a spreadsheet. Bottom line was that I was going to forfeit $5k/year to sit home. No brainer.

 

[jerrybob]

Blessed to have retired early 15 years ago at 50. Had 600+ employees in almost every major town this side of Dallas.....used to fly 30 to 35 weeks per year......don't miss corp. life at all........moved to a rural area from LA........haven't been on an airplane for 15 years.........walked thru the woods this morning with one of our dogs.........saw elk, deer and one eagle nest........going kayaking tomorrow with a friend........worked on an 1890 oil wagon in the shop earlier......enjoying life.........don't have time to work.......just stayin busy with fun stuff.:thumbsup:

 

[Doofy]

Blessed to have retired early 15 years ago at 50. Had 600+ employees in almost every major town this side of Dallas.....used to fly 30 to 35 weeks per year......don't miss corp. life at all........moved to a rural area from LA........haven't been on an airplane for 15 years.........walked thru the woods this morning with one of our dogs.........saw elk, deer and one eagle nest........going kayaking tomorrow with a friend........worked on an 1890 oil wagon in the shop earlier......enjoying life.........don't have time to work.......just stayin busy with fun stuff.:thumbsup:

Now THAT, my friend, is Living!

 

[Grouse09]

I am one year out from retiring. Will serve them a one-month notice on my 55th Birthday. If this year goes by as fast as the last one, my retirement will seem to start very quickly.

 

[Thall303]

I look at it this way....once I retired, it gave someone else the opportunity to work if they need to or want to.

I have very little stress and most of that is self inflicted and manageable!

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

Ok, You asked, here are some of them. The first picture is of the 4104, '83 International with van-trailer, White tractor and plywood cab pickup. The second is of the White with a detach goose neck trailer and the back-hoe.

My second cousin when he first started his trucking company his second truck was a 67 or 68 cabover like that. Had a 671 Detroit in it. Love riding in it when he hauled grain to the twin cities. He has almost 30 tractors and over a hundred trailers now. All the tractors are freightliners. Thanks for posting pictures!

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

I am one year out from retiring. Will serve them a one-month notice on my 55th Birthday. If this year goes by as fast as the last one, my retirement will seem to start very quickly.

You think the time is going fast now wait until you retire. I have no idea where the last 7 1/2 years have went.

For those that are talking about how much before and after take home money. Lots look at it like I'm making this much now and if I retire this is how much after. Can't look at it that way at all. You have to figure gas, travel, lunches, clothing, wear and tear on cars, trucks what ever your driving. Just about everything your spending money on while working will change once you no longer work. The only clothing I have purchased since retiring is socks and some cheap slip on tennis shoes - 12 dollars a pair. Socks from Walmart. I shave once every 10 days or so instead of every day. Cloths have holes in them but the chickens and steers I feed twice a day don't care what I look like as long as I have a bucket of feed in my hand. I go to town looking like I do when I'm working with crap on my shoes and smelling the same. Your attitude changes so spending on stuff you did before changes. Can't possibly factor in everything.

I looked at it like can I pay my bills, and will I have enough left to spend on some things I want. No matter what people think the thousands you have in the bank or all the things you think you need and have you not going to take with you to the other side. If all I have enough for is sitting on the front porch and drinking a cup of coffee is way better than having to deal with that rat race that use to start a 5 every morning just 7 1/2 short years ago.

 

[Turbys_1700]

My wife and I are 5 years out from retiring and looking forward to the transition. She is planning on hanging it up in Nov. of 2022 and I will hang it up end of Dec. 2022. Actually I could go out earlier but have an issue with retiring before she does. I guess it's the alpha male thing.

 

[JD15302155870]

Worst thing about retirement ids there are no holidays or vacation

 

[ovrszd]

I missed going to work for a day or two, but not really much. I worked on getting my insurance licence and make some sales. I probably work half a dozen days a month. I worked hard every day for a lot of decades and I am taking life a bit easier now. The only peril I can think of is the lower amount of money coming in. Getting up at 5:00 am every morning and then driving 40 miles to work every day no matter what the weather, nah, don't miss it much.

Financially speaking, successful retirement is more dependant on what you spend rather than what your income is.