Retired? Why?

Warrigal said:
There are quite a few of life's experiences that I don't regret missing out.
Drug experimentation is one of them.

How alarming would it be if my work colleagues were smoking weed while on duty?
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I won't name names, but one of my roommates in college was a state cop. Guess how we got joints when we were low on money? ;)

For the record, I stopped getting high before graduation.
 
That Guy said:
Roger that. There are signs they put on equipment that's out of service and to be removed saying "Retired In Place". I keep meaning to make a t-shirt that says the same . . .
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I love it! I need one of those so badly. I'm still working my butt off at work, but it is like a veil has been lifted, and I just don't care anymore, don't give a rat's ass, a tinker's darn......

When I retire too I keep telling my husband that we will no longer be ridin' the gravy train, instead we will be lucky to hitch a ride on the last caboose heading to Poverty Row, along with so many oldsters, some months we will be lucky to have 2 nickles to rub together.

Oh boy I can see it now, instead of stressing out over being kicked to the curb too early, now I can worry about out-living our money. Ah let the good times roll.

And yet I am still completely, absolutely giddy over the prospects of not working anymore. I have been a wage slave since High School and I am pooped, more so mentally than physically.

I plan on spending a lot more time working in my yard and reading.
 
Everyone has their own & unique story. Mine was this. I was divorced. Mom died & I got some inheritance. I bought a home in Delaware & got a job going home to home as a health care aid. When I reached my 50's I had health issues. The job became increasingly too demanding for me physically. I decided to sell my home & move. I was shocked when the housing boom caused the value of the home I was selling to double in value. I was able to build a brand new home in Florida. The timing was also perfect in my love life. I met a wonderful man. We married. He sold his place and we were able to put in a pool, screen room, get new cars, a shed, fencing, etc. etc. Combining what we had we were also financially both able to retire. Now what's important is our maintaining healthy, independent lives.
 
Gee great stories you all have not sure I`ll post mine now its uninteresting compared to others LOL..
well I retired from work ..
Because it was time? ...... Never was time.. just circumstances changed and mother in law needed caring.. while I was working I looked after her.. each day rush off to work nights in the hospital then back to see she was in bed.. home again .. sleep .. up again go visit Mum in law.. same ol routine each week,for 2 years.. so . in the end it burnt me out I found I couldn`t do it any more and still be expected to do a shift at the hospital which was very demanding.. so had to leave look after Mum full time but after a year doc put her in a home because she had dementia , didn`t know who was who .then she passed away 6 months later... then was too tired to go back to work so left and retired at 50 ..

Didn't want the stress of working? After you turn 50 they don`t want you to return to work because they would rather have younger nurses and assistants then so that was my cue no more work... too old lol..did miss the money but thats not everything..
Had enough money? Not really just a small super as my hubby was leaving his job the next year, even though we owned our
own home he had already in his younger years when he came to Australia.. married a lass from Sydney (not me ) lol ... and they bought 5 acres of land down south from where we are.built a home also then . the marriage fell through and he was left holding the full morgage which he had to pay off for year , in the end got nothing for it .. but he was healthy so when we got married I was already a widow at 25 with my two young children.. married my present husband 3 yrs after my first husband passed away from cancer, he was young at 25 too young to die.. that was the hardest time in my life .. my son was born 3 months later and the dads coming in to see their babies and mine in a grave... was just so hard..
Hubby had 2 boys from his previous marriage as his wife had died too, so we had an instant family.. not a very happy situation I found the going so hard to accept but just kept going on as life had to go on I didn`t want to disappoint any one . least of all his 2 boys who had gone through divorce and a death of a parent when they were under 13 ... but we managed till they grew up meaning I never worked while the children were all at home or young , was my duty to look after them and manage on hubbys wage the best way we could.. this time we had 5 children yours , mine and ours .. one daughter between us..
We moved up to the Central coast and hubby got a job as maintenance man in the local hospital.. and was there till he retired... I started there when my younger daughter was 15 so she was able to look after herself a little then too , time was right to go back to work then.. but only for 10 years then had to leave again ... but now am retired.. we have travelled the world many times during the 10 years since retiring.. sold our home.. bought ourselves a little relocatable home because its easier to manage and also easier to look after.. we have everything we need.. not a lot of income because we spent our super travelling which I wouldn`t have changed for the world..as if I had left it my legs wouldn`t have done any walking .. I have left out lots of things that has happened during our lives but thats irrelevant to this posting it would bore you all as this much probably has already hehe but this is my story ...
 
Interesting and uplifting story, Rainee, you can tell us some more under another thread....
 
I retired at 52 and feel very fortunate to do so. I was tired of being a bean counter and was financially able to it, so I went for it. Many told me I would become bored and regret it, but that has not been the case. Love having the freedom to do whatever I want each day. Within reason of course. ;)
 
Because it was time? Definitely! I was going to be 65 at the end of 2012, that was close enough. I had been working there (for several companies and a variety of acquisition programs) since 1984. Once viewed as valued members of the acquisition team, by the time I left - contractors were being looked down upon as overpaid parasites. Not a fun environment!
Didn't want the stress of working? I worked as a contractor at an AF Base near Boston. A total of 2 hrs commute (no fun in winter). Contractors with 20+ years of experience were being phased out and replaced with younger - and cheaper - gov't civilians (who were taught their jobs by the outgoing contractors - go figure!). Those contractor who remained faced salary cuts of @ 30% when their contracts were renewed.
Had enough money? My spouse and I ran our budget numbers multiple times and they came out okay.
An offer you couldn't refuse? No
Spousal pressure? No
Fired? No
Wanted to get out of the way of younger workers? (no kidding?) Definitely! The accent was certainly on youth. We experienced people were tolerated (barely) by the younger (30-something know-it-all civilians and immature junior military officers) generation of military and civil servants. I felt the younger gov't workers resented the higher salaries experienced contractors earned.
Health? No. My health was just "okay" when I retired. In Jan 12, I began working out (cardio & weights) 6 days a week at the local "Y". I feel better than I have in many years.

13 months after I left (and NEVER looked back) I can sat it was the BEST decision I've made recently!
 
Understand

Katybug said:
Retirement isn't for me. Living alone and all my friends and family being married, I hated it. After a year of it, I became deeply depressed so I found myself a job. I don't like working all day 5 days a week, but that doesn't happen often. I would go bonkers staying in this condo all the time and volunteering just didn't do it for me. I wanted to be out and about and have money coming in at the same time.
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I have thought of getting at least a part time job. What kind of work are you doing?
 
Thanks Vivjen,, Will do so one day but for today am glad I saw the email on my email from Seniors forum I have had a lot of problems with the computer and lost all my
emails and addresses so now found this one when opened it up and so happy will post more to forum later not about retiring but just to say hello :)
 
I retired at 62 1/2 for three reasons:

1. I was going to seriously maim someone at work if I stayed there much longer. I was sick to the gills of lack of planning on someone else's part becoming an emergency on my part.

2. I met a fellow who was already retired and was ready to head out to "see America". He didn't want to wait much longer and I was more than eager to go along for the ride.

3. I could afford to retire.
 
Voluntary redundancy.

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Relevant said:
I have thought of getting at least a part time job. What kind of work are you doing?
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all the things i do for money are now things i would do for free. the fact i get paid is a bonus ...

my wife and i love photography and sell photo's and files on our website .... i enjoy teaching motor controls and variable frequency drives for a local distributor one day a week , it is very enjoyable .. i also got back in to drumming again and am preparing to take part in the 50th anniversary tour of a well know group of recording artists .

so while i get paid , i don't consider any of it a moment of work .
 
I retired WAY early because I could and my husband was perfectly ok with it. I then worked part time doing woodworking and selling items on Etsy which was a lot of fun. Someday I might go back to doing that . At the moment I have too many things on the go.
 
I retired, IOW, stopped looking for a job, when I turned 62, and started getting Early Retirement SS. Unlike my wife, I didn't have a college degree and/or certification in the area I worked in earlier...…..inventory and purchasing. Due to previous surgeries, I could no longer work in a warehouse or stockroom full-time. Doing the physical stuff anymore was gone. I only wanted to work Monday thru Friday and only a daytime job. Wife and I both agreed on that. So, we both decided that my SS would be some money coming in and that I could take care of things at home (laundry, etc.) while she was at work. Has turned out great for us.

I don't miss working at all.
 
Didn't want the stress of working, had enough money because we planned for early retirement at 55, an offer you couldn't refuse made it possible to retire at age 54.


Would probably have worked until age 65 at the blue collar job I had, but when a white collar job was offered it was to good to pass up. The choice. Continue hard physical labor outdoors in all kinds of weather or inside out of the weather supervising at a significant increase in pay & benefits.


Like many corporations in the early to mid 1990's downsizing management was considered the best way to reduce operating costs, hence the offer I couldn't refuse.
 
I was just flat-out tired. Hubs retired because he was also tired -- tired of the BS, the stress, the BS, the travel, the long hours, the BS... His blood pressure dropped 30 points after he retired and he no longer needed meds. And we could afford to, after years of saving and living within our income.
 
jujube said:
I retired at 62 1/2 for three reasons:

1. I was going to seriously maim someone at work if I stayed there much longer. I was sick to the gills of lack of planning on someone else's part becoming an emergency on my part.

2. I met a fellow who was already retired and was ready to head out to "see America". He didn't want to wait much longer and I was more than eager to go along for the ride.

3. I could afford to retire.
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Your Item #1 was a big part of my decision, too. I retired at 67+.
 
The title of this thread says it all.. "Retired? Why?" I left my main job in my late 40's with a decent pension. I went back to work because I love what I'm doing. It pleases me to know that I am helping to instill joy and excitement in peoples lives. Legally I am retired, but I refuse to look at it that way so long as I can continue to do something with my life.
 
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laid off at 59 small pension...two years later part time job, five years later no job.....two years later loving it.....just turned 67
 
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