My Case For Retiring Early-------------50"s / 60's

L

Lon

Well-known Member
Location
Central California
I am coming up on my 81st birthday within in a week and have been reflecting on my life since retiring at age 56. I took up Scuba Diving and got certified for up to 100ft. I have done deep water dives in Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand & Australia and all over the Caribbean. I played golf and Racquet Ball on a regular basis as well as Water Volleyball & did a Bungy Jump from 200 ft. 0n my 65th birthday. I have taken seven cruises and traveled extensively. What's my point? I gave up golf this year because of stiffening knees and hands which made it impossible to play as well as I did just five years ago. I had to give up Scuba Diving at 70. Had I waited until age 70 to retire just because I would receive a few more dollars I would have missed out on one hell of a lot of fun and excitement. My physical activities now are limited to Petanque, Water Volley Ball, swimming, walking. I may take another cruise this year or a Trans Canada Train Trip (something I always wanted to do) I will not be going back to New Zealand any more as I had done yearly for 25 years, that 13 hour plane trip out of Los Angeles is tough on the body. Life is good folks, but don't delay, the years go by very quickly and you don't want to be a member of the "WISH I HADDA CLUB"
 

Lon, you are a wise man and you know how to get the most out of life! Good for you! :)

Both my husband and I retired early, but not by choice. Typically headmasters retire at 60, but husband became too ill to continue working and we thought his condition may be permanent. He retired at 55. Fortunately he completely recovered in less than 2 years, but he couldn't go back to his career as he was already collecting his teacher's pension and had received his lump sum. So he got a part time job locally that he enjoyed and then he decided he still had a lot to give and wanted to volunteer in Africa. So at the age of 55 I stopped working and never went back. We lived in Uganda for two glorious years, something I doubt we would have done if he'd retired 5 years later.

My husband got his work pension immediately but I didn't get any for 5 years after I stopped working (a US work pension), and then 2 more pensions at 62. I'm now 63 and he is 66.

We traveled a lot before retirement but now our trips are much longer and we go much more often and sometimes on the spur of the moment. We LOVE being retired and we are both fit and healthy so we make the most of it.
 

Sorry about your husband Ameriscot. That sounds like it was a tough time.

I think early retirement would depend upon how and where the retiree wants to live. There's so much more for seniors to do these days, but what if you don't have enough money for travel, cruises, sports, cars, dining out, all the things that would make retirement enjoyable IMHO. I like gardening and arranging flowers and jewelry making and art but what if I didn't have a garden or the money for materials for my crafts and activities? That would be pretty miserable and is definitely something for a prospective young retiree to consider.
 
Thanks, Chic. He had some kind of unidentified 'episode' that gave him vertigo (labyrinthitis) and made walking down a hallway a major challenge. He felt sick all the time. He stuck it out taking lots of sick leave for a year and a half. Loved his job so fought having to leave. He was always very fit and healthy so the prospects of this being permanent didn't sit well! He always had incredible balance. Fortunately he had a very good pension so could afford to retire.

Agree there is no reason to retire early by choice if you can't afford to enjoy yourself.
 
And being the boss one usually doesn't prefer to retire early. After a certain age men don't want to work for another man, especially when a new boss may come in who is younger...
 
Ralphy1 said:
And being the boss one usually doesn't prefer to retire early. After a certain age men don't want to work for another man, especially when a new boss may come in who is younger...
Click to expand...

Not quite the same in a school. He was the headmaster and two of the teachers were his deputy headmasters who took charge when he was off sick.
 
Well done Lon and I agree. I retired at 53 and haven't regretted it. My brother also retired early, but died at 56. So you never know how much time you have.

I'm envious of your trips to NZ. That is my dream vacation, but haven't scheduled it yet. My first few years of retirement(I'm 61) was devoted to looking after my aging aunt and mother. They were fairly low maintenance, but just couldn't slip away too far as I didn't have any backup. I played a lot of golf and was able to take short trips to the beach so not all caretaker duties. My aunt died in 2009 and my mom in 2013. In the last 2 years I have purchased a vacation condo on the AL coast and spruced up my mom's old house where I'm living. So haven't been able to work an expensive trip in the budget. But hope to before too long. I am heading out west in the Fall for a 2 week getaway. And about to load up my car for a trip to the condo. I really enjoy it down there and only a 3 hour drive.
 

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