Now That You Happily Retired Do You Have Any Regrets Looking Back?

MarciKS said:
But what did you do for money? I know that SS won't pay before at least 62.
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It was sort of a patchwork.

I didn't need all of the money on day one.

I went from unemployment insurance to severance to dividends and interest until the crash of 2008.

After the crash when interest rates went to zero I started a controlled burn through my cash reserves until I reached 59 1/2.

At 59 1/2 I started to draw a small amount from my IRA

When I reached 62 I applied for SS and started rebuilding my cash reserves.
 

Aunt Bea said:
It was sort of a patchwork.

I didn't need all of the money on day one.

I went from unemployment insurance to severance to dividends and interest until the crash of 2008.

After the crash when interest rates went to zero I started a controlled burn through my cash reserves until I reached 59 1/2.

At 59 1/2 I started to draw a small amount from my IRA

When I reached 62 I applied for SS and started rebuilding my cash reserves.
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Rebuilding how? (sorry about the questions)
 
I had to retire early, due to my arthritis not allowing me to work any longer. My only regret, if you can call it that, is that I could not stay at my job until this year, when I turned 66. I loved my job.
But once I fell into the routine of retirement, I do enjoy it. Personal circumstances in the last couple years, made me glad I was retired to deal with everything.
Of course, now that my life has given me the opportunity to start doing things to really enjoy my life, we get grounded. But, I am not complaining. I enjoy my life as a home body.
 
Aunt Bea said:
got fired and I was lucky. ;)

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” - Seneca
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Oooooooh! I can identify on both accounts, Aunt Bea! Seneca also said something along the lines of, "The fates lead those who will. Those who won't, they drag".

I have been retired for about three weeks now and am so surprised how much I do not miss work. I absolutely loved some of my coworkers and patients, but don't miss them at all! I enjoyed my job responsibilities, and thought I would feel non-productive when I stopped working, but it isn't so. Chores around the house, working on my property and in the gardens, I once had to find the time and energy for, are now pleasurable parts of my day.

In the past, I would squeeze every moment that I could to spend in my art room, but now I am free to spend as much time in here as I please!

I may seek some part time or per diem employment, because I don't want to end up saying what my Dad said:


Dad.jpg
 
I wasn't sure when to retire...
Then, where I worked...the owner decided to close the business..
And...it "all worked out". I became "a big girl"..to collect S S..
Although didn't want to ADMIT I was old enough to do so. 😢
I missed it, "at first"..as I had worked "all my life"...well,
since " dawn's early light" 🤭
But, found other things of interest to do. 👍
 
There are certainly many seniors that become bored after retiring because their career was most of their life including social life. What did the majority of adults mostly do before the Internet each work week night? Dinner, read a bit of newspaper, some alcohol, then hours of TV. Weekend, chores, shopping, watch TV sports. Year after year.

During my peon career between jobs, would take off for months years without unemployment, just bleeding through savings till they ran low enough I had to go back. Spent some winters skiing, some summers backpacking, springs landscape photography in flowery fields, plus much non-fiction science and technology book reading. Never taken out a loan, never debts, no dependents, no house. I very much know how to enjoy my life that rich people would envy without spending much money.

After the 2008 crash, had to work 8 years till age 69 in order to save enough to have enough plus SS to last at least 20 years frugally, comfortably. So far SS alone has supported my life the last 4 years so yes am glad I retired and much is well. Would be content to live forever.
 
David777 said:
There are certainly many seniors that become bored after retiring because their career was most of their life including social life. What did the majority of adults mostly do before the Internet each work week night? Dinner, read a bit of newspaper, some alcohol, then hours of TV. Weekend, chores, shopping, watch TV sports. Year after year.

During my peon career between jobs, would take off for months years without unemployment, just bleeding through savings till they ran low enough I had to go back. Spent some winters skiing, some summers backpacking, springs landscape photography in flowery fields, plus much non-fiction science and technology book reading. Never taken out a loan, never debts, no dependents, no house. I very much know how to enjoy my life that rich people would envy without spending much money.

After the 2008 crash, had to work 8 years till age 69 in order to save enough to have enough plus SS to last at least 20 years frugally, comfortably. So far SS alone has supported my life the last 4 years so yes am glad I retired and much is well. Would be content to live forever.
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I agree. For some people, their job was their life - after they retire they are quite bored and don't know what to do. I was blessed to retire at a fairly early age 55. It was one of the hardest but best decisions I have made. My sister is almost 70 and finally retiring. She had several concerns. I mention to her that retirement is what you make it.
 
Ladybj said:
I agree. For some people, their job was their life - after they retire they are quite bored and don't know what to do. I was blessed to retire at a fairly early age 55. It was one of the hardest but best decisions I have made. My sister is almost 70 and finally retiring. She had several concerns. I mention to her that retirement is what you make it.
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I wish my sister would retire; but, she says it's more work being at home. lol A few of my teacher friends retired at age 55. They love retirement. I early retired at 62.
 
I gradually transitioned into retirement. I quit my last fulltime job when I was about 45 and started working as a contractor so I could work from home. After maybe four years of working small contracts — some that provided only three or four hours of work — I picked up a steady client that I worked for on a nearly fulltime basis for several years. I lost that contract (for reasons I won't go into) when I was 61 and that's when I retired.

Working as an independent contractor isn't easy. You have to do all the work: look for clients, sell yourself to them, do the work, including billing and dealing with difficult clients who seem to want you to work for free. I've thought about doing some more work, especially since there's a shortage of software engineers, but I really don't want to so unless we become desperate and destitute, it's not gonna happen.
 
I agree. I had a former boss that reached out to me to become a contractor for a start-up company. I was looking to work maybe 20 hours a week when he told me I would be responsible for establishing a North American sales force. That would require more hours than the full-time job I held prior to retirement. I also did a lot of research on the difficulties of being an independent contractor. I was flattered, but said "no thanks".
 
I retired at the same age (62 1/2), but received an early retirement incentive and use of sick days to continue my insurance most of the way to age 65. Sure glad I did! Not only was my job to be turned upside-down should I stay on, but I was able to get cancer treatment 4 1/2 hours from home this last month that I don’t think I could have easily managed otherwise. Also, with some of the incentive money I was able to replace our faulty oil furnace that was leaking a little exhaust into our air (which very likely made my cancer worse). It was literally a life saver for me!
 
I'm reposting this because for some unknown reason, when SF did their site makeover, my posts showed up in this little tiny font. Here's what I wrote back in 2019.
"I retired at 50. No regrets, none, nada, zip! Very happy I did it when I did even though my colleagues told me I couldn't. They all had more time in on state payroll than I did and waited several years after me to retire."
Update: Still happily retired. When I see my neighbors going off to work I feel so blessed that I no longer have to, especially in bad weather. I can't believe that in less than two months it will be 23 years since I retired (one month before my 51st birthday)!
 


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