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Feelin' mixed up-envious, but not there yet


shootingstar

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So now, 3 long-time friends have just taken early retirement within the past 4 wks.  They are all on separate paths.. and don't know/influence each other. 2 are each single women, no children and each owns their own home. Actually 1 of them owns 2 homes, with a mortgage to pay for a home.   3rd person is a single woman with 2 grown sons. (I have no clue if they live at home still.) She also owns her home and no mortgage (she bought it over 30 yrs. ago).

These women are 59 (my age) to 61 yrs.

Though envious of their voluntary early retirement, I'm not there yet. Unlike these 3 different people, I've worked for several different employers.  Hence, no large employer pension, just fragments. I don't regret my job choices/changes, since I've learned ALOT.  

What trips up forecasting, is nearly daunting possibility of a long life expectancy and financially planning for... living into our 90's???  Hard to believe, but I've been hearing a lot from face to face friends, colleagues, who have relatives in their 90's.  This was nearly unheard of 40 yrs. ago.

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I'm there with you. 62 and still working.  Healthcare is a big issue, but so is money to live on in general.  Also had a couple of guys my own age check oot, but the had the rare good fortune to work for a company that kept their real pensions.  But one was easy since he was single.

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Part of me worries that I'll never feel really "comfortable" and that I'll keep working until something happens and I can't keep working anymore. It would be a shame if it were a medical thing, and I never had a chance to really enjoy retirement.  But I'd also hate to retire in response to some short term issues and then worry about money in my later years.  One of my coworkers keeps saying he thinks he'd be bored in retirement, and I am not worried about that at all.

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Too many low paying jobs and a stretch of un-employment as well as life confusion...I am a bit behind in the saving for retirement area...then again....Oh well...I would love to retire soon..or find something I could do part-time and still make some money...like "Life-Coach" ha what a gig if you can get it....

No I will be working probably til 70...unless we get real in this country about health care....

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...I retired a couple of years earlier than planned due to some injuries. Turns out I needed those years for full recovery (more or less).

So the decision got made for me.  But like in  @Kirby 's vision of retirement, I've never been bored even for one day in retirement.

 

I think that if you are not so sick of your job that the idea of going in to work on Monday morning makes you a little nauseous, you probably ought to keep working a while longer. Eventually it will. :)

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28 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

It is really difficult to compare your situation to those of others.  There are a lot of unknowns, and you have to trust what you are and will be comfortable with in the future.

...this is more or less what I think, too. I was living on a shoestring for so many  years in my 20's and early 30's that I figure I can get by on pretty little now that the house is paid off. Fortunately, once I hit 65, the combination of Medicare and my Green Stamps Savings Books allow me to access the best in medical care this country has to offer. :)

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I grew up in a family with little money (towards the end of my high school years) and caught a financial break in my mid-20s.  I think I made the most of that but over the years the advantage faded but I was smart enough to put some money down for retirement.  I think I'll be ok in the sense that there will be enough money there to pay for medical insurance and put food on the table -- provided I own my home.  It's the later piece I'm behind on and working frantically in these last 15 years to own my home outright.  But I'm also not against owning a double wide trailer on a secluded piece of land somewhere.  But I don't think that's going to happen here in the greater Seattle area.  It's been a great place to earn money but it sucks to retire.  The plan is to appreciate the house and unload it and move to a red state where the cost of housing and living should be less. I can live with less too.  Much less.  Owning property with no sales tax and having medical premiums, food, and utilities paid for is a big win in my view.

But who knows??  Life always throws surprises.  Like this lump behind my ear.  I gotta get that checked out.  My wife who worked in the medical field says I need to get that checked out asap. Getting head and throat cancer would be a big game changer.

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38 minutes ago, petitepedal said:

Too many low paying jobs and a stretch of un-employment as well as life confusion...I am a bit behind in the saving for retirement area...then again....Oh well...I would love to retire soon..or find something I could do part-time and still make some money...like "Life-Coach" ha what a gig if you can get it....

No I will be working probably til 70...unless we get real in this country about health care....

You would be great at being a part-time life coach, petite. Something tells me, your personality even if I see only part of it on the Internet here, is suited for this.  Your present job also with the current clientele, keeps you empathetic.

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25 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Best of luck, Dottie on diagnosis.  

I wouldn't go rural since it's better to have local access to wide range of health care services.

Thank you Star. I'm with Page in believing the odds are in my favor but I do worry a wee bit. 

The point is, and I want to share this with you, my mom waited her whole life to retire and when she finally could, she was diagnosed with cancer and six months later died. I always think about that.  No matter how hard or concerned we are with our future, death's gonna happen and none of us know when it's going to hit.  I don't care how much I own or where.  I just want to have some control over how it plays out in my final years.  And we aren't even guaranteed that.  So perhaps maybe not having all your ducks lined up is the answer.  Maybe fear doesn't have to be as paralyzing as we believe it to be.  Maybe we just need to accept our mortality and take those trips now.  Maybe our state of happiness is really just negotiating with ourselves and accepting our own destiny.  Maybe we just need to be concerned with the warm inner glow that sometimes we neglect to shine.

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42 minutes ago, Dottles said:

But I'm also not against owning a double wide trailer on a secluded piece of land somewhere.  But I don't think that's going to happen here in the greater Seattle area.  It's been a great place to earn money but it sucks to retire. 

I've got one sitting on the corner of 350 acres, 20 miles down a gravel road and about 30 miles from town.

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Just now, Dottles said:

Aha!  How did you end up out in MC?

I made a lateral transfer from a USDA experiment station in Burns, OR, to one in Miles City.  Left an administration/research position to go back to full time research. Local station (55,000 acres) is close to town, and budget was adequate so I did not have to chase grant dollars.  My only travel was to go to meetings.  I traveled more when in Oregon and even more in Texas before that.  Working on remote sites did not let me do some of the detailed physiological research that I preferred. Four years of administration was enough to let me know that I preferred research. Is that enough information?

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1 minute ago, sheep_herder said:

I made a lateral transfer from a USDA experiment station in Burns, OR, to one in Miles City.  Left an administration/research position to go back to full time research. Local station (55,000 acres) is close to town, and budget was adequate so I did not have to chase grant dollars.  My only travel was to go to meetings.  I traveled more when in Oregon and even more in Texas before that.  Working on remote sites did not let me do some of the detailed physiological research that I preferred. Four years of administration was enough to let me know that I preferred research. Is that enough information?

For now!  I'd like to retain some of it.  ?

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I would have preferred to have retired on my terms but the two major companies that I worked for chose to terminate my employment just before I became a financial liability.  First P&W Aircraft eleminated my Job before I turned 50 and thereby cut my retirement in half.  Then the last company I worked for eliminated my job just 5 months before my full retirement date when I would have preferred to work another 1 to 2 years.

The secret however is being happy with what you have rather than desiring what you don't. Womaxx will have to work to her full retirement since she needs to retain her medical plan as a two time cancer survivor.

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36 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

I would have preferred to have retired on my terms but the two major companies that I worked for chose to terminate my employment just before I became a financial liability.  First P&W Aircraft eleminated my Job before I turned 50 and thereby cut my retirement in half.  Then the last company I worked for eliminated my job just 5 months before my full retirement date when I would have preferred to work another 1 to 2 years.

The secret however is being happy with what you have rather than desiring what you don't. Womaxx will have to work to her full retirement since she needs to retain her medical plan as a two time cancer survivor.

What was impressive, I was hired by my current employer when I was....51 yrs. Our organization has hired recently some people from their mid 40's and up in some situations. It was their expertise they wanted. However in the past 6 months, it may not be totally true.  

I'm sorry that Womaxx still has to work and she's not there yet to enjoy retirement with you full-time. Hopefully she likes her job.

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4 hours ago, petitepedal said:

.I would love to retire soon..or find something I could do part-time and still make some money...like "Life-Coach" ha what a gig if you can get it......

I think you could get part time work as a companion with senior citizens.  Your current job is good experience and you could help with taking them to doctor appointments, organizing financial records, shopping or running errands.  

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I still have a few years until retirement but we are setting ourselves up for retirement.  Several lay offs put us behind in retirement savings but we earn good money, carry almost no debt and have several hundred thousand in equity in our home.  We are putting more away in retirement savings now.

But we are also not waiting for retirement to do the things we want to do like travel & such.  We are trying to enjoy life as much as possible now as who knows what our life situation will be in 15 years.

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1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

The secret however is being happy with what you have rather than desiring what you don't. Womaxx will have to work to her full retirement since she needs to retain her medical plan as a two time cancer survivor.

My wife is in the same boat being a four time cancer survivor. She has the ok to try to work from home, the question is still our crappy expensive internet. They gave her a new laptop and the software she needs to work from home, she tried it out yesterday and it partially worked. She is on vacation for the next two weeks so she is going to keep trying to get it to work. If she can't make it work they will find a space for her somewhere else (the room she worked is closing down and everyone else is now working from home). If she can't work from home she is going to retire Oct. 1st this year when she becomes eligible for Medicare.

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31 minutes ago, Kirby said:

I think you could get part time work as a companion with senior citizens.  Your current job is good experience and you could help with taking them to doctor appointments, organizing financial records, shopping or running errands.  

Maybe she could be a guide for Adventure Cycling with all her adventure experience?

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57 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We are trying to enjoy life as much as possible now as who knows what our life situation will be in 15 years.

For sure, you'll be older.:whistle:

I find it interesting that folks talk about the equity in their house.  Hate to admit it, but that has never crossed my mind.  We just wanted to own our home and to be debt free before I retired, along with having enough money to live our life.  Which by many standards is relatively simple. Now, if I could just get rid of all off those darn sheep.

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5 hours ago, Dottles said:

The point is, and I want to share this with you, my mom waited her whole life to retire and when she finally could, she was diagnosed with cancer and six months later died. I always think about that.  No matter how hard or concerned we are with our future, death's gonna happen and none of us know when it's going to hit.  I don't care how much I own or where.  I just want to have some control over how it plays out in my final years.  And we aren't even guaranteed that.  So perhaps maybe not having all your ducks lined up is the answer.  Maybe fear doesn't have to be as paralyzing as we believe it to be.  Maybe we just need to accept our mortality and take those trips now.  Maybe our state of happiness is really just negotiating with ourselves and accepting our own destiny.  Maybe we just need to be concerned with the warm inner glow that sometimes we neglect to shine.

So true, Dotties. So sad for your mother.

I think of my father who was a restaurant cook his whole life, breadwinner and supporting wife + 6 children.  He retired at 65 yrs. and I know that he had a lot less money in bank than I. At least their house was paid off. He and mother didn't travel beyond Toronto, the city where they eventually moved  for retirement to be in same city as their children.   He was diagnosed with cancer @78 but lived until 85.

For sure, I tell people for past few years, to go on their desired foreign trip if they can afford it, now.  While still healthy, open to learning and still mobile/active. Not wait until retirement, if you have some funds now. 

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40 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

For sure, you'll be older.:whistle:

I find it interesting that folks talk about the equity in their house.  Hate to admit it, but that has never crossed my mind.  We just wanted to own our home and to be debt free before I retired, along with having enough money to live our life.  Which by many standards is relatively simple. Now, if I could just get rid of all off those darn sheep.

Well that's exactly my point. My brother was dead of cancer months after retiring.  His death had a profound impact on us in that why wait until we are reitired to enjoy life.  

Equity is important to us as we are not necessarily committed to living where we do until we die. There is a good chance we'll move on, the equity will be handy.  It's another form of retirement savings to us but If we do stay then we live mortgage free.

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13 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Well that's exactly my point. My brother was dead of cancer months after retiring.  His death had a profound impact on us in that why wait until we are reitired to enjoy life.  

 

Based on what I read in various places, I was very lucky to have the career that I did over the years.  Sure there were bumps along the way and times we had to modify plans, but my job never kept us from enjoying life.

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Just now, sheep_herder said:

Based on what I read in various places, I was very lucky to have the career that I did over the years.  Sure there were bumps along the way and times we had to modify plans, but my job never kept us from enjoying life.

I feel lucky to have made it in the tech industry and mostly it has paid dividends. But I find myself sometimes wanting to do something else but there is no way unless I can own property and my own home.

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