Congrats!

Congratulations. I can't imagine working to 73. I was only 56 when I retired almost 4 years ago. I have not regretted it for a second. I always smile when I hear people concerned about what they will do with their time. I wonder how I'll find time to get everything I want to do done and how I ever got anything done when I worked full time. Enjoy the ride.

Excellent!! Only 5 more work days left for me until I join you. Official date is March 31 but I have 4 holidays to squeeze in before then. Last official day answering calls is next Monday. I thought the last month would be easing out the door but it's been anything but that. Seems like everyone is grabbing me before I lock the door. I hope you're excited as I am about what's next.

Oh, bother. Well.., carry on.

I'm vacillating between pure excitement and total terror over what comes next. I've always worked but we've only had enough money to feel comfortable for the last few years. We'll be OK until one of us gets sick or dies. Then the financial picture will get a little bit iffy. I haven't told the good folks that I work with yet (we're on spring break right now). There are a couple of ways that I could do the last day thing and I haven't decided what I want to do yet.

Time to plan that family Trans-Am tour! Nothing bonds the family together like a good 40 mph headwind on the prairie, in the middle of nowhere...

Been there ... done that, Bill -- highly recommended, with the caveat that your boss may turn out to be a real SOB.

I hung out the consulting shingle at age 58, when my employer of 7 years abruptly went bankrupt and shut down. The timing was arguably the worst possible -- end of December 2008, heading into the depths of Great Depression 2.0, aka "The Great Recession." During the first 7 months of 2009 the only job I held was a 3-day stint I found on CraigsList, teaching basic electronics to a small group of Navy SEALs (great bunch of guys -- we all had a blast), but after that I rode a steady string of contracts: 10 months, 8 months, and 2 years. From there I morphed into my current encore career in academia, with a workload which averages about 75%. I plan to work 4 more years, then re-evaluate the situation when I turn 70 and have to draw SS and IRA RMDs.

I have been told there are four phases of Santa Claus: 1) you believe in Santa Claus; 2) you don't believe in him; 3) you are Santa Claus; and 4) you look like him. Likewise, I have determined that there are three phases of work: 1) you work because you have to (e.g. my elder son and his wife); 2) you work because you want to (my current scenario); and 3) you work because you still can (UCSD/Scripps oceanographer Walter Munk, age 98).

Congrats Retro! Man roll with it. Life is nothing if not a huge adventure! This is just the next step! I wish I had prepared better I would love to be where you are. I can think of a ton of stuff to do to better my community, church, Even start a new job I really wanted to do. The possibilities are endless!

Good Luck n ENJOY!
Bill

Congratulation. You must have a lot of fortitude to work until you're 73. I'm 62 and counting the days.

Congrats & Good Luck

From what some tell me, that is a given......

Haha...I planned mine over a year in advance. Stealth/fade to black I did. I'd been scheduling my own time and letting the senior admin person know when I planned to next time or two come in. Last day I billed she asked when I was gonna be back to work next. Answer was "never, I'm done". I hate, hate goodbye lunches/dinners/parties and retirement ceremonies.

Best of luck with all of this, Retro!

Congrats and good health to you. I pulled the plug at 62 - two years ago and I haven't looked back.

Could this be the Retrogrouch Blog you were thinking of? The Retrogrouch

Be warned tho----------------------------if you think you are busy with a job, you will be amazed how busy you will be when retired. Friends and family will call on you all the time to do things for them. They always start out--------------since you dont have any thing to do can you----------------------????

Just be sure and take time for yourself, and keep riding!!!!!

It's neat to feel that some people might confuse me with being that guy. Unfortunately, I'm neither that knowledgeable nor that talented.

If your experience is the same as some of us, you might have to change your name from Grouch to something happier. I can sympathize with the financial part of your decision. A lot of my friends ended up underground before they felt it was time to retire or only retired when their health began to decline.

Crossed my mind. My best recumbent riding buddy recently died at only around 63.

I have a concern about running out of money before I run out of time but I assume, whenever it happens, the health care folks are going to get everything I have left before they let me die anyway. I'm hanging on to the Grouch label.

Congrats RG! I'm jealous- still a year or so away, and I want it bad.

Congratulations Retro Grouch! Enjoy your extra time on wheels!

I knew it was someone else, RG, but do consider this, please: Some of us think of you as pretty knowledgeable, and helpful towards those of us asking questions. I seem to remember that your Platinum status was for awarded for being selected by those of us here that voted on helpful, knowledgeable members worthy of recognition, back a few years ago. You are those things to many of us.

Or, you're just one of those crusty, cranky old guys that rides funny looking bikes.

No question RG makes the short list of most helpful and knowledgeable members on these boards.

I can greatly appreciate your thinking. I made my mind up when I made the decision a couple months ago that I'm only going to look forward and not look back over my shoulder. I can't see very far ahead but I have faith everything will work out. They required me to stay a little longer than the others that left and I can now understand why. I've never been busier.......

Lots of complimentary comments on this thread. I should retire more often.

I might add that retirement is kind of like being a teen between the junior and senior year summer. You are big enough and old enough to drive or ride anywhere. It is pretty much total freedom. It kind of like the envy you had of adults when you were 7.