Retirement = freedom!!!!

47 and retired. What's not to like, you no longer live by the clock or calendar.

I was forced into semi retirement by a work related injury and really bad treatment and am financially secure for the rest of my days and do not have to work and have been forced into a more sedentary lifestyle.

I run my little bicycle shop at home where I am now building racks and soon will be set up to build frames after apprenticing and now partnering with a master frame builder for the last three years. I work as much as I am able to because I enjoy it, and not because I have to... and take rest and time off when I need to.

I volunteer at the Bicycle Co-op when I can, teach some classes, and am a house husband and father who is getting to spend way more time with two growing daughters and this has also allowed me to travel and spend a good amounts of time in the U.S. with my wife who will soon be immigrating to Canada.

My daughters tell me that being injured really sucked and was hard on them to see but on the other hand they say that having their dad there for them so much is absolutely wonderful.

I ride for therapy and the enjoyment it brings and it is one of the physical activities I can still do reasonably well... standing and walking for extended periods is problematic and I do miss running as I was getting back into that.

I got fragged 5 years ago this month... I was 42.

you get to read the obits every morning,when you read the paper,and if you are not there you have at least
another day.......Bud

Sorry to hear about the injury; however, the story is a good one with a happy ending. There are lots of things I enjoy but nothing is more important to me than family.....Well done:thumb:

My dad retired,,did alot of fishin,,BASS Tournaments and such for several years.
Then he started watching alot of Golf on TV, Football also,, His body went to hell real fast after he sat down..REAL Fast.
He spent the next 10 years watching TV.

I've got to have a purpose, got to get up every day for a reason,,,
I'm gonna work till I drop or volunteer full time.

DONT retire and just sit and watch TV!!!!! You will rust out and die way too soon. It happened to my father.

Fortunately for those of us on this or any bike forum, we ride bikes. Cycling keeps you young. I for instance am in far better shape than my circle of friends that golf. The problem there is they use a golf cart, and set and drink beer afterward.

It's amazing how quickly a body surges in the wrong direction through inactivity. When you see someone in their 60's and 70's obsessively and compulsively exercising everyday, it may be because they know that stopping equals instant decline.

"Man's Search for Meaning" -- by Viktor Frankl speaks to that:

In it, Frankl equates a 'Will to Meaning' to a 'Will to Live'. And, most health care professionals seem to believe that when the 'Will to Live' leaves, death soon follows.

Or, a paraphrase from FrankL:
A person who has a "WHY" to live, can bear with almost any "HOW"

Still working, and yet to see a clear plan. I've had inactivity forced upon me for the last 8 months due to a tendon injury, followed by inadequate wound healing... and I can personally attest to a rapid decline in vitality. Fortunately, I'm slowly gaining mobility and should be able to ride regularly soon. On the negative side, my low back/neck and knee OA keep me from a vigorous training routine, so the climb back is a long one for me. There's not too much danger of me watching too much c**p on the telly, but the internet is like an endless curiosity shop - so the last period of inactivity has caused me to habituate to this - since I was stuck on my back with my leg raised anyway.

At 63, I could continue to work as long as the professor I serve wishes to stay active - and he will not be forced to retire if he has a vital research program. This is somewhat a problem, as I would benefit from more time to myself - so I could incorporate a long ride once a week into my routine, and add a gym membership in the mix so I can do some weight training. But I love my job, I get a reasonable amount of respect, fulfill my tinkering drive, and the paycheck also helps. But it also keeps me from finishing a lot of household projects, taking enough time to keep my strength up, etc.

My wife and I have a reasonable retirement plan, but still have yet to plan an affordable location to retire to. I appreciate that moving away would mean losing our nice neighborhood friends there, but I can't see how we could afford the high cost of living here in CT, as well as the costs of maintaining our home.

Another issue is that my wonderful wife will have to retire soon or else she will loose any of my accumulated SS benefits after I'm gone - she works in the school system and though she's technically not a teacher, she doesn't pay into SS due to the tax law viewing her as a teacher. It's a pretty screwy situation. Since she came to her profession late, she doesn't have enough credit for a full teacher's pension - so she'll either have to stop working in a year or two, before she accumulates too many years to allow her to inherit my ss benefits, or else work for another eight years until she's 67 and qualify for a portion but not the full teacher's pension. We'll probably both be worn out by then!

So for me, there are too many variables for me to formulate a clear plan.

"Retirement, is the best job I ever had!" (Me, 2001)

Cranky, I'm thinking you and your wife would benefit greatly with a visit to a fee-only financial planner. Someone who knows retirement finances well. A couple hundred bucks, but you'll both come out ahead in the long run. Just make sure it is someone who is 'fee only', meaning that they are not going to try and sell you anything.

Second the Financial Planner route! Over 15 years ago we went to one and then decided to have them manage our portfolio. They have done very well for us over the years. Yes, they take a small percentage each year but it has been offset by the returns that have secured for us. Maybe I could get those same returns, but they make adjustments to the portfolio through out the year. It also takes that burden off us to work it out.

Say what?!? My wife is a teacher and she pays SS, and when I was a teacher, not for many years mind you, I still paid SS. How can she not pay into SS? SS is on the federal level, not state. I don't see how a state can make it so a teacher would not have to pay SS.

Mike,
Some groups can opt out of the Social Security system, I am not sure of the process, I'd have to ask Monica as she does retirement benefits compliance and IRS related work for plans. Some Civil Service classifications opted out a few years ago and had their own plan that had to be approved. Not sure how it works, I'll find out and P.M. you if you want.

Bill

Really like the Frankl quote. A friend who retired a few years ago told me he was "having a little trouble with the meaning piece" of life. I didn't understand at the time but looking ahead to my own retirement in a few years, it's suddenly clear. Cycling provides a good physical challenge, but we all need something more meaningful.

Here's my wife's take on my retirement:

"I'm already tired of hearing you, my husband, "reminiscing" endlessly of the same old and boring events that nobody wants to hear" about.

Unfortunately, most of you guys and gals in here can probably relate to this statement...

I'd like to work until 70 (I'm 50 now). Mostly this is due to lack of imagination and/or discipline. I fear that if I stop working, I'll stop moving.

As it is, I'm lucky. I can cycle to work during the warmer months and I live next to a nice state park which allows me to hike for a nice half-hour every morning before heading off to work. If I can do this forever, I'd be happy.

Weekends remind me how undisciplined I can be. During the week, I'm up before dawn, take a shower and at the fisrt light of day, I have the dog on a leash and we're traipsing up and down hills in the woods. On weekends, I usually do not get out of bed until nine, and then spend about an hour or two on the computer before ever leaving the house. I fear that upon retirement, my weekend lifestyle will take over and I'll deteriorate rather quickly.

Hmmm. Some interesting (and perhaps unstated?) perspectives in this thread.

Two years ago I was made redundant. I was 56. I had planned to retire at 58 so this wasn't a big deal financially, and I won't bore you with the "make sure you have enough money" stuff, except to say that in my experience it is much easier to live cheaply once one isn't working.

I think the real question is existential. Once you don't "have" to do things, because of your obligations to others, then the question changes. What do you want to do, because it gives your life meaning? Don't underestimate this question. I know people who are quite intelligent, seem interested in lots of things, but aren't sufficiently engaged with their lives to prevent them having their first drink before lunchtime.

It seems to me that it is crucial to be forward-looking rather than backward-looking. Reminiscence is very nice in its place, but it isn't sustaining. In my own case, I have been daft enough to take up bicycle racing (I won't win much, but it means I work at improving rather than simply managing decline) and have become involved in running a local charity. The latter isn't going to improve my blood pressure, because I can't stand seeing things being done badly, but it does give me something that I think is useful to focus on and contribute to.

It's clear from the posts in this thread that some are happy to be able to look inwards and (I don't mean this to be derogative) subside. Personally, I couldn't do this and preserve my morale. I have to be engaged in something that presents me with a substantial challenge. Anyone who is considering retirement should ask themselves whether they share this trait, because if they do, they need to plan. Just being the old guy sitting on the porch and/or tending his garden would be suicidal for me. Tastes differ, of course, but it is certainly well worth thinking hard about what you have enjoyed so far, and how those things are to be carried forward once you don't have to work.

Just to eliminate an impression I may have given, we(meaning the wife and I) are not interested in "getting out" of paying into SS.

My wife was a teacher for 20 years and never paid SS. From what I understood (it was a done deal by the time we married), it wasn't an option for her.

I'm not yet retired (end of 2013 maybe), but looking at this thread's title caused me to have an epiphany:) When I do retire I'm not going to tell anyone. That way I can pick an choose the duty for which I volunteer. Call from son or DIL to watch grandkids, no problemo. Call from son to help dig a trench; sorry, got to work;) Staying fit as most of us do has the unfortunate side effect of raising expectations.

I'm really looking forward to doing what I want to do when I want to do it. Work cuts into our riding. Maybe I should give human resources a ring right now and pull that end of '13 back to end of February?

"When Congress passed the Social Security Act in 1935, it excluded federal, state, and local government employees from mandatory coverage. The exclusion for state and local public employees was based on constitutional concerns about whether the federal government could impose taxes on state governments. In the early 1950s, Congress passed a law that allowed state and local government employees to be covered if they voluntarily chose coverage in a referendum."

I'm just three months into retirement and I'll be 62 yrs. old in June. I suspect that I left my job of 42 years just in time to watch the company close down as an outsider rather than as an employee.

I've worked at routinely scheduled jobs since I was 12 yrs. old. Part time jobs while still in school and full time when I wasn't. My days of rest were very precious and seemed to be few and far between.

Now I work a part time per-diem position which provides me with tons of free time. I'm starting to feel different. I'm starting to realize a sence of peace. I can spend a day doing nothing and not feel guilty about having done nothing. I now gleefully drive my bride about town running her errands without feeling cheated out of any of my precious free time. There is no "End of the weekend" clock ticking away in the back of my head anymore. I can almost feel my inner mainspring starting to relax a bit.

Financially we are not what one could call "Well off". We practiced living for a little over a year on what we expected our retirement income would be. We're surviving and I'm not too scared, yet.

I'm only a beginner at this and I've yet to have any retirement time during hospitable weather, but for me retirement is starting to look like it will become a time of our life when the bride and I will finally peacefully spend a bunch of quality time together without impinging on our diverse personal interests.

I'm 8 years behind you in age, but probably 12-13 in terms of retirement and this is exactly what I'm looking forward to. Other things as well, yes - But not having a ticking clock drive everything I do will be an immense relief.

For example, to me Sunday has now become The Day Before Monday. I start thinking about work on Sunday mornings, if indeed I ever stopped since Friday night. I tend to view personal activities in light of how much of my "free" time (i.e., time away from work, therefore worthwhile time) they will consume and deciding whether or not to do them accordingly. As a result, I'm doing less and less, but I'm also relaxing far less as well.

If I can make it to retirement age, it will hugely liberating not to have the cloud of my (current, at least) job hanging over me every day. I've just gotta get there... Sounds like fun if you make it! :thumb:

My wife and I retired almost three years ago. It has been wonderful, and the issue that my kids worried over (what will you do with all that time?) has not been an issue at all. So:

How do you spend your time? We bike, exercise, travel, and do "grandparenting" duty.
What might you do differently? Save earlier and retired earlier (waited until I was nearly 69)
Have any of your "goals or priorities" changed? We've put a greater emphasis on healthy diet and more regular exercising. Would like to do more bicycle touring while we can.
Has anyone felt the need to work "part time" aside from financial reasons? A passing thought from time to time, but hasn't been necessary yet.

How has it affected your interests like cycling---or other interests/hobbies you might have? Not a big change, just a little more time to pursue our interests. We did buy a tandem, so that was a fun change.
Who has traveled--and where---especially for cycling vacations? Several road trips in the US each year, Europe once and plans for more. Not as much cycle touring as we'd hoped. Have one planned for this summer and hopefully a bike tour in Europe next year.

Has anyone just got bored or tired of cycling because they have so much time to ride? How did you deal with it? Not bored, but often sidetracked by other activities. We've decided to move biking higher on our priorities.
Any words of wisdom or lessons learned from those that have more experience with this retirement thing? When our kids started moving out, and again when we started planning on retirement, Sharon and I sat down together and made lists of shared activities we were interested in pursuing. I think it is the smartest thing any couple can do when approaching a major life style change. Worked for us.

Four yrs retired and counting. Have not regretted it one bit. I find it is the little things I enjoy most about it. For example, taking my time finishing morning coffee or reading the newspaper without the phones ringing and people demanding more and more of my time.

I did a little consulting during the first couple of yrs but now find it would get in the way of what I enjoy. What a treat to wake up to a beautiful morning and think 'maybe I will go for a ride today', or 'maybe I'll go to the beach, or take my wife to lunch', rather than saying ' I wish I had this wonderful day off.

It may not sound like much but the freedom to do what you want to do is liberating and precious.

Agreed fully. I did get a call to come back in to work to do some "consulting". At first I jumped at it and only realized later that it was more due to the ego boost it gave me and that I hadn't thought it through very well. All it took was one preliminary meeting and I was trying to figure out how to rescind my offer. Fortunately, they had trouble figuring out a way to pay me, so it was easy to back out. Dodged a bullet there!

Wow. That pretty much nails my own philosophy. If I'm not moving forward on some effort somewhere (hobby, exercise, etc) then I'm just sliding backwards.

My continued mantras are: "Never stop learning" "Never stop exercising" --and I suspect those will be even more important in retirement.

repeated with emphasis... NEVER STOP LEARNING

I know the feelings you have as one years ago I left a job I loved for more than 30 years because I came to realize the stress had become unmanageable and removed the "love" from the job. I now work in a completely different field at the bottom of the ladder and making a paupers wage. I love it. No stress, never think about the workplace when I am not working. Told my wife it feels like I am semi retired already at age 53! You need a new job PRESCRIPTION.