One of the major benefits of retirement is that ...

15 years ago

... every day becomes weekend.

And - there are a host of things to do to keep one busy ... things that one chooses for one's self!!

Another benefit that quite a numbr of retirees may enjoy ... good health.

I have some arthritis in small finger, left hand, that sometimes means that I hit "shift" and "a" together, putting an "A" in the wrong place. Most of the time I repair it ... sometimes I just let it go.

Such a difficulty, or a bit of arthritis in index finger of right hand, that may cause a bit of discomfort when I'm cutting something with a knife, etc. is ...

... MINOR!!!

Many retirees have much less high level of health, unfortunately.

Some of them have bodies (even minds?? spirits?) that are partly broken down as a result of earlier lifestyles that they chose ... for many, it's just the luck, or lack of it, of the draw.

For those of you who are in your mid years ... I hope that you make preparations now for retirement largely financed by yourself. And ask some of the folks in their fifties now who are being "downsized" out the door in favour of some lower-priced recent grads how nice that feels.

It used to be, when there were more pensions around, that folks didn't live through many years after retirement.

In recent years, many chose (whether voluntarily or not) to retire earlier than in earlier generations, and have been living longer.

If you earn for 40 years and retire for 5 or 10 ...

... big difference from earning for 30 years and retiring for 30! Or even 25 ... or 20.

And, possibly encouraged by TV and other advertising (plus our own inclinations) to live it up (i.e. buy their stuff ... NOW!), we don't give high priority to preparing for retirement.

Plus - the boomers are soon to be retiring in large numbers ... and there are fewer people to be continuing in the workforce ... to pay into those pension programs from which the boomers'll be making major withdrawals.

Make the bed now ... that you'll be lying in ... later!

Sorry that this message has turned into something of a downer.

But - better to plan now ... and prepare ... for safety later ... than to end up ... sorry!

Right?

Have a great weekend, everyone.

ole joyful

P.S. Oh, yes ... and when you're planning for funding your retirement ... don't forget the annual erosion of your assets by inflation,especially if you are inclined to invest where your money's "safe": if you have a guarantee the the number of your dollars can't shrink ... in almost all cases, it can't grow, either.

o j

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

mariend
15 years ago
Benefits--no baby sitting/child care unless I want to
Travel--yes with RV all over US and Canada--met great people--some not so great Why we stopped? Cancer now under remission but other health issues
Now: too much to do should go back to work
hobbies--stamp collection, scrapbooking, church, crafts, counted cross stitch, computer
housework--who has time?
All of you have a great day.
monica_pa Grieves
15 years ago
Benefits:

No daily schedule.
Travel on a moment's notice
Grocery shopping on a mid-weekday morning - no lines
Doctor, hairdresser, gym etc - all during the day, instead of evenings or Saturdays
Time to knit that Tree of Life afghan
Related Discussions
Husband is exhausted & wants to retire (I think)
Q
Comments (12)
Hayjud, if it's going to cost us $700 a month for health insurance, then we could never retire. He can keep insurance through his company when he retires, but we don't know how much that is going to cost us. If he would only get out of this manager's job, he could stay with the same company and work 32 hrs. a week, and still be full time. I think though he wants to quit this company completely and I can't blame him. He has worked there for 35 years. He works for Kroger grocery chain as a produce manager. Our son doesn't understand why a "produce manager" job is so demanding, but I try to tell him it's the lack of help that they give him that makes it so difficult. He should have never taken this manager job because of his depression and I have always regreted that he did. I think he even regrets it now. Kroger does all this great advertising about how they help people with the food drive at Xmas, etc., yet they have reduced their employees' insurance and have practically taken away the dental coverage. We only have $1,000 a year in dental coverage and that's it. He is real bitter toward Kroger, yet he kills himself to do a good job for them. I just can't understand the logic behind this and it really gets to me sometimes. I just tell myself that he is from the "old school" of the people that still care about doing a good job. We had a wonderful vacation. I just can't believe the difference in his attitude and his behavior. We had to come back home so he could be back at work on Sunday. He won't miss a Sunday because it's all overtime. He left at 3:30 and got home at 4:30. He does this every Sunday and when he gets home, he sleeps all evening and it's just like he's not even here. I think he said 20 words to me all last night and some of the words were "are my clothes ready for in the morning?" This morning, Monday, he left at 4:30 but he never had to be at a meeting until 6:00 a.m. This meeting is at another store, so he went to his store so he could work an hour before he had to be at the meeting. This really burns me up inside that he does this, esp. when they won't give a dam about him when he retires (for that matter, they don't care now how much he kills himself to do the "perfect" job). If I say anything, he gets defensive. As for the land, if we do buy land it is only going to be one acre and no more. That's one reason why we are selling this house. We had 3.5 acres and we gave one acre to our youngest son. We still have 2.5 acres and all of it is grass and has to be cut. Personally, I am hoping we find a house already built so we don't have to worry about where we're going to live while a house is being built and storing our furniture. We've already done that once when we built this house. I really enjoyed being around my DH when he was so relaxed. He is like a different person. We worked really hard around the house for 3 days, then we took 2 days off. I look forward to more days like this, just being able to see him relax more. We don't like much more having it ready. We are having a garage sale this weekend. My future DIL and son are going to help me and what doesn't sell, goes to Salvation Army. Would it be terrible if I set a date when we will put this house on the market, so we can go ahead and get it sold?
...See More
As one considers retirement
Q
Comments (4)
We did as much financial planning for retirement as we could. We're terrible savers, actually, but as DH has a good pension and health benefits we knew that was our 'fallback'. It was just a question of whether we could live on 80% of his current salary, especially as costs rise and inflation threatens to return. Fortunately, he had been contributing large pre-tax amounts to his retirement plan two years prior to retirement, so it turned out we were living on a net 80% amount anyway, pretty much. So that took a load off our minds, as well as negating any need to withdraw from his retirement savings on a regular basis. He was cashed out of his vacation time so we got a nice large check (minus a 35% hit for tax withholding). That's what we're using for our heavy schedule of trips over the next couple of years. Yes, we're doing the cliche of traveling before we get too old to do it, LOL. We just finished a trip to New Mexico which was exhausting but a lot of fun; I posted a thread on it in the Travel forum. Still to come is the CA wine country, a Buddhist retreat, and a big Alaskan cruise. Next year will be quieter, though, with just vague plans for a railway trip to the Smithsonian in Wash DC; a drive down Central and Southern CA to visit some relatives; and possibly a visit to my DH's relatives in Canada to discuss some family issues with his mom. DH and I are one another's best friends. We love spending time together, even though we have friends we will see separately. We're very fortunate to have no disagreements about what we want to do in life, whether day to day or special goals. And even luckier to be able to afford our lifestyle, because many of our friends and family have struggled to stay afloat these past few years. Our home is paid for and comfortable enough, and as long as I can keep up with the gardening, it's a great place to live. Location is good, amenities are close-by, neighbors are wonderful. My family is only 20 min away and they all live within 2 miles of one another, although everybody owns their own home. We have made plans for what to do as we get older or disabled. One of them is to systemically (no rush, we hope!) investigate the various senior living alternatives in our urban area. There's a lot of them, and we'd like to know what's available to us beforehand, at all the various price points. Part of our financial planning included sufficient insurance, so unlike many Boomers we have not only good retirement health insurance but also our own long-term care insurance. As it turns out, having that insurance gives us a few more options when it comes to retirement and continuing care facilities. We have some health issues, so this was a big reason why I didn't want my DH to postpone his retirement any longer. It's been great to see him more relaxed and rested. Our only issue is his mother lives with us, and he gets frustrated dealing with her, although in a different way than I do. She's a nice lady, but the epitome of what one should NOT be in retirement - dependent, lost, ignorant, fearful, unwilling to do anything for herself or make any effort to enrich her life. She has no family nearby except us, is slowly losing all her old friends but refuses to make new ones, and dementia is narrowing her world every day. Tragically, this is a type of dementia she could have possibly avoided, but she has become incapable of comparative analysis and logical thinking through sheer disuse. At least she can function on a daily basis, but even that is slowly beginning to falter as she becomes more forgetful and absent-minded. We feel fortunate to know many elderly people around her age that are the opposite - alert, vital, interesting, and active. These are the people who are our role models for aging gracefully.
...See More
One great thing about retirement is...
Q
Comments (15)
I agree with everything said here. I think that we have all, as individuals been collectively sold down the river to get to the point where we have to consider whether we should or should not retire, if we have enough money to do so. We were not ever meant to work most of our days away, most of our lives, simply to continue existing doing the same working in order to keep existing. I am 50 and have never married... I'm not too good socially. But I have saved enough money now to retire, I believe. And I will enjoy the rest of my life... I hope at least another 25 or 30. Even though I live without any love in my life, I have plenty of activites to keep my mind engaged and curious. Over the past year, I have read a lot of books on retirement and what can do in that phase of one's life. This site also gave me some ideas: Here is a link that might be useful: Retirement Joy - retirement advice etc
...See More
2 homes for the Divorced Mom and the Retired Parents - one project
Q
Comments (8)
Welcome to a roller coaster ride of a life time! To start, you(parents and you) need to decide what is the best option. You might try listing all the wants and needs in a list. Keep in mind the possibility of a major life change. Now, generally, building new is faster/cheaper than extensive remodeling. Reason? Building new is just putting together the components of the building. Remodeling is removing, restructuring, and replacing parts of an existing building. Twice the work and labor. The differences depend a great deal on location. We bought a great house that was a foreclosure, built in 1965. I was able to do all the necessary work myself and we got the house for less than the appraised value. Even after all the work, our investments left us with equity. Had I had to have all that work done by others, we would have been over equity and upside down. And there was no structural rework needed. We could not have built new for less money in this area. On that list, include where you want to be 10 and 20 years from now. And projected needs. Will your parents need handicapped access? Is there room for expansion if necessary? Look at the projected changes in the area. How are the demographics changing? Example: My neighborhood was original owners and retirees 10 years ago. In a three block section of our street, there are about 25 homes. In 10 years, half of those homes have been sold. Most of the new families all have children. All of those new families, except one, are in their 30's and 40's. My wife and I were the 'New Kids' when we moved in, now we are the 'Old Couple'. All that change is fine with us, but had we expected things to remain the same(ala retirement home type life) we would have been disappointed. Once you have the wants and needs list in general terms(number of bedrooms/garage or not/single level or two story/and so on), you need to discuss cost. Two houses will cost twice what one will. Two houses will need twice the maintenance---yard mowing/leaf raking/snow removal/etc. One building(shared house/duplex) lessens the individual costs. But impacts personal styles/space differences. Your parents may need easy access down the road. A two story means that will be an issue. A single story/duplex minimizes that issue, but raises the cost of the building. As Virgil posted, you will need help. You need a professional who understands the dynamics of your situation. I'd hesitate to say a realtor would be the best choice. To find the house(s) you finally decide on to be sure, but not what to look for. Realtors are pro's who find/sell properties. There are realtors who can do what you need, but in my experience, those folks are far and few between. You should talk to different trades. Contractors, realtors, architects, and designers and find the person/firm that can best work with you towards your goal. Your feelings about that choice are important, but it will be a long journey. An extra 6-12 months in deciding on the best option will pay off later.
...See More
glenda_al
15 years ago
Took early retirement at 54, now 68, and not one single regret!
judy_jay
15 years ago
I'm still debating when to take that step. I'll be 65 in August but don't have any definite plans for what I'll do when I do retire so I may just hold off till Aug. of '09 to give me more time to decide. I'll get my full SS benefit then also, which is about a $250/month difference from this year.
vannie
15 years ago
The best thing is that morning you wake up and it's pouring down rain and you don't have to get out in it!!!

Also when you're sick you don't have to call a sub and your boss.

No schedule unless you want it!

No dressing up! I hate dressing up.
dances_in_garden
15 years ago
It's so funny.

I am out of work. Actively looking for work, etc. but still nothing. Now, I know at any time I can get a "job", but we foresaw this happening and made arrangements so that it is not really necessary for now. We will still manage to pay off our mortgage next year. (waiting to avoid the penalty, which we calculated to be more than interest from waiting LOL).

My family of course is very concerned that I am not working yet. I get emails about jobs that are very unsuitable - and while I would jump at them if desparate - but at the moment they are not tempting. I keep re-assuring them everything is fine! We don't have an extravagant lifestyle, we have no debt other than the mortgage, I still have my severance set aside for emergencies, and so on. Still, they call daily to point out ads in the paper ROFL. Oh well!

DH asked me if I really HAVE to work. Now, bear in mind, the house is no cleaner nor more efficient nor am I any more dependable on cooking meals every night. I do not do laundry. I still cannot wash a floor, vacuum, or clean the tub until it gets so gross that I cannot sleep (tee hee!). There is no benefit to having me home, in that sense, plus he has to pay ALL the bills himself and give me spending money.

And you know what? "If you don't HAVE to work I would rather you didn't. You are so much happier now. You smile a lot. You sing and hum and laugh all the time". And you know, he has a good point.

Too bad we can't remember to be happy even when we are working. Something for ME to work on if/when I get my new job, isn't it? I want to be happy in retirement, but why waste my time waiting for then to be happy? An interesting lesson I think.

Have a great week-end, Ed!
dotmom
15 years ago
Ed.....many very good sugestions. thank you. DH & I retired in 1999. Money-wise were good. Health-wise, leaves a lot to be desired. So far we have managed to wake up every morning. LOL Since selling the house with the big yard and moving to an APT, we find it is nice to be able to look out the window to see someone else shoveling the snow or mowing the lawn. Dottie
lulie___wayne
15 years ago
My husband and I are retired now and feel that we have planned well for it. Of course, we never know what the future holds, but for now, we are able to live as we want to and much deserve after years of work.
It's so nice to wake up each morning and do exactly what we want to do. Every single day is Saturday! I think that's the best part of retirement.
I personally believe that people can live on a lot less than they may think. Get all debts paid off before retirement, though. Many go back to work because they want to, but I've seen many who HAVE to go back to work because they didn't plan well enough to continue the lifestyle that they were accustomed to.
Lu
lunchlady1948
15 years ago
My DH (57) retired March 31st from law enforcement~~I used to always think he was a cheap ole meanie the way he saved his money and we went without a few things through the years:) LOL!!! Now I will be reaping the rewards of his saving ways.

Joyful is so right yougin's plan ahead our golden years are almost as many as our young ones:) Happy days ahead!

Oh I will be working 2 more years, I am not as rich as my DH yet:) I am indepentant enough to want my own money.
Kathsgrdn
15 years ago
I can retire from my current job in ten years and four months. I can't wait! I'll probably have to find something else after that but I plan on finding a fun job.
joyfulguy
Original Author
15 years ago
Dances,

You sleep in the bath-tub often?
_________________

Thanks for your messages, everyone.

I'm pleased that so many of you are enjoying your retirement.

Tempered somewhat by the fact that some have health problems with which to cope.

I did some more garden planting Friday ... and have some left to do.

I have some manure left in the barn ... had thought to put some of it between the rows, but, as landlord said the other day, the soil is rich from when it was a barnyard, so I think that I'll hold off on the manure.

But there are a thousand or so bales of straw in the mow, and I think that I'll get some of them down to spread between the rows, to see whether they may deter the weeds.

Could I have a lazy streak or two in the constitution, somewhere?

As I approach 80, I have about 80% of my assets in stocks, slightly over 1/2 in stocks owned directly and over 1/3 in equity-based mutual funds.

The nice thing about owning Canadian stocks is that, while the annual dividends that many pay were tax-advantaged earlier, recently the advantage was increased. And part of the average annual return is in their price going up ...

... but I don't need talk to the income tax people about that until I either sell them ... or die.

Don't plan to do either, this week or next.

There was an offer on the table for a couple of pension plans in Canada and some others to buy out Canada's biggest telco ... but then this big funny-business U.S. mortgage deal hit the fan and there was talk that there'd be a renegotiation at a lower price.

It would involve the company being loaded with huge debt in order to pay out the stockholders (it's been known for years as a "widows' and orphans' stock") ...

... and current bondholders sued, saying that their bonds would become like junk bonds.

Quebec Supreme Court agreed to hear their case, the other day - and the deal was to be completed by the end of June. So my holding in that issue went down about 14%, this week.

But several major mining and processing companies in Canada have been sold to out-of-country new owners, some private, in recent years and the stock in another major one that I bought in early Jan has gone up by almost half ... my best deal in years.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

ole joyful

One of the major benefits of retirement is that ...

Comments (11)

mariend

monica_pa Grieves

Related Discussions

glenda_al

judy_jay

vannie

dances_in_garden

dotmom

lulie___wayne

lunchlady1948

Kathsgrdn

joyfulguy
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

One of the major benefits of retirement is that ...

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

joyfulguyOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

joyfulguy
Original Author