http://money.msn.com/retirement/arti...c-1ccda42656dd
My view was always that I worked to live and never that I lived to work. I retired at the very first chance I got - age 51, as a matter of fact. Did it cost me financially? You bet. Do I regret in any way doing what I did? Not for one single, solitary moment!
Everyone is different but I really don't understand working any longer than you NEED to unless you're a supermodel fluffer or somesuch. :D
I'm with you Johnboy. I've always tried to live like there was no tomorrow and did a pretty good job of it until I got sick. BUT ... that only strengthens what I'd thought all along ... there may not BE a tomorrow. If I'd died in the hospital ... no wait ... I "died" seven times and was 'revived" ... but if I'd never lived through it or even never awakened from the coma, I would have already had a pretty interesting life behind me. My grandfather was a workaholic all his life and bought a place up in the Carolina mountains right on the river to retire once he hit his planned retirement of 65 yrs. old. He passed away of a massive heart attack 6 months before he was to retire. He NEVER got to really enjoy life. I was only 12 years old and after hearing all his plans for life AFTER retirement, then seeing the result, I made up my mind at that young age I'd live life to it's fullest WHILE I COULD! I think I did a pretty good job of it ... and once I get over this temporary hump in my life, I plan to go right back to as much craziness as my health will allow. The major snag has always been money, and that's the ONLY reason I originally planned on waiting until 62 to retire (Social Security). I didn't make it to that age, but I still get by and even have a bit of expendable income. What's suffering is the house ... it needs work, but I can't see sinking money into something that's lost so much value to today's economy that it's no longer financially feasible to sink money into the bottomless pit. The major things get taken care of, but new carpet and crap like that can wait ... I'll take a vacation instead. My buddy is in Thailand right now and it's KILLING me that I'm not right there with him ... but the time is coming!
In the meantime ... I plan on doing everything I'm physically able to do at this point to "live like there's no tomorrow!" :D
My retirement date is still a moving target. I am earnestly hoping for 2014 but it might not be in the cards. I know part of the problem is just pulling the trigger. But pulling the trigger on a good paying job when I don't have to goes against every bit of DNA in my body.
And I know I'd make a stellar retired person too.
BKB
I know what you mean P-hole ... I faced that same "trigger-pulling" decision back in 1988. I was making a 6-figure income but I had no time to REALLY enjoy life. Sure, we took vacations and I "did stuff" .. but the stress of the job never really went away. I quit my job and took a one-year hiatus. Heck, I was only 36 years old, so I couldn't quit working ... I just needed some "space" to re-examine life and figure out what I REALLY wanted to do. My decision was that I wanted to own my own business. I looked into a few things and realized you have to be a bazillionaire to start a business in L.A. and it seems like everything I was interested in doing, took a small fortune just for licenses, permits and "environmental studies." That's when I decided enough was enough ... put a for sale sign in the yard (house sold in 19 days), sold a lot of toys, etc, loaded up a U-Haul and moved to Florida. It took some major adjusting and many times I started to doubt myself ... but I eventually settled into the life I'd envisioned ... work was simply something I did so I could play.
You just never know what cards your health will deal you. Live life while you can. You have no idea whether you'll still be here tomorrow. I recently had a big jolt in my life ... it was when TW passed away. That's when I got back on track to worrying less about what I can't do and concentrating more on what I CAN do. Hopefully, that will carry me through to a time I CAN do what I CAN'T do today! (does that make sense?) ;)
Thump, it definitely does make a big difference to have died a few times, doesn't it? A BIG difference.
Posty, no one ever lay on their deathbed and said "MAN!! I wish I'd have worked longer". You're just accumulating inheritance for someone at this point. I think you'd make a stellar retiree too. I am thinking that your sentence can be viewed from several angles depending on who holds the Dictionary to define the phrase "when I don't have to"!!!!! :)
A truer statement has never been made!Quote:
Originally Posted by BarryBobPosthole
You will have to come for a visit and we can sit on the front porch of the SC house and drink a little Wilderberry Juice.
I MIGHT let you help me run a batch and pass along the secret recipe :D
Then we can go watch Fox News and fuss awhile ;-)
Take Care, Captain
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