Introduction

[coloradophotobug]

another thought … I am employed until March 8. Between now and then, I am exploring other job opportunities, making use of job search site and the company will be helping us network through job fairs at work, notifying other employers in the area as well as registering at Pikes Peak workforce.


Advice here is not a bad thing. Perhaps retirement is not an option yet. Unless I receive advice, do my research.. what will I say if down the road I realize it would have worked, I didn't take the opportunity and missed other opportunities to do something else for a change instead of working in a call center?

I welcome the advice. I have to start *somewhere*

 

[HI Bill]

My photography is key... I have received rave reviews on a couple of "photo contest" websites.

Welcome! If you are that good, you may be able to sell on web sites such as Fine Art America, and bring in a few hundred or so a month. It's really hard in photography, to make money as an art or nature photographer. I have a friend who tried doing panoramas for years, set up an underwater web site, etc. But finally, he caved and ended up photographing hotels around the world...hard, gruelling, demaning, technically challenging work....but it paid his bills (and he was the most successful in a group of several hotel shooters). After a couple of hotel chains no longer needed his skills, he ended up going to work for the local police department, then NCIS, or something similar. I've tried for years to get published in underwater magazines, but have only been managing to sell one photo per year, at low prices. The price of the best gear (full frame sensor camera, the best lenses, etc., as well as the travel costs associated with photography make break-even diffucult, unless you're into fashion, wedding, or commercial. An underwater camera store owner once told a group of us in his class "a good goal is to break even".

Sorry, this ended up being a long-winded tale. I do know on FB, one spectacular photographer, and there are others that do make a stellar living doing nature photography, but they spend decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars on medium-format gear to get there.

Good luck, and best wishes!

 

[braumeister]

I have a friend who is IMHO a very good landscape photographer. When he isn't traveling, he says he spends the majority of his time using Photoshop to enhance his work.

I can't say the time isn't well spent, because I've bought several of his works, but you really have to be dedicated.

 

[Walt34]

My photography is key... I have received rave reviews on a couple of "photo contest" websites.

I hate to sound harsh, but that isn't good enough. You'll also have to be an excellent businessman and salesman. For a while there I too was thinking about hanging out a shingle for photography. But I learned that I didn't want to run a business, that that part comes first.

For a good dose of reality, read Best Business Practices for Photographers, Third Edition by John Harrington. Before buying it see if it is at your library. It saved me from making some very expensive mistakes. He points out things that I hadn't thought of. There are several other books and web sites worth reading too. Understand clearly that the successful ones spend more time running the business than they do shooting or processing photos.

Another very good book is The Copyright Zone: A Guide for Photographers and Artists in the Digital Age by Edward C. Greenberg and Jack Reznicki. Bet on it that someone is going steal your work. This book is about what to do about it.

And to get people to part with their hard-earned money you're going to have to be light-years ahead of every other turkey out there with a DSLR and a couple of lenses. You'll have to spend lots of soon-to-be-scarce dollars on backup gear for your backup gear. A paying customer does not want to hear "My camera broke". You'd better have at least two others for backups. Ditto lenses, strobes, tripods, reflectors, etc. Oh, and the van to carry all that stuff in.

Not to mention business and liability insurance, and a whole bunch of other little gotchas. And you ain't made a dime yet....

Just a few incidentals to consider.

 

[OldShooter]

I hate to sound harsh, but that isn't good enough. You'll also have to be an excellent businessman and salesman. ...

This.

It's why in an earlier post I suggested that you contact your local SCORE chapter. They can help you with the business aspects.

Actually, taking pictures is the easy part. Most customers are not very discerning. Put up a soft box or two and they'll think you are Ansel Adams. Finding customers and booking gigs is the hard part.

 

[Ronstar]

I’ve done a few photography gigs, and no way I would want to make that a business. Too much work for too little $.

Walt is spot on. You have to be an excellent businessman and salesman. And you have to be a better photographer than those that have done this for a living for a long time.

 

[Aerides]

Turning any hobby into a business is 95% business, 5% art. Being good at your art is not in any way an indicator of future success. Years of effort and investment from now, you might replace your current income. But unless you already have an established photography business, repeat customers, and experience with online artisan venues (etsy, amazon, etc.,), you are probably AT LEAST 3-5 years away from being able to net annual income above $10k per year. Photography start up costs are pretty huge too.

Not to say don't do it, but unless you have experience running your own business, it's a very long on-ramp to getting started.

 

[coloradophotobug]

Ultimately...I am into photography for the love of photography... the art, creativity and personal growth.. and bragging rights "Look what I was able to do!" … if I sell a few, great! If not, it is still my love for the skills and art that will keep me coming back and focusing (no pun intended) on my love for the art.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Because you won’t provide real numbers no one can help you.

 

[marko]

I hate to sound harsh, but that isn't good enough. You'll also have to be an excellent businessman and salesman.

+1
My dad once commented "the worst thing is having to make a living doing what you once did for a hobby".

 

[coloradophotobug]

.. in regard to not providing real numbers...

that's because I am still putting together the data. Case in point: I found out last night that my ss would bring on $1300 a month, the max I could earn is $17.6 if I chose to work part time for health coverage. Remember, my mortgage (just under 1K a month) for a 1700 sq foot home (in a decent part of town) is covered since the tenant up stairs pays rent and that covers our mortgage. my full retirement age is 66 (3 years and change away)

Yesterday I decided I might play the "worst case scenario" card and see about continuing to work full time. If I plan that and find out after research that I can make it if I retire early, yippee! If not, then I will not have set myself up for failure and disappointment.

I have already heard from two employers: Direct TV (customer retention) and Ford Motor Credit (collections) and I am still over a month away from my last day at WOW internet. With regard to the second employer, I have already been in collections for 13 years...what's 3 more years? "time flies when you are having fun"..

We will be paying off credit card debt shortly and then it will be living expenses and eating out, splurging will be managed more tightly

as far as Photography goes, I have learned a lot from shark tank and can tell the difference between a hobby and a business but I am also grateful to others here regarding their input on that.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Do you want to travel? If so what would your budget be? How much for entertainment and eating out? We spend more in both categories since we have more free time. Is your wife taking SS and how much of your bills does this cover? What will your HI costs be? That’s all I can think of right now.

 

[Mdlerth]

Keep calm and carry on w*rking

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for presenting a more challenging situation than some of the Easy Happy Endings we often encounter. I'll try to offer words of both encouragement and caution.

.. in regard to not providing real numbers...

that's because I am still putting together the data. Case in point: I found out last night that my ss would bring on $1300 a month, the max I could earn is $17.6 if I chose to work part time for health coverage. Remember, my mortgage (just under 1K a month) for a 1700 sq foot home (in a decent part of town) is covered since the tenant up stairs pays rent and that covers our mortgage. my full retirement age is 66 (3 years and change away)

If you're planning on earning (up to 17.6k) only for health coverage, is it accurate to interpret that as "Once I hit Medicare, I'll dump the part time w*rk and just live on SS"? You better be absolutely, positively, 100% sure that the $1300 will cover your needs.

There are some amazingly efficient folks on this board for whom that much would be ample. But karma has been known to throw curveballs. Imagine that tomorrow your tenant dies or inherits a fortune; either way he "goes to a better place". Suppose another tenant doesn't come in right away, you lose the rent on your upstairs just as you discover a termite infestation in the walls and your refrigerator wears out. How long would your savings last if your expenses doubled for a year or two?

Yesterday I decided I might play the "worst case scenario" card and see about continuing to work full time. If I plan that and find out after research that I can make it if I retire early, yippee! If not, then I will not have set myself up for failure and disappointment.

Please don't beat yourself up for facing facts when they're hard. I suspect you have a few more years to w*rk even in the best-case-scenario. But any disappointment which accompanies that prospect should be no more than the disappointment which accompanies learning that your lottery ticket didn't win you a billion dollars.

I'm going to have to whisper this next bit (note the softer font!). Seeing how we're on a website dedicated to the marvels of retiring early, it may sound like heresy to note that w*rking for just a few more years can be the difference between success and failure. In the long run, "early" isn't as important as "successful".

I have already heard from two employers: Direct TV (customer retention) and Ford Motor Credit (collections) and I am still over a month away from my last day at WOW internet. With regard to the second employer, I have already been in collections for 13 years...what's 3 more years? "time flies when you are having fun"..

So you've heard from them. What did they say? If it's something like "We have an immediate opening for you. 50 grand plus performance bonus and full benefits", then jump on it.

If it's "We have received your information. Thank you for your interest in our company", then send out more feelers.

We will be paying off credit card debt shortly and then it will be living expenses and eating out, splurging will be managed more tightly

Uh oh, another warning bell. You should NOT retire until you have retired the credit card debt AND made some provision to prevent racking it up again in the future. "Making provision" can mean anything from becoming fierce about budgeting to physically cutting up the cards. Whatever path works best for you is fine, but it's going to be VITAL that you avoid high-interest debt such as credit card balances (or, even worse, payday loans). Collecting interest is sublime; paying it is anathema.

as far as Photography goes, I have learned a lot from shark tank and can tell the difference between a hobby and a business but I am also grateful to others here regarding their input on that.

I read somewhere that most businesses - even the ones that end up profitable - lose money in their first two years. If you aren't already in the black on your photo business, don't count on it for your daily bread. Find a new steady paycheck and run the rat race for a few more years.

But keep posting updates here! I look forward with lively anticipation to reading about your progress.

 

[kgtest]

You need to know 1. Current and future annual expenses (health care, car, home, etc) and 2. Future income with Both Spouse + Your SS. Analyzing the SSA.gov website and your statement will tell you exactly what to expect in 4.5 years from that income.


Focus on planning with what you have instead of speculative photography gigs that don't exist today, irregardless of your talents, make investing and retirement planning focus and priority #1.



IF you have been married over 10 years, your spouse automatically gets 1/2 of your total SS if she/he earned less than half in there reported SS earnings than you did in there life.



So let's say SSA.gov states you get $1300/month... your spouse would then get $650 for a total annual income of $23,4000. Not great but not terrible. See what your Spouse is eligible, if its more than $1300 than you can live on a little more.



In four years, the roughly 60k you have invested could grow to close to $80,000 by your FRA which equates to about an extra $3100-$3200 annually putting your 2023 budget and spending cap around $26,600. Can you live on~ $2222 a month?


Seems doable if you have medicare and no housing overhead. At some point you might think of taking the equity and finding an income based rent controlled living situation... but if you love your home, maybe plan to keep it as the income property it is today.



How healthy are you and spouse, and how are the family genetics? Living into your 90s might be a stretch which in case means you only need about 24years of living expenses covered.



You are probably much closer than you think, just tighten up the belt and suspenders and invest, invest, invest!

 

[HI Bill]

+1
My dad once commented "the worst thing is having to make a living doing what you once did for a hobby".

+100. I once went from being a recreational diver to helping with classes and leading group tours. I found out after only a few events, that I want diving to only be my avocation, not my vocation! I gave up helping with classes and leading tours!

 

[coloradophotobug]

thank you, mdlerth and kgtest!...Photography will be a past time. nothing more. one employer boasted about $55k.. sounds good however I am not ready to jump yet. I have until mar 8 and 13 weeks of severance after that. I need to stay thru Mar 8 in good standing to get the severance. All of this information is good and I will be committing it to a notepad so I can document as I go along. Very good info from everyone.