Make believe you are age 70+...

[imoldernu]

What do you think you'll be doing? Not trying to guess what the world will be like, but in todays' terms, what do you think your life will be like under these circumstances:
1. You have reasonable health.
2. Your best planning works out, and you have what you expect... in terms of money and security.

Not to lead you in future thinking, but to imaginate some aging, and facing realities of some slowdown. What will your life be like?

Some thoughts:
Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between?

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years?

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc?

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never?

Time spent thinking about money? This is tricky...

Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you?

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups?

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house.

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps?

Hobbies? Fill in the blanks..._______ ________ ________

Passive entertainment... TV... blogging, cards, ?

No... not a questionnaire just a mental exercise to imagine the difference between ages 30, 40, 50 and 60... and the 70's...

Preparing for the money part is just the first step...

Life is short, but good!

 

[haha]

You left out sex.

 

[T-bird]

You left out sex.

Never, but I figure it's somewhere between hobbies and passive entertainment...

T-bird

 

[eytonxav]

My dreams are in the other direction, being 21 again

 

[W2R]

Since I am 64, that is not too far away. My hopes dreams, and plans are that my life will be just the same as it is now, for the most part.

Specifically, I have no plans to travel, run marathons, climb mountains or whatever, from here on out. My gym is great and there is a great set of people in their 70's and 80's who attend, who are so nice that they are nearly National Treasures. I have no reason to change hobbies, sleep patterns, entertainment, and so on.

I might have some bathroom mods done, to make it more elderly-friendly (from grab bars to wheelchair accessibility, and more).

I might eventually give up and hire a housekeeper. I do prefer my privacy, as long as that is possible. I already have a lawn guy.

Eventually, my beloved F and I are thinking of possibly moving into two sides of a duplex, so that we can more easily check on one another as we age. We might even have an inside door installed between the two sides. He is 6 years younger than me, though, and I am still doing pretty well so I am thinking that all this might be closer to 80 for me than 70. No need to rush things....

At that time, I will probably quit driving. I can hitch a ride with him, walk, or go places by cab.

 

[Dawg52]

Only 11 years away for me. Hopefully I won't be pushing up daisies.

If I'm still kicking, I doubt much will be different. Playing golf and living in the same area. Might own a 2nd home or condo on the AL coast, but that is doubtful. Will probably just rent. I do plan to do a lot more traveling as the years go by. Got some care giving responsibilities for now, but when that is no longer the case I do plan to increase the travel budget. Oh yes, I plan to sell my house and my mom's home and move to a better neighborhood. That will probably happen over the next few years. And will probably buy an SPIA to go along with SS and put the balance of the portfolio on auto pilot. Can't totally forget about it, but don't want to be stressing out over it in my 70+ years.

 

[rodi]

I'll bite... I'm 51... so 19 years away...

Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between?
Same house I'm in now... or perhaps the granny flat we built for my in-laws... It's a 1 bedroom, handicap accessible house on the back part of our lot. It has gorgeous sunsets on the front patio.

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years?
See above - living in either our main house or granny flat. Might have a boat as well and be splitting time between boat and granny flat. Or a small apartment in Italy - splitting time between Italy and the granny flat. If we're living in the granny flat - we'll be collecting rent from the main house... or vice versa.

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc? We'll be doing what we can ourselves... and hiring out what we don't want to deal with. We have zero scaped most of our yard, with lots of fruit trees as well... so less lawn to mow.

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never?
Hopefully still "slow travelling". Where we go someplace, rent an apartment, and live like a local for a few weeks. Won't be tied to school schedule or work schedule... so more options for good bargain travel.

Time spent thinking about money? This is tricky...
Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you?
Hopefully our boys will be fully launched and maybe even married. Since my oldest has informed me he's never moving out I suspect they won't fly far. (Although I'm trying to dissuade him of this idea - and his teen years will likely make him WANT to move out.)

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups? Probably similar to now - know the neighbors - especially the walkers/dog walkers... It's a very friendly neighborhood. I'm not social enough to want more than that.

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house. See above. When I retire I hope to bike to errands I currently drive to...

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps? My husband aims for daily naps now. (and he still works)... I'm not a napper, so I doubt that will change.

 

[Ronstar]

A little more than 12 years away, but I'll take a wag:

Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between? Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years? ----Probably same places - house outside Chicago & condo outside Phoenix. Plans are to downsize sometime mid to late 70's

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc? -----I'll do upkeep, lawn, etc on house as long as I can.

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never?----Frequent travel - monthly (no cruise), some local, some far, some by car, some by air.

Time spent thinking about money? This is tricky... ----Very little I hope

Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you? -----No kids, we'll visit with DW's siblings occasionally

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups? ---- Go out with friends, but minimal social life otherwise

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house. hiking, biking, weights, working out in the yard, maybe running if my joints hold up.

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps? ------ Probably 10-11 hrs a day to include a nap or 2

Hobbies? Fill in the blanks...------woodworking, travel

Passive entertainment... TV... blogging, cards, ? ---- lots of TV and surfing on computer

 

[Amethyst]

Upkeep? By then, will probably need to spend 6 hours a day in the gym just to keep the derriere from collapsing!

Amethyst

 

[sheehs1]

You left out sex.

On your mind, Ha?

 

[packrat44]

[QUOTE

Not yet 70 but it is close enough to see it even without my glasses.

Some thoughts:
Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between? north 6 months; south 6 months

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years? houses (small)

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc? I will continue (trying) to do it all until it is time to push up daisies

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never? DW and I drove around the US this last fall; early this summer we will drive and camp the AlCan; will do the cruises when we are much older (Alaskan inland passage is on our list)

Time spent thinking about money? This is tricky... adequate amount; have no serious concerns, but do not want any nasty surprises

Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you? we make the rounds; they make the rounds. My parents are close to the century mark so they do not stray to far from their house. DWs parents are in their early 90s and will prpbably be hanging up their traveling shoes in the near future.

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups? volunteer and social groups

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house. should be doing more physical exercise (as HaHa said)

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps? 8 hours; no naps

Hobbies? Fill in the blanks...me - maintenance; building things; hot rods;__DW - quilting; painting; drawing_____ ________ ________

Passive entertainment... TV... blogging, cards, ?

No... not a questionnaire just a mental exercise to imagine the difference between ages 30, 40, 50 and 60... and the 70's...

Preparing for the money part is just the first step...

Life is short, but good![/QUOTE]

1

 

[bbbamI]

Upkeep? By then, will probably need to spend 6 hours a day in the gym just to keep the derriere from collapsing!

Amethyst

Gravity is not kind...that's for sure. If I didn't exercise, the thought of the way my derriere would look makes me want to gouge my eyes out. [-]Butt[/-] But, at least it will be behind me.

I'll be 70 in fifteen years. I really can't get my head wrapped around that right now. However, in a couple of years we'll be buying a new vehicle. Said vehicle should fit our needs when we're in our late 60s as we usually keep a car for ten years. We're considering something like a CR-V...we want to have enough room to take our Hoverounds with us...

 

[Brdofpray]

Also, not yet 70. I have 21 years to get there.

Some thoughts:
Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between? My DW and I plan to be right here in the upstate of South Carolina. Living in the house we built in the woods.

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? We may do some upgrades to make the house more forgiving to the aged. I am not opposed to installing a stair traveler to allow us access to the work shop, and quilt room if needed.

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc? We will continue this activity as long as feasible. After that, we will look into a landscape service.

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never? We will travel. No real plans. Every time we think of traveling, we realize that we are in a place most people travel to. So why leave?

Time spent thinking about money? By the time we are 70, (God willing) we will be concerned about how much we will be gifting to the next generation. Because our investment plan has been so succesful

Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you? All of our family is living within 30 minutes of us (they moved in after we relocated to SC). We hope to be attending graduations, swim meets, recitals, family dinners, and events.

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? We will still be active in our church, and our community (I hope, by 70, to be off the HOA board by then, long story). I will still be leading bird programs for the community.

Physical... planned exercise regimen? I plan to continue riding my bike until it is physically impossible. My idol is an 84 year old man that still rides his bike across Iowa every summer. When I grow up, I want to be like him.

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps? 8 hours; naps whenever I can fit them in.

Hobbies? Me, cycling, bird study, yard work, computer surfing. DW quilting, reading, gardening.

Passive entertainment... ESPN TV, surfing the web, reading.

Thanks for the interesting thought exercise!

 

[Brdofpray]

Sorry, I meant to sat 11 years to get there. A Freudian slip I believe.

 

[NW-Bound]

70? That's 14 years away, an eye blink really. We will be older, our children also older. If our health holds up, probably not many changes, other than losing a few more older relatives and friends. Still have our current 2 homes, most likely, and hopefully can still drive back/forth between them.

Probably slow down even more, meaning less travel and RV'ing. More time on the rocking chair on the rear deck overlooking the back hill, and in the twilight of dusk still listening to "Petite Fleur", which still makes my eyes moist.

J'ai caché, mieux que partout ailleurs, / I hid, better than anywhere else
Au jardin de mon cœur, une petite fleur, / In the garden of my heart, a little flower
Cette fleur, plus jolie qu'un bouquet, / This flower, more beautiful than a bouquet
Elle garde, en secret, / It keeps in secret
Tout mes rêves d'enfant, / All my childhood dreams
L'amour de mes parents, / The love of my parents
Et tout ces clairs matins, / And all those clear mornings
Fait d'heureux souvenirs, lointains, / Made of happy memories, long time ago
​

Sándor Benkó - Petite Fleur - YouTube

Danielle Darrieux - Petite Fleur

 

[haha]

Danielle Darrieux - Petite Fleur

Are the pictures of Danielle Darrieux from the war years? Lovely voice,song, and delivery; and a beautiful woman with haunting eyes.

Ha

 

[ERhoosier]

Training for Kona (Ironman World Championships) like this guy...except that he's 82!!!

Lew Hollander Sets New World Record, 2012 Hawaii Ironman | Swim Bike Run Videos

 

[haha]

No... not a questionnaire just a mental exercise to imagine the difference between ages 30, 40, 50 and 60... and the 70's...

Preparing for the money part is just the first step...

Life is short, but good!

I have noticed very little change from say 50 to my present age >70. Only thing is arthritis in one hip, which is not nothing but also not a big deal; and had I been more careful as a young man I very likely would not have it at all.

I fantasize about money almost never, but since I invest in individual securities I do spend a lot of time at it. And really, I can't think of a more engaging way to spend time. To me, retirement is mainly about freedom from much of the power of others. One cannot fully escape the power of others- just consider our files of records and forms filled out and directions carefully read. It sucks, but only way around it is to join the underclass.

Finding new and different ways of entertaining myself is not particularly important, in fact I really am not interested in it at all.

Any big changes that might come along will be involuntary, as I am happy with things as they are.

Ha

 

[NW-Bound]

Are the pictures of Danielle Darrieux from the war years? Lovely voice,song, and delivery; and a beautiful woman with haunting eyes.

Ha

I knew of and fell in love with "Petite Fleur", a composition originally without lyrics by Sidney Bechet who was a musician from New Orleans, long before I learned of Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux, who was born in 1917 and is still alive. She is before my time, and I have not watched any movie of hers.

 

[haha]

I knew of and fell in love with "Petite Fleur", a composition originally without lyrics by Sidney Bechet who was a musician from New Orleans, long before I learned of Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux, who was born in 1917 and is still alive. She is before my time, and I have not watched any movie of hers.

I was wild about Sidney Bechet back in the 50s and 60s. As I remember, he played soprano sax and clarinet of course.

Danielle would have been early to mid twenties during the occupation of France, and that is what her hairstyle and makeup suggest. Thanks for the info, and for linking this music.

Ha

 

[pb4uski]

I would likely be snowbirding between Vermont (May-Oct) and someplace warm (FL, AZ or perhaps SC - Nov-Apr).

Vermont house will be where I am sitting now or perhaps down the road - we're pretty settled here. Winter home would be 3 bdrm/2 bath house or condo and less than 2000 sf. Perhaps an RV, but probably not.

We'll continue doing our own lawn care, etc as long as we are physically able, but for the winter home will hire it out since it would need to be done year round.

I imagine that we'll travel a couple times a year and we still have a lot of the world to explore.

I expect to still be play golf and tennis regularly and perhaps even still downhill skiing occasionally - albeit at a slower pace. And I expect that we will continue to be close to the kids and see them regularly.

 

[aja8888]

Yeah, I am still a busy guy,,,,

I'll bite... I'm 69... so 1/2 year away...

Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between?
Same area I'm in now... Texas

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years?
See above - living in either our main house (2000 square feet) or a smaller one.

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc?
I have a lawn service because I am still working and traveling a lot on business. When I stop work, I will do the yard work myself.

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never?
Tired of traveling for the time being.

Time spent thinking about money? This is tricky...
Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you?
I think about it as much as I can right now. otherwise, I think about my hobbies (rebuilding old cars, fixing things at the two other houses, golf, etc.)

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups?
Probably similar to now. I have a circle of golf buddies, my wife has involvement in an active church group.

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house. See above. Plus I still run around the oil field....

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep? Would you expect daily naps? I don't take naps, they are a waste of time. My wife naps though.

 

[Cessna5354]

Most timely post for me. Recently a coworker's FIL passed at age 72, too young. I also spoke to two former coworkers, whom are retired. I had great fun & satisfaction working large engineering construction projects with them, they were like brothers. Both told me that they just turned 70 !! How could that be?? We were just working together ?? Not exactly, Yes they are 70, Yes time flies.

So here I am at 59, pondering ER as the time will fly, with or without me, and 70 will be knocking on my door soon. No great changes in lifestyle, but no workie will be great.

Things for me,
Relocate to Fla,
Keep RV & travel longer trips, sell plane (boohoo)
Maintain PT routine as long as possible
Travel to see kids & spend more time with them
Enjoy life and those around me

 

[Walt34]

This is a timely post, since dealing with FIL's issues has been a wake-up call that the time will inevitably come when I'm either dead or cannot do what I do now at age 62. And I have to think about "where does that leave DW?"

My mother moved to a CCRC (Continuous Care Retirement Community) that worked out very well for her, and I believe FIL would be much better off if he had done the same five years ago.

So I'm very much leaning in that direction. There will come a time when the maintenance issues of home ownership become a pain and a CCRC all that goes away. There will probably come a time when I can't drive and having everything close by makes that less of an issue. FIL in particular was completely socially isolated in his suburban house when he couldn't drive and his main contact was DW. We could see that had a very bad effect on him. In contrast, my mother had a great time with all that the CCRC had to offer even after she couldn't drive.

Additionally, all of the relatives a generation or two ahead of us had a lot of help, such as we are doing for FIL now, to make the transition. We will not have that help so we need to make that change before it becomes a crisis as FIL did. Our thought is that the sooner we make the change the easier it will be.

My interests in photography and radio control models will not change, and R/C in particular is easier than ever with the capabilities of electrics and gyros for helicopters so one doesn't need a workbench full of tools to participate.

Neither of us has an interest in extensive travel but we do enjoy day trips and short one to three night trips so I think/hope we'll do more of that. Even here in WV the local paper publishes a four page or longer list of things to every week for entertainment within an hour or two driving time.

One extensive source of information is here and they publish several versions of magazine-type publications (free, but they do ask for a $5 donation to defray costs). And despite my differences with AARP's politics they do have a lot of information that can be helpful.

So this issue has been very much on my mind lately.

 

[citrine]

I have 31 years to go before 70...


Where will you be living? North, south, rural, suburban, urban... and Warm, cold... or in between?
Somewhere warm and laid back....maybe some trips up North for fun.

Your house/apartment or maybe RV? Big, small, old, new, upgraded... or maybe still undecided about the coming 15 to 20 years?
Love our house now....but if we do sell it, it will be smaller if not the same size.

Upkeep? Lawn, garden, repairs, maintenance... Outsource? Self? Provided by community? Condo etc?
DH would do it on his own...

Travel? World?, Local? Cruise? Investigate... Parks/History/Theater... Car, Tours, RV? And how much of this travel? Weekly, Monthly, a few times a year, or maybe never?
I think I will be tired of running all over the world by then...probably day trips.

Time spent thinking about money?
Hopefully, every few months to make sure we are on track.

Involvement with Family? Kids? Relatives? Live close? Visit? They visit you?
Yes, hopefully there will be some great grand kids by then for me to spoil

Social Life... You really have to think about this. Social groups? Church? Neighborhood? Community... like community living, or volunteer groups?
Yes, we have a good network with like minded people and hope to continue having that.

Physical... planned exercise regimen? sports... golf, biking, swimming, softball... or normal every day activities of shopping, chores, working around the house.
Yes, lots of Yoga and strength training as well as taking care of the house, garden, and hobbies.

Sleep... This may sound funny, but how long would you expect to sleep?
YES! I take naps almost every day now....nothing like it!