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Are you retired for good?
Old 06-19-2007, 06:46 PM   #1
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Are you retired for good?

Hi everybody, I'm a regular reader of the forum and no longer in the workforce.
I am not totally convinced I am a permanant retiree since my finances may be questionable and I have over a decade for full SS benefits.
But I have a plan.

I'm interested in knowing if you consider yourself a 100% Retired Person.
That means no way will you go back to a real job.

Have you accepted retirement as your lifetime status or would working again in the future be a possibility for whatever reasons.
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Old 06-19-2007, 06:51 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida View Post
I'm interested in knowing if you consider yourself a 100% Retired Person.
That means no way will you go back to a real job.
100% card carrying Retired Person here. Barring a very serious financial setback (read "disaster"), no way would I ever go back to a job...real or unreal.
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Old 06-19-2007, 06:55 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida View Post
Hi everybody, I'm a regular reader of the forum and no longer in the workforce.
I am not totally convinced I am a permanant retiree since my finances may be questionable and I have over a decade for full SS benefits.
But I have a plan.

I'm interested in knowing if you consider yourself a 100% Retired Person.
That means no way will you go back to a real job.

Have you accepted retirement as your lifetime status or would working again in the future be a possibility for whatever reasons.
To quote intercst:
I'd sell a kidney before I'd go back to work.
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Old 06-19-2007, 07:05 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida View Post
I'm interested in knowing if you consider yourself a 100% Retired Person.
That means no way will you go back to a real job.
Have you accepted retirement as your lifetime status or would working again in the future be a possibility for whatever reasons.
It's been over five years. I ain't goin' back.

I'd much rather "accept" retirement as a lifetime status than to belatedly discover that work was my lifetime status...

As for your own answer to the work/retirement question, have you read Bob Clyatt's "Work Less, Live More"?
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Old 06-19-2007, 07:16 PM   #5
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It's been over five years. I ain't goin' back.

I'd much rather "accept" retirement as a lifetime status than to belatedly discover that work was my lifetime status...

As for your own answer to the work/retirement question, have you read Bob Clyatt's "Work Less, Live More"?
Yes I have read Bob Clatt's book along with a few others on retirement and finances. Used Firecalc too.
No doubt the non working life suits me well especially the freedom it allows.

I would imagine the biggest factor for many on whether or not to stop working revolves around money.
If the numbers work great, if they dont well then I can make them work.

Better than going to work.
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Not Going Back
Old 06-19-2007, 07:23 PM   #6
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Not Going Back

Only been retired for three weeks but can't imagine going back.
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Old 06-19-2007, 07:41 PM   #7
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Anybody here old enough to remember that old archeology ad(Stockbroker?) - wherein the young guy in the tent was sorting bones at the table and complaining about the pay/working conditions/pain in the butt of digging up fossils, etc - and the old phart interjects -that thanks to E.F. Hutton(or something like that) he could retire to a fun hobby/job like that.

If it ain't fun - don't do it. And remember different folks get their jollies in strange ways. I knew a knot head who bought a Bed and Breakfast in New Orleans - to keep busy in retirement. Another friend recaptured his youth - renewed his Merchant Marine ticket from his youth and went off to see the world.

I on the other hand graduated from an unemployed/layed off/slacker bum to ER(after 6 yrs got my age 55 pension) to graduate 'high class' ER when I found this forum surfing with my trusty webtv back in 03.

And watch out for that volunteer stuff - if you get toooo good at something - that can get dangerous also.

heh heh heh - 14th year of doing nothing in particular and dam proud of it. .
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Retired?
Old 06-19-2007, 08:45 PM   #8
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Retired?

I can't go back to wkro if I wanted to. I FORGOT HOW TO SPELL THE WORD! this is somrthing I have wantd all my life, so at 54 I am offically RETIRED and having a good time.

Hello to all Bob
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Old 06-19-2007, 08:53 PM   #9
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If work is doing something you don't want to do I don't think I will go back to work. My thought is that I will do what I want to do for as long as I can.ile. After I've done what I wanted I would guess that I will slow down and want to do something to fill my time. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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Old 06-19-2007, 09:37 PM   #10
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ER'd and NOT going back. Too many places to see
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Old 06-19-2007, 10:14 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida View Post
...I'm interested in knowing if you consider yourself a 100% Retired Person.
That means no way will you go back to a real job.

Have you accepted retirement as your lifetime status or would working again in the future be a possibility for whatever reasons.
I'm not 100% retired yet, but to answer your question, even if you believe that you will never have to work again, there is always a possibility that you may need to. And, the younger you retire, the more risk that your plan may not work out.

There are ways to minimize that risk such as...

Saving a larger amount and investing it more conservatively

Having your wife work, so you don't have to

Having a guaranteed COLAd pension
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Old 06-19-2007, 11:06 PM   #12
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48, retired 8 months, no pension.

I cannot imagine going back to work. It would require dividend cuts averaging at least
60% by GE / JNJ / PG / GGP / VNO etc for me to even consider it.
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Old 06-20-2007, 04:31 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Khan View Post
To quote intercst:
I'd sell a kidney before I'd go back to work.
I am still working, so I can attest to the fact that Khan and intercst have their priorities straight.

When I retire (in 2-3 years) it will be for good. I won't be tempted to go back to work once I have quit, because jobs in my occupation with a decent salary are rare. Also, I plan to move to a location at which jobs in my occupation are non-existent.

Obviously I am building safety net upon safety net into my retirement plans.
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Old 06-20-2007, 04:54 AM   #14
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Does being retired 17 years qualify?

We just make this look easy folks......

Billy
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Old 06-20-2007, 05:48 AM   #15
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ERd at 56. Two and one half years in I am gone for good. I had a part time job for a while. I liked the work but found the responsibility a drag. Now I can't imagine working.
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Old 06-20-2007, 06:40 AM   #16
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I think that I am too newly RE'd (5 weeks in & 52) and (hopefully) too smart to say that I'd NEVER go back to work......life can throw some real curve balls your way....but with THAT disclamer out of the way ~

I don't forsee having to do anything related to the work environment that I did not absolutely WANT to do....as others have stated here.....enjoying what you are doing makes all of the difference!

....and I think that UncleMick is on to something regarding any volunteering too....if you're really good at it and show any interest at all....it seems they want you to run it .....probably how THEY got sucked in too....
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Old 06-20-2007, 07:02 AM   #17
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I did go back to work one day a week .Mostly because my friends convinced me I'd be bored .I 'm done with that .Except for my ebay & amazon selling and they are more a hobby than a job I'm 100% retired .
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Old 06-20-2007, 07:52 AM   #18
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Not going back. I enjoy doing what I want to do, when I want to do it to much! Plus the money issue is taken care of......
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Old 06-20-2007, 08:11 AM   #19
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Intercst - Ironic that you mentioned Merchant Marines . . . My uncle who is in his late seventies (looks like early 50s and feels like he is in his 30s) was a construction contractor that oversaw a number of major projects in the SF bay area . . . He lost it all in the mid-90's, e.g., big beautiful house, financial assets, porsche, etc., due to IRS issues. LOL . . . Although he knew everything was going down the drain for over a year, he didn't tell his wife or anyone else. When he got the IRS letter, which indicated that they were taking possession of his house and assets and he had to be out of the house the following week, uhhh . . . let's just say that his wife wasn't a happy camper. Myself and other relatives moved his possessions out of the house into a rental and I can still hear her (his wife) voice berating him with profanity. My uncle, who had always been a "take charge guy," was useless that day, in shock from what happened. Anyway, he eventually got his **** together and went back to the Mechant Marines, for whom he had worked in his 20s. Fast forward today, he is a very happy person, albeit not retired . . . grin.
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Old 06-20-2007, 08:35 AM   #20
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ER'd for almost a year at 53 and don't ever see myself going back to work. While I do worry about my money lasting for what could be forty more years, I was earning much less from my salary than from my investments, so more years of work weren't going to add much to my FI (just reduce the costs of the insurance premiums). And I don't think I would have much possibility of even returning to related work (it was a highly specialized human service, with not many local opportunities, and I wouldn't be very marketable after a year or more off---not to mention the difficulty of getting hired over 50), so it would be a McJob that would pay even less and offer even less satisfaction. No thanks! I'm with Khan---I'd be willing to sell any body part not to return.

I thought I would do volunteer work or write a book in order to remain "productive" and engaged---but now, for the first time in my life, I'm stressfree and really enjoying life. I've always been the good student and the good worker---now it's time to just kick back and be free of any demands, constraints, stress, etc.
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