You retirees w/ 10+ years experience, what's next?

[Nords]

Here's the questions to the description below: Were any of you in this situation 10 years ago? How has it worked out? Any surprises or other issues to watch out for? Anything you'd do differently?

Here's the description:

Am I missing something here in Paradise?

I ER'd 18 months ago (age 42) on a small govt pension that permits lifetime unemployment. Married, kid finishing elementary school, frugal lifestyle, with a retirement portfolio (& spouse's pension) overcapitalized to survive at least another six decades. We've survived & prospered through the bear market (so far). Life is good & worry-free.

Life is busy, too. Parenting, home improvement, exercising, reading, investing, and surfing (both ocean & Internet) more than fill our days and leave us happily exhausted by nightfall. Our to-do list is getting longer, not shorter. With all of these compelling interests, I can't imagine how I used to find the time to go to work.

Work was fulfilling and (mostly) enjoyable, but I don't miss it a bit. During the retirement process, we were heavily conditioned on how to seek further employment. Admittedly most of my less-frugal compatriots, with more kids and debts, will be employed for another 20+ years. And some of the others just can't imagine NOT being employed. One or two have even tried to retire and gone groveling back to their offices. But my father & father-in-law, my mentors, have been happily retired for 17 & 8 years with no issues. I feel lucky to have their help in overcoming the brainwashing.

So I can't believe that it's been 18 months already. I don't miss commuting, business clothes, meetings, suffering fools gladly, and 50-hour workweeks. I enjoy the tasks we've set before us but I can see that they'll dwindle in the next five years. I'm pretty sure that new interests will arise (and our kid will be a licensed driver by then!) so I don't see life getting less busy.

What the heck is my problem, right? Well, I'm a bit surprised to discover that I don't have one. Apparently I rightfully ignored the "You'll be so BORED!" and "But what will you DO all day?!?" warnings and I'm happy to say that I see plenty of self-imposed challenges in my busy future. I don't think I'll never chase a paycheck again and I don't think I'll ever revert to the office environment. I raise this issue more from an engineer's paranoia than from angst.

Advice? Comments?

[unclemick]

Will be eleven years in january 04. Engineers paranoia? Maybe - but luckily a tornado took the roof off in 95 and Hurricane George the front and back porch in 98 so the remodeling juices got satisfied. Also took a temp job for 14 months in 95-96 which more than paid for the remodeling.

I keep in touch - our retiree's group meets once a month and they are always looking for volunteer's to judge school science fairs - which I avoid like the plague.

It's amazing how fast the day goes 'doing nothing'. The desire to design, build, experiment surfaces periodically but it passes. Aerospace 1966 - 1992 ER'd Jan 1993.

Hello! Semiretired since 1993. My situation is just
like cut-throat. As one activity is dropped (due to age or whatever), there is always a big list of others that
I want to try, or maybe just do more of. I expect this
will continue until my demise. I recall once that my brother asked my parents "But what does he do all day?" That made me smile.

John Galt

Now here's a typical day (winter schedule):

Coffee with the wife before she leaves for work.
Feed and water livestock (read dogs).
Check e-mail.
Spend some time on financial/business issues.
Run errands/finish Christmas shopping.
Kill some time at Barnes and Noble.
Pick up mail/lunch with folks.
Clean up/fix up around house (househusband duties).
Exploring the woods with my black lab, Maggie.
Wife returns/cocktail hour and conversation.
Evening news, then a good book or video and/or back on the computer.

Summer schedule is similar, except add in boating, fishing, motorcycle and putzing in the yard.

Sure beats workin' !

John Galt

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I ER'd 18 months ago (age 42) on a small govt pension that permits lifetime unemployment. Married, kid finishing elementary school, frugal lifestyle, with a retirement portfolio (& spouse's pension) overcapitalized to survive at least another six decades. We've survived & prospered through the bear market (so far). Life is good & worry-free.

195 days until that elementary-school kid starts college, but everything else is current. Gee, still recovering from the bear market, too.

The retirement portfolio is smaller but our cashflow is bigger due to a few rounds of mortgage refinancings and raising the tenant's rent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Life is busy, too. Parenting, home improvement, exercising, reading, investing, and surfing (both ocean & Internet) more than fill our days and leave us happily exhausted by nightfall. Our to-do list is getting longer, not shorter. With all of these compelling interests, I can't imagine how I used to find the time to go to work. Work was fulfilling and (mostly) enjoyable, but I don't miss it a bit. During the retirement process, we were heavily conditioned on how to seek further employment. Admittedly most of my less-frugal compatriots, with more kids and debts, will be employed for another 20+ years. And some of the others just can't imagine NOT being employed. One or two have even tried to retire and gone groveling back to their offices. But my father & father-in-law, my mentors, have been happily retired for 17 & 8 years with no issues. I feel lucky to have their help in overcoming the brainwashing. So I can't believe that it's been 18 months already. I don't miss commuting, business clothes, meetings, suffering fools gladly, and 50-hour workweeks. I enjoy the tasks we've set before us but I can see that they'll dwindle in the next five years. I'm pretty sure that new interests will arise (and our kid will be a licensed driver by then!) so I don't see life getting less busy.

No changes here.

From what I'm told, the military's transition-assistance planning seminars may be shorter and more efficiently delivered (online as well as in the classroom) but the content hasn't changed much: "Know your benefits, use your GI Bill, git a job."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords What the heck is my problem, right? Well, I'm a bit surprised to discover that I don't have one. Apparently I rightfully ignored the "You'll be so BORED!" and "But what will you DO all day?!?" warnings and I'm happy to say that I see plenty of self-imposed challenges in my busy future. I don't think I'll never chase a paycheck again and I don't think I'll ever revert to the office environment. I raise this issue more from an engineer's paranoia than from angst.

Never been an issue here, either. I suppose that in the next 10 years I might find some compelling reason to return to some sort of paid employment but... nah, not seein' it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Am I missing something here in Paradise?

Apparently not!

I remember that back then I was far more concerned about the finances of ER than I was about how I'd spend my time. Confidence rises with more ER time-- even after another round of bear market that concern has largely disappeared.

However my fears concerns about parenting a teenager were right on the money...

[bbbamI]

Hummm...this is an old thread....no 'hehs' from unclemick...

[Gone4Good]

Great post and follow-up. It's good to hear from folks who have managed ER successfully, both from a financial and an emotional stand point. It's certainly reassuring for someone who is going to take the plunge himself in a couple of weeks or so.

Congrats!

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI Hummm...this is an old thread....no 'hehs' from unclemick...

heh heh heh -----PLUS:

When did I cut loose with the first pssst Wellesley?

heh heh heh - Boy I'm starting feel old.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick When did I cut loose with the first pssst Wellesley?

Although it seems like it was several decades ago, it appears to have been less than 5 years: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...tml#post296030

[flyfishnevada]

I thought someone was "thread mining", but you came back and answered your own question. Its funny. I have spoken with and read posts from a lot of folks that have retired and despite all the concerns, things just seem to work out and they enjoy it. Not that planning and a little constructive concern isn't a good thing, but maybe we tend to over think things a little. Like you, I'm an engineer too. Must come with the territory.

[audreyh1]

Pretty cool Nords! Congrats!!!!!

Audrey

[FIYes]

Wow Nords--this is so COOL! I saw the thread title and clicked on it since I am a 4 month newbie at retirement. I really enjoy retirement and I am surprised that I don't feel a need to more. I thought that I would need bunches of projects lined up to stave off boredom, but that is not the case at all. I hope that in a few years I look back and can say "yep, this is pretty good!"

[BunsGettingFirm]

Wow, almost 6 years went by since the original posting. For a 39-year-old guy, let's just say that ER used to be just a possibility somewhere in the future, but now it's more like if I can increase my portfolio by a manageable percentage through just my contributions, I can pull the plug. Still, with ER a concrete, reachable goal in the next few year, it's feels strangely more difficult. It's nice to see a retrospective that ER isn't as difficult as some make it out to be.

[dks1]

Good folk, I came out early in 2018 and I never looked back. I do some occasional consulting when I feel up to it but nothing consistent or onerest.

I was listening to a fella on NPR one day and his view was quite interesting and spot-on in my opinion. He says that there are essentially four phases to retirement:

Stage one - you are ecstatic about the new heaven that you've walked into with no traffic, deadlines or personality mine fields to traverse.

Stage two - you begin to feel that there should be another career out there for you and you begin to try different adventures.

Stage three - you take a shot at part time/volunteer work.

Stage four - you come to realize that it is your time to enjoy your life doing just whatever it is you want (reading/golfing/grandkids/traveling etc....). You are truly grateful for for the life you are able to live as a result of decisions and sacrifices you made throughout your life. That is when true peace and happiness sets in!!

[Free To Canoe]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for refreshing this thread!

[mojavesue]

Is Nords still around? Pretty old thread!

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojavesue Is Nords still around? Pretty old thread!

Yes, in fact he has posted 3 or 4 times this year. (See post 38 on the thread below)

https://www.early-retirement.org/for...-116779-2.html

[Andre1969]

I'm still working, so I only have the experience of my elders to go on. For the most part they fell into two categories:
1) Take to retirement like a fish to water, and never look back.
2) Retire, but then second-guess it for a bit, complain about it, wish they'd kept working, but then eventually, get used to it.

For the most part, the people I'm thinking of (grandparents, parents, and other relatives) went out anywhere between 55-62. The one outlier was my maternal Grandmom, who was kind of a workaholic. She retired from the federal government at the end of 1980, at the age of 56, when Glenn Dale hospital got closed down, but then she started doing transcription work for some doctors she knew, out of the home for awhile. Eventually, she went to work part-time/on-call doing medical record work at another hospital. They'd give her as many hours as she wanted, and she kept that up until the age of 70. She didn't need the money, and could have stayed retired, but she just felt under-utilized if she wasn't working. Plus, that retirement was kind of forced, and not of her own free will, so that might make a difference.

Oh, one other outlier I just thought of. My Dad. He retired at 62, but it was to take care of Granddad. And that ended up becoming a full-time job in and of itself. Dad was pretty miserable during that time, and sadly, died 6 months after Granddad did, so he never really had a chance at a carefree, happy retirement. But like my maternal grandmother, I guess this one would sort of fall into the "against their free will" category.

Some people may fall neatly into those four stages listed in post #14, and others may be force-fitted, with some creative writing. But I don't think everyone does.

The last person I know of who retired, is my housemate's Mom. She retired in late 2019, right around her 62nd birthday. Then she took off for Aruba for something like 6 weeks or more. She has a timeshare there, and is probably the only person I've ever known who actually has GOOD things to say about a timeshare! Her only regret was that, soon after, we had the COVID shutdowns, and even now there's still the lingering effects of that, so she feels like her retirement has been cheated a bit, as she doesn't get out and socialize as much as she had planned. But she still doesn't regret leaving the workplace one bit, and like many stories I've heard in these forums, wishes that she had done it sooner.

[eytonxav]

Yikes, Nords post dates back to just after I joined the forum. My how time flys.

[Dtail]

Retired in 2017 and have never doubted the decision.