Anyone here retire in their 40's ?

[LivePassionately]

Would love to hear stories from folks who've retired in their 40's (Non-police/military/fireman)

A. Has it been tough since a lot of your friends are likely working ?


B. What do you do when you're no longer striving as at this age as you have 35-40 years of retirement ? I get the hobbies, etc. but that's a lot of years

Anything else you want to add would be great as well. I am 43 and will be pulling the trigger in the next few years and just excited to get some input from folks in similar situations.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Maybe look at Mr MM.

 

[audreyh1]

There are folks here who retired in their 40s or even earlier.

 

[bearkeley]

I retired at 46 and DH at 49. We still keep in touch with friends, but find that we now have more in common with people in their 60s or older....doing what retirees do.

Retirement is busier, in a different way, than before we retired. We heard people say this before but it wasn’t until we retired did we really know what they meant. We are always busy doing things we chose to do....not busy doing what we got paid to do. It’s hard for our older (younger) friends to relate.

ER isn’t for everyone. Some of my friends tell me they want to retire early but wouldn’t know what they would do once retired. We loved our jobs but decided we would love experiencing life beyond what was consuming a majority of our lives, so we planned for ER and although it was delayed in 2008, finally retired a couple of years ago and glad we did.

We love traveling, usually 5-6 months in the winter and prefer an active lifestyle (scuba, hiking, etc). We just returned in May from a 7 month trip on our boat and now preparing for a 5 month trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. We will most likely explore South America next year and when we downsize to a condo, travel the US in a campervan and the Bahamas on our boat.

Key advice: confirm that you want to RE...if you do, crunch the numbers, then when it shows you that you are ready financially, crunch again, and maybe one more time. If you’re there, pull the trigger. You won’t be 100% confident that you’re ready until you crunch the numbers a few times and actually do it. You can always make more money but not more time.

 

[LivePassionately]

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking 46/47 now as far as RE and Financially will have no issues numbers wise.

The problem is that wife loves what she does and likely may not RE with me and I do have all these travel dreams of living in places for a month or two at a time so we'll have to see but I'm not going to let that derail me.

And my other concern is that I really won't be able to do much with my friends until 60 as they lead busy lives and don't take time to smell the roses (ie. my wife and I take unpaid time off and others that make great money won't take more than 2 weeks off). I guess I will likely have to find a different set of friends to supplement and maybe older folks or people who don't work full time, etc.

Can I ask how you met these older people (I hope the question doesn't sound odd as I guess all my friends are within a few years of my age or younger)

I retired at 46 and DH at 49. .. do. It’s hard for our older (younger) friends to relate.

ER isn’t for everyone. Some of my friends tell me they want to retire early but wouldn’t know what they would do once retired

Key advice: confirm that you want to RE...if you do, crunch the numbers, then when it shows you that you are ready financially, crunch again, and maybe one more time. If you’re there, pull the trigger. You won’t be 100% confident that you’re ready until you crunch the numbers a few times and actually do it. You can always make more money but not more time.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I retired at 33/34 so not sure if this counts. I moved to Peru, got a new wife,got a new life! I should also mention I have three children 28/13/3, so I haven't been slacking off.

 

[SecondCor521]

I retired at 46.

A. I didn't really have many friends when I retired. I'm very introverted and independent. I took up bridge after retiring and have made quite a few new friends that way (most of whom are older than me). I've observed that friends are accumulated by finding people you like while doing activities. So if you retire and you do activities, you'll find friends. Your work friends may fade since it's harder to maintain. I do occasionally have lunch with or get LinkedIn messages from people from my last job, but it's getting rarer over time.

B. For me I find I need a balance of constructive and leisure items. So constructive things would be things where I am building or learning something or helping someone. Leisure is the traditional retire-stuff: golf, sleeping in, going to the movies, going out to dinner. I get antsy and depressed if I do solid leisure, and find I'm happier if I do something productive when I get those feelings.

So the productive stuff I've been doing: learning bridge, working on my health, helping my kids and my parents and my sisters, maintaining my car and my house, and donating platelets to the Red Cross. I can foresee that the car and the house projects will eventually wind down, so I'll find whatever's next to fill that time. I do have a bucket list that is multiple pages long that I haven't gotten to yet.

I'm single, but the approach that I've seen that reportedly seems to work best with spouses is to accept that they may want to work longer and then make sure they're truly OK if *you* retire early. Then try to make your joint life better when you retire by, for example, taking over more of the household chores, making them coffee in the morning, whatever. Maybe go off and do a short adventure or two on your own if it's something they're not into.

I think most spouses decide it's OK for them to retire also when they see how much better life is and if they're comfortable with the financial situation. You may want to try to find out if there are other concerns that might be hidden behind the "I still want to work" - if it's just that they love their job, then cool. But they might be privately concerned about if the money will last, or if they'll get bored, or if you'll end up spending too much time together, or whatever. If there are any of those kinds of things you can obviously try to address those.

 

[bearkeley]

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking 46/47 now as far as RE and Financially will have no issues numbers wise.

The problem is that wife loves what she does and likely may not RE with me and I do have all these travel dreams of living in places for a month or two at a time so we'll have to see but I'm not going to let that derail me.

And my other concern is that I really won't be able to do much with my friends until 60 as they lead busy lives and don't take time to smell the roses (ie. my wife and I take unpaid time off and others that make great money won't take more than 2 weeks off). I guess I will likely have to find a different set of friends to supplement and maybe older folks or people who don't work full time, etc.

Can I ask how you met these older people (I hope the question doesn't sound odd as I guess all my friends are within a few years of my age or younger)

I was a corporate exec and was at the height of my career when I retired. My biggest worry was losing my identity. Who I was after all, was a VP. So...Our original plan was for DH to retire before me so he can work on the house while I kept working for a year to make sure the numbers were correct...just in case! We even discussed possibly starting a consulting business so I can continue to work, but have the flexibility to travel. Things changed. We lost our fathers and my MIL within a couple of years of each other and we realized that work was no longer a priority and set a second date. I ended up retiring on time, but DH postponed to another year (made sense financially). I consulted for an amazing project working full time for 3 months and realized work no longer gave me the satisfaction it did. Continue to work together with your wife to define what you want and what RE means for both of you. It doesn’t have to be the same as others, but it is important, if you want to stay together, to plan and execute jointly...even if it’s partial retirement, a sabbatical or a career change.

Aside from traveling for a couple of months at a time, figure out what you want to do. I had plans to get into gardening (hated it), sewing (hated me) then found odd things that I never thought would interest me (like Diesel engine repair!). Finding what you like and don’t like is a benefit of retirement. Continue to learn from guys here....they helped us out a lot over the years.

Oh.we have met people on hiking trips, wineries, boating (we joined a boating association and met so many people traveling down the ICW). Since these people did what we do, it made sense to form friendships.

 

[scrabbler1]

I retired 10 years ago at age 45. I had been working part-time for 7 years before that, so it was in those 7 years I regained control of my personal life, doing some volunteer work and resurrecting an old hobby.


For me, it was simply getting rid of the long, tiring, and often sickening commute which drove me to retire. I don't have many friends, as I am a bit of a loner. I have had a steady ladyfriend since 2004 (she works FT) who has greatly benefitted from my being retired. Simply being retired and childfree is a terrific combination of economic and personal freedom.

 

[ncbill]

didn't plan to but I guess I "retired" in my early 30s to take care of mom which lasted far longer than I originally anticipated...well over a decade before she passed.

I'd like to go back to work (if possible) but now I'm back on the merry-go-round with my mom's youngest sister, so until her condition stabilizes...

 

[Koogie]

I semi retired at 42 (3 years ago). I now work 3 days a week, about 40 weeks a year.

Plan is for full retirement at 48. Currently cultivating different hobbies to see which will stick.

 

[FIREd]

I quit my job at 36 (8 years ago). I am pretty comfortable doing things by myself and I don't need a lot of friends. Some of the people I hang out with during the work week are older (traditional retirees). For example, I ride my bike once or twice a week with a neighbor who is in his 70's. I have no issues with it. We have great conversations and age is no factor. I also go on hikes with a local Meetup group featuring a good mix of people (some older retirees, some younger divorcees living on alimony, some young single people working from home or with flexible schedules, etc...). One thing I don't do is hang out with career-oriented people (they are too busy working) or younger parents (they are too busy shuttling the kids around). So you may have to expand your friend base a bit (and remain open-minded).

As for keeping busy... Well personally, I don't want to keep too busy. One of the perks of the retired lifestyle is the ability to take it easy when you feel like it. Today the weather is not great for example, and I am probably going to stay home and chill out for most of the day. But I am also going on a walk around the neighborhood in a few minutes, then I'll go get a haircut later in the morning, I have a massage appointment this afternoon, and finally dinner out with a neighbor tonight. I have some hobbies too but they have changed lot over the years (currently my only active hobby is writing). Oh, and I am moving to Europe in a few months, so preparing for the move keeps me busy too!

 

[Nemo2]

Last day of employment was December 28, 1988, I'd turned 46 three months earlier.

Haven't done a damn thing since then, (come to think of it, I didn't really do a whole lot before 'then')......done some traveling......turn 76 next week.

Haven't missed servitude one iota.

 

[smoghat]

I retired at 49. I'm 51 now and just posted an I'm new here post in that forum with lots of details.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/2-years-fire-93871.html#post2112218

I've been on MMM, but most people there don't retire, they pick up other jobs, often ones that make me cringe, and often do real estate, which I may do one day again, but am blissfully free of at this stage in life.

I spend a lot of time exercising. Maybe an average 45-60 minutes a day of running, biking, or gym time. I'm not up for it today due to the weather so I'm going to the backyard soon to chop wood for our fireplace insert (yes, I know it's late for that and yes, I know that's serious exercise). I spend a lot of time gardening, putting in native plants and trying to create a landscape out of a suburban lot. I listen to a LOT of podcasts as well as SIRIUSXM's POTUS channel while I do outside work.

I'd say about 20% of my time is spent on matters related to my old work, or rather the high points, which were writing and making art/design. I don't intend to profit from this, so it's still my own thing. Maybe 5% of my time is spent on boy scouts and the unitarian congregation we belong to? I am a little wary of saying I'm FIRE'd there or I'd wind up running both and I do NOT want to do that. I've run nonprofits before and I don't need to do that now.

The friend base is kind of tough. In some ways I've had a difficult transition. Leaf blowers and other loud equipment during the day from neighbors who prefer to see their money go up in smoke drive me crazy. I realize that a lot of "friends" were just work colleagues who I'd have coffee with and who have no interest in associating anymore (not that I'm a pariah, but I'm also not on the radar scope).

Also my wife's family (mine is virtually extinct) has found it hard to accept that we are financially independent. People always used to ask "how is work?" but now that I don't have that to say, they don't know what to do. They've never really acknowledged we FIRE'd. Threw a big party for father in law when he retired, everyone kind of ignored that we did. There were a few cautionary quotes "Make sure you have enough!" Um, $5million at age 50? Ok. Very strange.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Would love to hear stories from folks who've retired in their 40's (Non-police/military/fireman)

A. Has it been tough since a lot of your friends are likely working ?


B. What do you do when you're no longer striving as at this age as you have 35-40 years of retirement ? I get the hobbies, etc. but that's a lot of years

Anything else you want to add would be great as well. I am 43 and will be pulling the trigger in the next few years and just excited to get some input from folks in similar situations.

Not sure of your statement "Non-police/military/fireman" has to do with your questions. At any rate, I retired (from the military *and* w*rking all together) a few years ago at 40.

I am like some of the other posters that I don't have a ton of friends, so that isn't really too big a deal. As a matter of fact, since there are only a handful of people that I really enjoy hanging out with, it has been the perfect scenario for me. I am available just about all the time to do whatever with friends, but my social calendar is pretty open...which I prefer.

As far as the age group, I spent a lot of time with my Dad the last few years (he recently passed) and as a matter of course, he had a "Sunday Happy Hour" without fail and I was able to enjoy the social aspects of that with him and several of his "traditionally retired" folks that were well into their 70's and 80's. Sadly, most have died or moved on, so I don't have that social interaction anymore, and it was really fantastic.

As far as what "I do", well the easy answer is "whatever the hell I want". It sounds very simplistic, but it's the best answer. Some days I don't have anything planned, and others I do. As an example...I was running up to the store a couple of days ago and heard the Braves baseball game on the radio. The commentators mentioned that since it was a day game and school was in, the ball park was nearly half empty. Well, it was the bottom of the 1st inning and I thought "why not?"...so I went to the park, bought a ticket and enjoyed the rest of the game and a few cold beverages. It was fantastic and having the freedom to do something like that is...well, you can't really put it into words.

I have often heard that you should retire to "something". I am still not sure what that really means and I didn't do that. All I know is that I wanted the freedom to do as I wish and retirement was the way to do that.

Last comment...on Mr. Money Mustache. I will agree that he has some good ideas (but can be quite brash), but I don't think I would call him retired at this point (I know, I know...internet police!!!) as he has a LOT going on right now. He does mention that he doesn't *have* to go into MMM HQ on a daily basis, but I think he's lying to himself. I think he is full on "FI", but I question the "RE" part of it all. Then again, I grow very wary of the "FIRE movement". My Google feed is replete with stories of those who "FIREd" that is rehashed over and over and over and over again. And the terms, "lean fire" "barista fire" and "side hustle" all make me want to vomit. I should post the email I sent to the NYT when they asked me if I would answer some questions for yet another upcoming FIRE article...I made sure that no one will read my story 37 times over.

 

[LivePassionately]

Thanks Everyone for your updates ! Kudos to those that did it in their 30's and 40's and followed your bliss.

Specifically to the comment about losing identity below, I am an exec as well and own/run (partnership). I don't think it's an ego thing for me anymore with the identity as I've done a lot of inner work and meditation. However, today I work 40 or less hours most weeks and overall compensation is at least $500K annually and its not stressful really but when you are a partner/owner work is in your mind and this is the struggle that comes in when I think about it:

Part of me does hating giving so much money annually even though I don't need it (ie. I can pass it to the kids). Then another of me says that, not working is True Freedom and that life is not guaranteed and I should take this golden opportunity. For whatever reason, there is still guilt when I think about it (esp. since I'm so well compensated right now) but reading all your stories helps and I'm still on track to do this.

I was a corporate exec and was at the height of my career when I retired. My biggest worry was losing my identity. Who I was after all, was a VP. So...Our original plan was for DH to retire before me so he can work on the house while I kept working for a year to make sure the numbers were correct...just in case! We even discussed possibly starting a consulting business so I can continue to work, but have the flexibility to travel. Things changed. We lost our fathers and my MIL within a couple of years of each other and we realized that work was no longer a priority and set a second date. I ended up retiring on time, but DH postponed to another year (made sense financially). I consulted for an amazing project working full time for 3 months and realized work no longer gave me the satisfaction it did. Continue to work together with your wife to define what you want and what RE means for both of you. It doesn’t have to be the same as others, but it is important, if you want to stay together, to plan and execute jointly...even if it’s partial retirement, a sabbatical or a career change.

Aside from traveling for a couple of months at a time, figure out what you want to do. I had plans to get into gardening (hated it), sewing (hated me) then found odd things that I never thought would interest me (like Diesel engine repair!). Finding what you like and don’t like is a benefit of retirement. Continue to learn from guys here....they helped us out a lot over the years.

Oh.we have met people on hiking trips, wineries, boating (we joined a boating association and met so many people traveling down the ICW). Since these people did what we do, it made sense to form friendships.

 

[Sojourner]

A. Has it been tough since a lot of your friends are likely working ?

I semi-retired at 46 and am now pretty much fully retired at 50. Yes, it's been a little tough from time to time with all my closest friends still working, but I've adapted and have learned to fill my time in other creative ways. Know that your set of friends will almost certainly change once you retire, with some friendships falling away and some getting stronger and better.

B. What do you do when you're no longer striving as at this age as you have 35-40 years of retirement ? I get the hobbies, etc. but that's a lot of years

Well, I think of it as a different sort of striving. While working, I was striving to build and advance my career and to bank as much money as possible for retirement. Now, I'm focused on what will make my life the most rewarding and fulfilling in a more holistic sense. My "striving" now is more philosophical and spiritual, in a sense. And from a practical, day-to-day standpoint, I strive to fill each day (or each week) with interesting projects and activities of all sorts, both big and small. I find that spending time on meaningful projects is a key to happiness and fulfillment for me.

Anything else you want to add would be great as well. I am 43 and will be pulling the trigger in the next few years and just excited to get some input from folks in similar situations.

I'd suggest being very sure of your financial readiness for early retirement and also very sure of your mental/emotional readiness for it. It's a big step that in many cases can't be easily reversed (at least in terms of going back to a high-paying job), so I might suggest "baby stepping" it by semi-retiring for the first year, if that's a viable option.

 

[LivePassionately]

Thanks for you story.

I love it that you spent that time with your dad and that you are enjoying your True Freedom (Ie. to do whatever the hell you want when you want it). I am also more introverted than extroverted but I love spending time with good friends but all my friends are married and busy with kids and don't really see that time is rate-limiting asset. I do have some cousins that take life easy and maybe I will try to cultivate more friendships with them as we were close before.

I am just not into MMM as much for being a model of someone that's FIRE'd. He seems to be doing so much with the blog, etc. that to me it seems like full-time job. I also don't like extreme saving ,etc. that a lot of MMM folks talk about. I very frugal in my 20's but starting at 30 or so I have carefully cultivated my life to enjoy things and still live below my means.

Not sure of your statement "Non-police/military/fireman" has to do with your questions. At any rate, I retired (from the military *and* w*rking all together) a few years ago at 40.

I am like some of the other posters that I don't have a ton of friends, so that isn't really too big a deal. As a matter of fact, since there are only a handful of people that I really enjoy hanging out with, it has been the perfect scenario for me. I am available just about all the time to do whatever with friends, but my social calendar is pretty open...which I prefer.

As far as the age group, I spent a lot of time with my Dad the last few years (he recently passed) and as a matter of course, he had a "Sunday Happy Hour" without fail and I was able to enjoy the social aspects of that with him and several of his "traditionally retired" folks that were well into their 70's and 80's. Sadly, most have died or moved on, so I don't have that social interaction anymore, and it was really fantastic.

As far as what "I do", well the easy answer is "whatever the hell I want". It sounds very simplistic, but it's the best answer. Some days I don't have anything planned, and others I do. As an example...I was running up to the store a couple of days ago and heard the Braves baseball game on the radio. The commentators mentioned that since it was a day game and school was in, the ball park was nearly half empty. Well, it was the bottom of the 1st inning and I thought "why not?"...so I went to the park, bought a ticket and enjoyed the rest of the game and a few cold beverages. It was fantastic and having the freedom to do something like that is...well, you can't really put it into words.

I have often heard that you should retire to "something". I am still not sure what that really means and I didn't do that. All I know is that I wanted the freedom to do as I wish and retirement was the way to do that.

Last comment...on Mr. Money Mustache. I will agree that he has some good ideas (but can be quite brash), but I don't think I would call him retired at this point (I know, I know...internet police!!!) as he has a LOT going on right now. He does mention that he doesn't *have* to go into MMM HQ on a daily basis, but I think he's lying to himself. I think he is full on "FI", but I question the "RE" part of it all. Then again, I grow very wary of the "FIRE movement". My Google feed is replete with stories of those who "FIREd" that is rehashed over and over and over and over again. And the terms, "lean fire" "barista fire" and "side hustle" all make me want to vomit. I should post the email I sent to the NYT when they asked me if I would answer some questions for yet another upcoming FIRE article...I made sure that no one will read my story 37 times over.

 

[LivePassionately]

Hi -Thank you so much for your post. It feels really good to see people in your situation doing the same and if you don't mind - I have a few questions.

1. Are you married with kids by any chance ? Wanted to find out if your spouse will also RE..

2. You mentioned Friends changing. I have life long friends and I don't see this changing but I am thinking I'll need to create new ones. - Any more details on this on if you had to make new friends and if this was easy.


3. Also, you mentioned mentally - was it a big deal giving up the money for you and did you do anything specific to get over that mentally or was it an ego/identity thing to get over. Would love more details on how you thought of this and what helped you get over the hump (or did you just have the anxieties but took the leap anyway).

I semi-retired at 46 and am now pretty much fully retired at 50. Yes, it's been a little tough from time to time with all my closest friends still working, but I've adapted and have learned to fill my time in other creative ways. Know that your set of friends will almost certainly change once you retire, with some friendships falling away and some getting stronger and better.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

I retired at 46 in 2016. I didn't really mind the job so much, although that was becoming a worry, I just didn't like some of the people I worked with. Nothing but competition in the workplace. I get that for a lot of situations. But I just felt there was no need for it. I had nothing to gain really , maybe they did, but for me there was no need.



So when in 2016, a light bulb went off and I suddenly realized what was possible. I started putting some things together. It was kind of scary at first, but it didn't last long. I would say after the first month or so it just got easier and now it's normal. I went for an ACA plan to cover HC and I am doing fine.


I should add I am not much of a people person. Introverted person here.

 

[Sojourner]

Hi -Thank you so much for your post. It feels really good to see people in your situation doing the same and if you don't mind - I have a few questions.

Sure, happy to share my experiences. I think you'll find that this is a great forum for all kinds of advice and feedback that you'll appreciate throughout your ER journey.

1. Are you married with kids by any chance ? Wanted to find out if your spouse will also RE..

No, I'm not married and I don't have children. This certainly made the decision to semi-retire (and then fully retire) easier in some ways, but it also made for some lonely days in the first couple years. I ultimately took some steps to get out and expand my social horizons, and now I feel much better in that regard. I'm dating someone now who works full time, and I don't have any expectations that she will semi- or fully retire anytime soon, and that's perfectly OK.

2. You mentioned Friends changing. I have life long friends and I don't see this changing but I am thinking I'll need to create new ones. - Any more details on this on if you had to make new friends and if this was easy.

Yeah, I did have to make some new friends. My old set of friends mostly stayed the same, but there were some that were so focused on work and career that we just naturally drifted apart when there wasn't as much in common between us to talk about and to bond over. Most of my new friends have a much better "work life balance," and we tend to share some fairly specific non-work interests and hobbies. I've found that spending time meeting and talking with like-minded people (via something like Meetup.com, for example) is a good way to build genuine friendships that are more likely to last.

3. Also, you mentioned mentally - was it a big deal giving up the money for you and did you do anything specific to get over that mentally or was it an ego/identity thing to get over. Would love more details on how you thought of this and what helped you get over the hump (or did you just have the anxieties but took the leap anyway).

For me, it was mostly about the loss of daily purpose or direction, and getting used to the idea that I would have to generate that entirely on my own for the rest of my life. Going from an "important" C-level job where you are relied upon by many people in many different ways and where you feel that your knowledge and skills are highly consequential to... sitting at home staring at the walls or surfing the web... is a pretty major and kind of mind-boggling transition. It feels very odd for a while and takes a lot of soul searching to get fully comfortable with. I think some people are just naturally more philosophical and introspective and will have more trouble with this transition than others, but ultimately most of us ER-types make the adjustment and are happy with our decision to walk away from the daily grind. Just know that there will likely be some moments of doubt and regret and "buyer's remorse", and you'll need to put some time and effort into figuring out exactly what you need and want in order to live a fulfilling "post career" life.

 

[45th Birthday]

I FIREd on my 45th birthday from a company I ran and owned with a partner. I sold the company and left the day the transaction closed. I had been working less than 40 hours, and the stress level was not high, although there were several very high stress periods in the past. The timing was good (2006) and the price was great. As for income, I now make more than I did when working, but from investments instead of toil.

My best friend works several part-time gigs from home, so we have time to do stuff together. Other close friends are spread around the country, and several are also retired. We see social friends often and because we split our time between two resort/vacation places, they tend to also be retired.

The question of "what do I do for the next 35-40 years?" has no one answer, even for one person. When I was first retired, I spent a lot of time with my kids, who were just entering their teens. Later, I was very involved in leadership of some not-for-profits. Lately, I have been occupied with house moves and renovations. Throughout, time spent managing my money, exercise and travel have been constants. Various hobbies seem to wax and wane, but I was never hugely passionate about specific hobbies.

 

[nash031]

Would love to hear stories from folks who've retired in their 40's (Non-police/military/fireman)

A. Has it been tough since a lot of your friends are likely working ?


B. What do you do when you're no longer striving as at this age as you have 35-40 years of retirement ? I get the hobbies, etc. but that's a lot of years.

Curious why the limitation on who can respond considering that your questions would apply to any of those first responders/military as well. Almost all veterans get jobs when they transition from the military. Very few retire for good in their 40s.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I was close to 40 when starting my career)

 

[leftbucket]

Hmmm

Curious why the limitation on who can respond considering that your questions would apply to any of those first responders/military as well. Almost all veterans get jobs when they transition from the military. Very few retire for good in their 40s.

I am a recently retired firefighter in my early 40's (yes, a FIRED firefighter!) who still works one weekend a month for Uncle Sam (military). I guess I am doubly excluded from responding to this post...

I'll touch on A anyway.

A. Your solution might actually be police and fire. My former work schedule appeared so random to those outside that despite being retired for almost a year now, most of my neighbors have no idea (and I see and talk to them quite regularly.) Most police and fire have several weekdays off. When I want to see my old coworkers, we just meet up on one of those. Make friends with a few police or firefighters. Retired or not, they should have more time during the workweek than most other occupations due to the 24/7 schedule. Look for the Maltese cross on a shirt at your local hardware store or gym on a weekday mid-morning.

Good luck with your future plans,

LB