Retirement Doubt removed for many

[Midpack]

I curse you people who get to enjoy other people's boats!
Sigh...ours is like some kind of reverse (perverse) ATM machine that only takes money, never doles it back out. And it only takes $100 bills.
Come to Charleston Midpack and Audrey, y'all we'll take you out in style!

I live close to Lake Michigan and kept a boat there for 20 years. I've raced my own boats and crewed on others, so I have lots of friends with boats, easy-peasy.

I would think Charleston would be a similar boating community/opportunity.

 

[W2R]

W2R... I am surprised that you jumped to that conclusion, being a scientist and all...

Texas Proud, in turn (and I mean this with all due respect) I am also surprised that you have not seen many cr*ppy pseudostatistical assertions in the popular press in your life. When a statement is made in a popular article such as this that "77% of retirees are happier than when they were working", more often than not (IMO) this is in answer to the question, "Are you happier now than when working? Yes/No". The lack of information about their methods is why I wonder about their sample too, and whether or not they even distinguished between the retired and the unemployed.

For those who don't know the difference between being retired and simply being unemployed for the time being, well, maybe we should have an "Early Unemployed Forum"? With our present economic difficulties, that could be a popular forum and might draw a lot of participation.

 

[Nords]

So what have you guys "given up"?
What else did you guys "give up"?

I "gave up" buying a horse for our daughter.

I also "gave up" being relatively ignorant about investing, since I had the time to learn more about it instead of just earning more from a paycheck than I lost in the markets.

I was also happy to give up rush hours and department-head meetings...

 

[Texas Proud]

Texas Proud, in turn (and I mean this with all due respect) I am also surprised that you have not seen many cr*ppy pseudostatistical assertions in the popular press in your life. When a statement is made in a popular article such as this that "77% of retirees are happier than when they were working", more often than not (IMO) this is in answer to the question, "Are you happier now than when working? Yes/No". The lack of information about their methods is why I wonder about their sample too, and whether or not they even distinguished between the retired and the unemployed.

For those who don't know the difference between being retired and simply being unemployed for the time being, well, maybe we should have an "Early Unemployed Forum"? With our present economic difficulties, that could be a popular forum and might draw a lot of participation.

I agree.... the question was probably like what you said... but the 'no' does not mean the opposite of the 'yes'...

IOW, if someone asked me 'do you like pie', I would say 'no'... now, I will eat pie at times because I do not dislike pie... and if someone said 'TP hates pie', I would also disagree with them... because I do not hate pie...

So even in the yes/no probability, saying 'no' does not mean the complete opposite of the 'yes'..... it means we do not have enough information to know the answer....

 

[Alan]

What did I give up?

Platinum freq. flyer. Those business lounges were nice, plus all the free tickets, but I wouldn't want to fly that much again.

FSA - I do miss that. Retiree HI is higher than as an employee, but no FSA, but it is still excellent coverage at present.

Antacid tablets. Haven't bought a single one in 2 years.

 

[W2R]

So what have you guys "given up"? I "gave up" the expensive car in anticipation of retiring; our business provides us leased cars and for years, I've had pretty expensive cars. The most recent one is a Subaru that the business is buying for me instead of leasing and I'll take it with me.

I'm still planning on going sort of part time next year to see how it goes. The other thing I would gladly "give up" is the house we've lived in for 20+ years and in which we raised 3 kids. The mortgage is low and almost paid off. The equity is at least $1,000,000. If we can afford it in retirement, we'll keep it, but if things ever get tight, even my dear wife agrees we will sell it and buy something much, much less expensive.

What else did you guys "give up"?

I didn't have to give up anything, really, due to a timely windfall.

I would have given up a lot if necessary. Still, I would have kept my modest paid off home, which is worth about 16% of your equity.

What if you don't HAVE to give up your home? It sounds like downsizing might be something that you would still want to do in any case, if all three kids are grown and gone by now.

 

[scrabbler1]

In terms of daily lifestyle, I did not have to give up anything when I ERed. It was sorta a coincidence, but my wage income in my last 17 months of working part-time (2 days a week) was about the same as my dividend income after I ERed, so I was able to "practice" living on more or less the same budget in 2007-2008 as I have been living on in the last 3 years. My expenses did not change much becasue the decrease from FICA taxes and commutation expenses was about the same as my added health insurance premiums (I was on COBRA in thsoe last 17 months so I was paying 100% of my HI premiums albeit from a group plan).

What I did give up when I ERed was that long and sickening commute along with the other awful things I hated about working such as getting up early and getting home late, even 2 days a week. Losing a negative is vastly underrated IMHO.

 

[warrentalbot]

What else did you guys "give up"?

My wife and I decided that our dream life was more important than everything we owned. We weighed the decision for months, but finally determined that being completely free from our home, car, & possessions (except what is in our backpacks) was more important than holding on. We sold or gave away everything in order to live the life we have now.

It seems to me that making the choice between what you want most in your life and what you are willing to give up is at the core of every successful money saver, dieter, and those willing to identify a dream and live it. If we are unwilling to make that choice then it is hard to wonder why we don't have as much money saved, have a few extra pounds, and are looking back on a life we wished we had lived.

The reason I enjoy this forum is it is full of people who are making choices each and every day to live the life they want and identifying what the need to do (as well as give up) to make it a reality.

 

[Badger]

For those who don't know the difference between being retired and simply being unemployed for the time being, well, maybe we should have an "Early Unemployed Forum"? With our present economic difficulties, that could be a popular forum and might draw a lot of participation.

Actually that sounds like a good idea. Just like the many folks here (much like myself) that benefit from the collective knowledge in this forum, the many folks who are unemployed could benefit from the experience and the creative ways people are dealing with surviving the economic crunch after becoming redundant.

Cheers!

 

[rescueme]

What did I give up?

Platinum freq. flyer. Those business lounges were nice, plus all the free tickets, but I wouldn't want to fly that much again.

++++1

 

[mickeyd]

Nope. Some (even on this forum) talk about "retirement jobs" - full or part-time.

That's what I'd classify as semi-retired, not retired.

 

[Mulligan]

That's what I'd classify as semi-retired, not retired.

That might be the best way to say it. I call myself retired and my working friends certainly do, even though I have a few part time jobs. For me, I guess I should say "retired from my career".

 

[Birchwood]

Prob. would downsize on clothes. later downsize in cars,(have 3 now, to 2 cars), downsize in house, although can't convince wife yet.

But then will have to spend more on cruises as least for a few years, air travel, road travel, photo equipments, computers, and other electronic gadgets since I have more time fooling with them.

Will have more time keeing healthy, thru more exercises.

 

[clifp]

$100 bottles of wine. I am a bit more circumspect before eating out at expensive restaurants. I also buy less electronic toys than when I was working.

The wines is mostly a function of being in Hawaii, and the toys are partly being in Hawaii, partly the expense, and mostly cause I just don't get much of a kick anymore with dabbling with some new product that really should be in beta testing.

Investing has become more of a job than hobby since retiring also which is a downside.

But the modest downsides of retiring are more than made up for by no longer having to write, deliver, and receive performance reviews, sit through endless staff meetings and the other nonsense of corporate life. Commutes ....