(this turned out to be very long—sorry!)
I’ve been around the boards for a long time (long enough to remember John Galt and Cutthroat) and have occasionally posted, but not often.
Even though I’m not likely to RE in the same sense of most of you, I thought I’d introduce myself anyway. I’ve learned a lot from the boards and thank so many of you for good advice and interesting threads. And who knows, there might be others in similar situations as ours.
I’ll turn 58 in August, my wife 48 next December.
I’m a choral conductor and was a university teacher for 21 years (from 1983-2001 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA), but left university teaching to pursue some other professional activities (I’ve always been involved in these anyway). I was already conducting two choirs in addition to my university job and was quickly burning out. I could look at another 15 years or so at the university (I still loved teaching and my students), but felt I’d simply end up repeating the same things I’d been doing and not grow. In that way, it was time to move on into the insecure world of the freelance musician.
My wife is a visual artist and is just now leaving the same university, where she’s taught for 17 years, 15 of those full-time. She, the opposite of me, was adjunct faculty (i.e., poorly paid/bottom of the totem pole) and more importantly, never felt that teaching was her calling. She filled out the final forms and turned in her keys today and is VERY happy to be moving on!
We’ll do a COBRA (signed the papers yesterday and wrote the first check today), and we’re lucky in WA state that at the end of it we can sign up for individual health insurance with no screening for pre-existing conditions and will get the rate appropriate for our age/sex. This was a big plus. It’s still not inexpensive, of course ($824/mo currently), but is workable and we’ll explore other options in 18 months (most likely an HAS).
I’ll be beginning my 10th year as Artistic Director of a professional chamber choir in Edmonton, Alberta this fall and I continue to enjoy it very much. A YouTube video was bootlegged of the choir at our Good Friday concert -- YouTube - Pro Coro Canada - Spaseniye Sodelal (Salvation is Created) -- if you’re interested.
We’ve corresponded off and on with Billy and Akaisha and have long admired their PT lifestyle. While that doesn’t work exactly for us (given my time commitments in Edmonton, where I arrive about 10-12 days before a concert for rehearsals), we’ve been able to do some interesting things. My doctoral dissertation, which was later published, is on Swedish choral music and that meant lots of contacts and friends in Sweden. Last year we spent about 7 weeks in Stockholm as a kind of self-made “mini-sabbatical.” I did some conducting prep work with the Swedish Radio Choir, certainly one of the best choirs in the world, and that led to an invitation to do more this year. Consequently, I was in Sweden from January 1 to February 9, then again from March 27 to May 15 (in between I had two different programs with Pro Coro in Edmonton and another filling in for an ill friend during my two weeks at home). I did lots of prep rehearsals for the Radio Choir, but also conducted their spring concert, which was in combination with a great jazz duo. The concert’s still on-line (for another week or two, I think) at: Sveriges Radio - P2.
I also have been writing a blog about what we’ve been doing at Richard Sparks - Music, Conducting, Choirs
We were able to afford this in part because we have a great friend (publisher of my book, she’s Swedish, but lives in S. Carolina) with an apartment in Stockholm, where we stayed. We seriously considered moving to Sweden last year, but for a non-EU citizen, it’s not easy to get a residence/work permit, so we’ll continue to visit as we can.
We also made changes to cut down our expenses. Following Billy and Akaisha’s “low cost living,” we bought a manufactured home in a small park last August for cash (including what we spent to fix up/upgrade) and our space rent is only $250/mo, which includes water, sewer, and garbage. Property tax is very low, about $550/year (we’re paying only on the home, since we don’t own the land). This keeps our “must pay” items low, should we need to really cut back, or allows us to leave for longer periods of time (as Billy and Akaisha do) without worrying to much about what we leave behind or how much it’s costing us.
My wife is exploring options for how to market what she does as an artist, but I have enough stuff lined up for next year that we can get by even if she earns nothing. I’ll conduct an opera in Edmonton in November and next May will be a guest professor at the University of Cincinnati (I did that for the fall quarter of 2006 as well—it’s where I got my doctorate).
My wife didn’t have any retirement fund when we met (about 12 years ago: she was on 3 different part-time contracts and getting NO benefits), so her rollover will be small, maybe $70,000. I rolled over my TIAA-CREF money into my IRA, so have about $770,000 there and we have a modest emergency fund. Don’t have any debts.
As long as I keep enjoying what I do (and more importantly, get ASKED to do interesting things, which is no guarantee!), I’ll keep at it. If it dries up, we know we can get by and, of course, I’m just a little more than a year and a half from 59 1/2 and being able to draw from the IRA without having to do a 72T, if we need it.
I have a “never say never” policy about teaching or other opportunites. I loved teaching, had a great time at the University of Cincinnati working with talented grad students and would consider going back in if the right opportunity came up. Of course, at almost 58 those opportunities get fewer and fewer! On the other hand, if I teach as a guest, I serve on no committees, go to no meetings, and don’t have to administer a program!
At the moment I don’t have anything in Sweden for the coming year, but we’ll see what happens the next season (they plan quite far in advance). We hope to go back next summer (2009) and spend time in Stockholm, Norway (my wife’s youngest sister lives there), and visit friends elsewhere in Europe. My wife has a possible exhibition in Sweden and I have a probable judging gig in Hungary. We’ll see.
Overall, we’ve tried to find ways to keep our freedom; still have time for other interests, family and friends; do things we enjoy doing; and have time for and with each other (one of the great advantages of my wife’s leaving the university is that she can travel with me whenever I travel).
Who knows when a full “retirement” might happen?
I’ve been around the boards for a long time (long enough to remember John Galt and Cutthroat) and have occasionally posted, but not often.
Even though I’m not likely to RE in the same sense of most of you, I thought I’d introduce myself anyway. I’ve learned a lot from the boards and thank so many of you for good advice and interesting threads. And who knows, there might be others in similar situations as ours.
I’ll turn 58 in August, my wife 48 next December.
I’m a choral conductor and was a university teacher for 21 years (from 1983-2001 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA), but left university teaching to pursue some other professional activities (I’ve always been involved in these anyway). I was already conducting two choirs in addition to my university job and was quickly burning out. I could look at another 15 years or so at the university (I still loved teaching and my students), but felt I’d simply end up repeating the same things I’d been doing and not grow. In that way, it was time to move on into the insecure world of the freelance musician.
My wife is a visual artist and is just now leaving the same university, where she’s taught for 17 years, 15 of those full-time. She, the opposite of me, was adjunct faculty (i.e., poorly paid/bottom of the totem pole) and more importantly, never felt that teaching was her calling. She filled out the final forms and turned in her keys today and is VERY happy to be moving on!
We’ll do a COBRA (signed the papers yesterday and wrote the first check today), and we’re lucky in WA state that at the end of it we can sign up for individual health insurance with no screening for pre-existing conditions and will get the rate appropriate for our age/sex. This was a big plus. It’s still not inexpensive, of course ($824/mo currently), but is workable and we’ll explore other options in 18 months (most likely an HAS).
I’ll be beginning my 10th year as Artistic Director of a professional chamber choir in Edmonton, Alberta this fall and I continue to enjoy it very much. A YouTube video was bootlegged of the choir at our Good Friday concert -- YouTube - Pro Coro Canada - Spaseniye Sodelal (Salvation is Created) -- if you’re interested.
We’ve corresponded off and on with Billy and Akaisha and have long admired their PT lifestyle. While that doesn’t work exactly for us (given my time commitments in Edmonton, where I arrive about 10-12 days before a concert for rehearsals), we’ve been able to do some interesting things. My doctoral dissertation, which was later published, is on Swedish choral music and that meant lots of contacts and friends in Sweden. Last year we spent about 7 weeks in Stockholm as a kind of self-made “mini-sabbatical.” I did some conducting prep work with the Swedish Radio Choir, certainly one of the best choirs in the world, and that led to an invitation to do more this year. Consequently, I was in Sweden from January 1 to February 9, then again from March 27 to May 15 (in between I had two different programs with Pro Coro in Edmonton and another filling in for an ill friend during my two weeks at home). I did lots of prep rehearsals for the Radio Choir, but also conducted their spring concert, which was in combination with a great jazz duo. The concert’s still on-line (for another week or two, I think) at: Sveriges Radio - P2.
I also have been writing a blog about what we’ve been doing at Richard Sparks - Music, Conducting, Choirs
We were able to afford this in part because we have a great friend (publisher of my book, she’s Swedish, but lives in S. Carolina) with an apartment in Stockholm, where we stayed. We seriously considered moving to Sweden last year, but for a non-EU citizen, it’s not easy to get a residence/work permit, so we’ll continue to visit as we can.
We also made changes to cut down our expenses. Following Billy and Akaisha’s “low cost living,” we bought a manufactured home in a small park last August for cash (including what we spent to fix up/upgrade) and our space rent is only $250/mo, which includes water, sewer, and garbage. Property tax is very low, about $550/year (we’re paying only on the home, since we don’t own the land). This keeps our “must pay” items low, should we need to really cut back, or allows us to leave for longer periods of time (as Billy and Akaisha do) without worrying to much about what we leave behind or how much it’s costing us.
My wife is exploring options for how to market what she does as an artist, but I have enough stuff lined up for next year that we can get by even if she earns nothing. I’ll conduct an opera in Edmonton in November and next May will be a guest professor at the University of Cincinnati (I did that for the fall quarter of 2006 as well—it’s where I got my doctorate).
My wife didn’t have any retirement fund when we met (about 12 years ago: she was on 3 different part-time contracts and getting NO benefits), so her rollover will be small, maybe $70,000. I rolled over my TIAA-CREF money into my IRA, so have about $770,000 there and we have a modest emergency fund. Don’t have any debts.
As long as I keep enjoying what I do (and more importantly, get ASKED to do interesting things, which is no guarantee!), I’ll keep at it. If it dries up, we know we can get by and, of course, I’m just a little more than a year and a half from 59 1/2 and being able to draw from the IRA without having to do a 72T, if we need it.
I have a “never say never” policy about teaching or other opportunites. I loved teaching, had a great time at the University of Cincinnati working with talented grad students and would consider going back in if the right opportunity came up. Of course, at almost 58 those opportunities get fewer and fewer! On the other hand, if I teach as a guest, I serve on no committees, go to no meetings, and don’t have to administer a program!
At the moment I don’t have anything in Sweden for the coming year, but we’ll see what happens the next season (they plan quite far in advance). We hope to go back next summer (2009) and spend time in Stockholm, Norway (my wife’s youngest sister lives there), and visit friends elsewhere in Europe. My wife has a possible exhibition in Sweden and I have a probable judging gig in Hungary. We’ll see.
Overall, we’ve tried to find ways to keep our freedom; still have time for other interests, family and friends; do things we enjoy doing; and have time for and with each other (one of the great advantages of my wife’s leaving the university is that she can travel with me whenever I travel).
Who knows when a full “retirement” might happen?
