Love the practice run but... ...

[folivier]

At our condo one of our bedrooms is my office. Desk, tv, recliner for reading, tools, etc. That's where I spend most of my time when I'm inside. It's my space and is needed to have my alone time from DW. She has the rest of the house. It works for us. At our cabin the garage, basement, and outside is my place.
It's important to have different areas for your alone time. When we were traveling in our motorhome it was more difficult but I'd tend to be outside more. When she took the truck to go shopping she was sometimes gone all day. Not a problem.

 

[Koolau]

At the risk of sounding like I know what I'm talking about AND at the risk of sticking my nose into your business: It sounds like you have found a way to avoid the real issues that challenge your situation together. If you really enjoy the new j*b, I think that's great. There were periods at Megacorp that I loved what I was doing and wanted to stay on.



But, some kind of couples counseling might be in order as well. Apologies if I'm off base or being too aggressive with unsolicited advice (I have NO credentials in this department, so YMMV.)

 

[Mark2024]

Last one of these practice day. No more getting up whenever I want, no more wine or bourbon on lunch time, no more taking a walk whenever I want.

As this day is rapidly approaching, I keep asking myself, why do I want to go back to work? As I was doing our YE summary, we have earned over $70,000 in dividends and interests in 2023. Adding both of our pensions into the mix, we are making more than the national median household income of $74,580. Then there will be SS a few years from now, push our income to be around double of that median number without ever touching the principles nor the need of a job.

Will see. If I prefer to be bored in retirement or to be pressured in the new job.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

A heated garage has done wonders for our marriage. Before and after ER.

Don't worry about the whole "You have to retire to something" Just retire and you'll find it yourself.

 

[Koolau]

Last one of these practice day. No more getting up whenever I want, no more wine or bourbon on lunch time, no more taking a walk whenever I want.

As this day is rapidly approaching, I keep asking myself, why do I want to go back to work? As I was doing our YE summary, we have earned over $70,000 in dividends and interests in 2023. Adding both of our pensions into the mix, we are making more than the national median household income of $74,580. Then there will be SS a few years from now, push our income to be around double of that median number without ever touching the principles nor the need of a job.

Will see. If I prefer to be bored in retirement or to be pressured in the new job.

I've been bored and I've been pressured. Bored is better!


But, seriously, I've actually rarely been bored in ER.

 

[Mark2024]

I am really struggling - no wanting to get up 7 am each morning and prepare to report out progress each week. but the $ into bank account each pay period is surely nice to have. The bonus is the ability and excuse to get out of the house every week.

How do I get to the balance?!!

 

[Koolau]

I am really struggling - no wanting to get up 7 am each morning and prepare to report out progress each week. but the $ into bank account each pay period is surely nice to have. The bonus is the ability and excuse to get out of the house every week.

How do I get to the balance?!!

Balance will come. You'll figure it out. Blessings.

 

[jollystomper]

We have a combination of together activities and separate activities. After 4-1/2 years, we've settled into a rhythm that works for both of us.

+1

Since our college days, DW and I have a Venn Diagram of friends and interests that provides a good balance.

My retirement situation is a bit different to the OP's. Since I have to travel so much for my job, DW looked forward to me being retired and being around more. Still, I try to get out of the house every day for something, and there are lots to choose from in our area.

We are also fortunate that our home is big enough where we can keep out of each others way. My office/man cave/workshop is in the finished/unfinished basement, her office/she shed/craft room is on the second floor. On days when we are working on projects we might only see each other for meals.

For the OP, there are sports/exercise/free classes that can help get you out of the house. Even something as simple as spending a couple of hours in the local library to do online work, instead of at home, can work (I will sometimes do that when I want to work on a programming/data analytics project). We also benefit from having several "senior centers" within 20 minutes of us that have various free facilities and activities that have been paid for with our tax dollars, so we take advantage of them.

One thing not mentioned, do you have friends in your area? They do not necessarily have to be retired, but doing something with them is another option for getting out of the house.

It takes time, but, like investing, over time you figure it out and there is a payoff.

 

[skyking1]

Mark, congrats to you!
DW and I are a good team. She quilts, I help. I cut fabric and do math in my noggin on the fly.
I build things and she cheers me on.
We like to travel together.
I like to ride the bike. Alone
We are experts at napping under small dogs.

 

[Mark2024]

The current business situation is not very good. The company is cutting costs and putting pressure on each of us to generate more revenues. It is not fun any more.

One question I keep asking in my head: how do you know you have enough to pull the trigger? Saw so many youtubers claim to be ok with their SS only or less than 500K. But they seem to just do YouTube, eat beans & rice and barely survive.

on the other hand, I saw so many celebrities passed away lately in their 60s or 70s. DW is going on cruise after cruise to all the nice places. Why am I still w*rking?

 

[braumeister]

What do you have against beans?

I think the majority of us have developed a great deal of confidence in FIRECalc.

 

[pb4uski]

... One question I keep asking in my head: how do you know you have enough to pull the trigger? Saw so many youtubers claim to be ok with their SS only or less than 500K. But they seem to just do YouTube, eat beans & rice and barely survive. ...

It all depends on what you spend. I have a retired friend who is frugal and has SS and one rental and banks money. My frugal grandmother lived well on SS only.

 

[Dtail]

So why are you still working?

 

[Aerides]

One question I keep asking in my head: how do you know you have enough to pull the trigger? Saw so many youtubers claim to be ok with their SS only or less than 500K. But they seem to just do YouTube, eat beans & rice and barely survive.

Math.

And paying exactly zero attention to youtubers on the topic.

 

[MC Rider]

Minimal brain waves needed to be a toober. Consider the source of your info. There is a lot of bogus stuff out there.

 

[marko]

Mark, congrats to you!
DW and I are a good team. She quilts, I help. I cut fabric and do math in my noggin on the fly.
I build things and she cheers me on.
We like to travel together.
I like to ride the bike. Alone
We are experts at napping under small dogs.

Yeah. Almost 20 years into RE, DW and I truly like being together and sort of miss each other even if we're apart for a few hours. We can't wait to get back home and be together, if only quietly sitting in other rooms reading. My career had me away from home 200 nights a year so this is sort of make-up time.

Not that everything is perfect and we do have our spats. I'm quite the idiot I'm told.

She has her mornings at the gym and I have my morning coffee with my brother, but most afternoons we just hang out together. It bothers me that some day one of us will be alone, but that’s for another day.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I am a little confused. If you are bored and don't want to hang around the home with your wife too much, take up a hobby. We golf 4 to 5 days a week after we retired. No time to sit around the home. We get up first thing in the morning and playing our round by 7am and done within 3 hours. We have an early lunch, run errands etc. We are tired in the afternoon and rest up. Evening we become couch potatoes and watch Acorn or Discovery+. We also travel about 3 months away, mainly to golf to get away from hot summers and cold winters. Even on the worst day, i.e. shooting a bad round, is still better than the best day at work.

 

[Mark2024]

So why are you still working?

The worry of running out of $.

 

[RetiredHappy]

The worry of running out of $.

Which is not what you stated in your original post.