Retired Four Years - Just Found This Great Board

[phil1841]

Retired four years ago at age 60 and read as much as I can find from fellow retirees. Just stumbled across this forum - and only a light scratching so far has revealed some great content. Thanks to all the contributors and looking forward to reading and learning more.

 

[Gumby]

Welcome aboard. I'm glad you joined us and I look forward to hearing more about your retirement journey.

 

[omni550]

Welcome, Phil! You've just stumbled into a great community...not just limited to retirement topics. Lots of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people here.


omni

 

[georgemoe]

Welcome Phil. I retired at 60 four years ago as well. Retirement twins! LOL Medicare is the next door. Hope you are doing well.

 

[Dtail]

Welcome to the forum. Lots of good advice here.

 

[bloom2708]

Also check out Bogleheads.org. Welcome.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Welcome aboard!

 

[pacergal]

Welcome to the forum.
Hope to hear more from you.

 

[AZsniper]

Welcome!

I'd be interested to hear about what you thought retirement was going to be like and if it is close to how it is really like?

Do you spend more or less than planned? Any advice for soon to be retirees?

Thanks!

 

[MarieIG]

Welcome to the forum Phil!

After four years - you're a Pro. I do hope to hear more about your retirement experience.

 

[FedRetired50]

Welcome

 

[phil1841]

Thanks everyone!!

Following up on a couple of questions - four years into retirement we have not had any surprises. Fortunately we were able to stay on a heavily subsidized medical plan with my employer which covered both of us. I am two months away from rolling on to Medicare but the DW will stay covered on my employer's plan until she reaches Medicare age at the end of the year. For us, this particular benefit was a major factor in deciding to pull the plug and retire at 60. Never had to dive deep into ACA coverage or other alternatives which made that aspect of early retirement super easy. Just my view, but health care costs and no insurance or secondary back up is downright scary.

Adjusting to retired life was a bit of a challenge. Going from a very active professional job which included representing the company with industry-level organizations was initially a shock to the system. I had thought about this but it didn't really hit me until it happened. Was used to the daily phone calls - often multiple daily phone calls - to help or give advice to others and that interaction along with the self-worth it brought ended abruptly. Maybe I could have found something to replace a little of that, but in the end I adjusted to the lack of professional interaction. The DW retired at the same time, but has since done some part time consulting work - she really missed the interaction even more. Or maybe it was spending more time with me

Budget spending for us has gone down with less running around keeping up with the daily rat race. We traveled for fun before retirement and have continued to do so with one nice trip a year - at least after COVID started to abate. I have continued to actively work with a few of the popular retirement planning software programs - some of the free stuff and some I have paid for and still feel confident we are doing ok. We do not use a financial planner - I think we have a good handle on our situation with the tools out there.

Advice to someone contemplating early (or not early) retirement is just to think thru all of the financial aspects of your life today and make a call on what will change and what might need to change. There is of course much more to life than the financial side - don't forget to think through as much of that as you can.