The official retirement count down

[LabattBlue]

Congrats!  I was able to retire from NYS at 55...and have 5+ years as a retiree so far.  No regrets at all. 
 

Best of luck to you and the Mrs.  

[Augie]

On 5/23/2020 at 2:31 PM, Fan in San Diego said:

Do I have to stop working to be considered retired? Oh crap, as soon as I can sell my business I'm hoping I can retire.

 

 

My wife works in wealth management. They routinely deal with people who have sold their companies, sometimes for $100 million or more. Some are fine after the sale, but studies and surveys have shown a surprisingly large number regret selling. They just gave away their baby, their reason for getting out of bed every morning. They miss being a part of something, having a purpose. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT saying you will feel that way, but the numbers surprised me. Personally, I “retired” a few years ago in my late 50’s and I’m still trying to find a routine that I like as much as my old work in Florida. I had one of those jobs that was as much “enjoyment” as “work”. Unfortunately, it does not really translate to life in Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong, I’m blessed and I know it, but I’m also greedy!   

[WhoTom]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

My wife works in wealth management. They routinely deal with people who have sold their companies, sometimes for $100 million or more. Some are fine after the sale, but studies and surveys have shown a surprisingly large number regret selling. They just gave away their baby, their reason for getting out of bed every morning. They miss being a part of something, having a purpose. 

 

 

 

People who build companies like that tend to be Type-A personalities. They're driven, always needing something to do. I can't imagine having that much money and wanting more. I mean, I understand needing to keep busy, but find a cause - a charity or something - and put the energy into that.

 

 

Quote

Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT saying you will feel that way, but the numbers surprised me. Personally, I “retired” a few years ago in my late 50’s and I’m still trying to find a routine that I like as much as my old work in Florida. I had one of those jobs that was as much “enjoyment” as “work”. Unfortunately, it does not really translate to life in Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong, I’m blessed and I know it, but I’m also greedy!   

 

I loved my job - the actual work itself - but the office politics became too aggrivating, so when I had the opportunity to retire at 55, I jumped on it. This was only possible because of a pretty frugal lifestyle (thanks in part to my low-maintenance wife), a couple of lucky breaks, a lot of work, and a few good decisions.

 

Technically I'm semi-retired, since I still do some freelance work part-time. That gives me a routine, keeps my brain cells active, and supplements the retirement income. It's been two years and I have no regrets at all. Like you, I feel blessed to have what I have. It would be easy to sit back and say, "Hey, I earned it," and to a large extent, I did, but I had opportunities that not everyone gets, so in that respect, I'm very fortunate.

 

 

[LewPort71]

Day one.  Its 7:30 and so much stuff to do...Weed eater to get a workout this morning. Neighbors are at work so it is not too early.

  

[KD in CA]

On 6/1/2020 at 4:27 AM, LewPort71 said:

Day one.  Its 7:30 and so much stuff to do...Weed eater to get a workout this morning. Neighbors are at work so it is not too early.

  

So.....how was the daytime TV?   

[Augie]

6 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

So.....how was the daytime TV?   

 

Dan Patrick in the morning on my phone, Cowherd 12-3:00 pm, a trip to the grocery store for dinner after a very late lunch (2:00-3:30). It’s not all it’s  knocked up to be, but I’m blessed. 

 

On the bright side, it’s very cool to hear my wife working from home. I appreciate and respect what she does more than I could ever have imagined before this crazy stuff. There is no way I could do what she does. That’s why I just post here!   

[LewPort71]

Day 4.  I'm bored.  Calling work to see if they need any help.

 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

21 minutes ago, LewPort71 said:

Day 4.  I'm bored.  Calling work to see if they need any help.

 

[PromoTheRobot]

What is this retirement you speak of?

[LewPort71]

42 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

 

 

The  "wuddja"  pics are MUCH better.

my beard isnt that long yet..

[Guffalo]

9 hours ago, LewPort71 said:

Day 4.  I'm bored.  Calling work to see if they need any help.

 

Get a job at the golf course, or better yet, shoot in the 80s consistently.

[LewPort71]

I have thought about a job on the golf course.

Mowing grass is a thing I enjoy doing.

Shooting in the 80's always happens. 

Then I tee it up on number 15.

 

[707BillsFan]

12 hours ago, LewPort71 said:

Day 4.  I'm bored.  Calling work to see if they need any help.

 

 

Yeah, retiring in a pandemic might start things off a little slow. You'll get the hang of it. I retired at 50, almost a year and a half ago. Now this seems like a regular day. Finding people to golf with is a little difficult as most are still working. I manage though. Can't go out to breakfast or lunch w/ friends for the moment, but we did often before all this BS. This will improve. I had no set list of things to do immediately. Why do everything off the bat? Enjoy!! You've earned it

[mead107]

2 hours ago, LewPort71 said:

I have thought about a job on the golf course.

Mowing grass is a thing I enjoy doing.

Shooting in the 80's always happens. 

Then I tee it up on number 15.

 

You can apply to be a paid protester / looter.  
pays cash $800 a night. 

[Keukasmallies]

On 4/2/2020 at 2:58 PM, LewPort71 said:

Today is the "Heinz" day towards retirement.  57 more to go.

Those are calendar days. 

My replacement has been hired and training begins Monday.

Fortunately, this was a person who left the company.  They found

out the grass isn't always greener on the other side and

is coming back.  I had begun the training with this person and was crushed when

they left.  Now they are back , training wont be difficult.

 

Mrs. Lew wishes it was 5.7 days as the knotheads she works with

are becoming more knotheadier each day.

 

 

Congratulations on being a work place short timer.   I'm at the far end from your "location" as I've been retired for twenty-three years; my goal is to be retired for as long as I worked in my main career, thirty-four years.  May you reach the same point in time!

[rockpile]

After the quarantine started, retirement lost a lot of its positives!

 

I used to go to the gym a few days a week, just to stay loose. I also would meet a friend for brunch about once a week, which kind of cancelled the benefit of the gym.  I was using our local library Maker's Lab to scan old photos and digitize VHS tapes.

 

My wife has a IN HOME daycare which continued since her work is essential. In the cold months, I pretty much self quarantined - everything was closed anyway.I spent quite a bit of time on Ancestry and virtually connected with a lot of family I did not know I had. About the time I was going to lose it, warmer weather got here so at least now I can spend lots of time outside. As NY loosens restrictions, we have had more opportunity to see friends and family. 

 

The biggest problem is I gained a lot of weight that has mostly been related to lazy guy diet and no exercise. I am working on that now!

 

Be safe and well, my friends!

 

Rock

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

On 6/4/2020 at 5:08 PM, Guffalo said:

...shoot in the 80s consistently.

It isn't bad enough seniors are especially susceptible to Covid 19.  ?

[LewPort71]

Its been two weeks and a couple of days.

Mrs. Lew and I drove (combined)  800 miles a week to work, so we are

now driving about 80 miles a week.  Less CO2 emissions.  Our 

coffee consumption has dramatically increased as we used to enjoy the coffee

from our work places. 

I have been taking a 30 minute hike each day in our neighborhood listening 

to Golic and Wingo on the XM app. I have to find one of those arm wrap phone holders.

We are watching our grandson about every day as his parent's work schedules have picked up.

The lawn and our neighbor's lawns look great.

There are about a billion YouTube videos.  I have seen 4.2 million of them.

We had joined a gym in late January and they are finally opening up. Just not the 24 hour schedule they

used to have.

 

[Augie]

20 minutes ago, LewPort71 said:

Its been two weeks and a couple of days.

Mrs. Lew and I drove (combined)  800 miles a week to work, so we are

now driving about 80 miles a week.  Less CO2 emissions.  Our 

coffee consumption has dramatically increased as we used to enjoy the coffee

from our work places. 

 I have been taking a 30 minute hike each day in our neighborhood listening 

to Golic and Wingo on the XM app. I have to find one of those arm wrap phone holders.

We are watching our grandson about every day as his parent's work schedules have picked up.

The lawn and our neighbor's lawns look great.

There are about a billion YouTube videos.  I have seen 4.2 million of them.

We had joined a gym in late January and they are finally opening up. Just not the 24 hour schedule they

used to have.

 

 

My sister had a quadruple bypass when she was about 5 years younger than I am now. She was tall, thin, walked the dog miles/day and never smoked. One of the things they told her was to walk at least 10,000 steps/day. That’s my new goal since I learned an app on my phone counts steps. 

 

I am averaging about 9k steps/day lately, but had over 14k steps yesterday. Just walked the dog for a lap around my neighborhood listening to Dan Patrick for about 1k steps. I’ll head to the park next for a few laps (the dog only wants so much). At noon I’ll switch over to Cowherd or Pandora. Keeping track makes me aware so I do more than I would otherwise. 

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

an app on my phone counts steps. 

 

Thanks for the tip - I just downloaded a step tracker/pedometer that I'll use when we walk our dogs every day.