I've Retired...

[kidblast]

1 hour ago, kwalker201 said:

I’m only 58, I have a few more years to go. I didn’t know I was in a chat with a bunch of old men 😂 

58,, ........... man.. I remember 58,, well..  kinda....

 

[DanvillRob]

42 minutes ago, jdgm said:

Congratulations on your retirement.

I love being retired; sure there's less money if you're not working, but far less expense too. 

I open my window every day, hear the traffic madness on the bypass and love that I no longer have to join it, or be told what to do by anyone.  If I want to go back to sleep for awhile, I can  - and sometimes do.  I'm never late for anything these days!   And I get to play my guitar in the daytime! 

For the 1st year-and-a-bit you may wonder how you ever had time to work.  And why you are putting on weight.

Best wishes to all!

Oh, MAN!    Putting on weight is the kicker for me.

I'm fortunate that I had good planning when I was working so my retirement could be comfortable.

I can't actually  tell the difference in money, (I make a lot less, but need a lot less).

My retirement account is in good shape, thanks to a good financial planner...and I withdraw money each month, the RMD,  (Required Minimum Distribution) is set by law, so I have to take that...but my account actually grew last year!

Social Security pays me the maximum, (I 'maxed-out" every year since 1972, and I didn't start withdrawing Social Security until I was 70), but Medicare 'penalizes' me because of my past income....so instead of having to pay $135 a month ($270 if you include my wife), we have to pay $450  a month, ($900 if you include my wife).... then on top of that, Social Security withholds an additional $100 a month ($200 if you include my wife), for Kaiser Senior Advantage ..... so I get dinged $1370 a month for health insurance!).   My wife gets a pittance from Social Security, (she rarely worked worked while we were together), but it's something!

 

 

[kwalker201]

I deal with SS on a daily basis. The lady I mostly talk with tells me SS is only funded through 2033 theoretically. 

[BluesKing777]

 

Congratulations Murph!

Maybe a new guitar is needed t help celebrate? 🙂

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

[BigKahune]

Congrats Murph! 

A few more weeks and I’ll be 4 years into retirement - loving it.  I worked until I was 65. 😎

[MorrisrownSal]

Congrats Murph… awesome.  I’m trying to get 7years more under the belt. 
 

 Nobody regrets not working longer. Happy for you!

Edited March 2, 2022 by Salfromchatham

[QuestionMark]

Murph-Congratulations on your retirement!  I retired in March 2016.  It’s been great!  The main thing I have found is that all you need do is focus on being healthy.  There’s nothing wrong with being older, what’s not so good is not being healthy.  And, even then if that occurs, one still needs to focus on getting healthy.   So make being healthy part of every decision.  If doing something will help you stay or be healthy, do it.  If something won’t contribute to you being healthy, don’t do it.  ie.  If being busy keeps you healthy, keep busy.  If just hanging around keeps you healthy, do that.   If taking a trip somewhere will help you be healthy, do that.  Likewise, if staying home will help you be healthy, do that.   If playing guitar keeps you healthy, do that.  Etc.

In my case,I feel keeping busy and playing music keeps me healthy.  So I get as many gigs as I can,  it’s turned into good part-time income and keeps me interacting with younger people.  Going away with my wife for the winter to a warm climate (not as a tourist, but like I live there on a fixed income), keeps me healthy.  (When away for the cold weather for the winter, we rent an inexpensive studio apt.)  Plus, I network to try to get gigs there, too.

 And, I exercise daily and eat healthy (or healthier than before) because it helps keep me healthy.

When working one has to keep healthy to keep working for the house, wife,  kids’ college, and the job.  When retired, one has to keep healthy because it beats the alternative and can give quite a lot of meaningful purpose to things as well.

Everyone is different.  Figure out what you need to do to be and keep healthy in retirement.  Then, you’ll know what to do in your retirement.

Just my experience.

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Edited March 3, 2022 by QuestionMark

[jricc]

Congrats on your retirement Murph!  Enjoy

[MissouriPicker]

9 hours ago, kwalker201 said:

I’m only 58, I have a few more years to go. I didn’t know I was in a chat with a bunch of old men 😂 

HELL!  You shouldn’t be in here.  You’re just a kid!

[Holiday Hoser]

I am looking forward to a little spot we have in Montana on the Boulder and Yellowstone rivers where I can fish and drink (not necessarily in that order) As my dear ol' dad used say " You can't drink all day... If you don't get started in the morning!"

cheers friend.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Holiday Hoser

[Murph]

3 hours ago, Holiday Hoser said:

 As my dear ol' dad used say " You can't drink all day... If you don't get started in the morning!"

My Dad was a heavy drinker, although he did quit the day he found out he had cancer and lived another 15 years.

But he told me the Dr. once asked him "How much did you drink ?" to which he replied.

"All I could."

[Boyd]

4 hours ago, Holiday Hoser said:

As my dear ol' dad used say " You can't drink all day... If you don't get started in the morning!"

As Dean Martin used to say, "I feel sorry for you people who don't drink. When you get up in the morning, that's as good as you're going to feel all day."

I retired at 62 in 2011, best thing I ever did. Had a great but very demanding job designing scenery and managing the crews/technical operations for a major opera company. So I was up late at rehearsals and performances, then back for tech work at 8:00 AM the next morning. I'm quite sure I would have died young if I continued that. There are so many things that interest me, I've never been bored and each day ends with unfinished projects to continue the next morning. Started teaching myself advanced javascript code at the age of 69 and am developing a complex (free) gps/mapping web app. 

Knowing that I wasn't going to work forever, I moved to a "cabin in the woods" five years before retirement. Made for a rough commute of over 100 miles a day before I retired, but it's been great since then and I spent the covid lockdowns in my own private nature preserve. 

So, retirement is what you make of it. Has been the best years of my life, but I had a purpose. I also don't get Murph's comment about Social Security. Why would you want to go to an office? I don't really remember what I did, probably printed out some PDF forms and mailed them in. It was basically a no-brainer. 

[DanvillRob]

2 hours ago, Boyd said:

As Dean Martin used to say, "I feel sorry for you people who don't drink. When you get up in the morning, that's as good as you're going to feel all day."

I retired at 62 in 2011, best thing I ever did. Had a great but very demanding job designing scenery and managing the crews/technical operations for a major opera company. So I was up late at rehearsals and performances, then back for tech work at 8:00 AM the next morning. I'm quite sure I would have died young if I continued that. There are so many things that interest me, I've never been bored and each day ends with unfinished projects to continue the next morning. Started teaching myself advanced javascript code at the age of 69 and am developing a complex (free) gps/mapping web app. 

Knowing that I wasn't going to work forever, I moved to a "cabin in the woods" five years before retirement. Made for a rough commute of over 100 miles a day before I retired, but it's been great since then and I spent the covid lockdowns in my own private nature preserve. 

So, retirement is what you make of it. Has been the best years of my life, but I had a purpose. I also don't get Murph's comment about Social Security. Why would you want to go to an office? I don't really remember what I did, probably printed out some PDF forms and mailed them in. It was basically a no-brainer. 

What an interesting job!    I'd love to hear more about it....

Maybe there should be a thread where we can all talk about what we do/did for a living!

 

[Boyd]

12 minutes ago, DanvillRob said:

What an interesting job!    I'd love to hear more about it....

Thanks! It was a lot of fun, but also very challenging and eventually I got burnt out. Of course, the pandemic has really been rough on people in the live entertainment business today,

Here's some of my work (one day I need to move to a better server with SSL)

http://www.boydostroff.com

[kwalker201]

1 hour ago, Boyd said:

Thanks! It was a lot of fun, but also very challenging and eventually I got burnt out. Of course, the pandemic has really been rough on people in the live entertainment business today,

Here's some of my work (one day I need to move to a better server with SSL)

http://www.boydostroff.com

Yes very interesting. Well done!

[DanvillRob]

1 hour ago, Boyd said:

Thanks! It was a lot of fun, but also very challenging and eventually I got burnt out. Of course, the pandemic has really been rough on people in the live entertainment business today,

Here's some of my work (one day I need to move to a better server with SSL)

http://www.boydostroff.com

Those are wonderful sets!   You must be very proud of them!

Makes me want to go to the opera, (I went once as a child).

[Boyd]

Thanks!

[MorrisrownSal]

Boyd! That app!

 

i zoomed in on Normand Beach. Well done.

[fortyearspickn]

Wowsers!  "Die Fledermaus" is to die for ! ! ! 

 

[Larsongs]

You should start a Band & Gig… 

[Sevendaymelee]

Congratulations... it's much deserved, especially considering the hill needed to be climbed in order to get there! 

On a side note, I would like to thank you, and all the rest that contributed their own retirement stories. It made me  feel really, really young (which is rare these days)! 

😂😂😂

Edited March 4, 2022 by Sevendaymelee

[Boyd]

11 hours ago, Salfromchatham said:

Boyd! That app!

i zoomed in on Normand Beach. Well done.

Thanks! Lots of new stuff ahead in the coming months, have just expanded disk space to over 1 terabyte.  🙂

[Boyd]

Thanks again everyone, really wasn't expecting this kind of reaction.  I also spend as much time as possible playing guitar. Still loving my 2020 J-50 60's original. But I do find it hard to "switch gears" mentally between writing computer code and music. So I tend to take a break from the guitar for awhile when I am seriously concentrating on code. Last year I took about 6 months off. I always get some new insights into guitar technique after taking an extended break like that.

 

[Murph]

Cool, Boyd. My daughter sang opera and we went to several, the finest by far was at Webster University in St. Louis.

Loved it.

She moved on in college.

 

[fortyearspickn]

On 3/3/2022 at 7:02 AM, Boyd said:

As Dean Martin used to say, "I feel sorry for you people who don't drink. When you get up in the morning, that's as good as you're going to feel all day."

I retired at 62 in 2011, best thing I ever did. Had a great but very demanding job designing scenery and managing the crews/technical operations for a major opera company. So I was up late at rehearsals and performances, then back for tech work at 8:00 AM the next morning. I'm quite sure I would have died young if I continued that. There are so many things that interest me, I've never been bored and each day ends with unfinished projects to continue the next morning. Started teaching myself advanced javascript code at the age of 69 and am developing a complex (free) gps/mapping web app. 

Knowing that I wasn't going to work forever, I moved to a "cabin in the woods" five years before retirement. Made for a rough commute of over 100 miles a day before I retired, but it's been great since then and I spent the covid lockdowns in my own private nature preserve. 

So, retirement is what you make of it. Has been the best years of my life, but I had a purpose. I also don't get Murph's comment about Social Security. Why would you want to go to an office? I don't really remember what I did, probably printed out some PDF forms and mailed them in. It was basically a no-brainer. 

Since I've already shared everything I know about retirement ...

Boyd,   I'm curious  -  how is your  'cabin in the woods'   decorated?    Busman's Holiday with 4 bare walls ...  or does it look like a set from one of Puccini's Operas ?   Butterfly wallpaper ? 

On a side note:  I had the same experience you seem to -  difficulty playing/enjoying guitar after 8 - 10 hours on a computer 'working for the man'  doing technical stuff.  Wonder if it is left brain/right brain issues?    My guitar playing stalled and stagnated for most of my work life.  Now - with retirement (see how I did that?)  there are 3 guitars within arms reach on the wall instead of just one in it's case under the bed.  My wife is trying to get me to set something up in Excel - the though of it makes me nauseous.   So, I guess I'm cured.