<p>What do you like and not like about it? What did you do right? What should you have done differently?
I am hoping to take mental notes on these answers as I think about retirement in the next few years. (Forgive me if there is already a thread on this- I looked but could not find one.)</p>
<p>One of the things that I hadn’t thought about until recently is that spouses may not be the same age, and you can’t take your younger spouse on Medicare with you. </p>
<p>If a couple had always gotten their health insurance through the older spouse’s employer, this means that they’re facing an extra expense that they may not have anticipated – buying health insurance for the younger spouse until he/she turns 65.</p>
<p>Marian, that’s exactly my situation. I get Medicare this Nov 1 but DH needs two and a half more years of coverage until his magic date. I’m about to buy some very expensive coverage for him to tide him over until Jan 1, when the state exchanges become available.</p>
<p>I plan to retire June 30, 2014. I have a list of projects and hobbies that at last I can spend more undivided time with. I think of it like Calvin and Hobbs, as a wonderful new beginning rather than the end of a career. I’m really excited.</p>
<p>The main issue we have is … my bucket list is infinitely long and I’m ready do to my retirement stuff … while Mom3ToGo LOVES her job and can’t imagine stopping … this one needs some work.</p>
<p>PS - medical insurance is the one financial headache we need to have lined up to handle retirement.</p>
<p>I shouldn’t have taken those two jobs years ago and then gotten laid off BEFORE my retirement savings was vested. I lost about $7,000 before Congress passed the law that remedied this. Like a lot of people, I had to dip into my 401K from time to time so the balance won’t last very long. Nothing I can do about that.</p>
<p>I retired this summer so I’ve had time to paint the house, improve the lawn and backyard, and enjoy the nice weather. This winter I plan to toss out 30 years of junk, paint a few rooms and ceilings, and organize my hobby. I am also helping my two kids find decent jobs plus raising my grandson. I usually cook dinner for the family and cannot believe how my wife managed to do this and work too.</p>
<p>I will need to find a part-time job in 2014 to supplement my social security. It is a great feeling on Sunday nights knowing I don’t have to get up the next morning and begin another 40 hours of toil. I have saved hundreds of dollars looking for bargains and sales that I never would have gotten had I been busy working full-time. </p>
<p>I hope to finish writing one book a year so I’m getting up to speed with self-publishing options and print-on-demand companies. Retirement ain’t for sissies!</p>
<p>I LOVE LOVE LOVE retirement. There isn’t one day I wake up and say “gee, I wish I could go to work”. I volunteer at a great place, serve on two town boards, and have time to visit my family who don’t live near here. I was a public school educator, so now I can fly to places on Tuesdays and NOT during school vacations. I can go on business trips with my husband. We have been on several longer vacations. </p>
<p>We are on his health insurance plan. Neither of us is Medicare eligible yet.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’m busy. My day job was really getting in the way of things I really wanted to do!</p>
<p>Yesterday a long bike ride with a friend, today volunteer and get nails done, Thursday commission meeting, Friday walking day with another friend.</p>
<p>And the best part…all those errands…post office, back, shopping, that had to be done in the evenings and on weekends take less than half the time being done on a Wednesday morning.</p>
<p>Thumper, you sound like my SIL. Whenever we try to make plans, she always seems to be busier than the rest of us who work!</p>
<p>That’s funny thumper1 about never waking up and wanting to go to work and I know what you mean. I don’t even mind waiting in lines any more.</p>
<p>I never thought I had a “successful” career. I always had what they call the “Sophmore Jinx” where I grew tired of chasing the carrot but never quite catching it. Some of my employers went out of business, while others just closed the place down or moved out of town. As the Grateful Dead noted, “What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been.”</p>
<p>But on my last day of work my co-workers threw a great retirement party for me, and the GM took me aside and told me he would take me back anytime as long as he had a part-time or full-time position available. </p>
<p>I hope each of you gets the opportunity to realize how much your co-workers appreciate you and care about you.</p>
<p>Our biggest issues are deciding when DH should retire (he’s self-employed so he could do it at any age, if we have the money) and where we should live. </p>
<p>Since he’s self-employed, we pay for health insurance ourselves, so that’s an expense we’re very used to. DH will turn 65 7 months before me (altho not for awhile, he’s only 59 now), so I’ll need to pay for my own insurance over that time until I qualify for Medicare.</p>
<p>I’m a little concerned that DH will go stir-crazy in retirement, but hopeful that he’ll find activities to keep himself occupied and fulfilled.</p>
<p>good timing for this article … <a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/01/news/spouse-retirement.moneymag/index.html?hpt=hp_t3[/url]”>http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/01/news/spouse-retirement.moneymag/index.html?hpt=hp_t3</a> … and article on couples jointly (or not) planning for retirement</p>
<p>I’m in my 40s and don’t know how I will feel about retirement in my 60s. I know every man H has ever seen retire has gone downhill so quickly, he says he will never give up working. </p>
<p>He works in what might be considered a “giving back” job now, after having earned more money than he needs ever. He loves this new work of helping get technology to underprivileged kids. </p>
<p>The pay is symbolic, but the rewards are very high. </p>
<p>I guess that’s a type of retirement. I imagine there are many paths.</p>
<p>My H who has been retired for almost a year now loves it as much as he thought he would. He, like Thumper, has never regretted it for one day and has had a wonderful year. He had a high profile career that required very long hours and a lot of stressful responsibility. His transition has included a year of agreeing to be available, at the end of a phone or computer, to those who need his assistance. Some weeks he gets a few calls, others none. It’s worked well and he’s just been asked to continue on that basis for another year. He’s busy with his community and board involvement, with golf, cycling, squash, our travel, and spending a lot of time with our granddaughter. </p>
<p>Everyone we know who has retired has been just as busy as when they were working, but now with things that they enjoy. We don’t know anyone who has ‘gone down hill’. It’s hard to imagine that happening when people in our generation are so involved in community, athletic pursuits, and hobbies. </p>
<p>Healthcare isn’t an issue in Canada and I feel badly that worry about it continues to plague my family and friends in the U.S., even in retirement.</p>
<p>My dad was retired for 27 years and never went “down hill.” He was active and busy until three weeks before he died. My mother, on the other hand, had a long (12 year) slow slide to the end.</p>
<p>Always. </p>
<p>The actual statistics show that retirement is not that great for most men. For whatever reason. I’m out of town and on my
Phone and don’t know how to link. But it’s easy to find the research. </p>
<p>Your husband and thumper sound semi retired and busy with all sorts of “jobs”. As is H. </p>
<p>Having obligations and responsibility is the antidote to the generally negative outcome. </p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>DH and I retired three years ago and moved to be near our parents. It’s been great being able to see them so frequently. It’s also a hoot to ask DH “What are we going to do today?” and have him respond “Whatever the hell we want!”</p>
<p>The most important thing to buy when you retire is a clock with the days of the week on it… [Classic</a> Mahogany DayClock](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019FBLC6/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]Classic”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019FBLC6/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)</p>
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<p>As I said, we don’t know even one man who has ‘gone downhill’, and dozens of our friends are retired and loving the life. If men choose not to have any hobbies and sit around the house doing nothing but annoying their wives, then yes, perhaps, that will have a negative effect on their longevity. That, however, is a personal choice and certainly isn’t evident among any of the couples we know. What my husband is keeping busy doing isn’t obligations or responsibilities, unless you count his daily time at the golf course working on his swing. :)</p>
<p>My H seems VERY happy with his retirement. We have no end of projects and deferred maintenance, plus I have a flexible schedule and we can travel when and where we want. We are happy that his pension and medical insurance will keep us very comfortable for the rest of our lives, as well as IRAs and other assets.</p>
<p>H has been retired now since late July, and so far he and I have found it very pleasant. IF finances were tight, I can see how it could be quite different for folks, especially if the retirement was NOT at the time and terms of their choosing.</p>
<p>Thumper, have you and your husband found any difficulties with you being retired while he co ti use to work? I am only in my 40s but my husband will be able to retire about a decade before I will so i worry about this and would be grateful to near how others have dealt with that.</p>
<p>H is retired and I work part time. It’s OK for us, since my schedule is flexible. He used to work full time while I worked part time and that worked for us too. It is something the couple has to figure out how to compromise on, especially for travel, staying up late, etc.</p>