<p>My FIL worked until his early seventies. He and MIL were living in town they disliked (job took them there). MIL was working too but hated it. Her dream was to retire to a beach community where their longtime best friends (marreid couple) had moved to. Finally, sold the house and moved to the beach. MIL was deliriously happy.</p>
<p>By the end of the first yr. there, one of the best friends (the husband) was diagnosed w/ cancer and died within six months.
Then a year later FIL had a stroke that severely limited his mobility. After a couple of years, he had to move to a nursing home. MIL spent the next 3 years driving 60 miles (round trip) every day to visit him in the nursing home. He passed away two years ago. </p>
<p>All of that has caused DH to look at life differently. He is 53. I’m 50. He says won’t wait too long to live where we want to live and find a job (that will pay for our health insurance) that doesn’t make his blood pressure escalate on a daily basis. </p>
<p>We have already built our retirement home (started making payments on the lot when I was in my 30’s). Now DH says when our 2012 college grad. gets on his feet, he will begin looking for a new job. My Dad died young (53) and Mom at 78 so we’re taking the "life is too short " approach toward the latter half of our lives.</p>
<p>Those are scary stories. And thats why, agreed-- would love to plan to kick back and have fun. My fantasy job is serving ice cream to tourists in a little shop. Just scoop out ice cream and chat with the tourists :)</p>
<p>We are fortunate. No debt. Kids out of school, employed and off the parental payroll. House and cars paid for. But, as they say, ya nevah know…</p>
<p>And dstark- your posts are always wonderful and easy to read, typos or not. And this comes from the typo queen!</p>
<p>Eyemamom, I like Mitch Albom. Thanks for the heads up. I like the subject matter of the book. I will check it out.</p>
<p>Jym626, I told my wife that I am pretty much done working, and it would really help if she worked a few more years. My wife is more capable anyway. She has more energy and she likes to work slightly, slightly more.</p>
<p>Well, just anecdotal evidence, so not to worry. In reality, there are probably plenty of retired men puttering around their gardens, playing another round of golf, traveling to far away places, doing volunteer work (like my Dad, who seems busier than when he was working), etc. :)</p>
<p>The last 5 years I worked for a trading company, so I did work hard, but the work wasn’t hard.</p>
<p>The 15 years before that, I worked for myself, and I believe in treating employees very well. </p>
<p>I guess I worked hard for 10 years before that as a stock option market maker, but as was said in this thread, stocks were in a bull market and there was luck.</p>
<p>I like to walk. I should really be a mailman. The kind of mailman that has a walking route.
But, then the mail is heavy and there are dogs…forget it. :)</p>
<p>In my fifties, I never considered retirement. It never crossed my mind, but I did put money in the “bank” every paycheck and every year. I decided to do fun things before I retired because the older you get the harder it is to do things so to speak. I am glad I didn’t wait. In my sixties, I was diagnosed with cancer, went through the “cure,” and didn’t feel as energetic as before but still had ideas. My son finished school, got married and I helped my parents in their final years. They retired at 60 and had a fabulous time after that doing fun things, but by their mid-nineties, they were in a retirement, assisted living facility. Never wait, I say. I plan to work part time as long as I can. My aunt was a bookkeeper, part time to almost 90 and played tennis, danced and had fun in between. Now she is in full retirement and still dancing. We are all different. As soon as my 28 boxes that were shipped a few months ago arrive and I unpack, I will get back in full swing to the main thing I am working on, my fun, a story. I will never retire until my health demands it. The scare at 60 was a big kick in the pants. My new job was an uplift, a blessing, a recharge so to speak.</p>
<p>I really hope my H’s knees and hips cooperate. He intends to play a lot of golf when he retires (10ish years). And I think I will enjoy having him out of the house for part of the day! I agree about the spouse comments. H and I are both working and big savers; it’s nice to be in sync in this area of life. He has many friends with spouses that spend, spend, spend (with no second income).<br>
I think of big purchases (e.g. new “nice” car versus adequate car, trip to Europe, helping with the child’s MA year) as extending my current career (which is well compensated, but not my passion).<br>
Like some others, I am working on weight, fitness, and nutrition control as an investment in my later years’ quality of life. Of course, I could get hit by a bus or get some disease, but at least those factors are largely beyond my control. H and I both have family histories of long lives, so we are preparing/hoping for the best.</p>
<p>I don’t eat ice cream except for samples at Trader Joes. There is too much sugar concentration.</p>
<p>I looked at two of the links but Didn’t see an answer to my question on the unemployment rate for biology majors in either of them. They just had a lot of data but nothing specific in what I was looking for. That’s not surprising because I would think a university would not want to show poor results for one of their majors.</p>
<p>I think life sci majors used to do pretty well going to work in pharma but pharma is not a good place to work these days. A bachelor’s in biology could snag you a sales job or marketing job or entry lab job. Not these days.</p>
<p>And btw, what am I doing wrong on quotes???</p>
<p>If the variables of inflation and taxes are stable…</p>
<p>If your income is twice your expenses, over time…you won’t spend your principal and you
won’t run out of money.</p>
<p>Of course…inflation and taxes may not be stable and if you are on a fixed income, rising inflation can eat into your principal.</p>
<p>Most people when they retire are going to be on a fixed income with some variablity because of stock market returns. </p>
<p>Your income has to be high enough to cover rising expenses due to inflation. If you are saving money, you can invest that additional money. That additional money can cover inflation.</p>
<p>I was shown this calculator from bankrate.com years ago and I think it can show different scenarios depending on what you enter for inflation, years of retirement, etc.</p>
<p>Start out with 3 percent inflation, 3 percent after tax returns, maybe 30 years of retirement, retire in 0 years… Enter what you think you spend, and you will get a guide to where you are. Then you have pensions, and SS to be added in so the numbers in the calculator are worse than reality.</p>
<p>It’s a guide. Try it and then you can ask me any questions you have…</p>
<p>I looked up information on medical lab technicians from an organization that hires them:</p>
<p>Approximately 76,000 job openings are expected annually in U.S. between 2004-2014 (new and replacement); 25% growth rate </p>
<p>80 job vacancies predicted annually in MA through 2008, with average growth rate through 2012 </p>
<p>Medical tests, treatments continue to grow, but technological advances such as robotics will limit job opportunities</p>
<p>Most typical advancement is advancement to Medical Technologist (requires BS degree and either 2 years of experience or attendance at a nationally accredited Medical Technologist program) </p>
<p>May become a sales representative or product tester for lab equipment manufacturers </p>
<p>May advance into leadership roles/teaching roles w/ increased experience and education </p>
<p>In Massachusetts, most Medical Technicians make $13.60–$20.40 per hour ($28,288-$42,432 per year)</p>
<p>A.S. degree (includes formal education plus clinical training) from accredited Clinical Laboratory Technician Program; </p>
<p>National Certification exam usually required from the Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP)</p>
<p>I had a look at my son’s organization and there are a fair number of lab tech positions open that require a BS in biology, a year of experience (internships), and research experience. I have no idea what those positions pay and it is expensive to live in Boston but there are openings. for bio grads.</p>
<p>My spouse likes to worry. It’s recreational, inherited from Mom. There is NO scenario that can’t be “enhanced” by worrying about it. I’ve given up trying to get that worrying prioritized. Haven’t heard from a child in 48 hours? “She must be sick. Oh God, I hope she’s not been in a car accident and I haven’t heard from the police because my phone is on mute!” But serious stuff, no … doesn’t even want to think about that.</p>
<p>I mention this as partial explanation of why I don’t worry about retirement. Yes I’ve done all the “right” things. But no one really knows how the final decades of one’s life will play out. Cash in all your 6% annuities and put the money in the stock market? Leave all the money in fixed annuities and watch T-Bill rates overtake (as they did in the late '70s)? Or more likely for me, get nicked beside the highway while changing a flat tire. (Hey, nobody’s perfect.) And what about Black Swan events? </p>
<p>I may not make Full Retirement Age. Or I might live to age 90. Population statistics aren’t helpful when you’re talking about a population set that includes only yourself. JMHO of course.</p>
<p>“My spouse likes to worry. It’s recreational, inherited from Mom. There is NO scenario that can’t be “enhanced” by worrying about it. I’ve given up trying to get that worrying prioritized. Haven’t heard from a child in 48 hours? “She must be sick. Oh God, I hope she’s not been in a car accident and I haven’t heard from the police because my phone is on mute!” But serious stuff, no … doesn’t even want to think about that.”</p>
<p>That is tough.
I just got off the phone with my boss. He is like this. He has so much anxiety. Everything is a problem or a potential problem. And then every scenario for dealing with the problem or worse, a potential problem that isn’t a problem, has to be discussed. </p>
<p>I have a hard time listening to all this anxiety. All this anxiety is a waste of time. I don’t know how he lives with himself. The guy has more anxiety than Don Knotts. I thought Gilbert Gottfried should play my boss in a movie, but I don’t think Gilbert Gottfried has enough anxiety.</p>
<p>My wife is like this and asks me if I’m worried about this or that happening.</p>
<p>My usual reply is that I have enough to worry about that really matters and that I have to get done. Worrying about what might or might not happen is inefficient. If it happens or doesn’t happen, then I’ll deal with it or not as the case may be.</p>
<p>Basically deal with the things that you can deal with and don’t worry about the things that you can’t change anyway.</p>
<p>My problem with retirement is that I am already doing all fun things that I was lucky to find for myself, which was not easy to discover as most supposedly fun activities are very boring (to me). I cannot imagine exercising more than 2 - 2.5 hrs every day (doing what I love doing) and pursuing my hobby for more time than I already devote to it, then it is not fun any more. I love going on fancy vacations for couple of weeks, but we are already doing it. I do not like Florida at all or any other “retirement” place as I will loose all my connections/settings/places to visit every day that I have developed at home. I do not see myself in different place, unless I am at all inclusive resort for couple weeks, but longer than that is pretty dangerous as I usually gain at least 7 lbs consuming an awesome food that I will never ever desire to cook by myself, not fond of cooking or much else.<br>
I see myself in very bad shape when I am forced to retire, which eventually will happen. Nothing is entertaining at all besides my regular routine activities.</p>
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